Voyager 1's Mission Rescued from Engine Failures

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has successfully revived the malfunctioning engines of the Voyager 1 spacecraft, which had been deemed irreparable since 2004. This significant achievement was accomplished from a staggering distance of 25 billion kilometers and was deemed necessary due to the precarious state of the spacecraft's backup systems.

The reactivated engines are essential for orienting Voyager 1's antennas towards Earth, thereby enabling the transmission of data and the reception of commands. These roll control engines allow the spacecraft to rotate around its longitudinal axis, using a guide star for navigation. Additionally, there are other engines available for course corrections, which had been reactivated in 2018 and 2019 but cannot assist with the roll movements.

Initially, the primary roll engines were retired in 2004 when their internal heating systems failed, leading engineers to label them as irreparable. However, with the backup engines facing increasing clogging issues, engineers revisited the primary systems and hypothesized that a circuit malfunction might have left one switch in the wrong position. They aimed to remotely adjust this switch, an operation fraught with risk, as a failed attempt could have resulted in catastrophic damage to Voyager 1.

On March 20, commands were transmitted to the spacecraft, and within 20 minutes, a temperature rise in the engine heaters indicated a successful response. Due to the signal travel time of 23 hours, confirmation of the results was delayed, but the delay was ultimately not detrimental.

Compounding the urgency of the situation was the impending shutdown of the Deep Space Station 43 (DSS-43) in Canberra, Australia. This facility, with its 70-meter diameter antenna, is the only one within NASA's global Deep Space Network capable of effectively communicating with the Voyager spacecraft. The station is scheduled for extensive upgrades from May 2025 to February 2026, necessitating that repairs to Voyager 1 be completed beforehand to avoid the risk of losing contact with the spacecraft.

Launched in 1977, Voyager 1, along with its twin Voyager 2, has been exploring the solar system and is currently traveling through interstellar space at a speed of 56,000 kilometers per hour. Despite various challenges, both spacecraft remain operational, with Voyager 1 positioned approximately 25 billion kilometers from Earth and Voyager 2 about 21 billion kilometers away. This recent success marks another milestone in the ongoing mission, following a previous resolution regarding a memory issue that affected data transmissions in 2024.