NASA Restores Voyager 1 Data by Rewriting Code Around 256-Bit Memory Failure
Updated
Updated · spacedaily.com · Jul 19
NASA Restores Voyager 1 Data by Rewriting Code Around 256-Bit Memory Failure
2 articles · Updated · spacedaily.com · Jul 19
Summary
Readable engineering data resumed after NASA engineers split and relocated flight code around a failed 256-bit section in Voyager 1’s Flight Data System memory.
The workaround fixed a fault that began in November 2023, when the probe still received commands and transmitted a carrier but returned only a repeating, unusable telemetry pattern.
No hardware was repaired or added: engineers used small surviving memory spaces in the only remaining FDS—the backup failed in 1981—and the first revised code was sent on 18 April 2024.
Voyager 1’s six original computer units total only about 68 kilobytes of memory, divided across specialized systems rather than shared as one pool, which limited where code could be moved.
Nearly 49 years after launch and in interstellar space since 2012, Voyager 1 now operates with just two science instruments still on as declining power and aging hardware constrain how long it can keep sending data.
In June 2024, NASA achieved a major milestone by fully restoring Voyager 1 to operational status, allowing it to resume collecting and transmitting valuable scientific data from the edge of the Sun’s domain. While the spacecraft is back to conducting science, engineers are still working on final recovery tasks, such as resynchronizing the timekeeping software across its three onboard computers and maintaining the digital tape recorder that stores plasma-wave data. This careful ongoing work ensures that Voyager 1 can execute commands precisely and continue its historic mission in deep space.