After accidentally shifting Voyager 2's antenna by two degrees, NASA is out of contact with the interstellar probe until at least Oct. 15.
NASA has temporarily lost contact with the Voyager 2 probe — the second-farthest human made object from Earth in the universe, currently sailing through interstellar space roughly 12.3 billion miles from home.
According to a statement from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, scientists lost contact with the probe on July 21 after a series of planned commands inadvertently caused Voyager 2 to angle its antenna away from Earth by about two degrees.
Luckily, the radio blackout should be temporary, NASA said. Voyager 2 is programmed to reset its antenna's alignment several times each year to stay in contact with Earth as it drifts ever farther away. The next reset is scheduled for Oct. 15, at which point communication with Voyager 2 should resume.The twin Voyager probes were launched in August and September 1977, 16 days apart from one another. .
Voyager 1 made it to interstellar space first, passing beyond the heliosphere in August 2012. The single most distant human made object from Earth ever created, Voyager 1 is currently about 14.8 billion miles from our planet, and gaining distance every day. Communications with Voyager 1 remain uninterrupted.—What happens in intergalactic space?Both Yoyagers have enough electircal power and fuel to continue their current operations until at least 2025, according to NASA.
The probes also contain an audio player with pictorial instructions, and a star map showing the location of Earth. Whether anyone finds them is a question for another millennium.
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