The spacecraft can still receive and execute commands, but a failure in one of three computers that make up its flight computer system means that no intelligible data is being sent to Earth.
Instead of interpretable binary code, the space probe has started delivering messages in a jumble. The same pattern of ones and zeroes is repeated, as if the system has tripped. An attempt to restart the system gave no result, writes NASA on its website.
It may take several weeks for Nasa to come up with a new plan to fix the error. Because of the long distance, it will take 45 hours for the engineering team to get a response from Voyager 1 and find out if communication is working.
Already last year, there were problems with the communication, but then Nasa managed to fix the error. Voyager 1 had then tried to send the messages via a computer, which no longer existed, writes Howl.
24 billion kilometers distance from Earth
Voyager 1 was launched into space in the fall of 1977, two weeks after its twin Voyager 2. The spacecraft is 24 billion kilometers from Earth, farther than any other man-made object. The purpose is to collect data on the conditions in interstellar space outside our own solar system.
Voyager 1 carries with it the space message “We offer our friendship across the stars. You are not alone”. The message must be able to be interpreted by anyone and is intended for, among other things, possible civilizations in the future.
The space probe has been estimated to be able to deliver data for several more years.