NASA Spacecraft Phones Home With Transmitter It Hasn't Used In Last 47 Years

NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft has activated an S-band transmitter due to a communication blackout caused by a technical issue.

NASA spacecraft Voyager 1 has used a radio transmitter it hasn't used in the last 47 years. (Representational Image)

Source : X/@NASAJPL

A NASA spacecraft has started up a radio transmitter to communicate with the space station on Earth that it hasn't relied on since 1981. The development, however, is not out of the woods and came after a technical issue caused days of communication blackout between Voyager 1 and its team on Earth. 

 

The engineers are working to understand what went wrong. 

 

The spacecraft was launched in September 1977 and as it ages, the team has slowly turned off components to conserve power, allowing Voyager 1 to send back unique science data miles away from interstellar space. 

 

 

The communication blackout is one of several issues the ageing vehicle has faced in recent months, but its team has been finding creative solutions so the storied explorer can zoom along on its cosmic journey through uncharted territory, as per a CNN report. 

 

On October 16, a command to activate Voyager 1's heaters triggered its autonomous fault protection system, which conserves power by shutting off non-essential systems. The team lost contact on October 18 but detected the spacecraft's response signal later that day using the Deep Space Network.

 

However, communication ceased on October 19, likely due to additional fault protection system triggers. Engineers suspect this switched off the primary X-band transmitter, shifting Voyager 1 to the less powerful S-band transmitter.

 

 

Despite initial doubts, Deep Space Network engineers detected the faint S-band signal. The team won't reactivate the X-band transmitter until they understand the fault protection system trigger, potentially taking weeks.

 

While the S-band signal allows command transmission, it's too weak for long-term use or telemetry. Engineers aim to restore the X-band transmitter to retrieve data revealing the glitch's cause.