NASA’s team of engineers that keeps the Voyager 1 spacecraft moving through interstellar space is trying to figure out why the probe is sending data back to Earth that doesn’t match expectations. The device itself is not under threat, but the mystery still raises questions.
Voyager 1 was launched in 1977 and has been traveling through space for about 45 years. Its twin Voyager 2 was launched 16 days earlier. Both probes circled the planets and sent many photographs back to Earth. In 2012, Voyager 1 passed beyond the heliopause, the boundary where the influence of the solar wind ends and interstellar space begins. Now this probe is at a distance of more than 23 billion kilometers.
But the farther Voyager 1 is from Earth, the higher the chance of problems. Now it turned out that the position articulation and control system (AACS) behaves strangely. This system is responsible for orienting the probe so that its antenna can send and receive signals from Earth. It is noted that the system works as expected, but the data returned is stupefied – it looks like it was randomly generated or cannot reflect any of any states that the system may be in.
Otherwise, Voyager 1 works as expected – for an almost 45-year-old device. It’s still sending scientific data back to Earth. In addition, the AACS data did not put the device into safe mode – a state where it turns off most tools in order to focus on key functions.
Given the age, which has long gone beyond all the expected periods of work, as well as the high level of radiation in interstellar space, it is still difficult to say whether it will be possible to correct the system. Perhaps a simple patch will suffice. Or the team will find a way to adapt to new conditions.
It is difficult to say how long the device and its brother will last, but over time, nuclear reactors lose their power and there will come a moment when the Voyagers will simply fall silent.