NASA's Voyager 1 Revives Backup Thrusters Before Command Pause

a year ago

NASA engineers revived dormant thrusters on Voyager 1, previously considered inoperable since 2004.
The thrusters were restored as a backup due to potential clogging in the primary thrusters' fuel tubes.
The mission faced a deadline before May 4, 2025, when the Earth-bound antenna for commands would be offline for upgrades.
Voyager 1 and 2 rely on thrusters to maintain antenna alignment with Earth for communication.
Primary roll thrusters on Voyager 1 failed in 2004, leading to reliance on backup thrusters.
Engineers suspected a power supply issue and successfully reactivated the primary thrusters in March 2024.
The Deep Space Network's DSS-43 antenna in Australia is crucial for sending commands to the Voyagers.
Voyager 1 and 2 are the only spacecraft to have sent data from interstellar space.

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