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All articles tagged with #space communications

Voyager 1: A 50-Year Space Messenger Still Reaching Earth, With Replies Taking Almost a Day
science1 month ago

Voyager 1: A 50-Year Space Messenger Still Reaching Earth, With Replies Taking Almost a Day

Voyager 1, launched in 1977, remains the farthest and oldest human-made spacecraft, still transmitting data from interstellar space as its power wanes. NASA/JPL plans to extend its life by conserving energy and reforming heating to keep the system functioning into the 2030s, a move nicknamed “Big Bang.” Signals now take about 23 hours to reach Earth, with Voyager about 15.85 billion miles away, nearing one light-day, and carrying the Golden Record of humanity for any future cosmic listeners.

via Jalopnik|
#interstellar-space#nasa-jpl#rtg-power
DSN Survives Artemis II Data Boom With Upgrades
science2 months ago

DSN Survives Artemis II Data Boom With Upgrades

NASA’s Deep Space Network, which nearly buckled during Artemis I, again faced heavy data demands for Artemis II but performed well thanks to upgrades (including a new data subsystem and improved coordination). The mission’s shorter duration helped ease load, while NASA plans more capacity via Lunar Exploration Ground Sites, laser communications, and other non-DSN infrastructure. About 40 missions currently use DSN, with around 40 more expected over the next decade; one 70-meter antenna at Goldstone is offline after a 2023 over-rotation accident and is slated for repair and upgrade by 2028, and NASA now requires feasibility studies before onboarding new missions.

via Ars Technica|
#artemis-ii#deep-space-network#ground-stations
Voyager 1's two-day command cycle as it drifts toward interstellar space
science3 months ago

Voyager 1's two-day command cycle as it drifts toward interstellar space

Voyager 1 is about 16 billion miles from Earth and moving away from the Sun, so a command sent at the speed of light takes roughly 22.5 hours to reach it and the reply takes about 22.5 hours to return, creating a two‑day command‑and‑response cadence. After a memory‑chip failure in 2023, a 2024 patch and careful line‑by‑line code review restored coherent data transmission, and the current data rate is about 160 bits per second as the probe slowly powers down its instruments. By November 2026 Voyager 1 will become the first human‑made object to pass one light‑day from Earth, while Voyager 2 remains on a longer, slower path toward similar autonomy and fading transmissions.

via Space Daily|
#interstellar-space#nasa-jpl#science