NAfter a communication problem with the space probe “Voyager 2” last year, the US space agency NASA is now looking for a solution to a problem with its twin “Voyager 1”. The probe is sending data to Earth, but it has been unusable since November, NASA said. This is probably due to one of the three computers on board “Voyager 1”. A new signal that NASA sent to the probe at the beginning of March has now brought a different answer – which could potentially provide information to solve the problem.
Because “Voyager 1” is now 24 billion kilometers away from Earth, signals take more than 22 hours to arrive. That’s why it could take some time before the communication problem can hopefully be solved, NASA said.
“Voyager 1” (in German: traveler) was launched on September 5, 1977, and “Voyager 2” on August 20, 1977. Both probes are unmanned. The probes were intended to explore planets in the outer solar system – but ended up flying beyond the boundaries of the solar system.
Temporary communication problems with the probes have occurred frequently. It was only last summer that NASA was able to restore temporarily lost contact with the Voyager 2 space probe after it accidentally temporarily oriented its antenna away from Earth.