Successful Decommissioning of Voyager 1’s Code: A Breakthrough in Mission Management

The team tasked with decommissioning Voyager 1’s code devised a plan to break down the affected code into smaller sections and store them in different locations within FDS. To ensure the plan’s success, they had to verify that each section of code functioned properly as a whole and updated all references to their location in other parts of FDS memory.

The first step in this plan was to isolate the code responsible for packaging engineering data on the spacecraft. This code was then relocated to its new storage location within FDS on April 18th. Given that radio signals take approximately 22 ½ hours to reach Voyager 1 from Earth and another 22 ½ hours for the signal to return, the team had to wait until April 20th before hearing back from the spacecraft.

Fortunately, when the mission team received feedback from Voyager 1 on April 20th, they discovered that their modification had been successful. This marked a significant milestone in the mission, as it allowed them for the first time in five months to monitor the health and status of the spacecraft – an essential step towards ensuring its success.