NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft, currently the farthest from Earth, has successfully resumed sending back data after a communication breakdown that occurred in November 2023. The flight controllers at NASA identified a bad computer chip as the culprit for the communication issue and reorganized the spacecraft’s coding to work around the problem.
In mid-April 2024, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced that they had received good engineering updates, marking a success in restoring communication with Voyager 1. However, efforts are still ongoing to fully restore transmission of the science data.
Located more than 15 billion miles away in interstellar space, it takes a signal 22 1/2 hours to reach Voyager 1. Launched in 1977 to study Jupiter and Saturn, the spacecraft has been exploring interstellar space since 2012.
Voyager 1’s twin, Voyager 2, is also functioning properly and is currently 12.6 billion miles away from Earth. Even though contact with Voyager 1 was never completely lost, the communication issue was likened to a phone call where one cannot hear the person on the other end.
The successful restoration of communication with Voyager 1 has been reported by The Associated Press, highlighting the dedication and expertise of the NASA team in overcoming challenges in space exploration.
“Travel aficionado. Incurable bacon specialist. Tv evangelist. Wannabe internet enthusiast. Typical creator.”