NASA’s Voyager 1 overcomes malfunction, resumes full operations, and transmits valuable data

NASA’s Voyager 1 has resumed full operations, ending a period of silence. The spacecraft, which had stopped transmitting usable data since November 2023, is now once again providing valuable information from its four scientific instruments.

Launched on September 5, 1977, Voyager 1 had been sending garbled data instead of its usual binary code while being over 15 billion miles from Earth. Given its 46-year journey, such malfunctions were not entirely unexpected. The Voyager 1 team traced the problem to the flight data subsystem (FDS) responsible for packaging and sending data back to Earth.

A detailed investigation pinpointed the exact chip causing the issue, allowing the team to develop a workaround. By April 20, 2024, Voyager 1 began sending coherent data again, initially from two of its instruments. Now, all four scientific instruments are operational and effectively communicating with mission control.

Voyager 1’s primary mission from 1977 to 1980 involved conducting flybys of Jupiter and Saturn to collect data on these planets and their moons. Since completing its primary mission, Voyager 1 has continued its journey toward interstellar space, providing valuable information about the outer regions of the Solar System and the interstellar medium.

With Voyager 1 back online, the team will focus on further restoration efforts, including resynchronizing its timekeeping software and maintaining the digital tape recorder used to measure plasma waves.

Voyager 1’s Journey:
In 1979, Voyager 1 sent back detailed images and data of Jupiter, its rings, and its moons, including volcanic activity on Io. In 1980, the probe provided unprecedented close-up images and data of Saturn, its rings, and its largest moon, Titan. In 1990, Voyager 1 captured a famous photograph of Earth from about 6 billion kilometers away, showing our planet as a tiny dot in the vastness of space. On August 25, 2012, Voyager 1 became the first human-made object to enter interstellar space by crossing the heliopause, the boundary where the Sun’s influence wanes and the interstellar medium begins.