NASA's distant Voyager 2 probe has sent a 'heartbeat' signal to Earth after mission control mistakenly cut contact, the US space agency said Tuesday.
Launched in 1977 to explore the outer planets and serve as a beacon of humanity to the wider universe, it is currently more than 12.3 billion miles from our planet – well beyond the solar system.
But on Tuesday, Voyager project manager Suzanne Dodd told AFP the team enlisted the help of the Deep Space Network – an international array of giant radio antennas, plus a few that orbit Earth – in a last-ditch effort to re-establish contact sooner. But while engineers can now see a heartbeat – in technical terms, the carrier wave associated with Voyager 2 – they can't yet read the information signal that shapes the carrier wave, which conveys all the data collected by the spacecraft.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
NASA Detects 'Heartbeat' Message From Voyager 2 After Inadvertently Losing ContactThe legendary probe went silent two weeks ago as the result of NASA transmitting a potentially faulty command.
Read more »
NASA hears 'heartbeat' signal from Voyager 2 probe a week after losing contactBrandon is the space/physics editor at Live Science. His writing has appeared in The Washington Post, Reader's Digest, CBS.com, the Richard Dawkins Foundation website and other outlets. He holds a bachelor's degree in creative writing from the University of Arizona, with minors in journalism and media arts. He enjoys writing most about space, geoscience and the mysteries of the universe.
Read more »
NASA hears ‘heartbeat’ of Voyager 2 after losing communication | CNNThe Voyager mission team at NASA has been able to detect a signal from Voyager 2 after losing contact with the spacecraft, which has been operating for nearly 46 years
Read more »
NASA hears Voyager 2 'heartbeat' after accidentally cutting off communicationNASA scientists announced Tuesday afternoon that the Deep Space Network of antennae had picked up a carrier signal from the Voyager 2 Spacecraft after days of silence.
Read more »
NASA accidentally severs contact with Voyager 2 probe 12 billion miles from EarthAfter accidentally shifting Voyager 2's antenna by two degrees, NASA is out of contact with the interstellar probe until at least Oct. 15.
Read more »
NASA Loses Contact With Voyager 2 After Commands Misdirect ProbeIt's every space mission's nightmare: losing contact with the spacecraft.
Read more »