It's lonely in deep space. Especially when the spacecraft has reached interstellar space.
Of course, that was the fate of Voyager 2. The spacecraft, which was launched over 40 years ago and is now NASA's longest-running space mission, was designed to travel outside our solar system.
For decades, everything went according to plan, but the incredible journey was about to face a challenge he hadn't faced in all this time.
NASA announced that Deep Space Station 43 (DSS-43) – the only antenna on Earth that can send commands to the Voyager 2 spacecraft – will go silent for a long time.
The space agency says the giant platter in Australia, roughly the size of a 20-story building, needs major upgrades. The Canberra facility has been in operation for almost 50 years, so it's no surprise that aging equipment needs maintenance.
DSS-43. (CDSCC)
For approximately 11 months – until the end of January 2021, when the renovation is complete – Voyager 2 will be completely alone, in a mode of operation designed to save energy.
“We are bringing the spacecraft back to a state where it will be fine when the antenna is turned off,” explains Voyager Project Manager Susanne Dodd of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
“If something goes wrong – which is always possible, especially with an aging spacecraft – then built-in crash protection will help you deal with the situation.”
During this almost one year period of radio silence, the silence will only be one-way. The other antennas at the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex (CDSCC) will be tuned to receive any signals that Voyager 2 transmits to Earth; we just can't answer anything.
The biggest unknown, according to the space agency, is whether Voyager 2's automated traction control systems – which are triggered multiple times a day to keep the probe's antenna focused on Earth – will work accurately for such a long period, or whether the systems will fail. power supplies designed to maintain the operation of the probe.
Sources: Photo: NASA / JPL-Caltech