NASA’s Voyager 1 has successfully overcome technical obstacles since November 2023 and is set to resume normal operations and data transmissions by May 2024. All four of its onboard scientific instruments are operational again, studying the universe beyond our solar system. Credit: Caltech/NASA-JPL
After resolving the technical issues, Voyager 1 has returned to normal operations, with all its instruments fully functional, and continues to study interstellar space.
Maintenance is underway to ensure your data is safe Accuracy System stability. Voyager 1 will continue to operate alongside Voyager 2. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)Deep space exploration.
Resolving Voyager 1’s technical problems
NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft is conducting regular science operations for the first time since a technical issue occurred in November 2023.
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Artist’s concept of NASA’s Voyager spacecraft. Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech
Repairing scientific equipment
In April, the mission team directed the spacecraft to begin transmitting engineering data containing information about the spacecraft’s health and condition, partially resolving the problem. On May 19, the team performed the second phase of the repair process and sent a command to the spacecraft to begin transmitting science data. Two of the four science instruments immediately returned to their normal operating modes; the other two instruments required additional work, but all four are now transmitting usable science data.
Continuing the Voyager Mission
Four Instrumental Studies plasma Waves, magnetic fields, particles. Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 are the only spacecraft to directly sample interstellar space, the region outside the heliosphere (the protective bubble of magnetic fields and solar wind produced by the Sun).
Ongoing Maintenance and Milestones
Voyager 1 has resumed science work, but additional, smaller tasks are needed to remove the effects of the problem. Other work will involve engineers resynchronizing the timing software in the spacecraft’s three onboard computers so they can execute commands at the right time. The team will also be maintaining the digital tape recorders that record data from the plasma wave instruments that are transmitted to Earth twice a year (most of Voyager’s science data is transmitted directly to Earth and not recorded).
Voyager 1 is more than 15 billion miles (24 billion kilometers) from Earth, and Voyager 2 is more than 12 billion miles (20 billion kilometers) away. Both probes will celebrate their 47th anniversary later this year, making them NASA’s longest-serving and farthest-reaching spacecraft. Both probes have flown past Earth. Jupiter and SaturnVoyager 2 also passed by. Uranus and Neptune.
The Voyager missions, consisting of Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, are twin NASA space probes launched in 1977 to explore the outer planets and beyond. Voyager 1 focused on Jupiter and Saturn, while Voyager 2 explored Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. After their main missions, both probes continued to study the outer solar system and are now navigating interstellar space, transmitting valuable data about the heliosphere and the wider universe beyond. These missions have significantly expanded our understanding of the solar system and are among the farthest-reaching man-made objects in the universe.