Voyager 1 falls silent for a few days before signal returns
Engineers investigate possible thruster issue as probe nears one-light-day distance
NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft unexpectedly stopped communicating for a few days in late October, raising questions about whether the veteran mission had ended before its signal reappeared on October 20. The brief blackout, which occurred as the probe approaches the milestone of being one light-day from Earth, has left engineers puzzling over the cause.