It’s no big secret at this point that we’re looking at the final years of the two venerable Voyager spacecraft. With their power supplies dwindling and their 1970s-era electronics still giving everything they’ve got, their teams are working miracles to stretch out the time until the final goodbye as long as possible. Despite these efforts, Voyager 1 remained silent for more than 24 hours on October 18 and 19, and the team was still trying to figure out what happened. The most recent change on Voyager 1 was the same ‘big bang’ switch from multiple instruments to lower-powered versions, while ensuring that electronics and fuel were kept at reasonable temperatures. This should give both spacecraft a few more years before energy reserves fall below usable levels. It is currently unknown if this change is related to this communication outage. From the diagnostic data the team obtained after communications were reestablished, it is clear that a group of thrusters were disconnected and the backup units were activated, indicating that the onboard computer detected some type of anomaly with the former. Whether this is a recurrence of the clogged fuel lines seen before will need to be investigated. We still fervently hope that both Voyagers can make it to the 2030s before they both go silent forever. Final goodbyes are never easy, but we are so grateful to the Voyager teams over the decades for going above and beyond to make sure literally everything was tried before those fateful days arrived. Thanks to [Mark Stevens] for the tip.
