Voyager 1 is fully back online after successfully transmitting science data from its two remaining instruments
by
Voyager 1 , an unmanned space probe launched by NASA in 1977, suddenly began transmitting indecipherable data to Earth in November 2023. The cause of the malfunction was subsequently identified, and adjustments were made to successfully resume its original mission of transmitting scientific data. At the time of the resumption of operations, data could only be obtained from two of the four scientific instruments, but in June 2024, it was reported that the remaining two instruments were operational again and had resumed communication with the control center on Earth.
Voyager 1 Returning Science Data From All Four Instruments - NASA Science
https://science.nasa.gov/missions/voyager-program/voyager-1/voyager-1-returning-science-data-from-all-four-instruments/
Voyager 1 is back online! NASA's most distant spacecraft returns data from all 4 instruments | Space
https://www.space.com/voyager-1-fully-operational
Voyager 1, an unmanned space probe launched in 1977, has reached a point about 24 billion km away from Earth at the time of writing. Since the start of the mission about 46 years ago, NASA has been tracking Voyager 1, but it has been confirmed that Voyager 1 has been transmitting indecipherable data to Earth since around November 2023.
This 'indecipherable data' was mainly data reporting measurements and the operational status of the spacecraft, and as a result, it was impossible to understand the current status of Voyager 1. NASA, which tried to determine the cause, succeeded in identifying in April 2024 that there was a malfunction in one of the 'Flight Data Subsystems (FDS),' which package the observational data and operational status of Voyager 1.
The cause of the Voyager 1 malfunction that continued to send indecipherable data for five months has been revealed - GIGAZINE
NASA then sent a signal to Voyager 1 telling it that the code used by the faulty FDS had been split into sections and stored on a separate FDS, and they were able to receive a decipherable signal.
Voyager 1, which had been sending indecipherable data, has sent a decipherable signal to Earth for the first time in five months, making it possible to check the current operating status - GIGAZINE
Furthermore, on May 22, 2024, NASA announced that two of the four signal transmitters on Voyager 1 were able to transmit science data normally. According to NASA, the plasma wave subsystem and magnetometer instrument have resumed normal scientific data transmission, while the spacecraft subsystem and low energy charged particle instrument are unable to transmit correct signals. NASA explained that 'we are working on restoring the remaining two instruments so that they can transmit science data normally.'
Voyager 1, which had been sending indecipherable data from space, has finally resumed sending scientific data - GIGAZINE
On June 14, 2024, NASA confirmed that all of the spacecraft subsystems and scientific instruments, including the low-energy charged particle instrument, were transmitting scientific data to Earth normally, allowing Voyager 1 to once again carry out its main mission of collecting information about interstellar space.
'Some additional minor tasks are required to clean up this series of issues,' NASA said. 'Specifically, we will be resynchronizing timing software in Voyager 1's three computers to ensure they execute commands at the right time. We will also be performing maintenance on the digital tape recorder that records the plasma wave subsystem data that is transmitted to Earth twice a year.'
Related Posts:
in Science, Posted by log1r_ut