本月，旅行者1号曾让控制人员经历了数日的沉默，随后在航天器抵达一光日里程碑前数周恢复了通信。事件发生在10月18日：美国宇航局的深空网络（DSN）无法探测到该探测器的信号。10月19日，在下一次预定的通信尝试中，依然没有任何信号。难道就这样了？这场长达数十年的银河之旅终于结束了吗？这两艘资深航天器正处于刀锋边缘的运行状态，它们将于明年迎来半世纪纪念。
Voyager 1 gave controllers the silent treatment for a few days this month before resuming communication weeks before the spacecraft reaches the one-light-day milestone. The incident happened on October 18: NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN) couldn't detect a signal from the probe. On October 19, on the next scheduled communication attempt, there was still nothing. Was this it? Had the decades-long galactic venture finally ended? Things are operating on a knife's edge for the two veteran spacecraft, which will reach their half-century next year.
旅行者2号在2023年遭遇了天线指向问题，而低功率状况导致旅行者1号意外关闭了两台无线电发射机中的一台。好消息是，10月20日信号重新出现，这让工程师们困惑于旅行者1号为何暂时沉默。到目前为止，似乎是一组推进器离线，其备份被开启。这可能表明机载计算机检测到了问题，并将航天器置于安全模式。美国宇航局喷气推进实验室旅行者任务经理卡里姆·巴达鲁丁表示：“这是我们第一次看到航天器做出这样的举动，但我们也正处于任务中必须预料到意外情况的阶段。”
Voyager 2 suffered an antenna pointing issue in 2023, and a low power condition caused Voyager 1 to unexpectedly turn off one of its two radio transmitters. The good news is that on October 20, the signal reappeared, leaving engineers wondering why Voyager 1 temporarily went silent. Thus far, it seems a group of thrusters went offline and their backups were turned on. This could indicate onboard computers detected a problem and put the spacecraft into a safe mode. Kareem Badaruddin, Voyager mission manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said: "This is the first time we've seen the spacecraft do something like this, but we are also at a point in the mission where we have to expect the unexpected.
“我们很欣慰能与旅行者1号恢复联系，并渴望了解发生了什么。”2024年曾与巴达鲁丁交谈，他描述了与这艘资深航天器共事的挑战，但他认为这份工作是“喷气推进实验室最好的工作”。这对旅行者号航天器最近经历了一项被称为“大爆炸”的程序，控制人员关闭了机载设备并切换到低功率替代方案。其结果将使航天器的寿命再延长几年，并推迟进一步的仪器停用。该程序先在旅行者2号上完成，六周后的9月又在旅行者1号上完成。
"We're relieved to be back in contact with Voyager 1 and are eager to understand what happened." The spoke to Badaruddin in 2024, where he described the challenges of working with the veteran spacecraft, but he reckoned the work was the "best job at JPL." The twin Voyager spacecraft have recently been through a procedure dubbed the "Big Bang," where controllers turned off onboard devices and switched to lower power alternatives. The result will extend the lifetime of the spacecraft by a few more years and postpone further instrument deactivation. It was completed first on Voyager 2, and then Voyager 1, six weeks later in September.
然而，这次短暂的通信中断凸显了一个事实：尽管维持航天器运行的团队极具创造力，但该项目最终还是必须结束。2026年，“旅行者”项目经理苏珊·多德曾向《The》描述过结局的模样。她说：“总有一天我们会收不到深空网的信号，我们会四处奔走，确认这不是地面设备的问题。”随后将是数月的监听，直到工程师们放弃并宣布任务结束。
However, the brief lapse in communication highlights that despite the ingenuity of the team that keep the spacecraft running, the project must eventually come to an end. In 2026, Suzanne Dodd, Project Manager for the Voyager project, told The what the end would look like. She said, "We're just going to one day not hear the signal from the DSN, and we're going to rush around and make sure that it's not something on the ground." Months of listening will follow, before engineers throw in the towel and declare the mission over.
然后呢？也许会向最后已知位置发送一条告别信息。值得庆幸的是，这次信号恢复了，因此暂时不需要发送告别传输。几周后，“旅行者1号”将飞得如此之远，指令到达它需要整整24小时，响应返回地球又需要24小时。尽管出现了通信故障，但两艘“旅行者”航天器明年迎来半世纪里程碑时仍有很大可能保持运行状态，且在技术和资金允许的情况下，还将继续向地球发送数据好几年。®
And then? Maybe a farewell message sent to the last known location. Thankfully, in this case, the signal returned, so no need for a goodbye transmission just yet. In a few weeks, Voyager 1 will be so far away that it will take a full 24 hours for commands to reach it and another 24 hours for a response to reach Earth. Communications blip notwithstanding, there is every chance both Voyager spacecraft will still be operational as they pass their half-century milestone next year and, technology and funding permitting, continue sending data to Earth for a good few years yet. ®