NASA's Voyager 1 space probe, since it launched in 1977, has begun sending nonsensical data back to the Earth. After travelling billions of miles and spending over five decades in space, it is experiencing a communication glitch. The spacecraft was launched with a five-year mission to fly past Jupiter and Saturn, but it has mysteriously managed to travel deeper into space for the past 46 years. Following BBC, it is the first human-made object to depart the solar system.
In 2023, the average time the Voyager 1's signal takes is more than 22 hours to reach Earth. However, the probe, presently 15 billion miles from Earth, is encountering a communications problem, as per NASA.
NASA receives the data that is transmitted on Earth in a binary code. Binary code language includes zeroes and ones to represent letters, numbers, and symbols. It is named such due to its reliance on only two characters. However, a significant issue has occurred since the probe shows repetitive activity, repeatedly delivering the same code snippet. This occurrence has led scientists to suspect a spaceship malfunction.
The spacecraft has three computers aboard; one is for flight data, which gathers details from the spacecraft's scientific instruments, and another handles engineering data, acting like a coded health bar reflecting Voyager 1's status.
The NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is in charge of administering multiple robotic missions, said, "The NASA Voyager team is investigating an issue with Voyager 1's Flight Data System. The spacecraft receives and executes commands from Earth but does not return useable data."
Last year, the American Space Agency announced its plan to deactivate a few systems equipped on both Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. This strategic move aims to extend their operational lives till their plutonium power sources run out.
According to the experts, these probes will continue until 2030. When they reach this milestone, their transmitters and equipment will stop working, causing the spaceship to shut down and float aimlessly across space. These extraordinary spacecraft are the only human-made things to operate outside the heliosphere, a vast region of the Sun's magnetic fields and particles that extend well beyond Pluto's orbit.
