Allen Telescope Array in California Detects Signals from Voyager 1 Approaching the Edge of the Solar System.
Allen Telescope Array (ATA) after the 2019 refurbishment. (Photo: SETI).
The Allen Telescope Array (ATA), a recently renovated radio observatory near San Francisco, California, established contact with the Voyager 1 spacecraft on July 9, utilizing 20 out of its 42 dish antennas, each measuring 6.1 meters in diameter. The telescope recorded 15 minutes of data stored on disk.
The detection of Voyager 1, the fastest artificial object, demonstrates the capability and strength of the Allen Telescope Array following its refurbishment in 2019. The announcement from the SETI Institute, which specializes in extraterrestrial life research, on August 25 did not provide additional information about the signal.
NASA is investigating a strange glitch causing Voyager 1 to send back nonsensical data regarding its position in space. NASA first reported this issue in May. They are confident that the spacecraft is safe, as if the data were accurate, the signals from Voyager 1 would not be directed toward Earth.
Currently, at a distance of approximately 23.3 billion kilometers from Earth, which is 156 times the distance between Earth and the Sun, Voyager 1 is being monitored by NASA’s Deep Space Network and is transmitting data at a rate of 160 bits per second. The spacecraft entered interstellar space 10 years ago and is measuring the characteristics of the environment at the edge of the heliosphere, a plasma bubble created by the Sun that surrounds the planets.
Voyager 1 is still traveling through the Oort Cloud, a spherical disk of comets and asteroids at the farthest edge of the Solar System, more than 200 times the distance between Earth and the nearest star. No spacecraft has ever reached the Oort Cloud, and Voyager will take about 300 years to get there. However, the spacecraft may not survive that long, as it is expected to run out of fuel by 2025.
