NASA Successfully Reconnects with Voyager 1 Using Decades-Old Technology
NASA has successfully reconnected with the interstellar Voyager 1 spacecraft, located nearly 15 billion miles from Earth, after a brief communication interruption that triggered the spacecraft’s fault protection system. The agency re-established a connection using a frequency not used in over four decades, showcasing the enduring capabilities of the spacecraft’s systems.
The issue began on November 14, 2023, when Voyager 1 stopped sending readable data to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. It wasn’t until April that communication was restored, highlighting the long distances involved in interstellar spacecraft operations. Engineers suspect the spacecraft’s fault protection system, which autonomously responds to onboard issues, was the cause of the communication pause. This system is designed to conserve power by turning off non-essential systems when the spacecraft uses too much power from its supply source.
On October 16, the team sent a command to activate one of the spacecraft’s heaters, which took over 46 hours to travel to Voyager 1 and return. Despite the command, the fault protection system was triggered, and the Deep Space Network was unable to detect the signal. The team eventually switched to the S-band, a less powerful radio transmitter, which has not been used since 1981.
Through persistent efforts, the Deep Space Network was able to detect the spacecraft’s communication from the S-band, and the team is now working to determine the cause of the fault protection system activation to return Voyager 1 to normal operations.