“A cry among the stars” … this is how “NASA” regained contact with the “Voyager 2” probe
The US space agency (NASA) announced yesterday (Friday) that it has fully restored communications with its famous probe, “Voyager 2”, after the mission control room accidentally cut off contact with it for days late last month, according to Agence France-Presse.
And “NASA” said in a statement that the probe, which was launched into space in 1977 and is currently located 19.9 billion kilometers from Earth, “is operating normally” and has remained “on its expected path.”
Commands sent on July 21 inadvertently pointed the spacecraft’s antenna in the wrong direction, away from Earth, interrupting data transmissions.
And “NASA” announced earlier this week that it had succeeded in monitoring the “Voyager 2” signal thanks to the “Deep Space Network”, which is an international network of antennas, noting that the probe is in “good health.”
And she explained yesterday that “the equivalent of an interstellar cry” was sent, through which “an order was given to the probe to reorient itself and return its antenna to Earth.”
Can you hear me now? Last night, I reestablished full communications with Earth thanks to some quick thinking and a lot of collaboration. I’m operating normally and remain on my expected trajectory. So glad I can finally phone home.-V2More:
— NASA Voyager (@NASAVoyager) August 4, 2023
Scientists initially ruled out the success of this technique, but the result was positive in the end.
And “NASA” stated that, given the distance at which “Voyager 2” is located, it took just over 18 hours to reach it, and it also took the same time before confirming the result.
And she confirmed that the US space agency is currently receiving scientific data and remote distance measurements from the probe again.
If this method did not work, the agency had hoped that the automatic reorientation maneuver would solve the problem, but this was not expected until next October.
Voyager 2 left the sun’s protective magnetic bubble, called the heliosphere, in December 2018 and is currently traveling through interstellar space.
Before leaving our solar system, Voyager 2 became the first and so far the only spacecraft to visit the outer planets Uranus and Neptune.
Voyager 1 was the first spacecraft in human history to enter the interstellar medium, in 2012, and it is currently about 24 billion kilometers from Earth.
