The space agency said on Monday its huge dish in Australia’s capital, Canberra, was trying to detect any stray signals from Voyager 2. It takes more than 18 hours for a signal to reach Earth from so far away. The antenna will also bombard Voyager 2’s area with the correct command, in the hope it makes contact with the probe, said Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which manages the Voyager missions.

If this doesn’t work, Voyager 2 is programmed to reset its orientation multiple times each year to keep its antenna pointing at Earth. The next reset is due on 15 October, which Nasa says “should enable communication to resume”.

Even if communication cannot be restored, the probe will continue on its trajectory.

Voyager 2 and its twin Voyager 1 are the only spacecraft ever to operate outside the heliosphere, the protective bubble of particles and magnetic fields generated by the Sun. They reached interstellar space in 2018 and 2012 respectively.

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