Over 45 years now since the individual spacecraft, launched into the unknown expanse of interstellar space by NASA's Voyager 1, ploughs onward, into regions no human-made object has ever reached. Launched in 1977 to conduct a first-ever close-up study of the outer planets, twin Voyager probes quickly became something much more profound: a messenger from Earth to any listeners out there in space. The new signals of Voyager 1 have sent ripples throughout the scientific community, challenging whether or not the spacecraft has had an unexpected encounter in space.
The Mysterious Signal
The signals that came back from Voyager 1 in the year 2022 only confused the scientists. These were not similar to the measurements and telemetry that the spacecraft was sending back since it left the solar system. Most signals were as expected, but some were unusual in the time of fluctuation and inconsistencies. At first they were dismissed as technical glitches, perhaps caused by the aging and wear of Voyager's systems after decades in deep space. But further analysis hinted at something rather more strange afoot.
But more alarming is that the Voyager 1 signals began transmitting what seems to be background "hum," a sort of weird, persistent noise detected by the probe's Plasma Wave System. The noise is such that scientists said they had not heard before. It is one where there's a regular pattern which doesn't look like any known cosmic phenomena, such as solar winds and cosmic rays. These results raise several questions in the minds of some experts: Did Voyager 1 detect an unknown phenomenon in interstellar space?
What Does the Signal Mean?
If Voyager 1 really did detect something unusual, what might it be? Some have speculated from benignly suggesting interaction with some previously unknown cosmic phenomenon to something truly remarkable, including contact with a signal from extraterrestrial beings. What might explain the signal include:
Interstellar phenomena: maybe Voyager 1 entered a region of space that had unknown plasma structures or electromagnetic forces as it passed the heliopause in 2012 (that marks the boundary line beyond which the Sun's influence does not reach). Then that would mean Voyager 1 had entered interstellar space. New regions of space may harbor mysteries beyond our understanding, influences perhaps impinging on the signals picked by Voyager.
Perhaps the most sensational yet provocative hypothesis is that of an extraterrestrial signal. Might the signal show evidence of a contact attempt? SETI scientists - unsurprisingly skeptical - note that an extraterrestrial civilization would probably need to know about the Voyager probe prior to being able to send a direct communication to it, but it does remain an open question whether such an intelligent signal could manage to influence or "piggyback" onto Voyager's telemetry signals.
Technical Failure/Interference: A technical failure is still one good explanation. Voyager 1's systems are aging, and malfunctions may introduce anomalies in signals or data. Yet, the recurrence of the pattern in the signal and its distinctiveness began to dispel the possibility of a simple technical failure. Moreover, related problems were not observed coming from Voyager 2, which has also entered interstellar space.
NASA's Next Steps
NASA scientists have been continuously listening for signals from Voyager 1 in an effort to explain the anomalous data coming in. Efforts to adjust some of the space probe's instruments and clear up the readings have, so far, yielded little fruit. This is partly because of how far out Voyager 1 is-over 14 billion miles from Earth. A signal from the probe could take over 21 hours to reach Earth, one way, making it nearly impossible to troubleshoot problems in real time. Researchers at NASA are developing models to simulate the conditions in the space that Voyager 1 is traversing to understand what might be influencing such signals, despite this challenge.
The international group of astrophysicists and
engineers is currently examining the detected signal for frequencies and
patterns and looking for any possible markers for intelligence. NASA has
continually informed the public that they are not jumping to conclusions and
that they remain open to researching all possible avenues.
The Question of the "Golden Record
The Voyager signal once again brought attention to the "Golden Record," a disc of sounds, greetings, and music from Earth, meant to communicate human existence and culture to any extraterrestrial intelligence that might intercept the probe. The Golden Record was a symbolic gesture at the time it was sent, but the unexplained Voyager signal has led many to speculate: Could it have attracted attention from an unknown source?
Carl Sagan, chairman for the Golden Record project,
once said, "The launching of this 'bottle' into the cosmic 'ocean' says
something very hopeful about life on this planet." Years later, for so
many people, this "bottle" is being wondered upon: has it received an
answer?
If Voyager 1 has indeed received an intelligent response, that's some deep and profound implications. It would point not just to extraterrestrial life but that such life is also within proximity enough to detect a human-made probe and make any attempt to understand our transmission. It brings up a horde of questions: Should we respond? Is it safe to try to touch base again?
Waiting for Answers in the Void
For now, scientists remain cautious, collecting and analyzing data to unlock the mystery of the strange signals being transmitted by Voyager 1. It may be a quirk of deep space or a cosmic "hello," but one thing is certain: the signal has already sparked one of the most exciting scientific investigations of our time.
Voyager's journey started probably as the most
ordinary mission of exploration but, today it carries the promise of an
encounter of a most unimaginable kind. But, this planet watches, the oldest
probe in space sails alone through the cosmic void, carrying with it the hopes
and questions of all humanity.