Voyager 2 recovers after a minor glitch

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Voyager 2 spacecraft recovers function after a minor glitch

A temporary malfunction aboard the interstellar spacecraft triggered an automatic fail-safe to conserve power.

Quote

The Voyager 2 spacecraft, one of just two human-made objects to reach interstellar space, experienced a slight malfunction this week.

An operational hiccup caused the more than 40-year-old probe to enter a low-power mode Saturday. NASA engineers have since managed to communicate with the probe and have begun powering various instruments back up. It's not yet known what caused the malfunction, according to the space agency.

  Read More: Astronomy.com

 

[+Not A Rockstar]

I hope they both last a lot longer, but, I guess we should expect issues to arise. 40 years is amazing!

[ChrLzs]

What absolutely remarkable spacecraft these were, and are.  That era (late 60's and 70's) was the pinnacle of pioneering science and engineering, imo.

 

[RoofGardener]

Just amazing, and inspirational.

[Crikey]

What's Voyager 2's purpose now that it's in interstellar space? I mean, there's nothing to see out there is there, so why are NASA communicating with it?

[Waspie_Dwarf]

15 minutes ago, Crikey said:

What's Voyager 2's purpose now that it's in interstellar space? I mean, there's nothing to see out there is there, so why are NASA communicating with it?

Just because there  is nothing to see it doesn't mean that there is nothing to measure. 

Interstellar space is not empty. It is teeming with particles from the stars. These can not be measured from within the solar system's bow shock because the solar wind deflects them and overwhelms them.

The Voyagers carry more than just cameras, they carried instruments to make all sorts of measurements, including charged particles. Both Voyagers are returning useful data to NASA that no other spacecraft could collect. 

All the time the Voyagers are still making useful scientific observations why wouldn't NASA still communicate with them?

[Jon the frog]

These spacecraft where made sturdy and show the great use of a nuclear power source.

[NCC1701]

I've got an LED alarm clock i bought in 1975. It is also still going after all these years.

[Waspie_Dwarf]

2 hours ago, NCC1701 said:

I've got an LED alarm clock i bought in 1975. It is also still going after all these years.

And that is relevant how exactly?

[Brassboy86]

On 2/4/2020 at 11:44 AM, Waspie_Dwarf said:

And that is relevant how exactly?

It was made in the same era, I think was his line of thought.