--- title: "Scientist Warns That NASA’s Voyager Probes Are “Dodging Bullets Out There”" description: "A scientist who's been working on NASA's Voyager mission for more than half a century says that the probes are straight-up catching strays. " date: "2024-04-30" modified: "2024-04-30" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/voyager-probes-dodging-bullets" categories: - "NASA" - "Space" tags: - "cosmic rays" - "NASA" - "the digest" - "voyager" --- # Scientist Warns That NASA’s Voyager Probes Are “Dodging Bullets Out There” ![A scientist who's been working on NASA's Voyager mission for more than half a century says that the probes are straight-up catching strays. ]() *\Image: NASA / Getty / Futurism\* ## Friendly Fire A scientist who's been working on NASA's Voyager mission for more than half a century has helped shepherd the iconic spacecraft all the way to interstellar space — and now, he says that the probes are straight-up catching strays. In an [interview with *Mashable*](), Alan Cummings, a cosmic ray physicist at NASA and Caltech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory who's been on the probes' missions from the very start, explained that Voyagers 1 and 2 are in greater danger than ever now that they've left the Sun's protective bubble. Last week, NASA was mighty relieved when Voyager 1 regained contact with Earth after a whopping [five months incommunicado](). It [took Herculean engineering ingenuity]() to make that happen, and as Cummings notes, scientists still aren't sure what the exact problem was. "We don't know everything," the scientist said. "But I do think galactic cosmic rays are the guilty party here for most of these problems." ## Ray Gun While Voyager 1's five-month quiet spell was unusually long, it was far from the first time the probe or its sister — which are some 15 and 20 billion miles away from Earth, respectively — have run into trouble trouble. Back in 2010, Voyager 2 began [transmitting gibberish]() back to Earth. Scientists still don't know exactly what went down, but Cummings suspects cosmic rays were again the culprit because, as he explains, "the galaxy is permeated" by them. Beyond not knowing definitively if cosmic rays are the culprit for the woes experienced by the Voyagers and NASA's [New Horizons probe]() as they make their way out of our Solar System, scientists are also [not entirely sure]() what causes these merciless, super-fast beams. The predominant theory, as *Mashable* notes, is that they're caused by the explosion of stars, known as supernovae, which supercharge particles and shoot them out in all directions. So violent is the shock from a supernova that particles are stripped of their shells, whipping through space as just nuclei — per the theory, at least. Whatever is going on with them, however, Cummings says one thing is for sure: "We are dodging bullets out there." **More on the cosmos:** [*James Webb Turns to Examine Planet Showing Potential Sign of Life*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()