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Communication between Voyager 1 and Earth has been stuttering since November. Despite positive signals, the problems have not yet been resolved – and time is running out.
Pasadena – “Voyager 1” is a true legend among space probes. Although technically it can hardly keep up with newer models, the probe, which was launched into the universe in 1977, is the oldest NASA space probe still in use. In addition, no other vehicle designed by humans has made it further into space. Just like its sister probe “Voyager 2”, “Voyager 1” explores interstellar space beyond the heliosphere.
But the veterans have been showing signs of aging for some time now. A radio silence between Earth and “Voyager 2” was resolved within a short time in 2023. However, “Voyager 1” has been plagued by communication problems since mid-November that have not yet been resolved. But now experts are quietly hopeful.
Technical problems with “Voyager 1” still not solved – space probe speaks “gibberish”
At least contact with “Voyager 1” has not been completely broken off. Like the daily newspaper Pasadena Star News writes, the space probe has been speaking “gibberish” for several months. Comparable to a patient who suffers a stroke and thereby loses the ability to speak, “Voyager 1” can receive the communication sent from Earth, but can no longer respond intelligibly.
Because no information about the status and “health” of the probe can be sent, the NASA experts at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) were in the dark for a long time about how the space probe could be helped. However, the team led by Voyager project manager Suzanne Dodd is almost certain that two computer systems on board (FDS and TMU) of “Voyager 1” cannot communicate correctly with each other due to damaged memory.
“The car’s door button has more computing power” – the age and technology of “Voyager 1” pose a challenge
One challenge for the experts at JPL when trying to get “Voyager 1” back into shape is, on the one hand, the relatively primitive technology inside the space probe. “The button you press to open the door of your car has more computing power than the Voyager spacecraft,” Dodd admits National Public Radio (NPR) to consider. Because of this, it is “remarkable that they are still flying” – even after almost 46 years.
The button you press to open your car door has more computing power than the Voyager spacecraft.
But the space probe’s advanced age also brings with it another problem: “Voyager 1” has outlived many of the engineers and technicians who once designed and constructed it. Some of the other people involved have long since retired. Once more than 1,200 employees worked on the Voyager project, it is now a small team consisting of a dozen specialists who look after the space probes.
Even if the twelve JPL employees are supported by additional experts in an emergency, it is important to put yourself in the heads of previous experts. In order to fix Voyager 1’s current problems, Dodd’s team has to sift through yellowed documents and old mimeograph machines. “We must try to recover codes and find out why they were written that way,” quoted the Pasadena Star News the project manager.
“Voyager 1” shows signs of improvement, but research team is running out of time
The team has already developed a list of possible solutions to the communication problem. Little by little, the experts want to send increasingly daring commands to the space probe, which is more than 24 billion kilometers away. However, given the huge distance, it will take more than 42 hours for the team on Earth to receive feedback from “Voyager 1”. The team therefore has to be patient for almost two days until it is clear whether a command sent has the desired effects.
At least the Voyager team’s efforts don’t seem to be in vain. In recent weeks, “Voyager 1” is said to have shown signs of improvement. How Pasadena Star News Reportedly, the probe will once again send binary patterns that sound familiar to the engineers. “They’re not exactly what we would expect,” Dodd said. However, they could possibly be an indication that one of the possibly defective computer systems is at least partially working.
The team is therefore “hopeful”. But it could still take some time until a solution to the problem is found. And the NASA team is literally running out of time. According to the US space agency, the nuclear power generators of the Voyager space probes could give up the ghost as early as 2025. This would mean that space research would lose the only opportunity to collect data directly from interstellar space. For “Voyager 2,” however, NASA has a plan to help the space probe live longer.