NASA will want a miracle to repair glitched Voyager 1 probe

In a nutshell: Essentially the most distant human-made object from Earth is on life assist following a pc glitch late final yr that dangers ending the mission. In mid-November, the almost 50-year-old area probe misplaced the power to ship again essential telemetry knowledge to engineers right here on Earth. With out the precious insights, flight management specialists don’t have any clue how the craft’s energy, management, or propulsion techniques are doing.

Because it stands, Voyager I continues to hurry into the unknown at 38,000 mph. It is considered one of simply two craft working in interstellar area – the opposite being its twin, Voyager 2, which left Earth 16 days earlier than Voyager 1 again in 1977.

NASA stated Voyager I’s points are associated to its Flight Knowledge Subsystem (FDS), which collects data from the craft’s numerous science devices and sensors and bundles it up right into a single package deal for transmission to Earth. Again in November, the information packages began containing a repeated sample of zeros and ones.

Engineers imagine it’s a body syncing difficulty stemming from corrupted reminiscence within the FDS however with out correct telemetry knowledge, it is very robust to pinpoint the placement of the dangerous reminiscence.

Suzanne Dodd, Voyager undertaking supervisor at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, informed Ars Technica that they have not given up but. There are different issues they’ll attempt, she stated, including that it would be a miracle if they’ll get the probe again. It is essentially the most major problem Dodd has needed to take care of since being a undertaking supervisor, she famous.

One method NASA plans to attempt is to modify the FDS into totally different modes, just like the one it used when it performed its flyby of Jupiter in 1979 and Saturn the next yr. The thought is that maybe a distinct mode would possibly assist isolate the defective reminiscence. It is dangerous contemplating Voyager 1 hasn’t used these modes in additional than 40 years however at this level, it is a danger versus reward factor. While you’re exhausted different choices to no avail, something is price attempting.