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SCIENCE
Voyager 2, Space Oddity
Simple glitch or hacked by aliens? NASA scientists are baffled by Voyager 2's abrupt and indecipherable change in the format of its data stream.
What on earth (or, rather, way out in space) has become of the Voyager 2 space probe?
NASA scientists are baffled by a sudden and so-far indecipherable change in the data format of the signals that the probe has been sending back since late April, leading to some wild and colorful speculations that seem ripped from the screenplay of the original Star Trek movie.
The Voyager space probes were launched in 1977 (Voyager 2 on August 20, Voyager 1 two weeks later on September 5) and embarked on a journey of exploring our solar system's outer planets. Having captured and transmitted data and images from Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus (as well as the planets' respective moons) during the 1980s, the two probes remain operational 33 years on.
Both probes were installed with a Golden Record. Simultaneously a greeting card, map and time capsule, these devices contained images and sounds from Planet Earth and voice greetings in more than 50 languages. The records' content describing our home was selected and assembled by the late Carl Sagan, just in case someone out there might be listening as the Voyagers passed through....But as Space.com reports, late last month the signals sent back from Voyager 2 suddenly arrived in an unknown format. Unable to decipher the data stream and completely baffled by the cause for the shift in how Voyager 2 communicates with its Earth-bound team, NASA scientists have for the time being instructed the probe to send only information on its operational health and status while they get to the bottom of the sudden and strange behavior. Voyager 1 and 2 are presently 10.5 and 8.6 billion miles from Earth respectively, and a half a day is required either to send or receive data due to the distance between home planet and the two most distant objects ever sent into space from Earth.
The lack of clear explanation for the data stream alteration has certainly opened the door for some colorful speculation.
MORE: http://www.tonic.com/article/voyager-2-space-oddity/
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