The team under NASA's Voyager 1 probe is hard at work in diagnosing new issues plaguing the system on its current trajectory. Suffering from some internal malfunctions specifically afflicting its Attitude Articulation and Control System, the Voyager 1 spacecraft is having a hard time accurately defining its relative location and trying to amend the problem via communication with Voyager 1 fully is a task unto itself.
Launched into the vast beyond all the way back in 1977, NASA's Voyager 1 probe proved no sooner to become among the most prominent pieces of space-bound equipment ever conceived. It was initially intended to last a mere five years, and yet even still to this day, the question of are we still in contact with Voyager 1 surprisingly remains a resounding yes, if only a bit complicated.
During a hearing amid the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine's Space Studies Board held on Thursday, June 9th, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, Thomas Zurbuchen, said simply, "We have a problem with the Voyager 1 spacecraft." He added that the construct's onboard antenna and orientation functionality, the aforementioned Attitude Articulation, and Control System are "not reflecting what's actually happening on board."
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The Voyager 1 location, which is nearing over 14.5 billion miles from earth, proves to make the ongoing adjustments more than a little convoluted and incredibly slow. This vast distance between NASA and the probe itself makes Voyager 1 communication a tedious process likened to having a full discussion with someone in which a single word takes a day to receive between both parties.
"Imagine you have a conversation with somebody in which you can only say a word every day. And you only hear back every other day. That's the kind of discussion that we have," Zurbuchen explained.
Zurbuchen noted that everything else on the spacecraft is operating smoothly, but pinpointing the exact issue plaguing its locational disarray makes for a tedious and tin-consuming process that will surely be amended in due time. On top of the distance and the location error causing problems for the team, Voyager 1's nuclear power source, which is intended to heat the device on the 38,210 mph voyage, has long since malfunctioned, causing the device to grow incredibly cold in its endeavors.
Zurbuchen also made a point to highlight the fact that Voyager 1 can't go on forever, as it is now a 45-year-long cosmic adventure that proves to be one of immense luck and staying power. Experts estimate that Voyager 1 will simply stop working by 2030, but previous issues prove its time is on the near horizon, as evidenced via more recent anomalous telemetry concerns, making diagnosing Voyager 1 issues all the more difficult.
Despite it all, Voyager 1 has pulled through, and current concerns may well lean negatively. The spacecraft's elongated lifespan and consistent communication highlight its avid willingness to continue in its space-bound trek. The team at NASA, too, seems more than willing to take up the various challenges in keeping the Voyager 1 probe in flight.
