Voyager 2
Latest
NASA regains contact with Voyager 2 after it went dark for two weeks
NASA "shouted" a command to the spacecraft across over 12.3 billion miles of space using the Deep Space Network, telling it to turn its antenna back to Earth.
Voyager probes detect a new form of cosmic ray burst from the Sun
The Voyager 1 and 2 probes have detected a new kind of cosmic ray electron burst emanating from the Sun, decades after they started their missions.
NASA contacts Voyager 2 probe for the first time since March
NASA has made contact with Voyager 2 for the first time since March thanks to an upgraded Deep Space Station 43 dish in Australia.
NASA is fixing a Voyager 2 snag that deactivated sensors
Voyager 2 might already have crossed into interstellar space, but that isn't stopping NASA from providing some technical help. The administration is in the midst of fixing a problem with the probe that led it to shut off its science equipment. When a delay in the execution of a standard rotation maneuver (to calibrate the magnetic field instrument) left two high-power systems running at the same time, Voyager 2 overdrew from its power supply and tripped a system that shut off the scientific gear to conserve electricity. NASA turned off one of the power-hungry systems and revived the science hardware, but has yet to resume collecting data or otherwise restore business as usual.
Elite newsletter talks new ships, Voyager 2
Frontier has emailed the 53rd edition of its Elite: Dangerous newsletter. It features everything from Voyager 2 ("still traveling and in the correct location for the year 3300") to the new Adder and Lakon Type 7 player ships to a bit of lore and the usual community chatter. The Adder is a new exploration-focused craft designed to complement the pre-existing combat- and trade-focused ships. The Type 7 is a mid-range trading vessel with signifcant cargo capacity and the ability to take a beating.
NASA's Voyager 1 marks 35th anniversary of its launch, gets photo retrospective in tribute
It's hard to believe at times that the Voyager 1 probe is older than many of us reading this article, but it's true. The official first part of NASA's Voyager program launched just over 35 years ago on September 5th, 1977, carrying not just cameras and sensors to capture the trip but the famous Golden Record documenting humanity for any curious aliens. To mark the occasion, Wired has gathered together one heck of a photo album that covers both Voyager 1's trip as well as that of Voyager 2, which technically launched earlier (August 20th the same year) but took a more roundabout route through the solar system. The gallery reminds us of the amazing scenery beyond Mars and puts our tiny blue ball of a planet in perspective; Earth was just a speck at best when photographed late into Voyager 2's journey. Perhaps the best news surrounding the milestone is simply that both Voyager probes are still running. At 11 billion miles from the Sun, Voyager 1 may be on the cusp of interstellar space and easily represents the most distant human object ever made, not to mention a record-setter for signal transmissions. There's even a chance we'll still be hearing back from the probe for its 50th anniversary -- its power could keep it chatting up to roughly 2025.
NASA gives Voyager 2 a RAM reset, fixes communication bug
NASA's finished successfully resetting the computer system of the Voyager 2 satellite, which had begun transmitting unintelligible data in mid-April. The Voyager 2 was launched in August of 1977 to study Saturn, and has also flown past Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune. It's now around 8.6 billion miles from earth, in the heliosphere which surrounds the solar system. While the cause of the glitch is unknown, NASA officials say that they noticed on May 12th that a single memory location had been changed from a 0 to a 1, causing all transmissions to be completely garbled. After the reset, Voyager 2 resumed transmission of data on May 22nd -- and continues its journey to leave the solar system entirely.
