NASA engineers have been trying to fix the link between Voyager 1 and Earth since March 7, 2024, when they started decoding the spacecraft’s memory readout. The spacecraft is over 24 billion kilometers away, so it takes over 22 hours for a signal to arrive and another 22 hours for a response to arrive on Earth. The team has found a complete data dump from the FDS, but are still analyzing the data to find the cause. They are comparing the new FDS readout to data sent back last year before the glitch, and are hoping to devise a fix based on that information. 

The problem is related to two of the spacecraft’s three main computers. The flight data system (FDS) collects data from scientific instruments and the spacecraft’s health, then processes and combines it into a single data package. The spacecraft uses a binary system to communicate, using two numbers, zero and one, to represent all kinds of information. 

NASA is confident they can resolve the issue, but it will take some time to implement. The team will want to be sure before attempting to fix the spacecraft, which is 15 billion miles (24 billion kilometers) from Earth

Voyagers 1 and 2 were, to put it simply, incredible. They were true explorers and unveiled many mysteries of the outer Solar System, revealing the outer planets in all their glory. Communication with Voyager 1 has until recently been possible, slow but possible

As of December 12, 2023, NASA announced that Voyager 1’s flight data system is unable to use its telemetry modulation unit. This means the probe can’t transmit scientific data back to Earth. However, the spacecraft can still receive and carry out commands from the mission team

NASA is hopeful to stay in contact with Voyager 1 and 2 until their 50th anniversary in 2027. The Voyager spacecraft are expected to continue their missions until about 2030

Voyager 1 and 2 are not expected to return to Earth. They are traveling away from the solar system at a rate of about 500 million kilometers (300 million miles) per year. They will eventually run out of fuel. 

However, the spacecraft and Earth’s orbits periodically bring them closer together. This happens when Earth’s faster orbit around the sun brings it closer to Voyager 1’s orbit. For a few months each year, Earth moves toward the spacecraft faster than it moves away

They are both headed outward, never to return to Earth. So, can they get closer? The answer is that for a few months each year, Earth in its orbit moves toward the spacecraft faster than they’re moving away. Earth’s motion around the sun is faster than the motion of the Voyager spacecraft

Story of voyager missions

NASA’s Voyager mission is a series of projects that launched two identical spacecraft, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, into space in 1977. The mission’s original purpose was to explore Jupiter and Saturn, but was later expanded to include Uranus and Neptune. The spacecraft have provided valuable data and inspired future space missions. Voyager 1 and 2 were the first spacecraft to reach interstellar space

Here are some of the discoveries made by the Voyager missions:

• Voyager 1 In 2012, Voyager 1 became the first man-made object to leave the solar system, entering “interstellar space”. It took 32,000 pictures of Jupiter, Saturn, and their moons and rings. Voyager 1 also closely approached Saturn’s moon, Titan. 
• Voyager 2 Voyager 2 became the first spacecraft to observe Neptune up close, and the first to visit four planets beyond Earth. 
• Galileo mission The discoveries made by Voyager led to the Galileo mission to the moons of Jupiter, including Europa. The mission was extended to make a total of 12 close flybys of Europa. Each spacecraft carries a copy of the golden record, a missive from Earth to any alien lifeforms that may find the probes in the future.

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