The Voyager 1 space probe, launched in 1977 and located approximately 24 billion kilometers from Earth, transmitted understandable signals for the first time in five months, NASA stated on Monday, April 22.
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“Hello It's Me. – V1”. Thus NASA reported, in a publication in X on April 22, that the Voyager 1 space probe, the object created by humanity furthest from Earth, had once again come into contact.
The probe, which is approximately 24 billion kilometers in space, had stopped transmitting reliable scientific and technical data about its status in November, the US space agency explained.
NASA teams could still send orders to the probe, launched more than 46 years ago and which had continued to function normally.
The problem came from a chip in one of the onboard computers, responsible for organizing technical and scientific data before sending it to Earth. Finally, scientists managed to find an ingenious solution to get the necessary code to the probe and correct the error.
NASA was able to verify the status of the spacecraft for the first time since November and will continue to implement the same solution to recover scientific data.
Welcome back @NASAVoyager-1 🥳
Great news that #Voyager1 is back to full operations following a problem with its onboard memory.
Great work by the Deep Space Network to stay in contact with humanity's most distant ambassador.
📡〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️<|)[]https://t.co/1Qm7XeLwp0— CanberraDSN 📡 (@CanberraDSN) April 23, 2024
With its twin Voyager 2 launched into space a month later, both probes are the only ones traveling in interstellar space. They carry on board recordings of sounds and images of the Earth, on gold and copper plates.
Read alsoNASA contacts the Voyager 2 probe again after an “interstellar scream”
In interstellar space
The life expectancy of the two Voyager probes, launched in 1977 and traveling at 55,000 km/h, was no more than five years, but both still operate today.
Since 2012, the Voyager 1 probe left the solar system to enter the cold and darkness of interstellar space.
The Voyager exploration program aimed to study the planets of the solar system. Voyager 1 and 2 flew by Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and 48 of their moons. The data collected by the nine instruments aboard each of the probes make them the most scientifically fruitful solar system exploration mission in all of space history.
The most beautiful images of space from Voyager
Both ships each carry a 30cm copper-framed gold record, containing 115 photographs and a variety of natural sounds and messages in 55 languages. Words from the then US president, Jimmy Carter (1977-1981), and UN Secretary General Kurt Waldheim have been traveling on these probes for more than 35 years.
![The pochette du disco de cuivre plaqué or that the two vaisseaux spatiaux Voyager transportent.](https://s.france24.com/media/display/c012a590-015a-11ef-95ce-005056a97e36/AP17228612288517%20%281%29.jpg)
According to scientists, Voyager 1 and 2 will be close to other stars and approximately two light years (one light year equal to 9,461 billion kilometers) from the Sun in 40,000 years. “Nothing can stop the path of Voyager 1 in space, which will continue its journey for a long, long time, probably a billion years,” predicted astrophysicist Marc Swisdal.
With AFP
This article was adapted from its French original.
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