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NASA’s two Voyager probes have been launched to the farthest corners of the solar system since their launch in 1977. In 2012, Voyager 1 became the first man-made object to reach interstellar space, and was followed by the Voyager 2 in 2019. NASA expects both spacecraft to have enough fuel to last until 2025, after which their science missions will likely be withdrawn.
Now, after traveling more than 18.8 billion kilometers in space, it’s no easy feat for NASA scientists to stay in touch with the Voyagers.
And the only antenna capable of communicating with Voyager 2 has been offline since March of this year.
The 230ft (70m) wide Deep Space Station 43 radio antenna in Canberra, Australia was shut down earlier this year for updates expected to finish by February next year.
The parabola-shaped antenna is part of a global network of antennas designed to communicate with spacecraft operating beyond the orbit of the Moon.
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Since Station 43’s dish went offline, Voyager mission operators have only been able to receive health and data updates from the spacecraft.
But on October 29, scientists were able to successfully reach the spacecraft for the first time since mid-March, testing some of the newly installed hardware.
A series of commands was transmitted to the spacecraft from station 43’s dish, after which Voyager 2 confirmed that it received the transmission.
Among the new updates, Deep Space Station 43 is receiving two new radio transmitters.
One of these hasn’t been updated in 47 years, longer than Voyagers have been in space.
Engineers are also upgrading antenna heating and cooling systems, power equipment, and other electronic components.
The latest test call to Voyager 2 suggests the work is making good progress to be completed by February 2021.
Brad Arnold, DSN project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab, said: “What makes this task unique is that we are working at all levels of the antenna, from the ground-level pedestal to the feedcones in the center of the dish. extend over the edge.
“This test communication with Voyager 2 definitely tells us that things are in line with the work we are doing.”
The radio dish forms a chain in an antenna link known as the Deep Space Network (DSN).
DSN antennas are equidistant all over the world, located in Canberra in Australia, Goldstone in California and Madrid in Spain.
Thanks to their positions, at least one radio antenna in the network can communicate with almost any satellite at any given time.
Voyager 2, however, is an exception to the rule, thanks to Neptune Triton’s flight over the moon in 1989.
At that time, the spacecraft passed over Triton’s north pole and was diverted to an orbit south of the planetary plane.
As a result, Deep Space Station 43’s antenna is now the only radio dish in the Southern Hemisphere that can reach the spacecraft.
Philip Baldwin, operations manager for NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program, said, “The DSS43 antenna is a highly specialized system – there are only two other similar antennas in the world, so keep the antenna turned off for one year is not ideal for Voyager or many other NASA missions.
“The agency has decided to conduct these updates to ensure that the antenna can continue to be used for current and future missions. For an antenna that is nearly 50 years old, it is better to be proactive than reactive with critical maintenance.”
The radio dish has been in operation since 1972 and has received a wide range of updates since then.
The downtime since March, however, is the longest it has been offline in the past 30 years.
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