NASA has regained contact with Voyager 1, the spacecraft farthest from Earth

The Voyager 1 space probe, after five months of silence regarding intelligible data, was able to reestablish contact with the spacecraft. Land, sending vital information after NASA engineers came up with an innovative solution to solve the communication problem. This artistic feat was achieved despite the enormous distance More than 24 billion kilometers Which separates the probe from our planet, which confirms the ingenuity and determination of the mission team in the mission Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) In Pasadena, California.

according to CNNthe world's first consistent dataset on the condition and health of engineering systems Voyager 1 It was received on April 20, marking a significant milestone after a five-month hiatus in receiving useful data.

the Voyager 1launched in 1977 with an initially planned five-year mission, not only exceeded all expectations in terms of longevity, but also became humanity's most distant and oldest operational spacecraft, diving into the unknown cosmic region beyond our solar system.

“Today was a great day for Voyager 1.” Announce Linda SpilkerVoyager project scientist in Jet Propulsion Laboratorywhich reveals the team's great commitment to the mission of stellar exploration.

Fox Weather He pointed out that the last challenge to Voyager 1 It began in November 2023, when its flight data system telemetry modulation module began emitting a repetitive, indecipherable code pattern, compromising the transmission of vital scientific and engineering data into space. Land.

The unit is responsible for collecting information from the ship's scientific instruments and filling it with engineering data that reflects its current state of health. This communication problem, unprecedented in its specificity, requires an unprecedented solution.

strategy Jet Propulsion Laboratory Subordinate a pot It involved a detailed diagnostic and corrective effort, which culminated in the dispatch of A “spur” on March 1 in an attempt to have the flight data system run various programming sequences to isolate the cause of the anomaly.

this “spur”or stimulation, allowed engineers to detect anomalous activity that stood out among inconsistent data, leading to the discovery of corrupted memory affecting 3% of the flight data system.

“We never know for sure what will happen to the Voyagers, but I'm always surprised when they keep moving forward,” he said. Susan DoddVoyager project manager, in a statement.

As shown BBCThe diagnosis revealed that one chip, responsible for storing part of the system's software code, had malfunctioned, possibly due to corrosion or the impact of an energetic particle from space. Faced with the impossibility of actual repair, it was decided to move the affected code to other areas of the system's memory.

This careful reconfiguration included not only moving the code, but also modifications to make sure it worked together and updating any references to the code's location in the flight data system's memory.

The move proved successful, and on April 20, after sending a radio signal to modify the code and waiting anxiously for 45 hours, the team received readable engineering data from Voyager 1Demonstrating the team's tangible ability to overcome technical challenges on a planetary scale.

With the spacecraft now in satisfactory health and the team preparing to transfer other damaged pieces of the system's software, science data is expected to return in the coming weeks, continuing the historic mission of collecting and transmitting invaluable information from interstellar space.