2023-08-01 19:35:08
AP
Cape Canaveral (United States)
Updated Tuesday, August 1, 2023 – 19:35
Those responsible for the project try to direct their antennas towards Earth again
Voyager probe in a 2002AFP image | POT
After an interruption of several daysNASA has resumed contact with Voyager 2 found in deep space billions of kilometers from Earth. Flight controllers accidentally sent the wrong command about two weeks ago and tilted the probe’s antennae away from Earth, breaking contact.
NASA’s Deep Space Network, which has antennas stationed around the world, has sensed a “heartbeat” that indicates the 46-year-old probe is working fine, project manager Suzanne Dodd said in an email Tuesday.
The news “lifted our spirits,” Dodd said. Controllers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California now will try to straighten Voyager 2’s antennas again so they point back to Earth.
If the command doesn’t work – and the controllers doubt it will work – they will have to wait until October when the probe automatically restarts. The antenna is deviated by only 2%. “That’s a long time to wait, so we’ll keep sending commands multiple times” until then, Dodd said.
Voyager 2 was launched in 1977, along with its identical twin Voyager 1, on a mission to explore exoplanets.
Voyager 1 continues to function and communicate well. It is 24 billion kilometers (15 billion miles) from Earth, the most distant spacecraft to date.
Voyager 2 lags behind, being 19 billion kilometers (12 billion miles) from Earth. At that distance, each signal takes more than 18 hours to arrive in each direction.
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