The Voyager 1 space probe, which is already 24 billion kilometers from Earth, suffered a sabotage error in recent months, causing meaningless data to be sent back to Earth. But NASA engineers found a solution.
Bypass the faulty chip
The problem has been around since November 14, 2023. The probe seemed to be working normally, but the data received on Earth turned out to be nonsense. The problem eventually turned out to be with one of the plane's on-board computers, the Flight Data Subsystem (FDS).
This system must collect data packets that must be sent to Earth. The chip on which part of the FDS computer's code is stored turned out to be non-functional. This corrupted the data to be sent so that it became unusable.
redistribution
The solution is to redistribute this program code to other storage locations. Since the entire program code cannot be stored anywhere, it is modified. Since it takes 22 hours for a radio signal to reach Voyager 1 and another 22 hours for a response, introducing these corrections is a challenge. But it worked. Voyager 1 has been sending meaningful data again since April 20, 2024.
In the sky you can see this week:
Sun and moon timing (Saturday, May 4)
Sunrise: 5:57 AM; Under 9:09 p.m.
Moon time: 5:04 pm (Saturday); Bottom: 5:50 AM (Sunday).
Moon – The phase of our natural satellite decreases further. We still find the moon in the morning sky. On Wednesday, May 8, there will be a new moon (unseen, Aries) at 5:24 AM.
Planets – With the help of binoculars, Saturn can be barely spotted above the east-southeast horizon shortly before sunrise. On May 4, the moon will be there, making it easier. Jupiter has become almost unobservable. The giant planet will set in the west-northwest at 9:59 p.m. Then it wasn't dark yet. After another week it was no longer visible.
Meteors – Eta Aquarius is active from April 17 to May 27. These meteors come from the direction of the constellation Aquarius, which is low in the east and southeast in the early morning. Therefore, late night/morning is the best time to see these meteors. Maximum activity is expected on May 5 at about 50 meteors per hour. Unfortunately, moonlight is a disturbing factor during the first few days when the moon crosses this area of the sky.
Further information: RP Elings, Tel: 0527-699142 / 06-51931417; Email: [email protected]
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