NASA engineers are hard at work trying to solve a communication issue with the Voyager 1 probe, which has been ongoing for the past five months. Launched in 1977 alongside its sister probe Voyager 2, Voyager 1 is currently exploring the outer reaches of our solar system.
Despite being 15 billion miles away from Earth, a recent signal received from the probe indicates that progress is being made in understanding the problem. The Voyager probes are both in interstellar space, making them the farthest spacecraft from our planet.
Originally designed to last only five years, the Voyager probes have surpassed all expectations by continuing to operate for decades, providing valuable insights about the solar system. The communication issue with Voyager 1 was first noticed in November, prompting the mission team to take action.
On March 1, engineers sent a “poke” command to the probe in an attempt to analyze the flight data system’s memory readout and locate any discrepancies that may be causing the problem. Due to the vast distance between Earth and Voyager 1, it takes 22.5 hours for commands to reach the spacecraft and another 45 hours for a response to be received.
Over the years, both Voyager probes have encountered unexpected issues such as communication dropouts and a seven-month period in 2020 when Voyager 2 was unable to communicate with Earth. Efforts are continuously being made to conserve power on the probes in order to extend their missions as they continue their exploration of the cosmos. Stay tuned to see if engineers are able to successfully resolve the communication problem with Voyager 1 and keep up with the latest updates on the Voyager missions.
