The Voyager 1 probe has started sending strange information from outside the solar system — What’s going on?
Voyager 1 is the most distant scientific instrument ever built by man from Earth. Launched 45 years ago, the probe has already flown beyond the Solar System and is traversing interstellar space. However, as NASA has just reported, something very unusual has started happening with Voyager 1.
At the moment, Voyager 1 is 23.3 billion km from Earth. That’s roughly the distance between our planet and the sun multiplied by 155. The signal the probe sends out takes as long as 20 hours and 33 minutes to reach the antennas of the Deep Space Network, working in Australia, Spain and California. Which means it takes nearly two full days to receive data from the probe and then send it back.
This is important when the probe stops working properly. And that’s exactly what we’re dealing with. Last week, NASA admitted that Voyager 1 has stopped sending correct data about its orientation in space.
“They appear to have been randomly generated and in no way reflect the status of the AACS system” [which controls Voyager 1’s attitude — ed. — the statement said. Is this a sign that Voyager 1 is finally breaking down?
