Voyager 2, travelling in interstellar space, loses ground communication. But NASA says…

NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft, currently in interstellar space, is facing communication problems due to antenna misalignment.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Voyager 2 spacecraft, which is venturing through space between stars, faces communication problems due to antenna misalignment. As a result, it cannot receive commands or transmit data back to Earth. However, the US space agency is optimistic that the issue will be resolved during the next orientation reset scheduled for October. Voyager 2 is one of the farthest human-made objects in space, behind only its predecessor, Voyager 1.

The Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to have ever visited Uranus and Neptune.(JPL)

"A series of planned commands sent to NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft on July 21 inadvertently caused the antenna to point 2 degrees away from Earth. As a result, Voyager 2 is currently unable to receive commands or transmit data back to Earth," Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), NASA's lab that operates the spacecraft, said in a statement on Friday.

According to JPL, despite the temporary communication setback, Voyager 2 is designed to reset its orientation multiple times each year to realign its antenna with Earth. The upcoming reset on October 15 is expected to restore communication.

“The mission team expects Voyager 2 to remain on its planned trajectory during the quiet period,” the statement added.

Voyager spacecrafts- the farthest human-made objects in space

Launched on August 20, 1977, Voyager 2 is located more than 19.9 billion kilometres from Earth, in interstellar space – the region between our Sun's heliosphere and the astrospheres of other stars.

NASA's Voyager 2 is the second spacecraft to explore space between stars. It accomplished this on December 10, 2018, joining its twin, Voyager 1, as the only human-made object to explore the space between stars.

Voyager 1, located nearly 24 billion kilometres away from Earth, continues to operate without any issues.

The position of spacecrafts, planets and stars is shown where they are currently.(NASA)

Some firsts of Voyager 2

Voyager 2 holds several impressive accomplishments:

- It is the only spacecraft to study all four of the solar system's giant planets up close.

- At Jupiter, Voyager 2 discovered a 14th moon.

- It was the first human-made object to fly past Uranus, where it discovered 10 new moons and two new rings.

- Voyager 2 was also the first human-made object to fly by Neptune, uncovering five moons, four rings, and a “Great Dark Spot.”