One of NASA’s longest-operating spacecraft has stopped communicating with Earth

(CNN) – NASA is having problems communicating with its spacecraft Voyager 1.

It involves the spacecraft’s flight data system’s telecommunications unit.

According to NASA, the mission control team has only been receiving a repeating pattern of ones and zeros as if it were trapped in a loop.

No science or engineering data is being returned to Earth.

NASA said commands have been sent for the 46-year-old spacecraft to restart the flight data system, but no usable data has returned.

It could take weeks for engineers to determine the underlying cause of the issue, NASA said.

Voyager 1, along with its twin Voyager 2, are the longest-operating spacecraft in history.