NASA engineers have successfully brought back to life the thrusters of the Voyager 1 spacecraft, which had been inactive since 2004. Launched 50 years ago, Voyager 1 is now nearly 25 billion kilometers (over 15 billion miles) from Earth, making it the most distant human-made object in existence. The issue with the thrusters stemmed from deactivated heaters that were long thought to be irreparable.
Back in 2004, a power loss in two internal heaters caused the main thrusters to shut down, prompting engineers to switch to backup systems. Recently, NASA specialists hypothesized that the problem was caused by an accidental shutdown of the heaters. They attempted to reset the system — and it worked. The heaters and thrusters came back online.
This restoration was necessary due to ongoing upgrades to the Deep Space Station 43 antenna in Australia, which is the only ground station capable of communicating with Voyager 1. The station will be offline until February 2026, with only brief windows of availability in August and December 2025. To prepare Voyager 1 for extended autonomous operation, NASA aimed to restore its ability to adjust orientation and transmit data reliably.
The successful reactivation of the thrusters allows Voyager 1 to maintain proper positioning and data transmission during the communication blackout. This achievement highlights the exceptional durability and engineering brilliance behind the legendary interstellar mission.
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