Voyager-1, a space probe that was launched in 1977, has sparked back to working condition. Voyager-1 is currently 15 billion miles away from Earth, which is so far that its radio signals take 22.5 hours to reach us. According to an article written by Jonathan Amos with BBC news, the Voyager-1 space probe had incurred a problem with a corrupted computer chip that prevented it from accessing a vital segment of software code used to send information back to Earth. For around 5 months, scientists were unable to make sense of the information that was being sent by the probe, though they were able to figure out that it was still receiving commands and operating normally aside from the data issue.

The issue was resolved through moving the affected data to different parts of the memory in the probe’s computer. They were sent out to space to observe Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune, and Uranus, which they completed in 1989. The probe and it’s twin, Voyager-2, were only designed to survive for 5 years, which was proven to be a massive underestimate because they are now the longest operating spacecrafts in history. According to an article written by Ashley Strickland with CNN “The probes are currently venturing through uncharted cosmic territory along the outer reaches of the solar system. Both are in interstellar space and are the only spacecraft ever to operate beyond the heliosphere, the sun’s bubble of magnetic fields and particles that extends well beyond the orbit of Pluto.” (Monday, April 22, 2024)