NASA has found the answer to a conundrum that was causing its 45-year-old spacecraft, Voyager 1, to broadcast garbled data, even as the agency struggles with Artemis 1's engine issues that are holding up the return to human exploration of the moon.
The problem that was causing crucial sensors aboard the four-decade-old spacecraft to transmit "garbled" health data to mission controllers on Earth has been fixed by NASA experts.
Earlier this year, Voyager 1's attitude articulation and control system (AACS), which maintains its antenna pointed towards Earth, began to send back data that didn't accurately represent what was happening aboard.
Although the AACS seemed to be operating correctly, the data it was returning was rejected since it didn't correspond to any plausible condition for the system.
NASA Voyager 1 Now in Good Health After Fixing Glitch on the AACS Module
Now that a patch has been provided for the Voyager-1 spacecraft's earlier issues, which were brought on by a system error, NASA assured the world they had already fixed the item. One of the challenges from the past is the attitude articulation and control system (AACS) of the spacecraft, which maintains the antennas of the space probe pointing at the Earth.
An artist's impression of NASA's Voyager 1 space probe passing behind the rings of Saturn, using cameras and radio equipment to measure how sunlight is affected as it shines between the ring particles. The image was produced in 1977, before the craft was launched, and depicts events due to take place in 1980.
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The space agency stated that other than the known hardware issue, which it is currently working to identify, there are no other issues with the Voyager spacecraft other than this malfunction. Nevertheless, the spacecraft will continue its regularly scheduled activities and concentrate on its Voyager study of the Solar System and neighboring areas.
The team concentrated on instructing the AACS module to transfer its data to the proper computer so that it would receive and comprehend what it was trying to bring home, according to Interesting Engineering. Additionally, the spacecraft's general health is excellent now that this problem has been resolved, allowing it to continue its exploration of the planet.
How NASA Fixed Voyager 1
Voyager project manager Suzanne Dodd said per The Register that the team decided to try a low-risk remedy because they had suspicions about the fundamental problem: directing the AACS to resume transferring the data to the proper computer. This appeared to work, which supported their argument.
Although the reason the probe began transmitting information to the incorrect box is still unknown, NASA thinks it is possible that another onboard computer gave it a bad order. The JPL team said, "If that's the case, it would indicate there is an issue somewhere else on the spacecraft, but we don't think it poses a threat to Voyager 1's long-term health."
Some of the original crew members were present to discuss the astounding fact that we are still receiving data 45 years later from the vessel, which is presently 22.5 billion kilometers (14 billion miles) or around 20 light-hours from Earth.
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