NASA engineers successfully reactivated Voyager 1’s primary roll thrusters, deemed inoperable since 2004, to address a critical fuel line clog in the backup system. This maneuver, completed in March, involved restoring power to the thrusters’ heaters, allowing the spacecraft to automatically correct its orientation when it drifted from its guide star. The reactivation prevents the loss of communication with Voyager 1, the most distant human-made object, which is currently over 15.6 billion miles from Earth. This successful reactivation represents a significant engineering achievement, extending the lifespan of the nearly 50-year-old spacecraft.
Read More
After a weekslong communication blackout caused by Voyager 1’s dwindling power supply and an automatic switch to a weaker transmitter, NASA engineers successfully restored contact. The issue stemmed from a command to activate a heater, triggering a power-saving fault protection system that switched the probe to its less powerful S-band transmitter. Clever problem-solving allowed a return to the X-band transmitter, resuming data collection. This incident highlights the increasing challenges of maintaining the aging probes’ functionality as their power continues to decrease. The team is now working to fully restore the spacecraft’s systems to pre-outage condition.
Read More
As I read the exciting news that Voyager-1 has resumed sending readable data from deep space after a computer fault in November, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of awe and admiration for the incredible engineers who managed to fix the issue. The fact that a corrupted chip, a simple component, could cause such a significant problem for the aging spacecraft truly showcases the level of complexity and precision required in space exploration.
I have always been captivated by the Voyager missions, especially Voyager-1, which has exceeded all expectations by traveling much farther than initially anticipated. It is astonishing to think that we are still able to communicate with a spacecraft that is over 15 billion miles away.… Continue reading
John Q. Hosedrinker