US EditionOnce ‘dead’ thrusters on the farthest spacecraft from Earth are in action again
- A team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory successfully reactivated Voyager 1's original roll thrusters in early 2025, enabling continued operation of the spacecraft now farthest from Earth in interstellar space.
- This action followed the thrusters' failure in 2004 due to heater power loss, forcing reliance on backup thrusters now threatened by clogging residue.
- The fix came just before a scheduled communications pause caused by upgrades to Earth-based antennas managing deep space signals.
- Mission manager Kareem Badaruddin noted the team was initially confident in backups but needed the revival since clogging could disable them this fall.
- Restoring the thrusters helps maintain Voyager 1’s orientation and contact until it can resume normal communication next year, preserving the decades-long mission.
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'Yet another miracle save': NASA engineers complete nail-biting maneuver to resurrect Voyager 1's long-dead thrusters
More than 15 billion miles from home, Voyager 1's ailing thrusters were threatening to abort the craft's mission. Until NASA engineers brought them miraculously back to life.
·United States
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Total News Sources36
Leaning Left5Leaning Right0Center10Last UpdatedBias Distribution67% Center
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