Ten years ago, NASA’s “Voyager 1” probe left our solar system and is now nearly 23.5 billion miles from Earth — farther than any other spacecraft. It still regularly transmits data to this day, but the probe, which launched in 1977, recently confused NASA researchers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, who oversee the mission. brought.
According to the US space agency, the spacecraft, which travels in interstellar space, is functioning normally, collecting and transmitting scientific data to Earth, and is also capable of receiving commands from Earth. However, NASA has been baffled for some time by the Attitude Articulation and Control System (AACS), which helps precisely align the probe’s antenna with Earth so it can transmit data.
Telemetry data puzzles NASA researchers
Everything indicates that the AACS is still working, but the telemetry data returned is invalid. For example, the data appears to be randomly generated. And they would “reflect no possible condition the AACS could be in,” report the NASA experts who are currently investigating the problem of the anomalous telemetry data.
The problem did not trigger any of the built-in fault protection systems designed to put the spacecraft into “safe mode.” A state where only essential operations are performed, giving technicians time to dig deeper into a problem. Voyager 1’s signal, which takes more than 20 hours to reach Earth, has not weakened either, indicating that the directional antenna is still precisely aligned, NASA said.
Strange signals will be closely monitored
The JPL team responsible for the mission will continue to monitor the signals closely to determine whether the invalid data came directly from the AACS or another system involved in generating and transmitting telemetry data, it said. “A mystery like this is commonplace at this stage of the Voyager mission,” said Suzanne Dodd, project manager for Voyager 1 and the Voyager 2 twin spacecraft at JPL in Pasadena.
“The spacecraft are both nearly 45 years old, which is far beyond the expectations of the mission planners. We are also in interstellar space – an environment of intense radiation where no spacecraft has flown before. So there are some big challenges for the engineering team. But I think if there’s a way to fix this problem with the AACS, our team will find it.”
“Voyager 1” is scheduled to transmit data until 2025
“Voyager 1” is likely to provide data until 2025, but by then the probe’s power source will be exhausted. However, the farthest man-made object from Earth will continue to fly through space, taking more than 38,000 years to pass the nearest star, a faint sun, catalog number AC+79 3888 in the constellation Ursa Minor.
In the extremely unlikely event that an alien civilization ever encounters the Earth ambassador, the “Voyager” probes each carry a gold-plated copper plate (pictured below) entitled “Sounds of the Earth” and an instruction manual turntable.
Probe has been racing through space since 1977
“Voyager 1” (traveler) was launched on September 5, 1977, the double probe “Voyager 2” about two weeks earlier, on August 20. The probes race through space at more than 60,000 kilometers per hour, covering a distance of nearly 23.5 billion kilometers (as of July 31), “Voyager 1” is humanity’s most distant messenger.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
