Posted on 08/01/2023 10:56:09 AM PDT by Red Badger
NASA's twin Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft were launched in 1977 and both are now in interstellar space. NASA says communication with Voyager 2 has been disrupted due a technical glitch. File Photo courtesy of NASA | License Photo July 31 (UPI) -- Communications with the far-flung Voyager 2 space probe have been temporarily severed due to unintended consequences resulting from routine commands, NASA says.
The U.S. space agency revealed Friday it no longer is able to communicate with the pioneering spacecraft launched in 1977 and meant to serve as an ambassador of human civilization to any extraterrestrial intelligence it may encounter.
NASA's twin Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft were launched in 1977 and both are now in interstellar space. NASA says communication with Voyager 2 has been disrupted due a technical glitch. File Photo courtesy of NASA | License Photo July 31 (UPI) -- Communications with the far-flung Voyager 2 space probe have been temporarily severed due to unintended consequences resulting from routine commands, NASA says.
The U.S. space agency revealed Friday it no longer is able to communicate with the pioneering spacecraft launched in 1977 and meant to serve as an ambassador of human civilization to any extraterrestrial intelligence it may encounter.
"A series of planned commands sent to NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft on July 21 inadvertently caused the antenna to point 2 degrees away from Earth," NASA said in a mission update. "As a result, Voyager 2 is currently unable to receive commands or transmit data back to Earth."
Scientists think the situation is only temporary because the craft is programmed to auto-correct its orientation several times each year in order to keep its antenna pointed toward Earth. Its next planned reorientation is set for Oct. 15.
Voyager 2 is currently in interstellar space, located almost 12.4 billion miles from Earth. The glitch, however, has rendered it unable to with the ground antennas of NASA's Deep Space Network.
Its twin, Voyager 1, is almost 15 billion miles from Earth and continues to operate normally. It has the distinction of being the farthest human-made object from Earth and the first to reach interstellar space.
The craft are probably best known for carrying "Golden Records," a kind of time capsule intended to communicate the story of humankind to extraterrestrials. The messages are embedded on 12-inch, gold-plated "phonograph records" containing sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth, according to NASA.
The Voyager spacecrafts remain beloved by the public and scientists because of their optimistic and idealistic missions. Their enduring appeal are evident in popular culture, with fictionalized versions of the probes appearing in first Star Trek film in 1979 and in the 1984 film Starman, in which one was responsible for bringing a benign alien played by Jeff Bridges to Earth.
Voyager 2 also remains the only spacecraft to pass close to the two outermost planets in the solar system -- Uranus in 1986 and Neptune in 1989.inadvertently caused the antenna to point 2 degrees away from Earth," NASA said in a mission update. "As a result, Voyager 2 is currently unable to receive commands or transmit data back to Earth."
Scientists think the situation is only temporary because the craft is programmed to auto-correct its orientation several times each year in order to keep its antenna pointed toward Earth. Its next planned reorientation is set for Oct. 15.
Voyager 2 is currently in interstellar space, located almost 12.4 billion miles from Earth. The glitch, however, has rendered it unable to with the ground antennas of NASA's Deep Space Network.
Its twin, Voyager 1, is almost 15 billion miles from Earth and continues to operate normally. It has the distinction of being the farthest human-made object from Earth and the first to reach interstellar space.
The craft are probably best known for carrying "Golden Records," a kind of time capsule intended to communicate the story of humankind to extraterrestrials. The messages are embedded on 12-inch, gold-plated "phonograph records" containing sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth, according to NASA.
The Voyager spacecrafts remain beloved by the public and scientists because of their optimistic and idealistic missions. Their enduring appeal are evident in popular culture, with fictionalized versions of the probes appearing in first Star Trek film in 1979 and in the 1984 film Starman, in which one was responsible for bringing a benign alien played by Jeff Bridges to Earth.
Voyager 2 also remains the only spacecraft to pass close to the two outermost planets in the solar system -- Uranus in 1986 and Neptune in 1989.
V-ger ping!.................
dang... beat me to it...
frowny face emoji
Thanks for posting this.
I first read of this on The Register but haven’t had time to post it.
If they issued a reset command, it could take a while to observe success on the other side.
sure it’s a comm glitch.
Somebody dropped the game controller...................
“Scientists think the situation is only temporary because the craft is programmed to auto-correct its orientation several times each year in order to keep its antenna pointed toward Earth. Its next planned reorientation is set for Oct. 15.”
Very cool, but I can only imagine it says, “Um...my data set of stars doesn’t go out this far.”
diversity hire
Was it caused by a bad command or by passing close to those
two planets as both were stated by the article?
Blame it on Stockton Rush.
Wasn’t this the plot for the Star Trek movie?
Partially................
A software ‘glitch’............................
I’m sure they picked a star to align on that is far enough away to not have parallax problems............
One of my sons is an Astronautical Engineer at NASA. His first mission was flight operations on a solar observation satellite. Some years before, an on-board gyroscope broke and the spacecraft turned away from earth. They set up a program to call out in case it ever righted itself. A couple years later, it did and they were back in business.
The satellite first went live the year he was born and was supposed to be operational for 2-3 years. He began working on that mission as a college student and the satellite was still operating.
Let's hope the same idiot(s) who sent the commands that "inadvertently caused the antenna to point 2 degrees away from Earth" weren't the same ones who programmed the spacecraft to auto-correct its antenna orientation several times a year.
Also let's hope some of the programmers didn't write program code lines that measure the antenna angle in degrees, while some other programmers' program code determined the antenna angle in radians.
Clearly, million man march math plus education in government schools has long term consequences...
"inadvertently" == "stupidly" or "moronically"
Wokeness & diversity rule!
Oh great, more bald-headed women.....
I think that was a song by the BeeGees
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