The Voyager 1 space probe is the farthest man-made object in space. It was sent in 1977 with a golden record on board that contained various sounds of our home planet: greetings in different languages, dogs barking and the sounds of two people kissing, to name just a few examples. The idea behind this recording was that Voyager 1 might one day become an emissary of alien life—a sonic time capsule of the creatures of Earth. Since its launch, it has also managed to complete missions to Jupiter and Saturn. In 2012, he crossed interstellar space.
Voyager interstellar voyage poster/NASA
NASA engineers are searching for the cause of communication problems with the Voyager 1 spacecraft, which is currently out of the solar system and unable to send useful data back to Earth. Voyager 1’s messages to Earth come in the form of ones and zeros, a computer language called binary code – but since late last year the code has been meaningless. Voyager 1 is currently about 15 billion miles (24 billion kilometers) from Earth, meaning solving communication problems could be a painstaking process. It takes 22.5 hours to receive a radio signal from Voyager 1, and then another 22.5 hours to receive a response through the Deep Space Network antennas.
One of the Voyager spacecraft moving through the darkness of space /NASA/JPL-Caltech
The source of the problem appears to be one of Voyager 1’s three onboard computers: the flight data subsystem (FDS). According to NASA, this computer is responsible for packaging scientific and engineering data before sending it to Earth by the spacecraft’s telemetry modulation unit. A positive step toward solving communication problems between ground control and Voyager 1 occurred on March 3, when the Voyager mission team detected activity in one section of the FDS that was different from the rest of the computer’s garbled data stream.
Golden record. According to NASA, each Voyager spacecraft carried a 12-inch gold-plated copper phonograph disc “containing sounds and images selected to depict the diversity of life and culture on Earth.”
In 2012, Voyager 1 became the first man-made object to leave the solar system and enter interstellar space. For 11 years after this achievement, the spacecraft sent data to ground control without problems. This was data detailing how space outside the solar system works. However, in November 2023, Voyager 1’s communications with ground operators ceased to provide adequate information. Voyager 2, which followed the Voyager 1 spacecraft in leaving the solar system in 2018, is still operational and in contact with Earth.
Scientists eagerly awaited Voyager 1 to become the first man-made object to leave the solar system. And although Voyager’s technology is primitive by today’s standards, its probes continue to operate today.
The two Voyager spacecraft were launched on August 20, 1977 and September 5, 1977 on missions to explore Jupiter and Saturn. This full-color image taken by Voyager 2 on July 21, 1981, shows the moons Dione (small dot at left) and Rhea (lower right) near Saturn.
When Voyager 1 passed Jupiter on February 5, 1979, it captured this image of the planet and its Great Red Spot, as well as three of its four largest moons – Io, Europa and Callisto.
Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, seen in this image taken by Voyager 1 on February 25, 1979, is a giant hurricane-like storm in Jupiter’s atmosphere. This was recorded by astronomers who had been observing the planet through telescopes for at least 400 years.
About three years later, in 1989, Voyager 2 reached Neptune, where it captured this high-resolution color image of the planet’s bright cloud bands.
In addition to exploring planets, the Voyager mission also spent time studying satellites of planets or moons. This mosaic image, taken in 1989, shows Neptune’s largest moon, Triton. Triton has the coldest surface temperature known anywhere in the solar system.