Interstellar… It’s not just the title of a blockbuster sci-fi movie, it’s the truth for the Voyager 1 spacecraft, a 45-year-old explorer exploring the cosmos outside our solar system and having some problems with age and distance. NASA JPL announced Tuesday that the Voyager crew has found the source of a frustrating data glitch.
NASA described the problem as a mystery by sharing it in May. Voyager 1 was sending back strange, garbled telemetry data from the attitude articulation and control system (AACS), which is responsible for positioning the spacecraft and making sure its antenna is pointed in the right direction to communicate with Earth. However, the review tool seemed to work normally.
Diagnosing and fixing an issue is difficult when Voyager 1 is so far away, but the team managed to fix it. “AACS began sending telemetry data through an onboard computer that was known to stop working years ago, and the computer corrupted the information,” NASA JPL said in a statement. The fix included telling AACS to go back to the correct computer to send the data.
While the solution may seem simple, the glitch points to the possibility of a deeper problem. Engineers don’t know why this issue arose in the first place, but another computer sending a faulty command could be the culprit. Voyager project manager Suzanne Dodd said the team is cautiously optimistic but will continue to investigate the matter.
Voyager and its twin, Voyager 2, were launched in 1977, and both are currently outside our solar system. The NASA Voyager Twitter account, which broadcast with the sound of the spacecraft, wrote, “The crew has declared me healthy, which is great because I still have more interstellar explorations to do!” He also did not neglect to send a tweet.
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