Voyager 1. behind the mysterious messages of

Voyager 1 given to the US space agency NASA Secrets for a week. In mid-May, spacecraft began sending strange messages to Earth Send, At the time, NASA spoke of “unusual telemetry data”. Voyager 1 gave the impression that the data was generated completely randomly. They also did not agree with their position in space and their orientation.

NASA engineers have now identified the problem – and Solved, The space agency said in a statement on Wednesday known,

faulty on-board computer

already in june you guessedso-called “problematic telemetry data from”Attitude Expression and Control System“, low AACS, Come. It is the instrument aboard Voyager that measures, reports and adjusts the probe’s position in space.

According to NASA, AACS has produced A. started collecting data on onboard computer To send, which has not worked properly for many years. This falsified Voyager’s information.

reason remains unclear

Voyager 1 engineers then ordered the AACS to send the data back to the correct, onboard computer. According to NASA, it is still unclear why the probe sent telemetry data to the faulty instrument not clear,

“We’re glad we have telemetry data again,” says Susan Dodd, project leader of the Voyager mission. “We’re going to do a full memory scan of the AACS and look at what it’s doing. That will help us diagnose the telemetry problem,” Dodd explains.

NASA wants to shut down probe

According to NASA, such problems are not uncommon in the current phase of the Voyager mission. because the investigation is almost done 45 years Not all equipment in space works properly.

The Voyager mission is considered one of NASA’s most successful ventures. because they really need 1977 Launched probes, Voyager 1 and 2, only 4 years Explore the universe for a long time. They sent images and data from the outer solar system back to Earth, including close-ups of the gas giants Jupiter And saturn as well as their moons Ganymede, Europa and Titan.

However, the days of the two investigations are numbered. NASA wants to keep the energy consumption of both spacecraft to a minimum this year to reduce, The agency announced this in June. It is understood that at least 2025 will deliver the data.