Almost 44 years since NASA launched Voyager 2, the ship has passed through Neptune, Uranus, and is in interstellar space.
At the end of March last year, NASA halted the upgrade to the train control controller, the DSS43 radio antenna near Canberra, Australia. It is part of the DSN (Deep Space Network) system with space radio stations in California, the United States and Spain. On February 12, the US space agency reopened the only communication channel between Earth and the ship.
Voyager 2 flies down from the Earth plane. Currently, it takes about 35 hours to transmit information to the vessel.
The DSS 43 is a 70m long disk antenna that has been operating since 1973. The device is long overdue compared to this year’s Mars expedition missions, or planetary research projects, other crystals in the future. Stopping and removing the upgrade could pose great risks to the Voyager 2 in the long run.
While the ship can transmit information to land via smaller antennas located in Canberra while DSS 43 is down, there has been no way to contact Voyager 2 in the past year. Assuming there was an error aboard the most distant spacecraft from Earth, NASA would be powerless to make repairs remotely.
“We were able to breathe a sigh of relief. Happy to confirm that the ship is still ‘talking’ to us, ”said Glen Nagle, director of the Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex.
NASA officials in the United States also appreciate the repair efforts of their colleagues in Australia. “Canberra DSN members have done the job with pride, especially in the face of a pandemic. I have full confidence in the ability of this antenna to function for the next decades. It has been a long time since this adventure started, ”said Suzanne Dodd, Voyager Mission Project Manager.
Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 both hold the record for the spacecraft with the longest range and longest operation. Voyager 2 has had a few issues over the years, but still feels good in the dark overall, making new discoveries about the boundaries between the solar system and the Milky Way.
“Researchers are bringing Voyager data together with data obtained from telescopes on Earth, or space telescopes. It is interesting that we move from one mission to another. Now this is a great mission in the history of mankind, ”Ms. Dodd said.
Ms Dodd also said US researchers were preparing to turn off one of the ship’s sensors, the low-energy charged particle. This is to ensure that the limited power supply on board can still keep other systems, especially the communication antenna, sufficiently hot.
The data targets set for Voyager are slowly decreasing to increase the life of the ship. The research team estimates that the two ships can operate for another 4 to 8 years.
