Voyager 1 starts transmitting useable data again for first time in five months - after appearing to have broken down nearly 50 years into its outer space journey

The decades-old NASA Voyager 1 spacecraft has begun sending readable communications again after months of transmitting gibberish.

Voyager 1 – the most distant human-made object in existence – has been sending back data from interstellar space for nearly 50 years after being launched in 1977. 

However, in November a glitch occurred that made the spacecraft's data about its environment and the health of its own systems unintelligible to the NASA scientists monitoring it.

Famous for snapping photos of Jupiter, Saturn and their moons, Voyager 1 then returned readable communications on April 20, confirming it is still safely cruising outer space. 

NASA's official Twitter account for the craft posted a light-hearted tweet in celebration: 'Hi, it's me. - V1'.

Voyager 1 is about 136 AU (15 billion miles, or 20 billion kilometers) from Earth, the farthest object created by humans, and moving at a velocity of about 38,000 mph (17.0 kilometers/second) relative to the sun

NASA's official Twitter account for the craft posted a light-hearted tweet in celebration: 'Hi, it's me. - V1'

The account also shared a tweet from the official account for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory showing an image of the elated scientists clapping with joy at Voyager 1's latest data set. 

'Sounding a little more like yourself, #Voyager1' the account wrote.   

'For the first time since November, Voyager 1 is returning useable data about the health and status of its onboard engineering systems,' it explained.

'Next step: Enable the spacecraft to begin returning science data again.'

The Voyager flight team traced the November glitch back to a single chip malfunction in the 'flight data subsystem' (FDS) – the part responsible for sending its data back to Earth.

The broken chip held some of the computer code necessary for transmitting workable data. 

'The loss of that code rendered the science and engineering data unusable,' NASA said in a statement on Monday.

'Unable to repair the chip, the team decided to place the affected code elsewhere in the FDS memory.' 

Voyager 1 is famous for snapping photos of Jupiter , Saturn and their moons. Pictured, Saturn taken by the craft in November 1980 

The decades-old NASA Voyager 1 spacecraft has begun sending readable communications again after months of transmitting gibberish. This artist's illustration depicts the craft in space

Voyager 1 lifted off atop a Titan IIIE launch system from Florida's Cape Canaveral on September 5, 1977

READ MORE Voyager 2 is alive, NASA confirms

Deep Space Station 43 in Canberra has been hunting for signals from Voyager 2

Voyager 1 is around 15 billion miles (24 billion kilometers) from Earth, so fixing problems on the craft a is a huge challenge. 

It's now so far away it takes twenty-two-and-a-half hours for a signal to cover the vast distance. 

However, the team's code experiment worked and the data began to be readable once more.

'Finding solutions to challenges the probes encounter often entails consulting original, decades-old documents written by engineers who didn't anticipate the issues that are arising today,' NASA said in December after the discovery of the glitch. 

'During the coming weeks, the team will relocate and adjust the other affected portions of the FDS software,' NASA said in its updated statement on Monday. 

'These include the portions that will start returning science data.' 

The Voyager was the first human-made object to leave our solar system and enter the space between stars. 

It is famous for returning one of the most revered astronomical images of all time – Pale Blue Dot, showing our planet as a spec of dust in the vastness of space. 

Its twin, Voyager 2, is 12.6 billion miles (20 billion kilometers) away and is also still functional. 

A photo taken by a Voyager 1 spacecraft of Io, Jupiter's moon. As part of NASA's mission in the summer of 1977, two spacecraft, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 - identical in every detail - were launched within 15 days of each other

This colour picture was acquired by Voyager 1 during its approach of Ganymede, the largest and most massive moon of Jupiter and in the solar system

The radio antenna, protruding from the central circular dish like the antenna on a robotic insect, is equally archaic, emitting as many watts as a refrigerator lightbulb

NASA archival image: Engineers working on vibration acoustics and pyro shock testing of NASA's Voyager 1, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, November 18, 1976

READ MORE Where ARE Voyager 1 and 2? 

NASA image of Voyager 1

Both Voyagers launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida in 1977 – with Voyager 2 departing a month earlier than 1.

They have far exceeded that, however, having been travelling for 46 years.

They were launched to explore all the giant planets of our outer solar system – Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune; 48 of their moons; and the unique system of rings and magnetic fields those planets possess. 

NASA had acknowledged that the mighty Voyager mission cannot continue forever. 

Yet the team hopes to keep the instruments needed to transmit data about its environment going until at least 2025.

It hopes Voyager 1 will keep travelling through space with NASA able to track its whereabouts until around 2036, when its nuclear batteries are likely to die, after which it will drift on aimlessly. 

Some of the systems are indeed becoming dated; for example, it's internal computers have 240,000 times less memory than an iPhone.

The radio antenna, protruding from the central circular dish like the antenna on a robotic insect, is equally archaic, emitting as many watts as a refrigerator lightbulb.

As for the onboard tape recorder, which is constantly on, it differs little from the one in a typical 1970s car. 

Jupiter, taken from Voyager 1 at around 12 million miles (20 million kilometres) away in 1979

An annotated image showing the various parts and instruments of NASA's Voyager space probe design. Voyager 1 and its identical sister craft, Voyager 2 were launched in 1977 to study the outer Solar System and eventually interstellar space

As for Voyager 2, engineers expect all five of its science instruments to continue operation through 2026. 

Last year, communications with Voyager 2 were lost when a wrong command was given, causing it to point its antenna just two degrees away from Earth. 

However, the space agency said a 'heartbeat' signal had been picked up during a regular scan of the sky more than a week later. 

Voyager 2 is still the only spacecraft to have visited Uranus and Neptune. 

THE BACKGROUND TO NASA'S HISTORIC VOYAGER MISSION

The Voyager spacecraft were built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, which continues to operate both. 

NASA launched the Voyager 1 spacecraft on September 5 1977, and the Voyager 2 on August 20 1977.

Each spacecraft carries a golden record on board – a record that includes sounds, pictures and messages of Earth.

Continuing on their more than 37-year journey since their 1977 launches, they each are much farther away from Earth and the sun than Pluto. 

In August 2012, Voyager 1 made the historic entry into interstellar space, the region between stars, filled with material ejected by the death of nearby stars millions of years ago. 

Humanity's farthest and longest-live spacecraft, Voyager 1 and 2, have been travelling through space for more than 44 years. NASA launched the Voyager 1 spacecraft on September 5 1977, and the Voyager 2 on August 20 1977

This archival photo shows engineers working on the Voyager 2 spacecraft on March 23, 1977. Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to have flown by all four outer planets – Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune

Voyager 2 entered interstellar space on November 5, 2018. 

Both spacecraft are still sending scientific information about their surroundings through the Deep Space Network, or DSN.

The primary mission was the exploration of Jupiter and Saturn. 

The mission was extended after making a string of discoveries there — such as active volcanoes on Jupiter's moon Io and the intricacies of Saturn's rings. 

Voyager 2 went on to explore Uranus and Neptune and is still the only spacecraft to have visited those outer planets. 

The adventurers' current mission, the Voyager Interstellar Mission (VIM), will explore the outermost edge of the Sun's domain — and beyond.

 Source: NASA