The Voyager 1 spacecraft is back in full operation after months of problems

Voyager 1, the farthest human-made spacecraft from Earth, has all four scientific instruments operational again! This good news was announced by NASA this week. This means the agency is once again receiving data on plasma waves, polar fields and particles in space from Voyager 1.

Previously, in November, Voyager 1 stopped sending accurate data. Troubleshooting is quite complicated because engineers have to wait up to 45 hours to receive a response signal. In April, NASA reactivated the feature to send information about the spacecraft’s operating status, followed by science data from the two instruments in May.

Currently, NASA says Voyager 1, more than 24 billion kilometers from Earth, is “performing normal scientific activities.” The agency just needed to resynchronize time-tracking software and maintain a rarely used digital tape recorder.

This is encouraging for a probe that has been operating for nearly 47 years. Voyager 1 was launched in 1977 on a five-year mission to fly by Jupiter and Saturn. Despite occasional problems with both Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, NASA has found ways to extend the life of the spacecraft, such as using backup power sources or activating thrusters that have been inactive for nearly three decades.

This is a great opportunity for you to review or explore the beautiful posters of Voyager 1, like the one above, published by NASA on their website .