voyager 2 klas

Optimized for backpack use, Voyager 2 has support for two Voyager Network Modules and either ViaSat KG-250X, TACLANE-Nano KG-175N, KIV-54, KG175D or Mini-Catapan HAIPE devices.

All devices are battery-backed using 2590-based UPS with built-in charger.

Key Features

• Supports two network modules including VoyagerESR, VoyagerSW26G and TRX R2
• HAIPE modules supported include ViaSat KG-250X, TACLANENano KG-175N, Harris KIV-54, GD KG-175D and L-3 TRL MiniCatapan
• 50 W UPS with wide-ranging AC & DC inputs and space for 1 x 2590 battery

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Optimized for backpack use, Voyager 2 has support for two Voyager Network Modules and either ViaSat KG-250X, TACLANE-Nano KG-175N, KIV-54, KG175D or Mini-Catapan HAIPE devices

Related products

Voyager HAIPE Bracket

VoyagerSW26G

Voyager 158

Voyager 8 QP

Phone: +46 76 17 63 953 E-Mail: [email protected]

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• The Contents
• The Making of
• Where Are They Now
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Q & A with Ed Stone

golden record

Where are they now.

• frequently asked questions
• Q&A with Ed Stone

Mission Status

Instrument status.

Where are the Voyagers now?

To learn more about Voyager, zoom in and give the spacecraft a spin. View the full interactive experience at Eyes on the Solar System . Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

View Voyager

Space Flight Operations Schedule (SFOS)

SFOS files showing Voyager activity on Deep Space Network (DSN)

2024 Tracking Schedule

2023 tracking schedule, 2022 tracking schedule, 2021 tracking schedule, 2020 tracking schedule, 2019 tracking schedule, 2018 tracking schedule, 2017 tracking schedule, 2016 tracking schedule, 2015 tracking schedule, 2014 tracking schedule, 2013 tracking schedule, 2012 tracking schedule, 2011 tracking schedule, 2010 tracking schedule, 2009 tracking schedule, 2008 tracking schedule, 2007 tracking schedule, 2006 tracking schedule, 2005 tracking schedule, 2004 tracking schedule, 2003 tracking schedule, 2002 tracking schedule, 2001 tracking schedule, 2000 tracking schedule, 1999 tracking schedule, 1998 tracking schedule, 1997 tracking schedule, 1996 tracking schedule, 1995 tracking schedule, 1994 tracking schedule.

Two Voyager Spacecraft Still Going Strong After 20 Years

Twenty years after their launch and long after their planetary reconnaissance flybys were completed, both Voyager spacecraft are now gaining on another milestone -- crossing that invisible boundary that separates our solar system from interstellar space, the heliopause.

Since 1989, when Voyager 2 encountered Neptune, both spacecraft have been studying the environment of space in the outer solar system. Science instruments on both spacecraft are sensing signals that scientists believe are coming from the heliopause -- the outer most edge of the Sun's magnetic field that the spacecraft must pass through before they reach interstellar space.

"During their first two decades the Voyager spacecraft have had an unequaled journey of discovery. Today, even though Voyager 1 is now more than twice as far from the Sun as Neptune, their journey is only half over and more unique opportunities for discovery await the spacecraft as they head toward interstellar space," said Dr. Edward Stone, Voyager project scientist and director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA. "The Voyagers owe their ability to operate at such great distances from the Sun to their nuclear electric power sources, which provide the electrical power they need to function."

The Voyagers owe their ability to operate at such great distances from the Sun to their nuclear electric power sources, which provide the electrical power they need to function.

Dr. Edward Stone

Voyager Project Scientist

The Sun emits a steady flow of electrically charged particles called the solar wind. As the solar wind expands supersonically into space, it creates a magnetized bubble around the Sun, called the heliosphere. Eventually, the solar wind encounters the electrically charged particles and magnetic field in the interstellar gas. The boundary created between the solar wind and interstellar gas is the heliopause. Before the spacecraft reach the heliopause, they will pass through the termination shock -- the zone in which the solar wind abruptly slows down from supersonic to subsonic speed.

Reaching the termination shock and heliopause will be major milestones for the spacecraft because no one has been there before and the Voyagers will gather the first direct evidence of their structure. Encountering the termination shock and heliopause has been a long-sought goal for many space physicists, and exactly where these two boundaries are located and what they are like still remains a mystery.

"Based on current data from the Voyager cosmic ray subsystem, we are predicting the termination shock to be in the range of 62 to 90 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun. Most 'consensus' estimates are currently converging on about 85 AU. Voyager 1 is currently at about 67 AU and moving outwards at 3.5 AU per year, so I would expect crossing the termination shock sometime before the end of 2003," said Dr. Alan Cummings, a co- investigator on the cosmic ray subsystem at the California Institute of Technology.

"Based on a radio emission event detected by the Voyager 1 and 2 plasma wave instruments in 1992, we estimate that the heliopause is located at 110 to 160 AU from the Sun," said Dr. Donald A. Gurnett, principal investigator on the plasma wave subsystem at the University of Iowa. (One AU is equal to 150 million kilometers, or 93 million miles, or the distance from the Earth to the Sun.)

"The low-energy charged particle instruments on the two spacecraft continue to detect ions and electrons accelerated at the Sun and at huge shock waves, tens of AU in radius, that are driven outward through the solar wind. During the past five years, we have observed marked variations in this ion population, but have yet to see clear evidence of the termination shock. We should always keep in mind that our theories may be incomplete and the shock may be a lot farther out than we think," said Dr. Stamatios M. Krimigis, principal investigator for the low energy charged particle subsystem at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.

Voyager 2 was launched first on Aug. 20, 1977 and Voyager 1 was launched a few weeks later on a faster trajectory on Sept. 5. Initially both spacecraft were only supposed to explore two planets -- Jupiter and Saturn. But the incredible success of those two first encounters and the good health of the spacecraft prompted NASA to extend Voyager 2's mission on to Uranus and Neptune. As the spacecraft flew across the solar system, remote-control reprogramming has given the Voyagers greater capabilities than they possessed when they left the Earth.

There are four other science instruments that are still functioning and collecting data as part of the Voyager Interstellar Mission. The plasma subsystem measures the protons in the solar wind. "Our instrument has recently observed a slow, year-long increase in the speed of the solar wind which peaked in late 1996, and we are now observing a slow decrease in solar wind velocity," said Dr. John Richardson, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, principal investigator on the plasma subsystem. "We think the velocity peak coincided with the recent solar minimum. As we approach the solar maximum in 2000 the solar wind pressure should decrease, which will result in the termination shock and heliopause moving inward towards the Voyager spacecraft."

The magnetometer on board the Voyagers measures the magnetic fields that are carried out into interplanetary space by the solar wind. The Voyagers are currently measuring the weakest interplanetary magnetic fields ever detected and those magnetic fields being measured are responsive to charged particles that cannot be detected directly by any other instruments on the spacecraft, according to Dr. Norman Ness, principal investigator on the magnetometer subsystem at the Bartol Research Institute, University of Delaware.

Other science instruments still collecting data include the planetary radio astronomy subsystem and the ultraviolet spectrometer subsystem.

Voyager 1 encountered Jupiter on March 5, 1979, and Saturn on November 12, 1980 and then, because its trajectory was designed to fly close to Saturn's large moon Titan, Voyager 1's path was bent northward by Saturn's gravity, sending the spacecraft out of the ecliptic plane, the plane in which all the planets except Pluto orbit the Sun. Voyager 2 arrived at Jupiter on July 9, 1979, and Saturn on August 25, 1981, and was then sent on to Uranus on January 25, 1986 and Neptune on August 25, 1989. Neptune's gravity bent Voyager 2's path southward, sending it out of the ecliptic plane as well and on toward interstellar space.

Both spacecraft have enough electrical power and attitude control propellant to continue operating until about 2020, when the available electrical power will no longer support science instrument operation. Spacecraft electrical power is supplied by Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs) that provided approximately 470 watts power at launch. Due to the natural radioactive decay of the plutonium fuel source, the electrical energy provided by the RTGs is continually declining. At the beginning of 1997, the power generated by Voyager 1 had dropped to 334 watts and to 336 watts for Voyager 2. Both of these power levels represent better performance than had been predicted before launch.

The Voyagers are now so far from home that it takes nine hours for a radio signal traveling at the speed of light to reach the spacecraft. Science data are returned to Earth in real-time to the 34-meter Deep Space Network (DSN) antennas located in California, Australia and Spain. Voyager 1 will pass the Pioneer 10 spacecraft in January 1998 to become the most distant human- made object in our solar system.

Voyager 1 is currently 10.1 billion kilometers (6.3 billion miles) from Earth, having traveled 11.9 billion kilometers (7.4 billion miles) since its launch. The Voyager 1 spacecraft is departing the solar system at a speed of 17.4 kilometers per second (39,000 miles per hour).

Voyager 2 is currently 7.9 billion kilometers (4.9 billion miles) from Earth, having traveled 11.3 billion kilometers (6.9 billion miles) since its launch. The Voyager 2 spacecraft is departing the solar system at a speed of 15.9 kilometers per second (35,000 miles per hour).

JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, manages the Voyager Interstellar Mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D. C.

Klas Telecom - Communications Flyaway Kit (CFK)

PROVIDES ONE CONVERGENCE AND THREE SECURE NETWORKS (SIPR, JWICS, CENTRIX, ETC)

Voyager Communications Flyaway Kit (CFK) is a three-case, multi-enclave baseband networking system that provides simultaneous access to secure voice, video and data resources for one convergence and three secure networks. Based on Voyager ruggedized routing and switching modules, the Voyager CFK comes complete with four Cisco IP phones, a BGAN terminal and a one year warranty and access to the Klas Technical Assistance Center (KTAC).

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Klas Group is an engineering and design company with over 25 years of experience developing innovative communications solutions for the network edge. The company specializes in integrating enterprise networking capabilities from global IT leaders with in-house hardware and software platforms designed to meet market demands and the most stringent environmental requirements. 

Klas deployable communications systems deliver unparalleled capability to the user and connect them to the ‘Internet of Things’ in ways never thought possible.

Tactical Radio Integration Kit

The Voyager Tactical Radio Integration Kit (TRIK) allows uninhibited flow of critical information across tactical networks on the battlefield by making disparate voice and data networks interoperable through combinations of hardware and software to form seamless gateways.

Tactical Data Centre

Deploying data-center sized servers and storage to remote areas has always been challenging logistically from the perspective of size, weight and power. Since the launch of Voyager TDC, it’s possible to deploy data-center grade compute and storage using commercial aircraft.

Tactical Cloud Platform

The Klas Tactical Cloud Platform (TCP) is the only platform that allows you deploy database application and leverage the power of AI and ML at the tactical edge. It provides Wi-Fi and LTE connectivity, unmatched compute power, 10 gigabit switching and a GPU that uses state of the art NVIDIA technology. 

Virtual Multi-Enclave System

The Voyager Virtual Multi-Enclave System (VMES) integrates virtualized routing, switching, RoIP and compute capabilities into a single, power distribution system that supports multiple enclaves, in any environment. This small and lightweight transport kit enables communications units to more rapidly deploy.

Voyager chassis are designed to be more than transit cases. They greatly enhance the Voyager system of system’s modularity by organizing and powering the network modules. This intelligently planned nested uninterruptible power supply (UPS) capability allows subsystems to be carried within larger chassis for multi-enclave operations, yet remain quickly severable should a subsystem need to be separated for individual operations.

This means, the chassis itself powers and charges the battery-backed network modules that can therefore be removed for remote operation with no downtime. Voyager chassis also may be customized or specially designed to support unique operating environments or deployment platforms

Voyager 1 & Voyager 1+

As an alternative to a backplane chassis, the Voyager 1 battery pack can be attached to the rear of any Voyager network module.

Voyager 2 Slim

Battery-backed power is provided by Voyager 1 and the system is also ideal for vehicle installs with addition of Voyager Module Battery Bracket (VMBB) or Voyager Module Adapter (KVMA).

The chassis is compatible with the Standardized A-Kit Vehicle Envelope (SAVE) specification and the SINCGARS MT-6352. 

Voyager 8 QP

The Voyager 8 Quad Power (QP) is an eight slot chassis with four separate power elements for multi-enclave applications.

Optimized for backpack use, Voyager 2 has support for two Voyager Network Modules and either ViaSat KG-250X, TACLANE-Nano KG-175N, KIV-54, KG175D or Mini-Catapan HAIPE devices.

Voyager 4 is a lightweight chassis with space for up to four Voyager modules with or without a Voyager 1 battery pack attached.

The award-winning Voyager 8 is a carbon fiber, airline carry-on-size transit case with a rack-mountable UPS that can host up eight Voyager modules.

Voyager 158

The two-channel Harris 158 radio provides superior security and mission flexibility. Voyager 158 builds on this capability with a 50W amplifier and a Bias T for each communications channel.

The Voyager 2+ chassis is the smallest dual-enclave system available. Optimized for backpack use, Voyager 2+ has support for two Voyager Network Modules and up to two HAPIE devices.

Voyager 4 Slim

Voyager 4 Slim is a lightweight chassis with space for up to four Voyager modules with or without a Voyager 1 battery pack attached.

Voyager 8 Plus

With support for 32GB RAM and dual-core performance, VoyagerVMm supports VMware virtualization for Guest Operating support.

Voyager TRIK-M

Portable package with support for Harris Manpack radios.

Voyager 8+ sized case that houses either Harris 117G, 158, 160 or 167 radios plus 5 Voyager modules.

RADIO INTEGRATION

VoyagerEM m4

VoyagerEM m8

Route & switch.

TRX R2 is a rugged compute gateway that combines both connectivity and local compute so that vehicles have cloud connectivity when they need it, but local processing power for analytics when there is no backhaul. 

VoyagerSW10GG

With the benefits of Cisco IOS-XE, Voyager SW10GG makes it easier to network high-bandwidth datacenter and cloud applications in remote and austere locations.

VoyagerESR 2.0

VoyagerESR 2.0 is the ultimate in Cisco hardware routing and switching in a single Voyager module.

VoyagerSW12GG

Datacenter or cloud workloads use Software-Defined Storage and Hyper-Converged technology to distribute processing across multiple compute nodes.

VoyagerSW26G

Take advantage of your tactical compute capability by providing high-speed access from client to server using VoyagerSW26G.

COMPUTE, PROCESS & STORAGE

VoyagerVM 4.0

VoyagerVM 4.0 is an enterprise grade server for extreme edge environments, built on the latest Intel Xeon D processor (Ice Lake D). Built rugged from the inside out.

VoyagerNAS 3.0

VoyagerNAS 3.0 combines the powerful compute capabilities of VoyagerVM 3.0 with a removable eight bay SATA/SAS cassette.

VoyagerVM 3.0

Based around Intel’s Xeon D architecture, it is designed from the outset to provide the maximum performance while operating in temperatures up to 50C.

With VoyagerGPU, you can analyse video in real time for inference applications but also train your AI/ML models at the edge of the network.

SYSTEMS & ACCESSORIES

With this enterprise communications suite in place, important members throughout the DoD community, and the secure networks on which they rely, are never out of reach.

Deploying data-center sized servers and storage to remote areas has always been challenging logistically from the perspective of size, weight and power.

m-Series Adapter

The KVMAm-ETH is a rugged power adaptor which allows a Voyager m-Series module to be used as a standalone unit and powered via its DC input port. 

Module Adapter

The KVMA is attached to the rear of a Voyager module and converts the blade type input connector of the module to a circular type connector with a rugged locking mechanism. 

Klas’ Pioneer Express (GRRIP, AN/PSC-15) is a small and lightweight flyaway communications system that includes a laptop, red/black router and HAIPE support.

VoyagerCell Duo

VoyagerCell Duo is a rapidly deployable standards-based 4G LTE base station complete with a virtual machine server that together provide high-speed voice, video and data communications.

Voyager HAIPE Bracket

VoyagerHAIPE Brackets provide easy mounting for HAIPE encryption devices to any Voyager network module with a Voyager 1 Chassis attached.

VoyagerRRCS

The VoyagerRRCS utilizes the modular architecture of the Klas Voyager range of network modules mounted in a Voyager 2 chassis.

Kortex R is a holistic solution offering high-performance compute, networking and connectivity, facilitating expeditionary forces, with data center grade services, at the tactical edge. 

VoyagerFX2 provides two Perle Fast Ethernet media converters and also contains an integrated power supply to leverage the Voyager power backplane.

RADIO BRACKETS

L3 Tactical ROVER-3 ISR (Rx)

Klas-voy-rb1.

Harris Falcon III AN/PRC-152A

Klas-voy-rb3.

Thales MBITR2/ViaSat BATS-D16

Klas-voy-rb7.

Silvus StreamCaster SC4200

Klas-voy-rb10.

AN/PRC-163 + AR-20 Amp

Klas-voy-rb13.

Motorola MTM5400

Klas-voy-rb18.

Rockwell Collins AN/PSN-13 DAGR

Klas-voy-rb22.

Silvus SM4210 or DTC DTC-SDR

Klas-voy-rb26.

ViaSat BATS-D V1&V2

Klas-voy-rb30.

RF AR-50 Amplifier

Klas-voy-rb33.

L3 Tactical ROVER-3 ISR (Tx&Rx)

Klas-voy-rb1-tx.

Harris 152A + AR-20 Amp

Klas-voy-rb4.

TrellisWare TW-950

Klas-voy-rb8.

Epiq Solutions Matchstiq S10

Klas-voy-rb11.

KLAS-VOY-RB14

Owl OPDS-100D Data Diode

Klas-voy-rb19.

Harris 152A + AR-20 AMP

Klas-voy-rb24.

Thales Javelin MANET TSM

Klas-voy-rb27.

ViaSat BATS Vehicular Amp

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Harris AN/PRC-117G

Klas-voy-mrb.

Thales AN/PRC-148 JEM

Klas-voy-rb2.

Thales 148 + AR-20 Amp

Klas-voy-rb5.

Persistent Systems MPU5

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MSDD 6000XL VHS/UHF Digitizer

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KLAS-VOY-RB15

Aerospace Link 16 TacNet

Klas-voy-rb20.

Harris AR/PRC-163

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L3Harris RF-9820S

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AN/PRC-148E Spear

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Voyager Module Battery Bracket

Klas-voy-mbb.

NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft finally phones home after 5 months of no contact

On Saturday, April 5, Voyager 1 finally "phoned home" and updated its NASA operating team about its health.

NASA's interstellar explorer Voyager 1 is finally communicating with ground control in an understandable way again. On Saturday (April 20), Voyager 1 updated ground control about its health status for the first time in 5 months. While the Voyager 1 spacecraft still isn't sending valid science data back to Earth, it is now returning usable information about the health and operating status of its onboard engineering systems. 

Thirty-five years after its launch in 1977, Voyager 1 became the first human-made object to leave the solar system and enter interstellar space . It was followed out of our cosmic quarters by its space-faring sibling, Voyager 2 , six years later in 2018. Voyager 2, thankfully, is still operational and communicating well with Earth. 

The two spacecraft remain the only human-made objects exploring space beyond the influence of the sun. However, on Nov. 14, 2023, after 11 years of exploring interstellar space and while sitting a staggering 15 billion miles (24 billion kilometers) from Earth, Voyager 1's binary code — computer language composed of 0s and 1s that it uses to communicate with its flight team at NASA — stopped making sense.

Related: We finally know why NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft stopped communicating — scientists are working on a fix

In March, NASA's Voyager 1 operating team sent a digital "poke" to the spacecraft, prompting its flight data subsystem (FDS) to send a full memory readout back home.

This memory dump revealed to scientists and engineers that the "glitch" is the result of a corrupted code contained on a single chip representing around 3% of the FDS memory. The loss of this code rendered Voyager 1's science and engineering data unusable.

The NASA team can't physically repair or replace this chip, of course, but what they can do is remotely place the affected code elsewhere in the FDS memory. Though no single section of the memory is large enough to hold this code entirely, the team can slice it into sections and store these chunks separately. To do this, they will also have to adjust the relevant storage sections to ensure the addition of this corrupted code won't cause those areas to stop operating individually, or working together as a whole. In addition to this, NASA staff will also have to ensure any references to the corrupted code's location are updated.

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—  NASA Voyager 2 spacecraft extends its interstellar science mission for 3 more years

On April 18, 2024, the team began sending the code to its new location in the FDS memory. This was a painstaking process, as a radio signal takes 22.5 hours to traverse the distance between Earth and Voyager 1, and it then takes another 22.5 hours to get a signal back from the craft. 

By Saturday (April 20), however, the team confirmed their modification had worked. For the first time in five months, the scientists were able to communicate with Voyager 1 and check its health. Over the next few weeks, the team will work on adjusting the rest of the FDS software and aim to recover the regions of the system that are responsible for packaging and returning vital science data from beyond the limits of the solar system.

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: [email protected].

Robert Lea is a science journalist in the U.K. whose articles have been published in Physics World, New Scientist, Astronomy Magazine, All About Space, Newsweek and ZME Science. He also writes about science communication for Elsevier and the European Journal of Physics. Rob holds a bachelor of science degree in physics and astronomy from the U.K.’s Open University. Follow him on Twitter @sciencef1rst.

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• Robb62 'V'ger must contact the creator. Reply
• Holy HannaH! Couldn't help but think that "repair" sounded extremely similar to the mechanics of DNA and the evolution of life. Reply
• Torbjorn Larsson *Applause* indeed, thanks to the Voyager teams for the hard work! Reply
• SpaceSpinner I notice that the article says that it has been in space for 35 years. Either I have gone back in time 10 years, or their AI is off by 10 years. V-*ger has been captured! Reply

Admin said: On Saturday, April 5, Voyager 1 finally "phoned home" and updated its NASA operating team about its health. The interstellar explorer is back in touch after five months of sending back nonsense data. NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft finally phones home after 5 months of no contact : Read more

evw said: I'm incredibly grateful for the persistence and dedication of the Voyagers' teams and for the amazing accomplishments that have kept these two spacecrafts operational so many years beyond their expected lifetimes. V-1 was launched when I was 25 years young; I was nearly delirious with joy. Exploring the physical universe captivated my attention while I was in elementary school and has kept me mesmerized since. I'm very emotional writing this note, thinking about what amounts to a miracle of technology and longevity in my eyes. BRAVO!!! THANK YOU EVERYONE PAST & PRESENT!!!

• EBairead I presume it's Fortran. Well done all. Reply

SpaceSpinner said: I notice that the article says that it has been in space for 35 years. Either I have gone back in time 10 years, or their AI is off by 10 years. V-*ger has been captured!

EBairead said: I presume it's Fortran. Well done all.

• View All 13 Comments

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Voyager 1 was in crisis in interstellar space. NASA wouldn’t give up.

For the past six months a team of engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has been trying to fix a glitchy computer. Three things make the repair job challenging:

The computer is highly customized and unlike anything on the market today.

It was built in the 1970s.

And it is 15 billion miles away.

The computer is on Voyager 1, the most distant human-made spacecraft ever launched. Far beyond the orbit of Pluto, it is riding point for all humanity as it hurtles through interstellar space.

But on Nov. 14, Voyager 1 suddenly stopped sending any data back to Earth. While it remained in radio contact, the transmission had, as NASA engineers put it, “flatlined.” So began the greatest crisis in the history of the fabled Voyager program.

Voyager 1 and its twin, Voyager 2, launched in 1977 and in the years that followed obtained stunning close-up images of Jupiter and Saturn. Voyager 2 also flew by Uranus and Neptune and is the only spacecraft to have visited those ice giants. The Voyagers blew past the heliopause, where the solar wind abates and interstellar space begins, and continued to send back science data about particles and magnetic fields in a realm never before visited.

The two Voyagers are powered by the radioactive decay of plutonium-238, and in the near future that power source will be too feeble to keep the spacecraft warm and functioning. But for now, they have operational scientific instruments that are sending back otherwise unobtainable data on the composition of space beyond the heliopause.

Fixing Voyager 1 quickly became a priority for NASA, and especially for Jeffrey Mellstrom, who has been at JPL in Pasadena for 35 years and is the chief engineer in the astronomy and physics directorate.

Mellstrom took on the challenge even as he planned for retirement in the spring. In January, Mellstrom told a colleague, “The one thing I’m going to regret is if I retire before we solve Voyager 1’s problem.”

Like kicking a vending machine

After initial attempts to resolve the issue went nowhere, JPL leadership created a “tiger team” made of a multigenerational crew of engineers, some of them veterans of the lab and some born long after the Voyagers launched.

“We didn’t know how to solve this in the beginning because we didn’t know what’s wrong,” said Mellstrom, the team’s leader.

Voyager 1 has three computers. One is the attitude and articulation control system, which makes sure the spacecraft is pointed in the right direction. Another is the command control system, which handles the commands coming from Earth. The third is the flight data subsystem, which takes science and engineering data and packages it for transmission home.

Something had gone wrong somewhere in that trio of computers. Maybe a “cosmic ray” — a particle from deep space — had smashed into a computer chip. Or maybe a piece of hardware just got so old it ceased to work.

“All we had was incoherent data, garbled data,” said Suzanne Dodd, the Voyager project manager since 2010. Dodd has been at JPL for four decades, and in her early years she wrote computer code for Voyager 2’s encounters with Uranus and Neptune. She vividly remembers that first close-up look of Neptune and an image of the ice giant with its huge moon Triton in the background.

“We didn’t know what part of the spacecraft was involved with this,” Dodd said.

So they poked it. They sent commands to Voyager 1, trying to jolt it back to coherence. The team had a list of potential failures and figured that one of the commands might have the equivalent effect of kicking a vending machine.

Here is where the troubleshooting encountered an inviolable obstacle: the speed of light. Even at 186,000 miles per second, a command sent to Voyager 1 would take 22½ hours to arrive. Then the engineers would have to wait another 22½ hours for the spacecraft to send a response.

The planet Earth is kind of a pain, too, because it spins inconveniently on its axis and moves restlessly around the sun. To communicate with distant spacecraft, NASA relies on the Deep Space Network, three arrays of huge radio telescopes in California, Spain and Australia. The idea is that, regardless of Earth’s movement, at least one array can be pointed toward a spacecraft at almost any time.

The tiger team developed a pattern of sending a command on a Friday and waiting for the return signal on Sunday. Some dark days and weeks followed.

“None of those commands that we sent were able to make any discernible difference whatsoever,” said David Cummings, an advanced flight software designer and developer.

In late February, the team sent a series of commands to prod the flight data subsystem to place software in each of 10 different “data modes.” The team waited, hoping for a breakthrough. After two days, Voyager responded — still without data. Engineer Greg Chin circulated a technical chart and summarized the situation: “So, at this time, no joy.”

“It was unbelievably depressing,” Cummings said. “Luckily the story doesn’t end there.”

Cracking the code

Just a day after the “no joy” email, the team felt a surge of optimism.

JPL has specialists in radio transmissions, and they noticed that in some “modes” the return signal from Voyager 1 had been modulated in a pattern consistent with the flight subsystem computer producing data, though not in any normal format. The modulation suggested that the processor was functioning and supported the team’s conjecture that some of the memory had been corrupted.

“That was huge,” Cummings said. “The processor was not dead.”

Painstakingly, the team at last tracked down the origin of the problem: a bad memory chip holding one bit — the smallest unit of binary data — for each of 256 contiguous words of memory.

The flight data subsystem was built with 8K memory, or more exactly 8,192 bytes. (A modern smartphone has something like 6G memory, or 6 billion bytes.)

The engineers came up with a plan: They would move the software to different parts of the flight data subsystem memory. Unfortunately they couldn’t just move the 256 words in a single batch, because there was no place roomy enough for all of it. They had to break it down into pieces. And they’d have to proofread everything. It was tedious, error-prone work.

Cummings called a young JPL flight software engineer named Armen Arslanian: “Do you want to help me relocate Voyager code?”

Arslanian was the right person for the job. Just six years out of college, he knew how to write code for spacecraft, and he knew how to deal with “assembly language,” the coding that underlies the common languages used by programmers today. That’s the language of Voyager’s 1970s-era computers.

“I ended up needing that skill,” Arslanian said.

The JPL teams had documentation from the 1970s describing the function of the software, but often the descriptions were contingent on other information that could not be found. The team also lacked the tools to verify their coding. They had to do everything essentially by hand. It wasn’t like trying to find a needle in a haystack so much as like trying to examine every piece of hay for possible flaws.

The team prioritized the software for the engineering data so that they could fully restore communication with the spacecraft. If that worked, they could fix the science data later.

On April 18, the team sent a package of commands to the spacecraft and then waited. Two days later the spacecraft sent back the first intelligible engineering data in more than five months.

There is more work to be done, but the end is in sight. The engineers are still working on transferring the code that controls the scientific data. But they know how to do this. They found the problem, figured out the workaround and are just grinding through the code transfer.

Mellstrom and Dodd are fully confident that Voyager 1 has been saved. Mellstrom said he can retire without regret.

“The spacecraft is working,” Dodd said. “Go Voyager!”

Rob Gronkowski, Other Influencers Settle Voyager Crypto Suit

By Ufonobong Umanah

Retired football star Rob Gronkowski has agreed to pay the majority of a $2.4 million settlement stemming from allegations that he and other famous athletes helped promote failed cryptocurrency exchange Voyager Digital Holdings Inc.

A class of US customers who enrolled in a Voyager EPA or bought one of its VGX tokens from Oct. 2019 onward are seeking preliminary approval for an agreement they reached with Gronkowski, basketball player Victor Oladipo, and NASCAR driver Landon Cassill, according to a motion filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The class action alleged the sports stars aided ...

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