Voyager 1 approaches one light-day distance from Earth
NASA engineers are working to extend the mission of the ageing spacecraft as it nears a historic distance milestone.
NASA's Voyager 1 is approaching a milestone where it will be one light-day away from Earth, according to a report by Mint. The spacecraft is projected to reach a distance of 25.89 billion kilometres from Earth on November 18.
At this distance, it will take light 24 hours to travel between the spacecraft and Earth. This means any command sent from Earth will take a full day to arrive, with a response taking another 24 hours to return.
The mission faces challenges due to a declining power supply, as the spacecraft's radioisotope thermoelectric generators lose approximately 4 watts of power annually. To preserve scientific capabilities, NASA engineers completed a project in September nicknamed the "Big Bang".
During this operation, engineers replaced three devices with alternatives that use less electricity to help regulate internal temperatures. This upgrade is intended to extend the operational life of the remaining scientific instruments in interstellar space.
Voyager 1 also recently experienced a 48-hour communication interruption between October 18 and October 19. The spacecraft's signal unexpectedly returned on October 20, after the onboard fault protection mechanism activated backup thrusters because one set of thrusters had stopped working.
Kareem Badaruddin, the Voyager mission manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said the team is relieved to be back in contact and is eager to understand the cause of the incident.