Viking Voyagers: Repairs Extend Spacecraft's Life Nearing 50-Year Mark

NASA's Voyager 1 Is Fully Operational Again After Long-Distance Repairs

"The spacecraft has resumed gathering information about interstellar space." – NASA

Last Thursday, NASA announced the resumption of normal operations for Voyager 1, which is now traveling through interstellar space over 15 billion miles from Earth.

The spacecraft began sending corrupted data last November, sparking months of tedious troubleshooting by engineers. With a one-way communication time of 22.5 hours, each interaction was a 2-day process.

In April, the issue was traced to a single chip, and engineers rearranged code to bypass it. By last month, two science instruments were functional, and now, all systems are operational.

Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 is the longest-operating spacecraft in history. Its mission has been extended multiple times, and it is now providing invaluable data on interstellar space.

The craft is famous for its " Pale Blue Dot" photograph of Earth, taken in 1990, 3.7 billion miles from the Sun. It was the first spacecraft to enter interstellar space in 2012 and continues to transmit data on plasma waves, magnetic fields, and particles.

Voyager 1 carries a copy of the "Golden Record"—a disc containing sounds and images from Earth, curated by Carl Sagan.

Currently traveling 1 million miles per day, Voyager 1's journey will continue until at least early next year when power levels may " prevent further operation".

---