NASA gets Voyager 1 back online from 15 billion miles away after technical problem

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• NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft is transmitting data again after a technical issue in November.
• Voyager 1 is drifting through the space between star systems on a mission to collect information about plasma waves, magnetic fields and particles.
• Voyager 1 is over 15 billion miles from Earth. Its twin, Voyager 2, is more than 12 billion miles away.

NASA's Voyager 1, the most distant spacecraft from Earth, is sending science data again.

Voyager 1's four instruments are back in business after a computer problem in November, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory said this week. The team first received meaningful information again from Voyager 1 in April, and recently commanded it to start studying its environment again.

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This illustration provided by NASA depicts the most distant spacecraft from Earth, Voyager 1. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California announced this week that Voyager 1's four scientific instruments are back in business after a technical problem in November. (NASA via AP, File)

Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 is drifting through interstellar space, or the space between star systems. Before reaching this region, the spacecraft discovered a thin ring around Jupiter and several of Saturn’s moons. Its instruments are designed to collect information about plasma waves, magnetic fields and particles.

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Voyager 1 is over 15 billion miles from Earth. Its twin Voyager 2 — also in interstellar space — is more than 12 billion miles away.