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We Just Received a Message From Voyager 1, the Space Probe Outside Our Solar System

The space probe Voyager 1 is communicating with us through the Allen Telescope Array in California, a satellite sent into space 45 years ago. It is incredible only to think that there is something so far away from us, into deep space, that still communicates with us. The space probe has already sent us marvelous images from our Solar System, beyond belief, pictures of the biggest planets from our local home.
Jupiter's Great Red Spot 9 photos
Photo: NASA
The Pale Blue Dot Known as EarthJupiter and Two SatellitesJupiter and CallistoVoyager 1 LaunchVenus, Earth, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, NeptuneSaturn as seen by Voyager 1Voyager's 1 view of Jupiter's MoonVoyager 1 Space Probe
Allen Telescope Array, or ATA, is a newly refurbished radio observatory near San Francisco, California, used to detect extraterrestrial life. The signal was received on July 9 by using 20 of the 42 dish antennas, with a diameter of 20 feet (6.1 meters).

"The detection of Voyager 1, the farthest human-made object, with the refurbished Allen Telescope Array is an excellent display of the telescope's capabilities and strengths, and a representation of the outstanding hard work put by the ATA team since the start of the refurbishment program in 2019," the team which takes care of the ATA said in the statement.

15 minutes of data were sent from Voyager 1. NASA is investigating why the satellite is sending data from its location, even though the data is said to contain nothing important. Perhaps a glitch made the space probe send all these data, with the first message received in May this year. Although Voyager 1 has been acting weird, NASA is stating that the probe is still safe.

Voyager 1 is at a breathtaking distance of about 14.5 billion miles (23.3 billion kilometers) from Earth. It entered interstellar space, meaning it left our Solar System 10 years ago, beyond the orbit of Pluto.

However, in this decade, the space probe will run out of fuel. Its cameras were already shut down in 1990 to conserve the power, computer memory, and data rate for other instruments to collect data about interstellar space.

The last pictures taken were on February 14, 1990, at a distance of 4 billion miles (6 billion kilometers), and they were called “The Solar System Family Portrait."
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About the author: Angela Balaciu
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Angela has always been attracted to the artsy and quirky sides of the world. When she discovered the automotive world is filled with all kinds of wonders, a new passion was born.
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