You may remember that several months back, NASA had lost almost all communications with Voyager 1--it was just returning gibberish due to a computer issue. Robert Zimmerman, author of the Beyond the Black blog, reports that the first step in restoring communications was in April when engineers were able to get the spacecraft to start returning engineering data.
On May 19, the mission team executed the second step of that repair process and beamed a command to the spacecraft to begin returning science data. Two of the four science instruments returned to their normal operating modes immediately. Two other instruments required some additional work, but now, all four are returning usable science data.
The Voyager spacecraft have had a remarkable run, being in operation for 47 years. But sadly, as Zimmerman notes, "[t]he nuclear power source for both no longer provides enough power to run all their instruments, and will run down completely sometime in 2026, as expected, when operations will finally cease."
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