In 2022, the onboard pc that orients the Voyager 1 spacecraft with Earth started to ship again garbled standing experiences, in spite of another way proceeding to perform usually. It took venture engineers months to pinpoint the problem. The angle articulation and keep an eye on device (AACS) was once misdirecting instructions, writing them into the pc reminiscence as a substitute of wearing them out. A type of neglected instructions wound up garbling the AACS standing record ahead of it will achieve engineers at the floor.The crew decided the AACS had entered into an mistaken mode; alternatively, they couldn’t decide the reason and thus aren’t certain if the problem may just rise up once more. The tool patch must save you that.“This patch is like an insurance coverage that can offer protection to us one day and lend a hand us stay those probes going so long as conceivable,” mentioned JPL’s Suzanne Dodd, Voyager undertaking supervisor. “Those are the one spacecraft to ever perform in interstellar house, so the information they’re sending again is uniquely precious to our figuring out of our native universe.”Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 have traveled greater than 15 billion and 12 billion miles from Earth, respectively. At the ones distances, the patch directions will take over 18 hours to shuttle to the spacecraft. On account of the spacecraft’s age and the conversation lag time, there’s some chance the patch may just overwrite crucial code or produce other negative effects at the spacecraft. To cut back the ones dangers, the crew has spent months writing, reviewing, and checking the code. As an added protection precaution, Voyager 2 will obtain the patch first and function a testbed for its dual. Voyager 1 is further from Earth than every other spacecraft, making its information extra precious.The crew will add the patch and do a readout of the AACS reminiscence to verify it’s in the precise position on Friday, Oct. 20. If no speedy problems rise up, the crew will factor a command on Saturday, Oct. 28, to look if the patch is working because it must.
