AFTER months of disorder, a probe floating in deep space has resumed normal transmission to Earth.
NASA announced Friday that its Voyager 1 spacecraft was fully operational for the first time in months.
“We’re back, baby!” the agency previously announced on X Tweet.
‘Our Voyager 1 spacecraft is operating normally science operations for the first time since November 2023.”
All four of Voyager’s instruments, which examine plasma waves, magnetic fields and particles, provided “useful” data, the agency said.
The probe’s operations faltered when a technical problem arose late last year.
Voyager 1 began beaming gibberish back to Earth, seemingly marking the end of its historic mission.
The mission team asked the spacecraft to send back technical data, including information about the mission health and status, and partially resolved the problem in April.
Two of the probe’s science instruments returned to their normal operating modes, but the other two required additional work.
Last month, engineers performed the second step of the repair process and sent a command to the spacecraft to begin returning science data.
Despite the achievement, minor work is still needed. Engineers plan to carry out a series of tasks in the near future future.
This involves resynchronizing timekeeping software on the spacecraft’s onboard computers so they can execute commands at the correct time.
The team will also repair the digital tape recorder, which collects data for a plasma wave instrument that sends information to Earth twice a year.
Voygaer 1 was launched on September 5, 1977 from Cape Canaveral in Florida, a launch site regularly visited by SpaceX.
The launch of the probe took place on the heels from its sister vessel, Voyager 2, which departed on August 20. This year marks its 47th year in operation.
The pair are not only NASA’s longest-running and farthest spacecraft, but also the only ones to directly sample interstellar space.
This term designates the region outside the heliosphere, or the area around the Sun and the Solar System that is influenced by magnetic fields and solar wind.
No spacecraft has gone further than Voyager 1, which is currently more than 15 billion miles from Earth. By comparison, Voyager 2 is more than 12 billion miles away.
Both probes passed by Jupiter and Saturn, while Voyager 2 also passed by Uranus and Neptune.
Voyager 1 is known for discovering a thin ring around Jupiter and two moons called Thebe and Metis.
The probe also located five new moons and the G ring around Saturn.
Voyager 1 timeline
Here’s a look at NASA’s most remote probe currently exploring deep space
September 1977: Voyager 1 lifts off from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, now Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, in Florida. It will be carried aboard a Titan IIIE-Centaur rocket.
March 1979: Voyager 1 makes its closest approach to Jupiter.
November 1980: The spacecraft makes its closest approach to Saturn.
December 2004: Voyager 1 reaches terminal shock – the first boundary marking the end of the solar system – in the heliosheath.
August 2012: Voyager 1 enters interstellar space for the first time.
September 2017: NASA scientists celebrate four decades since the spacecraft launched.
November 2023: An onboard computer malfunctions and Voyager 1 begins sending nonsense data back to Earth.
June 14, 2024: After a series of repairs, the probe is declared fully operational for the first time in more than half a year.
IN THE FUTURE: Scientists predict that in 300 years the spacecraft will reach the inner edge of the Oort cloud – a shell of icy bodies surrounding the solar system.
Each vessel carries a gold-plated record with images and sounds on Earth in case life is found in deep space.
The contents of the record were selected by a committee led by Cornell Universityby Carl Sagan.
The content includes 115 images and voice greetings in 55 languages.