Communication with Voyager 2 19.9 billion km away from the earth is cut off due to NASA's mistake
Voyager 2 is an unmanned space probe launched on August 20, 1977 for the purpose of exploring outer planets and satellites farther than Jupiter. Voyager 2 left the solar area in November 2018 and was scheduled to continue exploration until 2026, but communication with Voyager 2 was accidentally cut off by a command sent from Earth. was announced by NASA.
Mission Update: Voyager 2 Communications Pause – The Sun Spot
NASA mistakenly severs communication to Voyager 2 • The Register
https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/31/nasa_mistakenly_disconnects_voyager_2/
The Voyager program is NASA's program to explore the exoplanets of the solar system and beyond the solar system. Based on the Voyager program, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 were launched in 1977. Voyager 1 observed Jupiter and Saturn and their satellites, and Voyager 2 further observed Uranus and Neptune. The Voyager project has revealed that not only Saturn but also Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune have rings.
In addition, Voyager 1 and 2 are equipped with a metal plate called the Golden Record , which contains a message to aliens.
In November 2018, Voyager 2 left
NASA's probe 'Voyager 2' leaves the solar system and reaches 'interstellar space' - GIGAZINE
At the time of writing the article, Voyager 2 is flying about 19.9 billion km away from the earth and is moving away from the earth at a speed of about 15 km per second. The antenna on Voyager 2 faces the direction of the earth, and it takes about 18 hours and 25 minutes for one way, but it also communicates with the earth regularly.
In April 2023, the operation to switch Voyager 2's power management is being executed on command from Earth. Voyager 2 is equipped with a nuclear battery, but since the amount of power generated by the nuclear battery decreases over time, it will not be possible to supplement the power necessary to move the sensor for exploration. Therefore, by operating the reserve power device that was pre-installed in Voyager 2 with a command from the ground, it became possible to continue the exploration.
According to NASA, there was an error in the command sent to Voyager 2 on July 21, 2023, and the antenna was oriented two degrees from the earth. This two-degree gap prevented Voyager 2 from receiving commands from Earth and sending data back to Earth.
However, Voyager 2 is programmed to reset its orientation many times each year in order to keep the antenna pointing toward the earth. NASA says the next reset is scheduled for October 15, 2023, so this reset should turn the antenna back toward the earth and resume communication.
In addition, it seems that this mistake will not affect the activities of Voyager 1, which is flying about 24 billion km away from the earth.
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