Voyager 1 started the engine after almost 40 years of inactivity
On November 28, 2017, the Voyager-1 space probe reportedly launched a test engine start, according to reports on the NASA website. The last time its engine was used to correct the orbit 37 years ago on November 8, 1980, when Saturn was in transit.
Voyager 1 was launched into space on September 5, 1977. Initially, the duration of the flight was determined at about 5 years. The purpose of the mission was to fly the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn. Currently, the probe is the most distant from the earth object created by man.
Voyager engines were manufactured by Aerojet Rocketdyne, the same engines under the name MR-103 were used on the Cassini and Dawn spacecraft. Engines are used to correct the position of the apparatus in order to ensure communication with the Earth. To do this, the engines produce short, lasting a few milliseconds, "pshiki."
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From about 2014, JPL engineers noted the degradation of engines, but at a distance of more than 20 billion kilometers from the Earth, repair is certainly not possible. For this reason, everyone was very worried before starting the engine. However, the launch held on November 28 showed that everything is in order with the engine, how surprising it sounds. According to NASA engineers, successful correction of the probe position will extend its use by 2-3 years.
News on NASA site
Addition: in the comments they clarified that the real meaning of what happened was that the orientation correction engines of the vehicle had degraded, and instead of them, scientists tried to use the trajectory correction engine that had been idle for 37 years. The experiment was a success, it will extend the life of the space probe.
Voyager 1 was launched into space on September 5, 1977. Initially, the duration of the flight was determined at about 5 years. The purpose of the mission was to fly the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn. Currently, the probe is the most distant from the earth object created by man.
Voyager engines were manufactured by Aerojet Rocketdyne, the same engines under the name MR-103 were used on the Cassini and Dawn spacecraft. Engines are used to correct the position of the apparatus in order to ensure communication with the Earth. To do this, the engines produce short, lasting a few milliseconds, "pshiki."
')
From about 2014, JPL engineers noted the degradation of engines, but at a distance of more than 20 billion kilometers from the Earth, repair is certainly not possible. For this reason, everyone was very worried before starting the engine. However, the launch held on November 28 showed that everything is in order with the engine, how surprising it sounds. According to NASA engineers, successful correction of the probe position will extend its use by 2-3 years.
News on NASA site
Addition: in the comments they clarified that the real meaning of what happened was that the orientation correction engines of the vehicle had degraded, and instead of them, scientists tried to use the trajectory correction engine that had been idle for 37 years. The experiment was a success, it will extend the life of the space probe.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/371063/
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