NASA's Voyager finally communicated with Earth using a device that hadn't been used since 1981.
This interstellar traveler has managed to survive.
Voyager 1, NASA's most distant spacecraft, is operating at very low power levels while continuing its journey through interstellar space, at a staggering distance of 15.4 billion miles from Earth. The NASA flight engineering team had considered the possibility that the 47-year mission might have reached its end when the probe recently stopped sending signals. This issue originated on October 16, when flight controllers sent a routine command to turn on a heater. However, two days later, they learned that a protection system had deactivated its main radio transmitter, leading to a complete communication shutdown by October 19.
Despite the team's initial pessimism, Voyager 1 did have a backup transmitter that operates on a different, albeit significantly weaker, frequency. The uncertainty about its functionality increased due to the probe’s great distance. Fortunately, engineers from the Deep Space Network, a system of powerful ground antennas, managed to detect a weak signal from the S-band transmitter, which had not been used since 1981. In a statement, NASA reported that the team is analyzing the situation to understand what occurred and restore normal operations for Voyager 1.
Both Voyager 1 and its twin, Voyager 2, have far exceeded their original life expectancy. Launched in 1977 with the initial objective of studying Jupiter and Saturn, their mission was later expanded to include two more planets, Uranus and Neptune. To date, they have explored four planets, 48 moons, and several planetary magnetic fields. In August 2012, Voyager 1 made history by becoming the first spacecraft to enter interstellar space, a region beyond the heliosphere, where the sun's influence wanes.
Currently, Voyager 1 is moving away from the solar system at speeds exceeding 38,000 mph, and it is the farthest human-made object from Earth. Communication with the probe takes 23 hours for a command to reach its destination and another 23 hours to receive a response. NASA has indicated that the spacecraft has been losing approximately 4 watts of power each year, which limits operations. To conserve energy, controllers have turned off certain functions, aiming to keep both probes operational beyond 2025.
The reason the Voyager 1 protection system deactivated the main transmitter remains unclear. This mechanism automatically shuts down less critical equipment in case of problems that threaten the power supply. Even though the spacecraft should have had enough power to activate the heater, the current situation indicates that the teams managing the aging probes must be prepared to face unexpected challenges. Last month, the team resolved an issue related to a thruster on Voyager 1, underscoring the complexity of the mission at this stage.
