NASA's interstellar Voyager 1 spacecraft isn't doing so well — here's what we know

Voyager 1 rendering of the craft out in space, on the right side of the image.

On Dec. 12, 2023, NASA shared some worrisome news about Voyager 1, the first probe to walk away from our solar system's gravitational party and enter the isolation of interstellar space. Surrounded by darkness, Voyager 1 seems to be glitching. 

It has been out there for more than 45 years, having supplied us with a bounty of treasure like the discovery of two new moons of Jupiter, another incredible ring of Saturn and the warm feeling that comes from knowing pieces of our lives will drift across the cosmos even after we're gone. (See: The Golden Record.) But now, Voyager 1's fate seems to be uncertain.