The Voyager 1 spacecraft, launched in 1977 and currently drifting through interstellar space, has resumed sending science data after experiencing a computer problem in November, according to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Prior to reaching this region, the spacecraft made significant discoveries such as a thin ring around Jupiter and several of Saturn’s moons.
Voyager 1 is currently over 15 billion miles (24.14 billion kilometers) away from Earth, while its twin Voyager 2 is also in interstellar space and is more than 12 billion miles (19.31 billion kilometers) away from our planet. The instruments on both spacecraft are specifically designed to collect information about plasma waves, magnetic fields, and particles.
The recent data received from Voyager 1 in April was meaningful and has prompted the team to command it to start studying its environment once again. This story was first published on June 14, 2024, and was updated on June 17, 2024, to correct the metric distance of both Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft from Earth. The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group, with the AP being solely responsible for all content.