Tag Archives: voyager

New research suggests Voyager 2’s approach to Uranus in 1986 occurred during an uncommon solar event

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When NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft flew by Uranus in 1986, scientists got their first close glimpse of the giant icy planet. Alongside the discovery of new moons and rings, a puzzling new mystery faced scientists. The energetic particles around Uranus defied their understanding of how magnetic fields trap particle radiation. The cause of that special mystery is a cosmic coincidence, according to a new study. Just before Voyager 2's flyby, Uranus was found to have been affected by an unusual type of space weather that crushed and dramatically compressed the planet's magnetic field. Its magnetosphere.

The first panel of this artist's concept depicts how Uranus' magnetosphere operated before NASA's Voyager 2 flyby. The second panel shows that an unusual type of solar weather occurred during the 1986 flyby, giving scientists a biased view of the magnetosphere. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

The planetary magnetosphere (the region around a planet dominated by its magnetic field) influences the environment around the planet, and understanding its properties is important for mission planning.

Voyager 2's close encounter of Uranus reveals a unique magnetosphere that is highly asymmetric and appears to lack plasma, a common element in the magnetospheres of other planets, and has an unusually strong band of high-energy electrons It became.

The signatures from this single measurement have since been used as the basis for understanding Uranus's magnetic field, but these anomalies have been difficult to explain without complex physics.

“If Voyager 2 had arrived just a few days earlier, we would have seen a completely different magnetosphere on Uranus,” said Dr. Jamie Jasinski, a researcher at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

“The spacecraft observed Uranus in a situation that has a probability of only about 4%.”

Jasinski and his colleagues reanalyzed Voyager 2 data before the flyby and found that the spacecraft encountered Uranus shortly after a violent solar wind event that ejected streams of charged particles from the Sun's atmosphere.

This compressed Uranus's magnetosphere, creating a condition that only occurs 4% of the time.

In this state, we see a plasma-free magnetosphere with highly excited electron emission bands.

The authors suggest that two magnetospheric cycles may exist during solar minimum due to variations in Uranus' solar wind.

Additionally, the chances of Uranus' outermost major moons, Titania and Oberon, orbiting outside the magnetosphere may be very low, giving scientists the possibility of detecting an underground ocean without interference from the magnetosphere. There is.

“The 1986 flyby was full of surprises, and we were looking for an explanation for its unusual behavior,” said Dr. Linda Spilker, also of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

“The magnetosphere measured by Voyager 2 is just a snapshot in time.”

“This new study explains some of the apparent contradictions and will once again change our view of Uranus.”

of findings Published in today's magazine natural astronomy.

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JM Jasinski others. Unusual conditions in Uranus' magnetosphere during Voyager 2's flyby. Nat Astronpublished online on November 11, 2024. doi: 10.1038/s41550-024-02389-3

Source: www.sci.news

NASA successfully restores Voyager 1 spacecraft to regular scientific operations

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Voyager 1 Due to technical issues, scientific observations are being carried out for the first time. Happened November 2023.

Voyager 1 launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on September 5, 1977, 16 days after its twin, Voyager 2. This artist's concept drawing depicts one of NASA's twin Voyager spacecraft. Image courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech.

Voyager 1 stopped transmitting readable science and engineering data to Earth on November 14, 2023, even though mission controllers were able to confirm that the spacecraft was still receiving commands and was otherwise operating normally.

In April 2024, they prompted Voyager 1 to begin transmitting engineering data containing information about the spacecraft's health and condition, partially resolving the problem.

On May 19, they carried out the second stage of the repair process and sent commands to the spacecraft to begin transmitting science data.

Two of the four scientific instruments immediately returned to normal operating mode.

The other two instruments required additional work, but all four are now returning usable science data.

The four instruments will study plasma waves, magnetic fields and particles.

This infographic highlights major milestones of NASA's Voyager missions, including visiting four outer planets and escaping the heliosphere, a protective bubble of magnetic fields and particles generated by the Sun. Image courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech.

The twin Voyager probes are NASA's longest-serving missions and the only spacecraft to have explored interstellar space.

Launched in 1977, both probes traveled to Jupiter and Saturn, with Voyager 1 traveling faster and reaching Jupiter and Saturn first.

Together, they have revealed a lot about the solar system's two largest planets and their moons.

Voyager 1 is more than 24 billion km (15 billion miles) from Earth, and Voyager 2 is more than 20 billion km (12 billion miles) from Earth.

The probe will celebrate its 47th anniversary of operation later this year.

“Voyager 1 and 2 are the only spacecraft to directly sample interstellar space, the region outside the heliosphere – the protective bubble of magnetic fields and solar wind created by the Sun,” NASA engineers said.

“Voyager 1 has resumed science, but additional minor operations are required to remove the effects of the problem.”

“Among other tasks, we will resynchronize the timing software in the spacecraft's three onboard computers to ensure commands are executed at the right time.”

“We will also be maintaining the digital tape recorder that records the plasma wave instrument data that is sent back to Earth twice a year.”

Source: www.sci.news

NASA’s Ongoing Efforts to Save Voyager 1: A Closer Look

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Voyager 1 faced a critical issue when it was first discovered in November. NASA acknowledged that while the spacecraft was still in communication with Earth, the signals being received were indecipherable. This led to a concentrated effort over a month to identify and rectify the problem, saving the Voyager 1 mission.

Despite the challenges faced by the team, including the difficulty of troubleshooting a spacecraft over 15 billion miles away in interstellar space, there remained hope and determination to overcome the obstacles.

The main culprit was found to be a hardware failure in one of Voyager 1’s three computers, resulting in corrupted code that hindered the transmission of crucial updates and data. Unfortunately, the chip containing the problematic software was deemed irreparable.

However, a solution was devised by splitting and storing the code in different memory locations of the computer. This allowed for the affected sections to be reprogrammed, ensuring the continued functionality of the system.

Following meticulous verification and testing processes, Voyager 1 gradually resumed its normal operations, as confirmed by NASA’s recent update.

The Voyager missions, launched in 1977, have been instrumental in exploring the outer regions of our solar system. Voyager 1, now in interstellar space, continues to transmit valuable data and may well do so until the 2030s, serving as an enduring reminder of human exploration.

Both Voyager probes carry time capsules containing images and sounds representing Earth and its inhabitants, intended to be discovered by extraterrestrial beings in the distant future.

“Our silent ambassadors,” as Voyager 1 and 2 are affectionately known, will continue their journey for millennia, potentially reaching other stars and civilizations,” remarked Spilker.

Source: www.nbcnews.com