Voyager 1 Sending Bizarre Signals Baffling Scientists
ScienceAlert has reported that NASA’s probe, Voyager 1, is causing stress for scientists as a glitch in its functioning has resulted in a repetitive jumble of 1s and 0s being sent back to Earth. The probe’s ability to properly communicate is broken somehow, and NASA has to figure out how to fix the technological relic from 15 billion miles away.
Launched In 1977
Voyager 1 is the most distant human-made object from Earth. The probe was launched 16 days after its twin, Voyager 2 (which is also still functioning), way back in 1977.
For more than 45 years, Voyager 1 has been exploring space, but the probe was never meant to last as long as it has.
The main objective of sending Voyager 1 and 2 into space was to get a better look at Jupiter and Saturn.
Well, the probe passed those planets years ago and continues to travel further and further away from Earth deeper into interstellar space.
Both probes have since left our Sun’s heliosphere completely.
NASA Still Receiving Commands
NASA has reported that Voyager 1 is still able to receive commands from engineers, but the messages take nearly a whole day to reach the probe’s computers.
It could take days before NASA scientists are able to tell whether or not their attempts at fixing the probe’s communications systems have worked.
However, this isn’t the first time Voyager 1 has had issues with its communications system. Just last year, the probe began sending data through a broken onboard computer, thus corrupting messages that were sent to Earth.
That particular issue took NASA scientists several months to iron out.
Flight Data System
Voyager 1’s current communication issue stems from the probe’s flight data system (or FDS) and the telemetry modulation unit (or TMU) on the probe.
The communication between the two systems is jammed and jumbled somehow, leading to a blackout in information production. NASA isn’t getting any intel on the probe’s health and status either.
Fixable Issue?
While NASA does believe the issue is fixable, it’s a stark reminder of the impending end of the Voyager 1’s mission. Eventually, both Voyager 1 and 2 will fall silent for good, as their power generators will not last forever.
It’s estimated that once the probes move beyond the Oort Cloud (a spherical layer of icy objects surrounding the Sun) to the edge of the Kuiper Belt, they will both go out of commission for good.
Days Are Numbered
Voyager 1’s days are numbered. The technology of the probe is nearly 50 years old. Today’s run-of-the-mill cell phones can process 100 billion instructions per second, and the Voyager computers can only handle around 8,000 commands in a second.
On the other hand, getting another, more advanced probe that far into space to replace the Voyager 1 and 2 would take decades. Even though our technology has greatly advanced since the two probes were launched, we still can’t travel at warp speed like the Enterprise.
Galactic Exploration
As time winds down in an era of space exploration, some have suggested it would be a good idea to send a final message to Voyager 1 before it breaks down for good.
If the message is properly encoded in the memory of the computers onboard the probe, those words could last indefinitely.
In the future, some being on another planet in another galaxy could one day find the probe, power it up, and receive Earth’s message.
