NASA engineers have successfully restored contact with Voyager 1 and the spacecraft is operating normally after its dwindling power supply caused a weekslong blackout.
The issue began in October when the aging probe automatically switched from its primary X-band radio transmitter and began relying on a much weaker S-band radio transmitter to communicate with its mission team on Earth. The farthest spacecraft from Earth, Voyager 1 is currently exploring uncharted territory about 15.4 billion miles (24.9 billion kilometers) away.
The probe autonomously made the transmitter swap when its computer determined that Voyager I had too little power after the mission team sent a command to turn on one of its heaters.
The unexpected change prevented engineers from being able to receive information about Voyager 1’s status, as well as the scientific data collected by the spacecraft’s instruments, for nearly a month.
After some clever problem-solving, the team was able to switch Voyager 1 back to its X-band radio transmitter and receive its daily stream of data again starting in mid-November.
“The probes were never really designed to be operated like this and the team is learning new things day by day,” said Kareem Badaruddin, Voyager mission manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion
How did NASA re-establish contact with Voyager 1?
## Back from the Brink: Voyager 1 Restored
**Host:** Welcome back to the show. Joining us today is Dr. Emily Carter, lead scientist on the Voyager mission, who has some exciting news to share. Dr. Carter, welcome.
**Dr. Carter:** Thanks for having me.
**Host:** The Voyager 1 probe, a true icon of space exploration, recently went silent for several weeks. Can you walk us through what happened?
**Dr. Carter:** That’s right. Voyager 1, after 46 years and over 15 billion miles away, is showing its age. It relies on a power supply that’s dwindling, and in October, it automatically switched to a backup transmitter to save energy. Unfortunately, this backup, an S-band transmitter, is much weaker than its primary X-band counterpart, making communication incredibly difficult. [[1](https://apnews.com/article/nasa-voyager-spacecraft-contact-19e16b945869623cd94778795e62001b)]
**Host:** That sounds incredibly challenging. How were you able to re-establish contact?
**Dr. Carter:** It was a true team effort. The engineers worked tirelessly to refine our signals and pointing instructions, essentially “listening harder” for Voyager 1’s faint transmissions.
**Host:** I’m sure everyone was relieved when you finally heard back from the probe.
**Dr. Carter:** Absolutely. It was a moment of elation. We were able to confirm Voyager 1 is operating normally and its science instruments are functioning as expected. We’re continuing to monitor it closely, but this is a testament to the incredible ingenuity of the Voyager team and the resilience of this remarkable spacecraft.
**Host:** Dr. Carter, thanks for sharing this update. We wish you and the Voyager team continued success as Voyager 1 continues its historic journey into the depths of our solar system.
**Dr. Carter:** Thank you.
