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Monday, February 17, 2025

Voyager 1. They are rebooting the equipment from 24 billion kilometers away

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Communication with Voyager 1 has been restored. As mission engineers explained, the vehicle has already resumed transmitting data from scientific instruments. Currently, NASA is working on a full system restart, which is not an easy task – 23 hours must pass for the command to reach the probe.

This week NASA announced that full communication with Voyager 1 had been restored. The object, currently traveling outside the solar system about 24 billion kilometers from Earth, unexpectedly turned off its main radio transmitter last month. In order not to completely lose contact with the probe, engineers had to use a system that had not been used for a long time.

Not an easy task

NASA explained that the main transmitter resumed transmitting data from operating science instruments after November 18. Engineers are currently working to restore Voyager 1 to the condition it was in before the problem occurred. Performing a full restart is not easy because the spacecraft is about 24 billion kilometers from Earth. It takes 23 hours for the command itself to reach Voyager 1.

The main transmitter has been disabled by the failure protection system. When it senses that the probe is running low on power, it automatically turns off systems that are not necessary to keep the ship running. When engineers tried to turn on one of the spacecraft's heaters, the security system deemed the main transmitter redundant, turning on a less resource-intensive auxiliary system instead – less powerful than the main one and unused since 1981.

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The event clearly shows how limited the resources of mission engineers are. Powered by energy from disintegrating plutonium, the Voyagers lose about 4 watts of power each year. About five years ago, the team began turning off nonessential systems to save as much fuel as possible. Of the 10 scientific instruments installed, four are currently in use.

NASA, space.com, tvnmeteo.pl

Main photo source: NASA



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