The antenna misalignment on NASA’s Voyager 2 probe, which is presently in interstellar space, is causing communication issues. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Voyager 2 spacecraft, which is travelling into interstellar space, is experiencing communication issues owing to antenna misalignment. As a result, it is unable to receive orders or relay data to Earth. The US space agency is hopeful that the problem will be rectified at the next orientation reset in October. Voyager 2 is the second-farthest human-made object in space, after only Voyager 1.
“On July 21, a series of planned commands sent to NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft caused the antenna to point 2 degrees away from Earth.” As a result, Voyager 2 is temporarily unable to receive orders or transmit data back to Earth,” stated NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which runs the spacecraft.
Despite the brief communication impediment, Voyager 2 is planned to change its orientation numerous times each year to realign its antenna with Earth, according to JPL. Communication is likely to be restored with the forthcoming reset on October 15. “The mission team expects Voyager 2 to remain on its planned trajectory during the quiet period,” the statement continued. Voyager 2, which was launched on August 20, 1977, is now more than 19.9 billion kilometres away from Earth, in interstellar space – the zone between our Sun’s heliosphere with the astrospheres of other stars.
Voyager 2 is NASA’s second spacecraft to investigate the region between stars. On December 10, 2018, it became the first human-made object to explore the gap between stars, joining its twin, Voyager 1. Voyager 1, which is approximately 24 billion miles distant from Earth, is still operating normally.
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