Decoding Voyager 2
NASA JPL Engineers diagnosing an unexpected change in the data sent to Earth by Voyager 2.
As you may have gathered I am very much interested in the exploration of space if you have read either 40 Years after Apollo 13 or Apollo 11 Saturn V Launch (HD) Camera E-8. So I was very amused when I found this article on the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory site - Engineers Diagnosing Voyager 2 Data System.
NASA JPL Engineers have shifted Voyager 2 into a mode that transmits only health and status data while they diagnose an unexpected change in the pattern of returning data. Engineering data received 1st May show the spacecraft is healthy. The source of the issue is the flight data system responsible for formatting data to send back to Earth is unknown. The change in that data returned to Earth no longer conforms to formats expected by mission managers. This change prevents NASA from decoding the expected data. That point is true, so long as the data the probe is transmitting is still scientific data.
The Australian Daily Telegraph speculated in their wacky column whether the probe had been reprogrammed by an extraterrestrial being - Have aliens hijacked Voyager 2 spacecraft. This seems rather unlikely but still very amusing with the undertones of Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
Voyager 2 launched on 20th August 1977 is approximately travelled 13.8 billion kilometers, or 8.6 billion miles from Earth since it's launch. It's sister probe, Voyage 1 launched has travelled an impressive 16.9 billion kilometers or 10.5 billion miles from Earth.
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