2023-08-05 13:41:43
HANDOUT / AFP (FILES) This NASA file image obtained 09 August 2002 shows one of the Voyager spacecraft. Now in its 25th year, Voyager continues its quest to push the bounds of space exploration. The twin Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft opened new vistas in space by greatly expanding our knowledge of Jupiter and Saturn. NASA’s Voyager 2 probe has signaled it is in “good health” after mission control mistakenly cut contact for several days, the space agency said in its latest update. Launched in 1977 as a beacon from humanity to the wider Universe, it is currently more than 12.3 billion miles (19.9 billion kilometers) from our planet, exploring interstellar space along with its twin, Voyager 1. A series of planned commands sent to Voyager 2 on July 21, 2023, “inadvertently caused the antenna to point two degrees away from Earth,” NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) said in a recent update. (Photo by Handout / NASA / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE – MANDATORY CREDIT “AFP PHOTO / NASA” – NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS – DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS
HANDOUT / AFP
One of NASA’s two Voyager probes, with which communication was restored thanks to an “interstellar cry”.
SCIENCE – It’s the end of a big scare. NASA announced on Friday August 4 that it had fully restored communications with its legendary Voyager 2 probe, after inadvertently interrupting them at the end of July.
The probe, launched into space in 1977 and currently located 19.9 billion kilometers from Earth, “operating normally” and stayed well “on its expected trajectory”NASA said in a statement.
“Last night I restored full communications with Earth through quick thinking and a lot of collaboration. I am functioning normally and staying on my planned trajectory. I am so happy to finally be able to call home”commented with humor the NASA Voyager account on Twitter.
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Commands sent on July 21 had mistakenly pointed the ship’s antenna in the wrong direction, away from Earth, interrupting data communication.
NASA sent a “interstellar cry”
This week, NASA confirmed that it had succeeded in detecting the signal from Voyager 2 thanks to the « deep space network »an international network of antennas, indicating that it was in ” good health “.
Then the“equivalent to an interstellar cry” has been sent, “ordering the probe to reorient itself and return its antenna to Earth”, NASA explained on Friday. The scientists explained that this technique was unlikely to work, but it finally paid off.
Given the distance at which Voyager 2 is, the command took just over 18 hours to reach it, and it took the same amount of time before being able to be sure of the result, NASA explained.
The US space agency is now receiving science and telemetry (distance measurement) data from the probe again, she confirmed.
From the solar system to interstellar space
If that method didn’t work, NASA hoped an automatic reorientation maneuver would fix the problem, but that wasn’t expected until a distant date, in October.
Voyager 2 left the protective bubble of the Sun, called the heliosphere, in 2018 to enter interstellar space. Before leaving the solar system, it became the only probe to fly over Uranus and Neptune.
Its twin Voyager 1, also launched in 1977, became the first craft to enter interstellar space in 2012 and is currently about 24 billion kilometers from Earth.
The two probes, mythical NASA missions, each carry recordings of sounds and images of the Earth on gold and copper plates.
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