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

The Voyager 1 space probe was able to re-establish communication after five months of silence based on interpretable data. land, sending vital information after NASA engineers came up with a creative solution to a communications problem. This technical feat was accomplished despite the distance Over 24 billion kilometers This separates the probe from our planet, underscoring the ingenuity and persistence of the mission team. Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California.

According to cnnThe first consistent data 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 obtaining useful data.

The Voyager 1Launched in 1977, a mission originally planned for five years has not only exceeded all expectations for longevity, but has also become mankind's farthest and oldest operational spacecraft, plunging into unknown cosmic territory beyond our solar system.

“Today is a great day for Voyager 1.” declared Linda SpilkerVoyager Project Scientist JPLIt demonstrates the team's great commitment to its interstellar mission.

Fox Weather He noted that the latest challenge for Voyager 1 Beginning in November 2023, its Flight Data System Telemetry Modulation Unit began emitting a repetitive, indecipherable code pattern, compromising the transmission of vital scientific and engineering data. land.

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

strategy JPL of Pot Includes a comprehensive diagnostic and remediation effort, culminating in a dispatch “punch” on March 1, in an attempt to run various software scenarios to isolate the cause of the flight data system anomaly.

This is “punch”Or the trigger allowed engineers to spot anomalous activity that stood out among random data, leading to the discovery of corrupted memory, affecting 3% of the aircraft data system.

“We'll never know what happens to the Voyagers, but I'm constantly amazed as they go on,” he said. Suzanne DoddVoyager project manager, in a statement.

explained as BBC, it was discovered that a chip responsible for storing a portion of the computer's software code had failed, possibly due to wear and tear or the impact of an energetic particle from space. Faced with the impossibility of a physical repair, it was decided to relocate the affected code to other parts of the computer memory.

This meticulous rebuilding process involves not only moving the code, but also making adjustments to ensure it works together and updating references to the code's location in flight data system memory.

The operation was proven successful on April 20 when the team received readable engineering data after a 45-hour wait after sending a radio signal to change the code. Voyager 1Demonstrates the team's solid ability to tackle technical challenges at an interplanetary scale.

Science data is expected to return in the coming weeks as the spacecraft is now in satisfactory health and the team is preparing to replace other affected areas of computer software, continuing its historic mission of collecting and transmitting valuable information from interstellar space.