Voyager 2, a space probe launched almost 50 years ago, is now about 21.3 billion kilometers from Earth—so far that light, which travels at 300,000 kilometers per second, takes nearly a full day to make the journey. Maintaining contact with Voyager 2 requires the Deep Space Station 43 (DSS-43) antenna in Canberra, Australia. This antenna is the only one capable of sending commands to Voyager 2, as the probe is traveling in a direction that places it in the southern sky. From March 2020 through October 2020, DSS-43 was closed for renovations, a project delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time, Earth could still receive data from Voyager 2 using three 34-meter antennas, but none of these had the power to send instructions to the probe. DSS-43, located near Canberra, is a massive 70-meter parabolic dish designed to communicate with spacecraft far beyond Earth’s orbit. For 48 years, it has played a crucial role in connecting Earth with distant parts of the solar system. When DSS-43 was shut down for upgrades, it meant that no commands could be sent to Voyager 2, which continued its journey through interstellar space with very limited communication. The decision to shut down the antenna was made after years of service, as engineers wanted to ensure its long-term reliability. They took the risk of losing contact with Voyager 2 temporarily to prevent a possible permanent failure, which would have been difficult to repair. The shutdown of DSS-43 revealed a key vulnerability: a historic mission like Voyager 2 depends on a single point of communication. To avoid such interruptions in the future, a new antenna, called Deep Space Station 33, began construction in March 2025. This 34-meter antenna is designed to work alongside DSS-43 and support communication with distant spacecraft. Communication with Voyager 2 resumed by the end of October 2020, but due to the vast distance, it took more than a day to confirm that the new equipment was functioning properly. This delay underscores the challenges of maintaining contact with spacecraft that have traveled so far from Earth.