NASA Sends Software Update Over 12 Billion Miles to Voyager 2

pcmag.com:

Voyager 2 is having a software update installed in a bid to keep the spacecraft operating for as long as possible.

Last year, Voyager 1's attitude articulation and control system (AACS) started sending random data back to Earth, and it took NASA engineers months to figure out why. It turns out the AACS had entered an incorrect mode, but it's unclear why the mode switch happened in the first place. This software patch is meant to stop the same thing happening to Voyager 2 (and to Voyager 1 again).

Suzanne Dodd, Voyager project manager, explains "this patch is like an insurance policy that will protect us in the future and help us keep these probes going as long as possible ... These are the only spacecraft to ever operate in interstellar space, so the data they’re sending back is uniquely valuable to our understanding of our local universe."

As Voyager 2 is over 12 billion miles away, it took over 18 hours to send the software patch to the probe on Friday. There is a risk the patch could overwrite essential code or have unintended consequences, so a readout of AACS memory is being carried out to make sure it's in the right place. If no anomalies are found, the update will be triggered on Oct. 28.

Voyager 1 also needs to have the patch installed, but because it's further away from Earth (over 15 billion miles) the data it sends back is more valuable. With that in mind, NASA decided to use Voyager 2 as "a testbed for its twin."

Voyager 2 suffered its own problem earlier this year when NASA lost contact with the probe due to a series of planned commands "inadvertently caused the antenna to point 2 degrees away from Earth." Communication was re-established using an "interstellar shout," allowing the mission to continue