Voyager 1 Revives Dormant Radio After 40 Years
NASA temporarily lost contact with Voyager 1 in October after the probe unexpectedly switched to a radio frequency it hadn't used since the 1980s. The switch was triggered by the probe's fault-protection system, which activated during a routine command to turn on a heater. NASA regained contact by switching to the S-Band radio, which Voyager 1 had not used since 1981. The incident highlights the challenges of maintaining communication with the nearly 50-year-old probe, which continues to send valuable data from beyond the solar system.