How do you feel when your lover’s letter comes after a long time? Scientists at the American space research agency NASA have faced the thrilling experience of that feeling. NASA Voyager-1 ceased communication on November 14, 2023, due to a software error. The communication was lost due to an error in the flight data system.
Voyager’s scientific instruments and sensors receive data from Earth through the flight data system. Voyager 1, representing Earth beyond the solar system, cut off all communications. Various attempts were made for several months. At the time Voyager 1 was built, the technology of the 1970s no longer existed. Most of the engineers who knew that technology are retired or dead. Much disappointment surrounded NASA with Voyager-1. After several months of effort, the error was fixed. Voyager 1 has once again started sending engineering updates back to Earth.
Voyager 1 is now traveling through interstellar space. The spacecraft left the solar system in 2012. Since November last year, there has been a communication error. NASA scientists received a response from Voyager-1 on April 20. The Voyager 1 spacecraft is sending actionable data back to Earth about the status of its onboard engineering systems. Work is currently underway to fix errors in the transmission of scientific data. The Voyager engineering team at NASA‘s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is working on the glitch. The Flight Data Subsystem (FDS) stores scientific and engineering data in the form of packages.
In November, a single chip of a portion of the FDS memory stopped working. That chip contains the software signals of the FDS computer. That chip stopped working. Loss of that signal shuts down opportunities to use science and engineering data. Voyager 1 is so far from Earth that it cannot be repaired by sending mechanics there.
It was decided to place the signal elsewhere, but there was not much space. The required signal is divided into several parts and stored in different locations in the FDS. New data was sent from FDS memory on April 18. It takes about 22 hours and 30 minutes for a radio signal to reach Voyager 1. Naturally, it will take time to exchange signals 1,500 million miles away from Earth. The mission flight team received the spacecraft’s answer on April 20. After five months, the Voyager crew was overjoyed to receive a letter from a lover.
Launched more than 46 years ago, the Voyager spacecraft is the longest-lasting and most distant spacecraft in history. Before the start of the interstellar probe, Voyager passes through all regions of our solar system on its way to the horizon.
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