Voyager 1’s Primary Thrusters Revived Before DSN Command Pause
1 min read
Summary
Engineers at NASA have managed to revive the Voyager 1 spacecraft’s primary thrusters, which had been deemed lost since a heater failure in 2004.
The silicon dioxide deposits in the spacecraft’s fuel tubes, resulting from an ageing rubber diaphragm in its fuel tank, have been clogging the tubes and compromising Voyager 1’s ability to stay orientated correctly.
By switching to backup and trajectory thrusters, engineers have been able to continue to direct the spacecraft towards Earth, but the lack of roll control from the backup thrusters means the homecoming is at risk if they fail.
Analyzing the original failure data, engineers found that a glitch in the heater control circuit was probably to blame for the initial failure, so tried jiggling the heater controls remotely, enabling the primary thrusters, with success.
