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Contact with Voyager 2 was lost last month due to a flight control error. The probe was accidentally instructed to turn its antenna away from Earth. As a result, his signals no longer went to Earth, but past it.
It has now succeeded in commanding the probe to turn back to Earth. If that hadn’t worked, flight control would have had to wait until October. Voyager would then automatically orient itself and point its antennas back toward Earth.
NASA had to wait a long time for the redeeming sign on Friday. The command went to Voyager 2 at the speed of light, but due to the enormous distance, the signal only arrived after 18.5 hours. When Voyager 2 listened to the command, it returned its signals, but they were also 18.5 hours away. So it was only after a day and a half that it was clear that the problems had been solved.
The probe is “functioning normally” and has remained “on its expected trajectory,” NASA said.
Voyager 2 was launched in 1977 and left our solar system at the end of 2018. It is currently 19.9 billion kilometers from Earth. Voyager 2’s twin brother, Voyager 1, is even further away. It is located about 24 billion kilometers from Earth. That sin still works.
See what you like, where and when you want.
2023-08-04 22:37:32
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