Voyager 2, one of the most famous missions in space history, is trying to be found by the US agency NASA after it was accidentally cut off due to a wrong command.
NASA has not been able to contact Voyager 2 since July 21 because the mission’s antenna was not pointed toward Earth due to an incorrect command.
Voyager 2 has been traveling in space for almost 46 years and in 2018 it left the outer reaches of the solar system.
The spacecraft was launched in 1977, 16 days before Voyager 1, but had since left the outer reaches of the solar system.
Voyager 2 is currently traveling at 35,000 miles per hour and has reached a distance of 12 billion miles from Earth.
According to NASA, all efforts are being made to re-establish communication with Voyager 2 and signals will be sent to the part of space where Voyager 2 is in the coming weeks.
The US agency hopes that doing so will allow the correct command to reach the mission and point its antenna towards Earth.
However, if there is still no success, then there will be a wait until October, when the spacecraft’s system will automatically reboot, which is likely to point the antenna towards Earth.
Until then, Voyager 2 will continue its journey on a predetermined route.
During its decades of travel, the spacecraft has taken some memorable pictures of the solar system.
The lives of Voyager 1 and 2 have exceeded scientists’ expectations and were initially thought to end their journey within 4 years of launch.
Voyager project president Linda Spilker said in April 2023 that the farther the two spacecraft get from the Sun, the more valuable their scientific data will become.
He said that we will certainly try to maintain his life as long as possible.
Efforts are being made by scientists to extend the life of both spacecraft, but they believe they are nearing their end.