“Voyager 1 Falls Silent: No More Communication with Earth

On January 27, 2021, the communication with Voyager 1 abruptly stopped. The probe, launched in 1977, is more than 14 billion kilometers away from Earth and the furthest man-made structure from our planet. Voyager 1 is an unmanned probe launched by NASA as part of the Voyager program. It is primarily a flyby mission, set to explore the outer Solar System and beyond. The probe is currently the most distant man-made structure from our planet, and its mission has been extended to study interstellar space. On January 27, 2021, the probe unexpectedly stopped sending data to Earth. It is suspected that the probe’s power source may have malfunctioned; an issue that could render it immobile and without energy to transmit any readings. It is not certain what the problem is, but NASA personnel are hard at work determining the cause. The problem for the agency is determining the cause without the probe responding. Voyager 1 is the first spacecraft to reach interstellar space and provides valuable data on the environment beyond our Solar System, making its silence concerning. NASA has not expressed any concern about the longevity of the probe. Voyager 1 has a power source that should remain operational and function for at least another twenty-five years. Specialists are confident that they will be able to determine the cause once engineers have greater access to the spacecraft. The troubleshooting will take time however, and while Voyager 1 remains silent, the silence could present an opportunity for the scientific community to study interstellar space and the environment that the probe is now travelling through. For the Voyager 1 mission, the silence may become a call to action.