NASA patches Voyager probe to alleviate the aging problem of thrusters
CTOnews.com, Oct. 23 (Xinhua)-- NASA engineers are preparing a software update for Voyager 1 and 2 interstellar probes to keep them running for the next five years and maintain communication with Earth. The Voyager probe has been in service since its launch in 1977 and has far exceeded its expected life, but there have been some unexpected problems during nearly half a century of flight, one of which is the aging of thrusters.
The thruster is used to target the Voyager probe at Earth's high-gain antenna, and thanks to the careful protection of the mission control center of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, it still has enough hydrazine fuel to last until 2037, but the thruster itself needs to be cleaned. For many years, every propeller ignition leaves residue in the system, which accumulates slowly and steadily. If it accumulates too much, the fuel pipe may be blocked and the probe will no longer work properly.
To prevent this from happening, NASA engineers are working on a software patch that will order Voyager to reduce the number of times the thruster fires, but extend the ignition time to maintain the probe's posture. In addition, detectors will be ordered to allow them to offset more of the Earth's position before entering emergency mode. NASA says this will result in some data loss, but will return more data in the long run. In addition, the patch will fix a bug that caused Voyager 1's attitude adjustment and control system (AACS) to mistransmit instructions in 2022.
CTOnews.com notes that this software update is not without risks. The Voyager probe is very old and flies in extremely harsh conditions, and it takes 18 hours for signal transmission from Earth to the probe. This means that if there is a problem with the upload process, it will take at least 36 hours for JPL to detect it. Therefore, the first transmission will be tested on Voyager 2 and then transmitted to Voyager 1. Engineers hope these upgrades will extend the life of the thrusters by at least five years. Since the nuclear battery on the probe is expected to last only two years, this will leave a considerable margin of error.
"at this stage of the task, the engineering team faces many challenges that we have no experience to follow." "but they continue to come up with creative solutions," said Linda Spielke, a project scientist at JPL.
