Voyager 1 briefly stopped communicating with Earth on October 18, when NASA’s Deep Space Network failed to detect its signal; the next day’s scheduled attempt also came up empty. The signal returned on October 20, easing fears that the nearly 50-year-old probe had reached the end of its mission. Engineers are investigating the cause. A group of thrusters appears to have stopped working and backup thrusters switched on, possibly after the spacecraft’s onboard computers detected a fault and entered safe mode. Mission manager Kareem Badaruddin said this behavior is unprecedented, though the team expects surprises as the spacecraft ages.
The interruption underscores the difficulty of keeping both Voyager probes operational. Voyager 1 has already lost one of its two radio transmitters after a low-power event, while Voyager 2 experienced an antenna-pointing problem in 2023. Controllers recently completed a power-saving overhaul, called the “Big Bang,” shutting down some equipment and using lower-power alternatives to extend the probes’ working lives and preserve more instruments. Voyager 1 is nearing the distance at which a command will take 24 hours to arrive, with another day needed for a reply. When communication truly ends, engineers plan to listen for months and rule out problems on Earth before declaring the mission over. For now, both spacecraft may continue returning data for several more years.
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