NASA's giant dish antenna in Canberra is on the lookout for signals from the Voyager 2 spacecraft, after flight controllers accidentally severed communications more than a week ago.
The spacecraft will automatically reset in October which should re-establish communicationsThe mistake from NASA operators only shifted the spacecraft's antenna by 2 degrees, but that was enough for it to lose contact with the Earth-based tracking station 19 billion kilometres away., just a couple of weeks ahead of its identical twin, Voyager 1.
"It is ageing and getting further away from us every single day. We do know we'll lose contact with the spacecraft sometime towards the end of this decade."In the coming week, the Canberra antenna — operated by CSIRO as part of NASA's Deep Space Network — will bombard Voyager 2's vicinity with the correct command, in hopes it hits its mark, according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which manages the Voyager missions.
Although the chances of quickly restoring communications are seen as a long shot, the spacecraft will automatically reset in October which should do the trick."We'll hear back from Voyager in October and continue this amazing journey across the solar system and beyond," Mr Nagle said.
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