NASA has confirmed that communications with Voyager 1 have been reestablished after a pause in late October. The spacecraft unexpectedly turned off its primary radio transmitter, X-band, and switched to its weaker S-band transmitter, which hadn’t been used since 1981. This switch prevented the team from downloading science data and status information about the spacecraft.
However, engineers were able to reactivate the X-band transmitter and resume data collection using four of the spacecraft’s operating science instruments. To complete the process, they are now working on resetting a system that synchronizes Voyager 1’s three onboard computers.
The switch occurred when NASA activated a heater on Voyager 1, triggering its fault protection system. This system automatically turned off nonessential systems to conserve power and keep critical systems running. As a result, all non-essential systems were disabled except for science instruments, which resulted in the X-band being shut down and the S-band being activated.
Voyager 1, launched in 1977, has traveled over 15.4 billion miles from Earth and is currently exploring interstellar space. The spacecraft uses a range of four science instruments to study particles, plasma, and magnetic fields in this environment.
Source: https://www.foxnews.com/science/interstellar-voyager-1-resumes-operations-after-pause-communications-nasa