“Voyager 1” spacecraft sends messy data after 45 years | Science

There are major challenges for the engineering team regarding the stabilization and control system of Voyager 1, and the team is exploring and addressing them.

Spending 45 years crossing the solar system could negatively affect a spacecraft, and this is exactly what happened on the “Voyager 1” mission, which explores places that have never traveled anything from Earth with its dual “Voyager 2”. Earth and sun farther away than Pluto.

According to a statement from “Space.com” (Space.com) NASA’s “Voyager 1” mission began in 1977, and in 2012 was relocated to what scientists call the “interstellar space”, an area filled with material ejected by the death of nearby stars millions of years ago, and continues to operate to this day. .

The spacecraft is now 23.3 billion kilometers from Earth, and while it is still operating well, scientists have recently noticed confusion in space about its position in space without entering safe mode or raising an alarm.

Susan Todd, project manager for Voyager 1 and 2 at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, said: “Such a mystery goes along the path of this phase of the Voyager mission.

Todd added Report To NASA – “The spacecraft is about 45 years old, which is much higher than mission planners expected.

Puzzle

The malfunction seems to be related to Voyager 1’s positioning and control system (AACS), which keeps the spacecraft and its antenna in perfect condition, but the system seems to be working well as the spacecraft receives commands, acts accordingly, and sends science. The data returns to Earth with the same signal strength as usual. However, the system sends out unnecessary telemetry data related to the spacecraft’s processors.

But the NASA report does not say when the problem started or how long it lasted. Voyager staff are constantly investigating the problem and trying to fix or modify it. 33 minutes to reach Voyager 1; It will take the same amount of time to get the spacecraft’s response.

Dual vehicle

NASA says Voyager 2 probe launched in 1977 (Voyager 1’s twin spacecraft) entered galaxy on November 5, 2018; They operate normally, but the spacecraft’s production capacity is always declining, and mission crew members have disabled some components to save energy.

The spacecraft’s main mission was to explore Jupiter and Saturn, and after a series of discoveries there – such as Jupiter’s moon active volcanoes in Iowa and Saturn’s rings – the mission was extended, and Voyager 2 continued to explore Uranus and Uranus. Neptune, and the only spacecraft to visit those extraterrestrials.

The current mission of the two spacecraft, called the “Voyager Interstellar”, is to explore the outer edge of the Sun’s sphere and beyond, and it faces some challenges. “The engineering team has big challenges, but I think. One way to solve the stabilization and control problem, our team will find it,” Todd says.