The thrusters have been inactive for 37 years, it didn’t “stop communicating” 37 years ago.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_1
Extended mission
1990-02-14 Final images of the Voyager program acquired by Voyager 1 to create the Solar System Family Portrait.
1998-02-17 Voyager 1 overtakes Pioneer 10 as the most distant spacecraft from the Sun, at 69.419 AU. Voyager 1 is moving away from the Sun at over 1 AU per year faster than Pioneer 10.
2004-12-17 Passed the termination shock at 94 AU and entered the heliosheath.
2007-02-02 Terminated plasma subsystem operations.
2007-04-11 Terminated plasma subsystem heater.
2008-01-16 Terminated planetary radio astronomy experiment operations.
2012-08-25 Crossed the heliopause at 121 AU and entered interstellar space.
2014-07-07 Further confirmation probe is in interstellar space.
2016-04-19 Terminated Ultraviolet Spectrometer operations.
2017-11-28 “Trajectory correction maneuver” (TCM) thrusters are tested in their first use since November 1980.[27]
On February 14, 1990, Voyager 1 took the first ever “family portrait” of the Solar System as seen from outside,[33] which includes the image of planet Earth known as Pale Blue Dot. Soon afterward its cameras were deactivated to conserve power and computer resources for other equipment. The camera software has been removed from the spacecraft, so it would now be complex to get them working again. Earth-side software and computers for reading the images are also no longer available.[4]
Thanks, that info is much appreciated for us non-spacejunkies. :^)
The article gave a number of us the misimpression that Voyager 1 had gone silent after 1980.
Now I find that NASA’s own PR is much better and clearer than the article I poster:
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/voyager-1-fires-up-thrusters-after-37
. Earth-side software and computers for reading the images are also no longer available.[4]
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They pitched equipment that was used on a continuing project?