Jakarta –
Voyager 2, a spacecraft that has been exploring interstellar space at the edge of the Solar System, lost contact. After a lot of effort, team NASA finally able to hear some kind of ‘heartbeat’ from the plane.
“We asked for help from the (Deep Space Network) and the Radio Science group to help see if we could hear signals from Voyager 2,” said Suzanne Dodd, Voyager project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
“This attempt was successful because we saw the ‘heartbeat’ signal from the spacecraft. So, we know the spacecraft is alive and operational. This raises our spirits,” he added.
As reported, the command sent to Voyager 2 on July 21 accidentally caused the probe’s antenna to turn 2 degrees from Earth. The shift meant that Voyager 2 was unable to receive any commands or transmit data back to Earth from its location more than 119.9 billion kilometers in interstellar space.
The NASA mission team was surprised to detect Voyager signals using the Deep Space Network, an international array of massive radio antennas that allows NASA to communicate with missions throughout the cosmos.
Now, the mission team is trying to transmit Voyager 2 signals. “We are now sending out new commands to try to point the spacecraft’s antenna to Earth. There is a low chance of success,” said Dodd.
If a signal does not reach Voyager 2, it has been programmed to change course several times a year to keep its antennae pointed toward Earth. The next reset is scheduled for October 15, and the team hopes this program will allow communications to resume. “But the wait is long, so we’ll try to send orders a few times before then,” said Dodd.
This is not the first time that Voyager 2 and its sister Voyager 1, both launched in 1977, have encountered problems. As the old probe continued to explore the cosmos, the team slowly turned off the instruments to conserve power. Both Voyager 1 and 2 have experienced unforeseen problems, including a 7-month period when Voyager 2 and the Deep Space Network were unable to communicate in 2020.
The team expects Voyager 2 stay on the planned trajectory, even without receiving orders. Meanwhile, Voyager 1, which is nearly 24 billion kilometers from Earth, is continuing to operate as expected and communicating with the Deep Space Network.
Watch Video “NASA Lost Contact with Voyager 2, which Has Been Exploring the Universe for 46 Years”
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2023-08-03 22:45:18
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