Voyager 1: Restored contact with NASA - but not without risk!

Voyager 1: Restored contact with NASA - but not without risk!

Pasadena, California, USA - The legendary Voyager 1 -way ward, which has been around for 47 years, has again contacted NASA after a technical problem interrupted the communication for several days. However, this historical mission, which is breathtaking 24,000 million kilometers away in the interstellar area, is not yet out of the danger zone. Engineers have caused the probe to activate a radio transfer that they had not used since 1981 to maintain contact with Earth.

Die Voyager 1, which started on September 5, 1977, is the most widely removed from the earth and operates beyond the heliosphere, where it removes samples of the interstellar area. In order to save the energy, the engineers started to gradually switch off the components of the probe. But the challenges are piling up: a recent problem led to the automatic protective mechanism of the probe activated, which switched off essential systems in order to save energy. On October 19, communication with Voyager 1 seemed to be completely canceled.

technical challenges and solutions

The protective mechanism could have reduced the transmission rate of the data stream, which impairs the signal quality. But the engineers were imaginative! After localizing the weak signal transmission of the S-Band transmitter, they worked to identify the cause of the problem. Until you find out what triggered the protective mechanism, no further commands will be sent to the more powerful X-Band-Transmitter-this could take weeks. "The S-Band signals are too weak for long-term use," warned Bruce Wagoner, the mission manager. Nevertheless, it makes it possible to send basic commands and ensure that Voyager 1 is still aligned with the earth.

The engineers reacted to the communication problems with creative solutions, including activating old engines in order to correctly align the Voyager 1 antenna. These innovative measures are crucial to continue to transfer the valuable scientific data that the probe collects. The struggle for contact with Voyager 1 continues, while NASA is working on solving the problems that threaten this extraordinary mission.