Image of the unmanned space probe “Voyager 2″/NASA/JPL
2023.08.02 Wed posted at 19:11 JST
(CNN) NASA said it had successfully detected a signal from the Voyager 2 spacecraft, which had been out of touch since last month.
Voyager project manager Suzanne Dodd said the mission was to capture signals from Voyager 2 with the help of the Deep Space Network and others. As a result, he was able to see a “heartbeat,” he said, adding that the spacecraft was alive and functioning.
Voyager 2’s antenna has been shifted twice from the Earth due to the command sent on the 21st of last month, and it is in a state where it is unable to receive commands from the Earth and transmit data to the Earth. The plane travels more than 19.9 billion kilometers from Earth.
The craft’s operations team successfully detected the craft’s “carrier signal” using a deep space network. The network consists of huge communication antennas installed in three equally spaced locations around the world (the United States, Spain and Australia), and any antenna can maintain communication with the spacecraft at all times, even if the earth rotates.
The operations team plans to send new commands to Voyager 2 to point its antennas toward Earth. The “unlikely” effort, which sends a signal through a deep space network, NASA says, is like yelling at Voyager 2 to get its attention.
Voyager 2 is so far away that it will take 18.5 hours for this signal to reach us.
Even if the signal does not reach, the plane is programmed several times a year to keep its antenna pointing toward the earth. The next readjustment is on October 15th, and the team hopes that communications will be restored.
However, Dodd said it was “a long wait” and that he “will try to send orders a few times before that day.”
Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 and 2 have faced problems before. As the probe continues to “age”, the team gradually shuts down equipment to conserve power, prolonging the mission’s life. In 2020, Voyager 2 lost communication for seven months.
The team expects Voyager 2 to maintain its planned orbit even if it fails to receive commands. The “twin” Voyager 1 is currently flying about 24 billion kilometers away and continues to operate as expected and maintains communications.
Both spacecraft are the only spacecraft to reach interstellar space after escaping the “heliosphere,” where the sun’s magnetic field and particles reach far beyond Pluto.
