Over the past few months, a large number of astronomy enthusiasts have held their breath over the fate of Voyager 1, one of the most important probes in the history of space exploration. Starting last November, this probe began to send various error signals, which made all astronomers fear the worst.
Known for being one of only two probes capable of having reached interstellar space, Voyager 1 managed to overcome this period of difficulty thanks to NASA engineers, who managed to contact it again last April, after 6 months of apprehension.
Recently, according to a report from the same space agency, the probe has also started using all its scientific instruments again, which although very antiquated – the probe left Earth forever on 5 September 1977 – still allow us to study the mysterious physical properties of spacefar from the solar system.
Specifically, the four scientific instruments available to Voyager 1 are useful for studying the magnetic fields and particles that hit the probe since it moved away from‘heliopausethe natural boundary between the solar system at which the solar wind is stopped by interstellar material.
Currently the twin Voyager probes they belong to the longest operational mission in astronomical research and will together mark 47 years of activity at the end of this year.
Scientists hope to continue the mission as long as possible, as long as the radio waves emitted by the probes are still distinguishable from Earth. However, considering the speed with which these probes travel in space – Voyager 1 travels at 16.9 km per second – technicians fear that within a few years it will be impossible for them to continue to keep in touch.
The minimum objective would be to celebrate 50 years of mission and to continue waiting for their signals until 2028-2030.
Apple AirPods with wired charging case (2nd gen it is one of the best sellers on today
