It took an interstellar “shout” across the solar system. But NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory said on Friday which re-established full communications with Voyager 2, an aging probe exploring the outer edges of the solar system.
“After two weeks of not hearing anything, we’re back to getting unique data from the interstellar medium,” said Linda Spilker, a planetary scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the lead mission scientist for Voyager 2.
The space agency lost contact with Voyager 2 on July 21 when the mission team accidentally sent a command that pushed the spacecraft’s antenna two degrees away from Earth. On Tuesday morning, officials from the Deep Space Network, a global system of radio dishes used by NASA to communicate with various space probes, detected a carrier signal known as a heartbeat from Voyager 2. Too weak to pick up any data, but enough to confirm the mission is still working.
Still, just having a heartbeat is “worrisome and worrisome,” said Suzanne Dodd, the project manager for Voyager 2.
The mission team hatched a plan to send a command Wednesday to reorient Voyager 2’s antenna back toward Earth, using a Deep Space Network radio dish in Canberra, Australia.
The chances of success are slim, according to a spokesperson at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It took 37 hours to find out if the attempt was successful — 18.5 hours for the signal to reach Voyager 2, and another 18.5 for the data to return.
said Ms. Dodd said the waiting period was “quite nerve-wracking. You didn’t sleep well.”
Scientists, engineers and the flight team are “waiting on pins and needles to hear from Voyager 2, to see if the command was successful,” said Dr. Spilker. “It’s all hands on deck.”
But it worked: On Friday at 12:29 am Eastern time, Voyager 2 began transmitting science data again. The scientists also confirmed that the probe remained on its original path.
According to Dr. Spilker, mission control in California responded to the good news with lots of high fives, tears and sighs.
Voyager 2 was launched into space on August 20, 1977, to fly by the outer planets of the solar system and then explore the interstellar space beyond. The nearly 46-year-old probe is currently more than 12.5 billion miles from Earth and is collecting data on a distant region of space for scientists to study. Its twin, Voyager 1, was launched a few weeks after Voyager 2 and became the first to cross the boundary of the solar system.
If it doesn’t make contact, the mission team will have to wait until October 15, when Voyager 2 is programmed to automatically reset its antenna direction.
But it didn’t have to wait, and the mission continued transmitting data from beyond the solar system’s heliosphere.
“We did an assessment and the spacecraft looked healthy, very normal,” said Ms. Dodd. The mission team will continue to run tests to fully understand the spacecraft’s status before resuming routine activity.
Ms. expects Dodd to celebrate the anniversary of the probe’s launch later this month. “Both of these spacecraft are really remarkable for their longevity,” he said, referring to Voyager 2 and Voyager 1. “They’re like spacecraft with nine lives.”
