It was discovered that the Voyager 1 spacecraft, operated by NASA and currently exploring our solar system for more than 40 years, was delivering corrupted data to the mission operators on Earth. Engineers have now identified the issue's root cause and successfully addressed it. When the Voyager 1's attitude articulation and control system (AACS) started to return erroneous telemetry data despite functioning normally, the team ran across the problem last year. In addition to its other duties, the AACS keeps the spacecraft's high-gain antenna pointing at Earth so that data may be sent to the team.
As soon as the problem was discovered, NASA engineers set out to identify it. Further examination revealed that the AACS was transmitting the telemetry data via a computer housed inside the spacecraft. The data that AACS was delivering was corrupt because this machine had long since stopped working.
When the issue's root cause was found, the team decided on a low-risk repair, according to Voyager project manager Suzanne Dodd. They gave the AACS the order to begin sending data through the appropriate computer.
Even though the problem may have been fixed, the engineers are still baffled as to why the AACS started sending telemetry data through the incorrect computer in the first place. However, they think that one of the spacecraft's other computers may have sent a bad command to the AACS. It would imply that the root of the problem is somewhere on Voyager 1 in this situation. Though the crew still hopes to find the root of the problem, they are certain that it won't jeopardize the spacecraft's long-term safety.
Dodd remarked, "We're glad to have the telemetry back. He continued by saying that the group will read the AACS's whole memory and analyze how it operated. He claims that this will assist in identifying the problem that resulted in the skewed telemetry data. Dodd stated, "So we're cautiously optimistic, but we still have more research to undertake.
