Area | NASA engineers poke Voyager 1 and obtain a reminiscence dump.

For months, fears have been rising that we would must say goodbye to the Voyager 1 spacecraft after it began sending again errant knowledge. Now, in a sudden twist, Voyager 1 despatched again a readout of the Flight Information Subsystem (FDS) reminiscence after the “poke” command, giving each some hope that the spacecraft is in higher form than feared. Additionally permits engineers. Return to dig reminiscence for clues. Though this knowledge was not despatched within the format that FDS ought to use when it’s working correctly, it’s nonetheless readable.

The issue was initially suspected to be with the Telemetry Modulation Unit (TMU), however has since been nailed right down to the FDS itself. It comes as NASA engineers are updating the firmware on each spacecraft to increase their lifespan, however it’s too early to invest as a potential trigger. Now, because of the “poke” instruction — which tells the pc to strive totally different sequences in its firmware if a part of it’s corrupted — engineers can examine it to earlier downloads to hopefully The explanation behind FDS issues could be traced. A potential resolution.

Impressed by the information of the decoded reminiscence obtain, Nadia Drake – Frank Drake’s daughter – wrote about the way it impacts not solely the engineers who’ve labored on Voyager missions over the previous a long time, however these additionally has his personal concepts concerning the two Voyager spacecraft. Not solely do they kind a long-lasting reminder of his father and plenty of of his colleagues, however the silence that may observe if we will now not talk with these spacecraft shall be profound. Nonetheless, this new hope is healthier than earlier stories concerning the tiny spacecraft.

Because of [Mark Stevens] for the tip.