WASHINGTON: Nasa’s Voyager 1 probe — probably the most distant man-made object within the universe — is returning usable data to floor management following months of spouting gibberish, the US house company introduced Monday.
The spaceship stopped sending readable information again to Earth on November 14, 2023, despite the fact that controllers might inform it was nonetheless receiving their instructions.
In March, groups working at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory found {that a} single malfunctioning chip was accountable, and devised a intelligent coding repair that labored throughout the tight reminiscence constraints of its 46-year-old pc system.
“Voyager 1 spacecraft is returning usable information concerning the well being and standing of its onboard engineering methods,” the company stated.
“The following step is to allow the spacecraft to start returning science information once more.”
Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 was mankind’s first spacecraft to enter the interstellar medium, in 2012, and is at present greater than 15 billion miles from Earth. Messages despatched from Earth take about 22.5 hours to succeed in the spacecraft.
Its twin, Voyager 2, additionally left the photo voltaic system in 2018.
Each Voyager spacecraft carry “Golden Data” — 12-inch, gold-plated copper disks supposed to convey the story of our world to extraterrestrials.
These embrace a map of our photo voltaic system, a chunk of uranium that serves as a radioactive clock permitting recipients up to now the spaceship’s launch, and symbolic directions that convey how you can play the file.
The contents of the file, chosen for Nasa by a committee chaired by legendary astronomer Carl Sagan, embrace encoded photos of life on Earth, in addition to music and sounds that may be performed utilizing an included stylus.
Their energy banks are anticipated to be depleted someday after 2025. They are going to then proceed to wander the Milky Means, probably for eternity, in silence.
The spaceship stopped sending readable information again to Earth on November 14, 2023, despite the fact that controllers might inform it was nonetheless receiving their instructions.
In March, groups working at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory found {that a} single malfunctioning chip was accountable, and devised a intelligent coding repair that labored throughout the tight reminiscence constraints of its 46-year-old pc system.
“Voyager 1 spacecraft is returning usable information concerning the well being and standing of its onboard engineering methods,” the company stated.
“The following step is to allow the spacecraft to start returning science information once more.”
Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 was mankind’s first spacecraft to enter the interstellar medium, in 2012, and is at present greater than 15 billion miles from Earth. Messages despatched from Earth take about 22.5 hours to succeed in the spacecraft.
Its twin, Voyager 2, additionally left the photo voltaic system in 2018.
Each Voyager spacecraft carry “Golden Data” — 12-inch, gold-plated copper disks supposed to convey the story of our world to extraterrestrials.
These embrace a map of our photo voltaic system, a chunk of uranium that serves as a radioactive clock permitting recipients up to now the spaceship’s launch, and symbolic directions that convey how you can play the file.
The contents of the file, chosen for Nasa by a committee chaired by legendary astronomer Carl Sagan, embrace encoded photos of life on Earth, in addition to music and sounds that may be performed utilizing an included stylus.
Their energy banks are anticipated to be depleted someday after 2025. They are going to then proceed to wander the Milky Means, probably for eternity, in silence.
