Voyager 1, NASA’s furthest spacecraft from Earth, has resumed sending science data after a computer problem in November. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced that all four of Voyager 1’s instruments are back in working order. Recently, the team received significant data from the spacecraft and instructed it to resume studying its environment.
Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 is currently traveling through interstellar space, the space between star systems. Prior to reaching this area, the spacecraft made groundbreaking discoveries, such as identifying a thin ring around Jupiter and exploring several of Saturn’s moons. Voyager 1’s instruments are designed to gather information about plasma waves, magnetic fields, and particles.
Voyager 1 is located over 15 billion miles (24.14 kilometers) away from Earth while its twin spacecraft, Voyager 2, is also in interstellar space and is more than 12 billion miles (19.31 kilometers) away. Despite the distance, both spacecraft continue to transmit valuable data back to NASA on a regular basis.
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