NASA’s Voyager 1 has resumed regular operations 1 following a pause in communication last month. The probe had unexpectedly turned off its primary radio transmitter, called an X-band transmitter, and […]
Voyager
Posted inAriel, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Miranda, Oberon, Press Release, Titania, Umbriel, Uranus, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Uranus’ Swaying Moons Will Help Spacecraft Seek Out Hidden Oceans
When NASA’s Voyager 2 flew by Uranus in 1986, it captured grainy photographs of large ice-covered moons. Now nearly 40 years later, NASA plans to send another spacecraft to Uranus, […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Neptune, Press Release, Uranus, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
A Clue To What Lies Beneath The Bland Surfaces Of Uranus And Neptune
Diamond rain? Super-ionic water? These are just two proposals that planetary scientists have come up with for what lies beneath the thick, bluish, hydrogen-and-helium atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune, our […]
Posted inInterstellar, Missions & Hardware, Status Report
Communications Issues Resolved With Voyager 1 Interstellar Probe
On Oct. 24, NASA reconnected with the Voyager 1 spacecraft after a brief pause in communications. The spacecraft recently turned off one of its two radio transmitters, and the team […]
Posted inAstrobiology (general), Interstellar, SETI & Technosignatures
Centenarian Jimmy Carter’s Interstellar Message
Editor’s note: Happy 100th birthday President Jimmy Carter. Many younger people are unaware of the fact that you wrote a letter that is on board both Voyager spacecraft now traversing […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Interstellar, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Radiation
Voyager 2 Interstellar Probe Science Instrument Turned Off To Save Power
The Voyager 2 mission has been working to postpone the shut-off as long as possible. Four other instruments aboard the interstellar spacecraft continue to operate.
Posted inGaia - Planetary Perspectives, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Missions & Hardware
A Space Droid Looks Back At Home On Its Way Into Interstellar Space
On this date, 18 Sep 1977, Voyager 1 took a departure angle picture of our home world and its large moon from a distance of 7 million miles.
Posted inAway Teams & Field Reports, Interstellar, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Reports, Roadmaps, & Plans, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs
Interstellar Probe Remote Engineering: Voyager 1 Team Swaps Thrusters
The spacecraft uses its thrusters to stay pointed at Earth, but after 47 years in space some of the fuel tubes have become clogged.
Posted inAstrogeology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Io, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Status Report
Comparing NASA Discovery and New Frontiers Class Mission Concepts for the Io Volcano Observer (IVO)
Jupiter’s moon Io is a highly compelling target for future exploration that offers critical insight into tidal dissipation processes and the geology of high heat flux worlds, including primitive planetary […]
Posted inInterstellar, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Space Weather & Heliophysics
The Voyager 1 Interstellar Probe Is Returning Science Data From All Four Instruments
NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft is conducting normal science operations for the first time following a technical issue that arose in November 2023.