This is considered the most far-reaching technical feat ever achieved by humans in a space mission, and is a key step in ensuring Voyager 1 continues to maintain contact with Earth.
Voyager 1, launched in 1977, has now been in operation for four decades longer than originally planned. Maintaining a spacecraft that is nearly half a century old, drifting in space more than 25 billion kilometers from Earth, is an incredible challenge.
The Voyager 1 probe was launched on September 5, 1977. Photo : NASA. |
In March, engineers restarted Voyager 1’s primary roll thrusters, which help the spacecraft stay aligned with a guide star, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) announced on May 14. The system helps the spacecraft stay aligned with a guide star, which acts as a “directional anchor” to ensure the signal antenna remains pointed toward Earth.
The engines were shut down in 2004 after an internal heater lost power. Since then, Voyager 1 has been running on its auxiliary thrusters. However, the backup is showing signs of deterioration due to sludge buildup in its fuel lines, threatening to shut it down completely this fall.
If Voyager 1 were to lose all ability to steer its course, it would drift out into space and lose contact with Earth forever.
The situation is becoming more urgent because DSS-43, the only antenna dish on Earth with enough power to send commands to Voyager, is currently on hold for upgrades until February 2026. Aside from two brief communication “windows” in August and December, NASA will have no opportunity to remotely adjust Voyager in the near future.
Faced with the risk of losing control of the spacecraft forever, the engineering team at JPL decided to try to restart the very thruster that had “died” since 2004 - a risky move, but the only option.
They speculated that if the heater wasn’t broken but just disabled by a circuit malfunction, it might be able to restart. The plan was to power up the heater, then let Voyager 1 drift far enough away from its guide star that it would automatically fire its engines to correct its course. If successful, the heater and main thrusters would fire again.
However, if the heater still “dies” and the engine fires while cold, it could cause a small explosion. And Voyager 1 is so far away that it would take more than 23 hours for the signal to reach Earth. The engineers would have to wait all day to find out whether their efforts had caused the spacecraft to explode.
Model of the Voyager spacecraft. Photo: NASA. |
As it turned out, luck was on their side. When the signal from Voyager returned, the indicators showed that the main thruster had successfully revived.
"We thought the engines were completely broken. But one of the engineers on the team had a theory: maybe something else was causing the problem. Thanks to that, we were able to fix it. Another 'miracle' save for Voyager," said Todd Barber, in charge of Voyager's propulsion system.
During its 47-year journey into space, Voyager 1 has encountered many critical situations, from transmitting erroneous data, gradually shutting down instruments due to lack of power, to a series of navigational problems. But with persistent efforts, the little ship continues to cling to the edge of interstellar space.
One day, Voyager 1 and its sibling Voyager 2 will stop working—closing the farthest artificial “eyes” that humans have ever placed in space. But that day has not yet come, at least not yet.
Source: https://znews.vn/nasa-hoi-sinh-thanh-cong-tau-cach-trai-dat-25-ty-km-post1553567.html
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