Due to a control system that doesn’t match the motion, the Voyager 1 spacecraft keeps sending out strange data that confuses NASA after 45 years of space flight.
Simulation of Voyager 1 traveling in interstellar space. Image: NASA
NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft launched in 1977, entered interstellar space in 2012 and is continuing to move through space. Currently, the ship is located 23.3 billion km from Earth. While Voyager 1 is still working fine, recently mission scientists noticed that the vehicle was entangled in its position in space without going into safe mode or sending an alarm.
“That kind of mystery happens at this stage of the mission,” said Suzanne Dodd, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California. “Both spacecraft are nearly 45 years old, far exceeding the expectations of mission planners. The vehicle is in interstellar space, a highly radiating environment that no spacecraft has ever flowed before. “.
Voyager 1’s Earth-Communication and Control System (AACS) is most likely malfunctioning. The AACS system helps the spacecraft and its antennas turn in the right direction. It seems that the AACS is still active because the ship is still receiving orders, performing and transmitting scientific data back to Earth with normal signal strength. However, AACS did not match the ship’s movements and sent junk data back to telemetry.
NASA’s announcement did not specify when the problem started or how long it lasted. According to NASA, researchers will continue to understand the problem and find a way to fix or adjust. It’s a slow process because the signal from Earth takes 20 hours and 33 minutes to reach Voyager 1 and the response time from the spacecraft is equally long.
Voyager also launched in 1977 is operating normally. The amount of electricity the ship can generate is constantly decreasing and the mission team has to turn off some devices to save energy. They hope the probe duo can operate between now and 2025 at least.
An Khang (According to Space)
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