NASA’s Voyager 1 probe is intrigued by scientists at the American space organization. That’s because Voyager, which is the most distant object from Earth ever launched by man, has a problem with its space guidance system that, according to scientists, is not reflecting what is really happening to it.
According to NASA, although the equipment is operating normally, receiving and executing commands from the organization, data from its Articulation and Attitude Control System (AACS) is pointing to information on the agency’s computers that appears to have been “randomly generated” or that do not reflect “any possible state that the AACS could be in”.
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“At this stage of Voyager’s mission, it’s a mystery how in some ways it’s been part of its trajectory,” Suzanne Dodd, project manager for Voyager 1 and 2 at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said in a statement.
It is precisely the precise functioning of the AACS that also guarantees the correct positioning of Voyager’s antenna, which is always pointed towards the Earth. Because Voyager 1’s signal has not weakened, NASA engineers believe the antenna remains in its normal orientation.
But the probe is outside the solar system, in so-called interstellar space (23.3 billion kilometers from us), and because of that, it takes scientists about two days to send a message to Voyager 1 and get a response from it. return.
For that reason, NASA said over the next few days it will continue to monitor the probe’s signals to determine whether the incorrect data is coming directly from the AACS or another communications system.
“The spacecraft is almost 45 years old, which is far beyond what the mission designers anticipated. We are also in interstellar space – a high-radiation environment that no probe has been before. So we have some big challenges for the engineering team. But I think if there is a way to solve this AACS problem, our team will find out,” added Dodd.
The specialist also does not rule out that the Jet Propulsion Laboratory team may not find the cause of the anomaly, but guarantees that, if that happens, adaptations can be made.
Now, if the source of the mystery is discovered, NASA guarantees that the problem can be corrected through changes to the equipment’s software or through the use of its redundant systems.
The probe, launched into space in 1977, along with its “twin” Voyager 2 (which is operating smoothly), aims to collect data from interstellar space.
According to NASA, this information will provide valuable clues about the workings of space beyond the heliosphere, the barrier the Sun creates around the planets in our solar system.
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