Two degrees matter
On 21 July 2023 a command sequence caused the spacecraft’s antenna to point about two degrees away from Earth. Its signal did not reach the Deep Space Network antennas correctly and the spacecraft could not receive commands. It nevertheless remained on its expected trajectory.
A message and a long wait
The Deep Space Network facility in Canberra sent a powerful command to point the antenna back towards Earth. At that distance a signal took about 18.5 hours to reach the spacecraft, so confirmation required roughly 37 hours for the round trip. On 4 August 2023 NASA confirmed that science and telemetry data had resumed.
A journey continues
Launched in 1977, Voyager 2 flew past Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune and crossed the heliopause in 2018. The termination shock, crossed in 2007, is a region where the solar wind slows; it does not mark the disappearance of the Sun’s influence. In August 2026 NASA reported steps to extend science operations, rather than treating old predictions about the mission’s end as certain.