An interstellar "shout" has helped NASA re-establish communication with the Voyager 2 probe, which travelled 19.9 billion kilometres away from Earth and left the solar system

At the end of last month, NASA reported the loss of communication with the Voyager 2 space probe. A few days later, the problem was resolved.

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The loss of communication was caused by a 2° shift in the spacecraft's antenna due to an incorrect command. Experts later confirmed that Voyager 2 was not permanently lost. Communication was expected to be restored in the autumn after a reset, but the situation was resolved much earlier.

An interstellar "shout" helped NASA fix the problem. An amplified signal was sent towards the spacecraft with a command to return the antenna to the correct position. The Deep Space Network in Australia was used to do this.

Voyager 2 has left the solar system and is now at a distance of 19.9 billion kilometres from Earth. Because of this, the signal did not reach the probe until 18.5 hours after it was sent. The journey back took the same amount of time.

Eventually, on 4 August, NASA was able to receive a stream of data from Voyager 2. Communication with the spacecraft was fully restored. The agency confirmed that the probe is travelling on its planned route.

Source: NASA