The NASA Voyager 1 spacecraft shown in this illustration has been exploring our solar system since 1977, along with its twin, Voyager 2. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech
While the Voyager 1 spacecraft continues to return scientific data and operate normally, the mission team is looking for the source of the system data problem.
The engineering team of NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft is trying to solve a mystery: the interstellar explorer is working normally, receiving and executing commands from Earth, along with collecting and returning scientific data. But the readings from the probe articulation and position control system (AACS) do not reflect what is actually happening on board.
AACS controls the orientation of the 45-year-old spacecraft. Among other tasks, it keeps the high-gain antenna of Voyager 1 pointed directly at the Earth, which allows it to send data home. All indications are that the AACS is still working, but the telemetry data it returns is invalid. For example, the data may appear randomly generated or may not reflect a possible state in which AACS may be.
The problem has not triggered any on-board fault protection systems designed to put the spacecraft in “safe mode” – a condition in which only basic operations are performed, giving engineers time to diagnose the problem. The Voyager 1 signal has not weakened either, suggesting that the high-gain antenna remains in its prescribed Earth orientation.
The team will continue to monitor the signal closely as it continues to determine whether invalid data comes directly from AACS or another system involved in the production and transmission of telemetry data. Until the nature of the problem is better understood, the team cannot predict whether this could affect how long the spacecraft can collect and transmit scientific data.
Voyager 1 is currently 14.5 billion miles (23.3 billion kilometers) from Earth, and it takes 20 hours and 33 minutes for light to cover that difference. This means that it takes approximately two days to send a message to Voyager 1 and receive a response – a delay that the mission team is well accustomed to.
“Such a mystery is the norm for this course of the Voyager mission,” said Susanne Dodd, Voyager 1 and 2 Project Manager at NASA’s Southern California Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “Both spacecraft are almost 45 years old, which is far beyond what the mission is planning. We are also in interstellar space, a high-radiation environment in which no spacecraft has flown before. So there are some big challenges for engineering. But I think if there’s a way to solve this problem with AACS, our team will find it. “
The team may not find the source of the anomaly and instead adapt to it, Dodd said. If they find the source, they may be able to solve the problem through software changes or potentially by using one of the spacecraft’s redundant hardware systems.
This will not be the first time the Voyager team has relied on backup hardware: in 2017, Voyager 1’s main engines showed signs of degradation, so engineers switched to another set of pushers that were originally used during the planet’s collisions. the spaceship. These pushers worked, although they had not been used for 37 years.
Voyager 1’s twin, Voyager 2 (currently 12.1 billion miles or 19.5 billion kilometers from Earth), continues to operate normally.
Launched in 1977, both Voyagers have worked much longer than planned, and are the only spacecraft to collect data in interstellar space. The information they provide from this region has helped to better understand the heliosphere, the diffuse barrier that the sun creates around the planets in our solar system.
Each spacecraft produces about 4 watts less electricity per year, limiting the number of systems the spacecraft can operate. The mission’s engineering team has shut down various subsystems and heaters to conserve power for scientific instruments and critical systems. Scientific tools have not yet been ruled out as a result of declining power, and the Voyager team is working to keep the two spacecraft operational and bring back unique science after 2025.
As the engineers continue to work on solving the mystery presented to them by Voyager 1, the scientists on the mission will continue to make the most of the data coming from the unique perspective of the spacecraft.
Voyager 2 engineers work to restore normal operations More information: For more information about the Voyager spacecraft, visit: www.nasa.gov/voyager Provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Citation: Engineers researching NASA Voyager 1 telemetry data (2022, May 18), extracted on May 18, 2022 from
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