NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft, which was launched in 1977 to study Jupiter and Saturn, has been back up and running since April 2024. Despite its age of 46 years and its distance of 15 billion miles from Earth, the spacecraft experienced communication issues in November 2023, causing it to send unintelligible data instead of the usual binary code. However, the team was able to solve the problem by relocating the code to a new location in the flight data subsystem (FDS), resulting in Voyager 1 starting to send back understandable data again.
Now that all four science instruments are back online and communicating effectively with mission control, the team is looking forward to a long and successful mission ahead. The spacecraft has undergone further maintenance to ensure it continues to function smoothly, including adjustments to its timekeeping software and maintenance on its digital tape recorder.
Despite its age, Voyager 1’s mission has been incredibly successful. Originally launched to study Jupiter and Saturn, it went on to enter interstellar space in 2012, providing valuable data about this unknown region. The spacecraft’s resilience and capabilities continue to impress, with the potential for more groundbreaking discoveries in the future. Stay tuned for more updates on space exploration, rocket launches, and other exciting developments in the world of astronomy.