The Voyager 1 probe has returned readable data for the first time in over five months

JPL managed to obtain readable data from the Voyager 1 probe for the first time since November 2023. This is an important moment for the space mission that has been exploring space for over 40 years. Voyager 1 is also the farthest functioning artificial object ever.

Voyager 1 had communication problems for about five months, starting on November 14, 2023 when it began returning incomprehensible data to the ground. In March 2024, JPL discovered that the problem was due to a chip in the memory of one of the three on-board computers, the flight data subsystem (FDS).

This computer is responsible for packaging the probe’s scientific data and analysis data before they are returned to Earth. In fact, the probe, despite having completed its main scientific mission some time ago and despite almost all the scientific instruments being turned off, continues to detect important data.

The solution

NASA decided that to solve the problem it was necessary to bypass it, moving the operating code of this computer to another part of the on-board memory. Unfortunately, however, there was no other portion or another sufficiently large memory and therefore the code was divided into several parts. Each part of the code was placed on a different chip.

The difficulty at this point was making the code work together even if positioned in different areas of the on-board memory. This new code was sent to the probe on April 18, and 45 hours later, on April 20, the signal arrived from Voyager 1. The JPL team received information on the probe’s status for the first time in more than five months. .

It took so long to receive a response because Voyager 1 is more than 15 billion miles from Earth, and a radio signal takes 22 and a half hours to reach the probe, and another 22 and a half hours to return to Earth .

In the coming weeks, JPL will also adjust the other portions of the probe’s memory, in particular the one that returns scientific data to the ground.