NASA reports on the current status of the Voyager 1 spacecraft, which is venturing beyond the solar system. Last month, the flight data system (FDS) computer sent inaccurate data, rendering it unreadable.
Despite this setback, communication with the FDS is still possible. However, the values obtained from the scientific instruments on the spacecraft, particularly the Telemetry Modulation Unit (TMU), only consist of alternating 0s and 1s, as if the system is stuck. The team suspects that the issue originates from the FDS itself. However, even after rebooting the system, the problem persists.
Now, the team is going back to study the Voyager 1’s design documents from as far back as 1977 to determine if there are alternative solutions. The current team responsible for the spacecraft was not part of the original design team. Additionally, due to the spacecraft’s distance of 24,000 million kilometers from Earth, commands take approximately 22.5 hours to reach the spacecraft, and the team must wait for 45 hours to observe the results.
TLDR: Voyager 1, currently on its journey outside the solar system, experienced a data reading problem from the flight data system (FDS) computer. The team suspects an internal issue with the FDS. Despite communication still being possible with the FDS, the Telemetry Modulation Unit (TMU) only retrieves alternating 0s and 1s. Rebooting the system did not resolve the problem. The team is now reviewing the spacecraft’s design documents to explore alternative solutions. Due to the spacecraft’s vast distance, commands take 22.5 hours to reach Voyager 1, and the team must wait for 45 hours to receive results.
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