NASA Detects ‘Heartbeat’ from Voyager 2 Spacecraft after Losing Contact
Scientific AmericanJul 23, 2023
The Facts
On July 21, NASA lost the Voyager 2 probe, which has been documenting outer space phenomena since 1977, due to personnel inputting the wrong command, sending its antenna two degrees away from Earth. The probe was 12.3B miles away from Earth when the connection was lost.
During a routine scan of the sky, however, mission controllers detected a "heartbeat," which the agency says means it's still broadcasting and in "good health."
The Spin
Narrative A
Though NASA will have a chance to reconnect with Voyager 2 in October, the space agency is so far not hopeful. If the worst-case scenario does occur, it would be a tremendous loss and the end of an era. The almost billion-dollar project has brought remarkable planetary and interstellar knowledge to Earth, so hopefully, NASA can avoid losing out on future data collection.
Narrative B
After 46 years of travel and having purposely lost connection once before in 2020, the Voyagers have proven extremely resilient. For that reason, Scientists should be confident in their ability to regain connection. There's no reason to doubt that this space probe's incredible legacy will continue.
