NASA just made contact with Voyager 2 for the first time since March thanks to a key technology upgrade. The agency has revealed that it sent commands to the probe on October 29th using the recently upgraded Deep Space Station 43 dish in Canberra, Australia. The instructions were part of a test for new hardware, including a radio transmitter that hadn’t been replaced in 47 years before Voyager 2 even launched.
The mission team received status updates and scientific data from Voyager in the intervening months, but couldn’t reach out.
Now, after travelling more than 11.6 billion miles (18.8 billion km) into space, it is no easy feat for NASA’s scientists to stay in touch with the Voyagers.
And the only antenna that can communicate with Voyager 2 has been offline since March this year.
The 230ft-wide (70m) Deep Space Station 43 radio antenna in Canberra, Australia, was shut down earlier this year for upgrades which are on track to wrap up by February next year.
The dish-like antenna forms part of a global network of antennas designed to communicate with spacecraft operating beyond the Moon’s orbit.
