NASAs Voyager 1 spacecraft is depicted in this artists idea traveling through interstellar area, or the space between stars, which it went into in 2012. Taking a trip on a various trajectory, its twin, Voyager 2, went into interstellar area in 2018. Engineers are working to deal with a concern with one of Voyager 1s three onboard computer systems, called the flight data system (FDS). Introduced in 1977, the spacecraft and its twin, Voyager 2, are the 2 longest-operating spacecraft in history.
Diagnostic Efforts and Delays
Recently, the TMU started transferring a repeating pattern of ones and nos as if it were “stuck.” After ruling out other possibilities, the Voyager team determined that the source of the issue is the FDS. This previous weekend the group tried to restart the FDS and return it to the state it remained in before the problem started, but the spacecraft still isnt returning usable data.
Launched in 1977, the spacecraft and its twin, Voyager 2, are the two longest-operating spacecraft in history. As an outcome, it takes time for the group to understand how a new command will impact the spacecrafts operations in order to avoid unexpected repercussions.
In addition, commands from objective controllers in the world take 22.5 hours to reach Voyager 1, which is checking out the external areas of our solar system more than 15 billion miles (24 billion kilometers) from Earth. That implies the engineering team has to wait 45 hours to get a response from Voyager 1 and determine whether a command had the desired result.
NASAs Voyager 1 spacecraft is illustrated in this artists idea traveling through interstellar space, or the area in between stars, which it went into in 2012. Traveling on a different trajectory, its twin, Voyager 2, got in interstellar space in 2018. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Voyager 1 deals with an interaction glitch in its flight information system, complicating data transmission to Earth and challenging engineers due to the spacecrafts age and distance.
Engineers are working to resolve an issue with one of Voyager 1s three onboard computers, called the flight data system (FDS). The spacecraft is receiving and executing commands sent out from Earth; nevertheless, the FDS is not communicating appropriately with among the probes subsystems, called the telecoms unit (TMU). As an outcome, no science or engineering information is being sent back to Earth.
Amongst other things, the FDS is designed to collect data from the science instruments as well as engineering data about the health and status of the spacecraft. It then integrates that details into a single information “bundle” to be sent back to Earth by the TMU.