Voyager 1 sends mysterious data from beyond the Solar System

NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft is continuing its journey beyond our Solar System, 45 years after launch. But now, this veteran spacecraft unexpectedly sends back mysterious data that confuses NASA.

Voyager . spacecraft illustration

The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said on May 18 (local time), while the Voyager 1 spacecraft was still operating normally, the data from the Earth's control system and connection to the Earth. The ship - AACS for short - did not match the ship's motion. This spacecraft seems to be mysteriously confused about its place in space.

The AACS system is essential for Voyager to send NASA data about the interstellar environment around it, and the spacecraft's antennas are always pointed directly at Earth.

According to Business Insider, Suzanne Dodd, Voyager 1 and 2 project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said: "Both spacecraft are nearly 45 years old, far beyond what the other spacecraft have been. predictive mission planner".

NASA says the Voyager 1 probe's twin, Voyager 2, is operating normally.

Launched in 1977 to explore planets outside the Solar System, Voyager 1 is now 23.3 billion kilometers from Earth, making it the most distant man-made object. It has so far worked as expected and continued to send information about its return journey to Earth until May 18.

NASA engineers say the spacecraft's Earth-connected and control systems are sending randomly generated data that doesn't "reflect what's actually happening on board."

Dodd and her team of engineers hope to find out what causes the ship to send such strange data. As a major problem, the NASA message took 20 hours and 33 minutes to get to Voyager 1's current location. Thus, a round-trip message between NASA and Voyager 1 takes two days.