NASA says it has cegained contact with its pioneering Voyager 2 craft after a case of human error suddenly cut contact two weeks ago with the second-ever probe in space
NASA lost contact with its pioneering Voyager 2 probe billions of miles out in space after a potentially embarrassing case of human error, the space agency revealed.
The world’s foremost space exploration group lost contact with Voyager 2, one of the oldest human-made objects in space.,billions of miles away from Earth after accidentally sending it the wrong command two weeks ago, the space agency revealed.
But now, NASA’s Deep Space Network, giant radio antennas across the globe, has finally regained contact by picking up a “heartbeat signal,” meaning the 46-year-old craft is alive and operating, project manager Suzanne Dodd said in an email Tuesday.
The news “buoyed our spirits,” Dodd said. Flight controllers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California will now try to turn Voyager 2’s antenna back toward Earth. If the command doesn’t work – and controllers doubt it will – they’ll have to wait until October for an automatic spacecraft reset. The antenna is only 2 per cent off-kilter.