As you surely remember, just two days ago we told you that NASA communications with the Voyager 2 probe have been accidentally interrupted. The reason, as we already explained to you at that time, is that a command sent from Earth affected the orientation of the probe’s antenna, which prevents the direct line that must be established between it and the DSS 43 terrestrial antenna, sole component of the Deep Space Network.
To better understand the complexity of communications with Voyager 2, it is essential to know how far it is moving away from our planet, and currently that speed is 35.4 kilometers per second. Yes, you read that right, per second:
- 35.40 kilometers per second
- 2,124 kilometers per minute
- 127,440 kilometers per hour
- 3,058,560 kilometers per day
And how does this translate in terms of distance? Well At this moment, more than 19,938 million kilometers separate us, in an account that does not stop growing. If you want to stay updated about it, you can check its location, relative speed in its departure from the Earth and the Sun, as well as its distance from both, at this link. I think it’s worth taking a moment to think about what an achievement this is.
As I also clarified in the news about the disconnection, everything indicates that this will be temporary, since among the protocols that determine the actions that Voyager 2 carries out periodically, there is a check of the orientation of its antenna and, if the probe detects that the position is not correct for this purpose, it will proceed to correct it automatically . The next scheduled date for this verification is October 5, so that in little more than two months we can expect communications to be restored, although, of course, it is impossible not to wonder from time to time if everything will be fine up there.
Earth to Voyager… 📡
The Deep Space Network has picked up a carrier signal from @NASAVoyager 2 during its regular scan of the sky. A bit like hearing the spacecraft’s “heartbeat,” it confirms the spacecraft is still broadcasting, which engineers expected. https://t.co/tPcCyjMjJY— NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) August 1, 2023
Well, today we have excellent news about it, and it is that a message in Twitter X from NASA JPL confirms that a Voyager 2 carrier has been detected. The signal, collected by the Deep Space Network, has been interpreted almost as the probe’s “heartbeat” code, as it confirms that it is still alive and functioning as expected. But this has also stimulated plans to send a new command to try to make the realignment happen before the scheduled date for the automatic procedure.
Barring surprises, before Voyager 2 recovers correct orientation and communications, it will be 46 years since its launch, on August 20, 1977, in what, remember, was a mission planned to last five years, in which together with its twin, Voyager 1, it would provide us with information about Jupiter and Saturn. As you have made clear, in reality it was designed and trained to go much further, and although sometimes it gives us a scare like this (which is not really attributable to the probe, but to its operators, and also understandable and excusable ), never ceases to amaze us and earn even more admiration.
