NASA managed to launch off 37 years ago engines “Voyager-1”
NASA experts have managed to start the engines, the interplanetary station “Voyager 1” outside the Solar system. The last time they used 37 years ago.
Scientists of the National office for Aeronautics and space research (NASA) managed to start the engines, launched in 1977, the year of the interplanetary station “Voyager 1”, which is now at a distance of more than 20 billion kilometers from Earth. This is stated in the message on the NASA website.
The last time these engines were run in 1980. “With these engines that are still in operation after 37 years of inactivity, we will be able to extend the service life of the spacecraft “Voyager 1″ in two or three years,” said Suzanne Dodd, project Manager for Voyager at the jet propulsion Laboratory of NASA.
The engines will be used to adjust the orientation of the device so that its antenna was directed at Earth. The signal to the spacecraft was 19 hours 35 minutes.
The command to start engines was given on Tuesday, November 28. On its success, scientists have learned the next day when I got the response from the station. In order to perform this procedure, scientists have studied the documentation for the software unit that was written on outdated by this time programming language.
Initially, the station was designed to study Jupiter and Saturn — “Voyager-1” was the first machine, which made detailed images of the satellites of these planets.
The maximum convergence station with Jupiter took place on 6 June 1979.
In September 2013, NASA announced that “Voyager-1” was the first artificial device that have left the Solar system and out into interstellar space.
Aboard the station is a gold plate on which is for aliens indicates the location of the Land, and recorded a series of images and sounds.