In the most unheard-of feat in remote engineering, NASA has brought back Voyager 2 from the brink of robo death.
Voyager 2, over 18.5 billion kilometres from Earth, had NASA kickstart its heart and is fully functional and back online.
Voyager 2 is unsurprisingly the second unit in the Voyager pair as the duo traverse the solar system and beyond for the past 40 years.
They have collected unique information that has shaped our understanding of the universe.
Voyager 2 seemingly went offline for no reason on January 28th.
Reports began circling that the craft went dark immediately before it as scheduled for an instrument calibration manoeuvre that requires a complete 360-degree rotation.
But the move never happened...
Allegedly, during the power-up for the manoeuvre, another power-sucking system was also in play meaning the craft's protection software kicked in.
The protection software turns off Voyager 2's instruments during a power overload to save power.
NASA is yet to comment on the actual reason for the short out, however, it is widely accepted this is the case.
In a recent tweet, Voyager 1 confirmed the status of number 2 being back in form.
Good vibes! Voyager 2 continues to be stable, and communications between Earth and the spacecraft are fine.
— NASA Voyager (@NASAVoyager) February 6, 2020
My twin is back to taking science data, and the team at @NASAJPL is evaluating the health of the instruments following their brief shutoff. https://t.co/LmsWQ7wPat pic.twitter.com/xyhM1G8sTD
In a recent statement from NASA itself, the association confirmed the good news saying:
"Mission operators report that Voyager 2 continues to be stable and that communications between the Earth and the spacecraft are good. The spacecraft has resumed taking science data, and the science teams are now evaluating the health of the instruments,"
Whoever wrote that must be a hit at social events.
To fix the craft NASA has to send information relays to well outside our solar system which equates to 17 hours one-way just to make contact with Voyager 2, the furthest manmade object in space.
A return journey to check the systems and instruments on Voyager 2 takes a total of 34 hours...
As of now, Voyager remains functional and probing deep into the unknown with another 5 years of power left in uncharted territory.
#Space_Aus
