NASA succeeds in sending a signal again to 'Voyager 2' that escaped the heliosphere after an eight-month interruption


by

Kevin Gill

Voyager 2, an unmanned space exploration vessel launched on August 20, 1977, contributes significantly to space research by transmitting various observed data to the earth. Communication between NASA and Voyager 2 was suspended from mid-March 2020, but on November 3, 2020, NASA said, 'For the first time in about eight months, communication with Voyager 2 will take place. It was successful. '

NASA Contacts Voyager 2 Using Upgraded Deep Space Network Dish | NASA
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa-contacts-voyager-2-using-upgraded-deep-space-network-dish



NASA calls Voyager 2, and the spacecraft answers from interstellar space | Ars Technica

https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/11/nasa-calls-voyager-2-and-the-spacecraft-answers-from-interstellar-space/

Voyager 2 is back online after eight months of radio silence • The Register
https://www.theregister.com/2020/11/03/voyager_2_back_online/

Voyager 2 was launched before and after its sister aircraft, Voyager 1 , for the purpose of exploring Jupiter , Saturn , Uranus, and Neptune outside the solar system. Both spacecraft are known to be equipped with not only observation and communication equipment, but also the ' Voyager Golden Record ' to convey the culture of the earth when encountering extraterrestrial life forms.

The main mission of Voyager 2, launched in 1977, was completed with the exploration of Neptune in 1989, but it continued to operate while heading out of the solar system and continued to send observation data to the earth. It was. The 2018 is a plasma blown out from the sun solar wind was removed from the range that can reach into the interstellar space, following the No. 1 Voyager heliosphere became the second plane of the spacecraft has reached the outside of.

NASA spacecraft 'Voyager 2' leaves the solar system and reaches 'interstellar space' --GIGAZINE



At the time of writing the article, communication with Voyager 2, which is about 18.8 billion km away from the earth, is carried out by a communication network called Deep Space Network (DSN) launched by NASA. DSN is a network built to communicate with all spacecraft such as planets and asteroids that are not low earth orbit satellites throughout the year.

There are three ground stations responsible for communicating DSNs: Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex in California, USA, Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex in Spain, and Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex in Australia, each of which is installed at 120-degree intervals. I will. Both are built with ultra-sensitive receivers and powerful transmitters, but the operation of DSN began in the 1960s, and the equipment is aging.


by biedronne

Therefore, NASA decided to carry out repair work on the deep space station 43 (DSS43), a huge parabolic antenna with a diameter of 70 m at the Canberra Deep Space Communication Facility. Due to the renovation work, the communication function of DSS43 went offline from the middle of March 2020.

Basically, DSN has a mechanism that even if one ground station goes down, other ground stations can cover communication, but Voyager 2 which is taking a course to the south of the earth is a rare exception, and the northern hemisphere I am unable to send signals from the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex or the Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex. Therefore, DSS43, which was the only parabolic antenna that can communicate with Voyager 2, went offline, so there was no way to send a signal from the earth to Voyager 2, and communication was cut off.

However, the observation data sent from Voyager 2 could be received using the 34m wide antenna at the Canberra Deep Space Communication Facility. Therefore, it does not mean that communication is completely interrupted, but it can be said that it has become a one-way street where signals cannot be sent from the earth.

You can see the state of the repair work of DSS43 carried out using a huge crane by watching the following movie. The wireless transmitter used to communicate with Voyager 2 was updated for the first time in 47 years, and the electric cable, power supply, cooling device, etc. were replaced.



On October 29, the operator issued a command to Voyager 2 for the first time since construction began in mid-March to test the newly installed wireless communication equipment on the DSS43. Communication with Voyager 2 will be delayed by 17 hours one way and 34 hours round trip, but NASA catches the signal from Voyager 2 confirming that it has 'received a signal from Earth'. , I succeeded in communicating for the first time in 8 months.

This successful communication confirmed that the newly installed equipment on the DSS43 works well. 'This test communication with Voyager 2 shows that the work we're doing is going well,' said Brad Arnold, a DSN project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory . Stated.

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