After three days of silence, NASA scientists on Monday morning picked up a faint “heartbeat signal” from the Voyager 2 probe, traveling about 12 million miles from Earth, giving hope that astronomers will be able to reorient the craft to communicate with operators, the Associated Press reports.
A programming error tilted the antenna two percent more than intended, causing operators to fear that the new position of the antenna would make it impossible for the craft to receive signals from Earth. After enlisting the assistance of NASA’s Deep Space Network of telescopes to listen for the craft, engineers will now flood the craft with radio signals, which take 18 hours to reach Voyager 2, to get the craft to reorient itself into a correct position.