NASA fires spacecraft thrusters last used in 1980, from distance of 21 billion kilometres
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida — NASA has nailed an engine test on a spacecraft 21 billion kilometres away.
Last week, ground controllers sent commands to fire backup thrusters on Voyager 1, humanity’s most distant spacecraft. The thrusters had been idle for 37 years, since Voyager 1 flew past Saturn.
To NASA’s delight, the four dormant thrusters came alive. It took more than 19 hours — the oneway travel time for signals — for controllers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, to get the good news.
Engineers wanted to see if these alternate thrusters could point Voyager 1’s antenna toward Earth, a job normally handled by a different set that’s now degrading. The thrusters will take over pointing operations next month. The switch could extend Voyager 1’s life by two to three years.
Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 is the only spacecraft travelling through interstellar space, the region beyond our solar system. Voyager 2 is close on its heels — nearly 18 billion kilometres from Earth. The thruster test worked so well that NASA expects to try it on Voyager 2. That won’t happen anytime soon because Voyager 2’s original thrusters are working fine.
The Voyager flight team dug up old records and studied the original software before tackling the test. The twin Voyagers had provided stunning close-up views of Jupiter and Saturn. Voyager 2 also offered shots of Uranus and Neptune.