NASA Loses Communication With Voyager 2—Is It Just Temporary?

Joseph Henry, Tech Times 31 July 2023, 10:07 am

In a mission update last July 28, NASA wrote that the communications for the Voyager 2 space probe have been temporarily paused.

While it sounds to be an area of concern for the space agency, NASA said that there's nothing to worry about this issue.

NASA's Voyager 2 Temporarily Becomes Incommunicable

Voyager 2 Loses Communication, But NASA Says it's Just Temporary

(Photo : NASA/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
A NASA image of one of the Voyager space probes. Voyager 1 and its identical sister craft Voyager 2 were launched in 1977 to study the outer Solar System and eventually interstellar space

As NASA said last week, the Voyager 2 has encountered a handful of communication problems. The interstellar spacecraft reportedly became unable to transmit or receive data after some "unexpected change" in its DSN (Deep Space Network) ground antennas.

NASA says that it shouldn't be a concern given that the issue is just temporary. However, while it's a short-lived problem for the Voyager 2 probe, it will still last for some months.

To maintain its antenna's position, NASA highlights that the spacecraft will still undergo multiple resets every year, as per PC Mag.

While it sounds easy on paper, the team behind the probe will need to wait until Oct. 15 before doing the next orientation resets.

Voyager 2 Probe's Interstellar Trip Won't Be Halted

In another report by The Register, NASA says that the Voyager 2's interstellar exploration for 46 years won't be stopped amid the disconnection issue. As said a while ago, it just needs to be recalibrated.

While losing communications is a big deal for data transmission, the space agency says that the trajectory of the space probe will remain unchanged.

Every second, the Voyager 2 travels 15 km further away from Earth. As of writing, it's already afloat at around 32 billion kilometers from the planet.

Additionally, NASA has clarified that the Voyager 1 won't be affected by the glitch. The said spacecraft is reportedly traveling 17 km/sec away from the planet.

Related Article: Voyager 2 Will Continue: Here's What NASA Did

Voyager 1 Isn't Perfect Either

Just like some tools in the lab, NASA needs to launch several adjustments for its probe. Back in 2022, Voyager faced difficulties in data transmission.

At that time, the space org discovered that there was an incorrect routing of the data and this remained dysfunctional for many years.

To address this problem, the engineers pulled off a "telesurgery" to fix Voyager 1's telemetry issue. Right after the procedure was finished, the probe continued to travel and data sending was put on the right track once again.

If a car needs maintenance, it's also imperative to maintain the condition of the space probes at a higher level. If its parts or its features are already outdated, the engineers should step up to upgrade or fix them as soon as possible.

It's interesting to know that the Voyager probe is capable of enabling communications at 160 bits per second. The fact that it's situated 20 light hours from Earth is impressive given its capability to relay information to the scientists on Earth.