Voyager 1 reestablishes communication with Earth using backup transmitter last used in 1981
The spacecraft was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, in 1977 and is drifting through interstellar space. Both Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 carry Golden Records, which contain sounds and images from Earth in case extraterrestrial civilizations encounter the probes.
See what's new in the journey to reach the Moon
What's next for exploration of Earth's only natural satellite.
PASADENA, Calif. – NASA says it has reestablished communication with its Voyager 1 spacecraft after a brief outage from more than 15 billion miles away from Earth.
The spacecraft, launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, in 1977, is now using what is known as an S-band transmitter after the apparent shutdown of the X-band transmitter.
NASA says that the bands are comparable, but the S-band has significantly lower data transmission rates and a fainter signal that can still be detected from Earth.
The spacecraft is the furthest human-made object from Earth and has traveled beyond planets into what is known as interstellar space.
Interstellar space is the region beyond the Sun’s gravitational and magnetic influence and has only been explored by the Voyager spacecraft.
SEE RENDERINGS OF SPACE STATION TO BE BUILT AROUND THE MOON
![Artist rendering of the Voyager 1 spacecraft]()
Image 1 of 3Artist rendering of the Voyager 1 spacecraft ( )
![A schematic showing the science experiments on Voyager.]()
Image 2 of 3A schematic showing the science experiments on Voyager. (NASA)
![Image of Voyager.]()
Image 3 of 3Image of Voyager. (NASA)
The environment that makes up the region is rather harsh, with temperatures thought to be around absolute zero (nearly -460 degrees F), high radiation levels and various types of debris.
Over the decades, operators at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory have turned off non-essential systems to conserve power, to keep the spacecraft in a viable state during its journey.
"The flight team suspected that Voyager 1’s fault protection system was triggered twice more and that it turned off the X-band transmitter and switched to a second radio transmitter called the S-band," NASA stated. "While the S-band uses less power, Voyager 1 had not used it to communicate with Earth since 1981. It uses a different frequency than the X-band transmitters signal (and) is significantly fainter."
Voyager 2 has also experienced intermittent issues as aging begins to take a toll on the more than four-decade-old spacecraft.
The probe has exhibited intermittent communication issues and degradation of its control thrusters.
Voyager 2 is currently about 13 billion miles from Earth, and NASA estimates that in approximately 40,000 years, it will approach a star called Ross 248, which is more than 10 light-years away.
SEE THE OBJECTS HUMANS LEFT BEHIND ON THE MOON
Both voyagers exceeded initial operational estimates, which predicted that at least one instrument would remain operational through 2025.
Even after all instruments cease operations, NASA scientists anticipate years of data analysis from ongoing transmissions.
The golden record is a 12-inch gold-plated copper phonograph record that was attached to both the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecrafts.
(NASA)
The spacecraft are destined to eternally wander through the Milky Way and carry Golden Records, which contain sounds and images from Earth in case extraterrestrial civilizations encounter the probes.
The agency says that the records include 115 images, various natural sounds, music, greetings from people in 55 languages and messages from President Jimmy Carter and U.N. Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim.