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PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (213) 354-5011
FOR RELEASE THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1979
Radio contact with the Voyager 1 spacecraft was
lost late Thursday afternoon following a manuever to refine
its flight path to Saturn, it was announced by the Jet
Propulsion Laboratory. Hours later a very weak signal was
detected by the tracking station in Spain.
The spacecraft, 660 million miles from Earth, has
been commanded to turn in space, breaking its communications
link with Earth, and ignite on-board thrusters for the course
correction. An automatic program should have turned Voyager
back to the proper attitude for its antenna to be pointed at
Earth. Apparently this did not happen.
Efforts are under way at JPL to establish contact.
Voyager 1 was launched September 5, 1977, flew past
Jupiter in March of this year and will reach Saturn in
November 1980.
JPL manages the Voyager Project for NASA.
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#918
12/13/79