For the first time, NASA started to communicate with the Intrepid Explorer voyager2 spacecraft after some months. Scientists used a special type of telescope. This Telescope designed for communicating with distant spacecraft to contact the voyager2.
Voyager2 was launched on 20th August 1977, now it is running away from the border of the solar system which means it is running away from the sun’s orbit.
Since March, the mission operators are trying to communicate with this Intrepid Explorer Voyager2 spacecraft. They sent a series of commands to this spacecraft on 29th October. This flying spacecraft contains a long communication antenna. It was 70 meters wide which was not available in online communication for some days. This is due to the reason of repairing work and upgrading activities carried out in the spacecraft. In recent days, NASA reported that the return signal from Voyager2 confirmed that it is ready for communication. And to execute the series of commands given by the mission engineers without any problem.
What information will you get from Voyager2?
Deep Space Station43 (DSS43), a radio telescope which is located next to Canberra, the capital city of Australia. The Mission engineers used this space station for sending signals to distant spacecraft through the powerful transmitter attached to the telescope. At the same time, other radio telescopes are receiving various scientific and health data and information from Voyager2.
This is the only 70-meter wide radio telescope in the Southern Hemisphere, constructed in 1972.
Deep Space Station 43 has 64 meters wide antenna. This antenna was built from 1969 to 1973. On comparing to the 26 meters wide antenna in Deep Space Station 42, the wide antenna in DSS43 is a more sensitive and effective space station. The members of the Deep space network describes that DSS43 is capable of communication with distant spacecraft even at the range of weak signal strength.
Communicate only for the purpose
Due to the reason of traveling in the path of the solar system, the radio telescopes in the Northern hemisphere are not capable of receiving signals from voyager2 spacecraft.
The transmitter was fitted in the elliptic plane of Neptune spacecraft on November 5, 2018. Which was launched in 1989 and took this vehicle to interstellar space which is outside the orbit of the sun. For saving power consumption, engineers deactivate the non-essential parts of the spacecraft in the year 1998. Mission engineers are now receiving some data and information from six essential instruments attached to the parts of this spacecraft. This will stop the service of sending data after the year 2025.
For hoisting 20 stories in the air, NASA started to upgrade the DSS43 telescope space station by installing a three-ton X-brand frequency cone in March. This installation ended in May which encourages the active transmission of signals to mission engineers of this spacecraft.
The communication process using the telescope was temporarily stopped and paused. Due to the maintenance activities carried out by mission engineers for eight months. Now, they are likely to assists advanced robots and technologies to carry out effective communication with this spacecraft due to the continuation of the upgrading process.
In nature, these signals are traveling at the speed of light. But the time required for these signals to send and receive the data from the distant vehicle is 17 hours.
Mission engineers submit the estimation period and the installation of the cone will end in February 2021.
Far away from our home
In the year 1971, four spacecraft were launched outside of the solar system. Voyager1 and Voyager2 were involved in the previous missions like Pioneer10 and Pioneer 11. Around the galaxy, the three missions launched spacecraft for traveling in the direction of the sun orbits. But Pioneer 10 mission targeted the opposite direction of the sun’s orbit.
Voyager2 spacecraft lonely visited Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune planets. It has created a great record of visiting this planet.
NASA describes that the gravity of Neptune affects one of the below parts of voyager2 when this planet continues for moving its orbit around the sun.
The brave explorer reached interplanetary space on 5th November 2018, which is away from the orbit of the sun. If it reached at the time of a huge amount of pressure particle from the Sun lies in the interstellar medium that interrupts the process of voyager2.
Intrepid Explorer Voyager2 traveling away from the center of the solar system with a speed of 60 thousand kilometers per second. And according to the calculation by the mission engineers, it is 18.7 billion kilometers far away from the orbit of the Earth.
Still, NASA continues to monitor the activities of the Voyager2 spacecraft until it shutdowns or dead. After that situation, NASA leaves this brave interstellar explorer named Voyager2. The dark region of space and without performing any maintenance and upgrading activities.
