Voyager 1: All instruments are back in normal operation
NASA has managed to return all four instruments on the Voyager 1 space probe to normal operation.
Voyager 1 in a NASA graphic.
(Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
The Voyager 1 space probe is once again carrying out normal scientific measurements with all instruments on board for the first time since problems occurred last fall. According to the US space agency NASA, all four of the space probe's instruments are now working, collecting data on plasma waves, magnetic fields and particles from interstellar space.
In November 2023, the most distant man-made probe from Earth had begun to send only garbage data; for a long time, it was unclear whether the error could be corrected from a distance. In April this year, NASA was able to partially overcome the problem by getting the probe to send technical data about its condition.
The next step in solving the problem came in May, when the probe was ordered to send scientific data. As a result, two of the four instruments returned to their normal operating mode, according to NASA. Some work was then required for the two other instruments.
Further work needed
However, NASA engineers are not yet finished solving the problem. Among other things, they are resynchronizing the timing software in the spacecraft's three on-board computers so that they can execute commands at the right time. A signal from Earth takes 22.5 hours to reach the spacecraft, so it will take at least two days for a response.
In addition, there is maintenance work on the device that records data from the plasma wave instrument, which is sent to Earth twice a year. According to NASA, most of the probe's other scientific data is sent directly to Earth without being recorded.
Voyager 1 and its sister probe Voyager 2 are the only spacecraft to directly explore interstellar space outside the heliosphere. Voyager 1 is a good 24 billion kilometers away from Earth, Voyager 2 more than 20 billion kilometers. On their journey, which has now lasted almost 47 years, both probes have passed Jupiter and Saturn, and Voyager 2 has also passed Uranus and Neptune.
(anw)