Losing contact with your spacecraft is the worst nightmare for any space mission. In the ideal case, it is recovered immediately. The worst-case scenario is that you will never hear anything from your hardware.
The controllers lost touch with Voyager 2 in space on July 21, 2001. They are now waiting to reset the system so they can catch Voyager 2 sending its next message.
What happened? It seems that the spacecraft, located nearly 20 billion kilometers from Earth, is doing well. It is probably sending back all sorts of communications to Earth.
However, the data stream is heading off into the space rather than connecting up with the Deep Space networks. This is because Voyager 2’s antenna was accidentally angled 2 degrees away by a planned series of commands.
Voyager 2 is not communicating with Earth. The two are “talking over” each other.
Regaining contact with Voyager 2.
There is still hope. Yet. The spacecraft is programmed by NASA to reset its direction several times per year in order to keep the antenna pointing toward Earth. The next reset isn’t for months – on October 15th. Voyager 2 will continue on its current trajectory until the reset.
If everything goes according to plan, the team in charge of the spacecraft should be able to hear it again by October 15th. This loss of signal is being characterized as a temporary communication pause. Voyager 2 has no other problems beyond the wrong commands.
The spacecraft features a 3.7 meter wide high-gain antenna. The Deep Space Network is communicated with via both the S band (13cm wavelength) and the X-band (3.6cm wavelength). The spacecraft’s signal takes about 17.5 hours to reach Earth at its current distance. As the spacecraft gets further away, this time increases.
A Glorious Past
Voyager 2 is currently exploring the space beyond our solar system, as well as its twin Voyager 1. Since 1977, Voyager 2 and its twin Voyager 1 have made massive discoveries about planets and outermost limits of the heliosphere. They were able to provide images and data that opened a new perspective on the outer solar system.
Voyager Interstellar Mission is where they are now. Their data will help characterize where the limits of the solar systems lie, and where deep-space begins. Voyager 2 likely Enter interstellar Space It still covers the conditions on the “edge” solar system, but that was a few decades ago.
Voyager 1 still talks with Deep Space Network, despite Voyager 2 being out of communication with Earth. It is about 24 billion kilometers away from Earth.
They’re heading out on two very distinct trajectories across the stars. They can operate for several more years (around 2025) and send information back to Earth regarding their environment.
The engineers working on this project have found a way to extend the power of the spacecraft for a few more years, by tapping into specific onboard reserves.
The spacecraft’s power supply will eventually run out, and they will go silent. Voyager 2’s current power outage is giving mission engineers a first taste of that experience, after “talking”, with these distant satellites for almost five decades.
This article was first published by Universe Today. You can read the Original article.
