旅行者1号，这艘于1977年发射的无人太空探测器，目前距离地球154亿英里，正处于星际空间中。它已经远远超出了最初的预期寿命，并面临着通信中断的挑战。近期，旅行者1号的主无线电发射器出现故障，导致与地球的通信中断。工程师们通过备用系统恢复了通信，但仍需进一步调查故障原因并恢复正常运行。旅行者1号和它的姊妹探测器旅行者2号，共同探索了太阳系四大行星及其卫星，并于2012年成为首个进入星际空间的人造物体。尽管面临着日益减少的电力供应和高辐射环境的挑战，NASA计划继续维持这两个探测器的运行，直到2025年以后。旅行者1号的旅程充满了未知和挑战，但也展现了人类探索宇宙的决心和能力。

🚀 **旅行者1号的通信故障及恢复:** 旅行者1号于2023年10月16日收到指令开启加热器，随后触发了故障保护系统，导致其主X波段发射器关闭，并停止与地球的通信。工程师们利用备用的S波段发射器恢复了通信，但该发射器自1981年以来就未曾使用过。目前，团队正在努力收集信息，以查明故障原因并恢复旅行者1号的正常运行。旅行者1号所处的星际空间环境充满挑战，高辐射环境和漫长的通信延迟使得故障排除变得更加复杂。 旅行者1号在47年的服役期间，已经远远超出了其最初的5年设计寿命，并且在漫长的星际旅行中，其电力供应逐渐减少，这使得工程师们不得不谨慎地管理探测器的能源消耗，并关闭一些不必要的设备以延长其寿命。故障保护系统是旅行者1号的重要安全机制，它可以在探测器遇到诸如电力供应不足等问题时，自动关闭一些不太重要的设备，以确保探测器能够继续运行。但是，这次故障保护系统关闭主发射器的原因尚不清楚，需要进一步的调查才能确定。

🪐 **旅行者1号的星际探索之旅:** 旅行者1号和旅行者2号于1977年发射，最初的目标是探索木星和土星及其卫星，以及土星环。在成功完成最初目标后，任务目标扩展到包括天王星和海王星。这两个探测器共同探索了四颗行星、48颗卫星以及许多行星磁场和环。2012年8月，旅行者1号成为首个进入星际空间的人造物体，星际空间是恒星之间的区域，充满了数百万年前死亡的恒星所抛射出的物质。旅行者1号和旅行者2号是唯一运行在日球层之外的航天器，日球层是受太阳恒定物质流影响的空间区域。 旅行者1号目前距离地球154亿英里，是人类制造的最遥远的人造物体，它以超过38000英里的时速远离太阳系。由于距离遥远，地球上的指令到达旅行者1号需要23个小时，而接收回复也需要23个小时。旅行者1号的旅程不仅拓展了人类对太阳系和星际空间的认知，也展现了人类探索宇宙的决心和能力。

🌌 **旅行者1号面临的挑战和未来展望:** 旅行者1号和旅行者2号每年产生的电力大约减少4瓦，这限制了探测器能够使用的系统数量。为了节省电力，飞行控制人员偶尔会关闭一些设备。NASA的目标是让这两个探测器继续运行到2025年以后。目前尚不清楚是什么原因导致旅行者1号的故障保护系统关闭了主无线电发射器。当探测器出现问题时，例如超过其电源供应，该系统会自动关闭不太重要的设备，以便它能够继续飞行。根据旅行者1号的数据，探测器应该有足够的电力来开启加热器，而不会发生意外。 旅行者1号面临的挑战不仅仅是电力供应的减少，还有星际空间中高辐射环境的威胁。这种环境是人类制造的物体从未经历过的，这使得旅行者1号的运行充满了不确定性。在任务的这个阶段，没有什么是容易或有保证的。旅行者项目经理苏珊·多德在一份声明中表示，未来将需要进行更多分析和谨慎地做出决策。尽管面临着诸多挑战，但旅行者1号的探测之旅仍在继续，它将继续为人类探索宇宙提供宝贵的科学数据。

At 15.4 billion miles away from Earth in interstellar space, Voyager 1 won't last much longer. 

In fact, NASA's flight engineers may have thought the 47-year-old mission had finally kicked the bucket when the uncrewed spacecraft recently went quiet. The probe had shut off its main radio transmitter for communicating with mission control. 

Voyager's problem began on Oct. 16, when flight controllers sent the robotic explorer a somewhat routine command to turn on a heater. Two days later, when NASA expected to receive a response from the spacecraft, the team learned something tripped Voyager's fault protection system, which turned off its X-band transmitter. By Oct. 19, communication had altogether stopped. 

The flight team was not optimistic. 

However, Voyager 1 was equipped with a backup that relies on a different, albeit significantly fainter, frequency. No one knew if the second radio transmitter could still work, given the aging spacecraft's extreme distance. Days later, engineers with the Deep Space Network, a system of three enormous radio dish arrays on Earth, found the signal whispering back over the S-band transmitter. The device hadn't been used since 1981, according to NASA. 

"The team is now working to gather information that will help them figure out what happened and return Voyager 1 to normal operations," NASA said in a recent mission update. 

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Both Voyager 1 and its twin, Voyager 2, have been bopping along for nearly a half-century, far beyond their original life expectancy. Launched in 1977, the pair was originally intended to study Jupiter and Saturn, their moons, and Saturn's rings. For the two-planet journey, they were built to last just five years.

After their initial success, engineers doubled their objectives to include two more giant planets, Uranus and Neptune. Between the two spacecraft, they've explored four planets, 48 moons, and a host of planetary magnetic fields and rings.

In August 2012, Voyager 1 made history as it entered interstellar space, the region between stars, filled with material ejected by other stars that died millions of years ago. Voyager 1 and 2 are the only spacecraft ever to operate outside of the heliosphere, the region of space affected by the sun's constant flow of material.

Voyager 1 is speeding away from the solar system at over 38,000 mph and is the farthest human-made object from Earth. It is so far away that it takes 23 hours for a command to reach the spacecraft, and another 23 hours for mission control to hear back from it.

NASA has previously said the Voyagers generate about 4 fewer watts of power annually, limiting the number of systems the spacecraft can use. Flight controllers have occasionally turned off equipment to conserve power. The goal is to keep the two running beyond 2025, according to the agency.

It's not clear yet why Voyager 1's fault protection system shut off the main radio transmitter. When onboard issues occur, such as the spacecraft overdrawing its power supply, the system will automatically turn less-critical equipment off so that it can continue flying. Based on data from Voyager 1, the spacecraft should have had enough power to flip on the heater without incident. 

Interstellar space is a high-radiation environment that nothing human-made has ever flown in before. That means the only thing the teams running the old probes can count on are surprises. 

Last month the team troubleshot a thruster problem on Voyager 1. At this point in the mission, nothing is easy or guaranteed, said Voyager project manager Suzanne Dodd in a statement. 

"All the decisions we will have to make going forward are going to require a lot more analysis and caution than they once did," she said.