Engineers say ‘the spacecraft is still broadcasting’ but faces ‘low probability’ of regaining connection with mission control
Nasa’s Voyager 2 probe has sent a “heartbeat” signal to Earth from more than 12 billion miles away after contact was mistakenly cut last month.
Communication with the spacecraft, which has been exploring the universe since 1977, was severed on July 21 when controllers accidentally sent a wrong command that tilted its antenna point two degrees away from Earth.
The adjustment left the probe unable to transmit data or receive commands to its mission control – a situation that was not expected to be resolved until it conducted an automated re-orientation manoeuvre on October 15, Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) said.
But on Tuesday, the team said the Deep Space Network – an international array of giant radio antennas – had “picked up a carrier signal” from the probe which is “a bit like hearing the spacecraft’s ‘heartbeat’,”.