LAUNCHED in August 1977, Voyager 2, and its sister probe Voyager 1, were sent by NASA to explore the outer planets of our solar system.
Both probes performed well and sent back valuable data, with their journey taking them out of the gravitational influence of the solar system in 2018 and into an area of space known as the interstellar medium.
In March 2020, NASA lost contact with Voyager 2 when as they undertook repairs and an upgrade to an antenna known as Deep Space Station 43, in Canterbury, Australia, which had been tracking the probe.
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Keen to re-establish contact and with the antenna back in working order, NASA sent a signal to Voyager 2 hoping it could re-establish contact with the probe and after a wait of 34 hours for a reply, Voyager 2 said 'hello'.
The two Voyager spacecraft could remain in the range of contact until about 2036, depending on how much power the spacecraft still have to transmit a signal back to Earth.
Both Voyager 1 and 2 and have a time capsule onboard, intended to communicate a story of our world to extra-terrestrials should the probes ever be 'captured' and examined.
The Voyager message is carried by a phonograph record, a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk containing sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth.
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