Nasa has “inadvertently” lost contact with Voyager 2, its pioneering spacecraft.
The space agency said that it had sent a series of planned commands to the probe on 21 July. But those moves left Voyager 2 pointing in the wrong direction: its antenna is now pointing two degrees away from Earth, and so it has lost contact with its engineers. It cannot either receive commands or send back data, Nasa said.
In an unexpected turn of events, NASA announced that it has lost contact with its iconic spacecraft, Voyager 2. The mishap occurred after a series of wrong commands were inadvertently transmitted to the spacecraft. As one of the most remarkable space missions in history, Voyager 2 has been exploring the cosmos for over four decades. Its recent communication disruption has left the scientific community and space enthusiasts on edge.
Voyager 2 is now floating on its own, almost 20 billion kilometres from Earth. Nasa still hopes to be able to re-establish contact with the probe
Launched on August 20, 1977, Voyager 2 was designed to study the outer planets of our solar system. Over the years, the spacecraft has successfully provided invaluable data about Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, shaping our understanding of these distant worlds. Voyager 2’s journey extended far beyond its initial mission, becoming the only spacecraft to fly by these four giant planets.
The recent setback occur when a software update on the ground result in a sequence of incorrect commands sent to Voyager 2. NASA engineers immediately detected the anomaly. And attempted to rectify the situation, but their efforts, as of the latest update, have been unsuccessful.
Despite this temporary loss of contact, scientists and engineers at NASA remain hopeful and continue their tireless efforts to reestablish communication with the spacecraft.
Voyager 2 is equipped with robust and redundant systems, which have proven their resilience over the years. NASA is optimistic that they will regain communication soon and resume gathering scientific data from the spacecraft.
The next reset is expected to happen on 15 October, Nasa said. Until then, the space agency expects the probe to “remain on its planned trajectory during the quiet period”, it said.
