![]() Each thruster firing adds tiny amounts of propellant residue, leading to gradual buildup of material over decades. Propellant flows to the thrusters via fuel lines and then passes through smaller lines inside the thrusters called propellant inlet tubes that are 25 times narrower than the external fuel lines. As they do this, the thrusters automatically fire and reorient the spacecraft to keep their antennas pointed at Earth. Spacecraft can rotate in three directions – up and down, to the left and right, and around the central axis, like a wheel. The thrusters on Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 are primarily used to keep the spacecraft antennas pointed at Earth in order to communicate. Engineers resolved the glitch, and the patch is intended to prevent the issue from occurring again in Voyager 1 or arising in its twin, Voyager 2. ![]() The team is also uploading a software patch to prevent the recurrence of a glitch that arose on Voyager 1 last year. This type of buildup has been observed in a handful of other spacecraft. The thrusters are used to keep each spacecraft’s antenna pointed at Earth. One effort addresses fuel residue that seems to be accumulating inside narrow tubes in some of the thrusters on the spacecraft.
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