NASA loses contact with Voyager 2
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NASA engineers are attempting to re-establish contact with the Voyager 2 spacecraft, which lost communication after a faulty command was sent.
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Voyager 2 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on August 4, 1977. (AP)
NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft, which has been journeying through interstellar space and holds the title of the farthest human-made object from Earth, lost contact with mission control after an accidental transmission of a faulty command more than a week ago.
The spacecraft, which was launched back in 1977 tilted its antenna away from Earth due to the erroneous command, leading to a complete communication breakdown. Currently, the spacecraft sits stranded more than 12 billion miles away, making the re-establishment of contact a significant challenge.
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Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, are now working to reconnect with the distant spacecraft. However, due to the vast distance, it takes 18 hours for software commands to travel to the probe, making the process a suspenseful waiting game.
Voyager 2 made significant discoveries during its journey, including finding a new moon around Jupiter, ten moons around Uranus, and five moons around Neptune. It remains the only spacecraft to have closely studied all four giant planets of our solar system.
If the current contact attempt proves unsuccessful, mission controllers will have to wait until October, when the spacecraft is expected to reset automatically, potentially restoring communications.
