Voyager 1, the spacecraft that’s been traveling through space for 46 years, has sent new data back to Earth after several months of silence.

NASA engineers recently shared good news after Voyager 1 successfully sent decipherable data back to Earth for the first time in months.

The spacecraft, which is about 15 billion miles (24 billion kilometers) from Earth, experienced communication issues that NASA has been working to resolve for the past five months. On April 22, the agency announced that they had managed to check the “health and status” of Voyager 1, which holds the record as the most distant human-made object in existence.

“Today was a great day for Voyager 1,” said Linda Spilker, Voyager project scientist at JPL, in a statement. “We’re back in communication with the spacecraft and look forward to receiving scientific data.”

Voyager 1 had stopped sending readable data on November 14, 2023. While controllers could confirm that the spacecraft was receiving commands, it had been sending back an indecipherable code.

NASA provided a crucial update on Voyager 1, detailing that the issue had been identified with a key component of the spacecraft’s onboard computer system.

In March, engineers pinpointed the problem to a faulty chip in the flight data subsystem (FDS), one of the spacecraft’s three onboard computers responsible for packaging data before transmission. NASA discovered that this chip, which stores a portion of the FDS memory and software code, was malfunctioning.

The team devised a coding workaround that successfully navigated the 46-year-old computer system and restored the ability to receive data from Voyager 1.

“For the first time since November, Voyager 1 is returning usable data about its engineering systems,” NASA announced on Monday. “The next step is to enable the spacecraft to start sending scientific data again. Voyager 1 and its twin, Voyager 2, are the only spacecraft to have ventured into interstellar space.”

 After five months of communication issues, controllers resolved the problem and restored data transmission.

Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 continues its journey through interstellar space, providing valuable insights into the outer reaches of our solar system and beyond. Although communication challenges have occurred in the past—such as a seven-month gap with Voyager 2 in 2020—NASA has managed to address these issues and keep the mission on track.

“We never know exactly what will happen with the Voyagers, but it’s remarkable how they continue to function,” said Voyager Project Manager Suzanne Dodd. “We face many challenges, but we’re fortunate to recover from them. New engineers join the team and help keep the mission alive.”