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Voyager Set to Enter Interstellar Space

science.nasa.gov

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Re: Voyager Set to Enter Interstellar Space

#31

Post by calebmpeterson »

brudgers wrote: post #21
calebmpeterson wrote: post #3

Every time I read about either Voyager I/II or Pioneer 10/11 I am amazed at just how vast space is. Nothing like spending the better part of 50 years to go an incredible distance - a distance, which is so small in the grand scheme of things... At the same time I'm delighted to be alive during a part of history in which humanity accomplished such a pitifully tiny and yet monumental feat.

> "Nothing like spending the better part of 50 years to go an incredible distance - a distance, which is so small in the grand scheme of things" 50 years is very short on a galactic scale as well.

True, and yet it's a good chunk of a lifetime for a human.

Re: Voyager Set to Enter Interstellar Space

#32

Post by nolite »

r00fus wrote: post #29
cal5k wrote: post #7

It's almost as if the universe was created to mock us. So much space to explore, but physical law makes it impossible to explore more than the smallest, most insignificant fraction.

The concept of the light-cone[1] really frustrated my younger self (raised on heady expectations, warp drives and transporters). There might be a sentient race very close to us in time-space that we will never know because the light-cones will never meet. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_cone

Well if the light cones never meet, then they're not that close

Re: Voyager Set to Enter Interstellar Space

#33

Post by prawn »

naz wrote: post #13
rorrr wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is why we need to work on the aging problem. Once that is solved, we can explore all we want.

We've already solved that with reproduction. We need to figure out how to out-live our planet.

I think we know much of what we need to know (the basics: how to procreate, how to create a craft, etc; plus the steps to take) but the costs are just a little hard to justify for many given existing world problems and a predilection to just fighting everything.

Re: Voyager Set to Enter Interstellar Space

#34

Post by drm237 »

kinkora wrote: post #26
jaysonelliot wrote: post #10

It just so happens I was listening to some beautiful 1970s space music when I read this (Tangerine Dream, if you're interested). The dreams of exploration we had from the time of the first man in space through the 1980s were so wonderful and optimistic. I grew up reading OMNI and Discover, watching Carl Sagan on television and playing with toy Space Shuttles. When the Voyager left earth, we believed that man would wa…

nothing to replace it? See SpaceX and Virgin Galactic.

SpaceX in a few more years should be able to do human transportation to orbit. Virgin Galactic is for space tourism and doen't fulfill any of the roles the shuttles were used for. When the shuttle retires, there really isn't anything else (in the US) that comes close to replacing it.

Re: Voyager Set to Enter Interstellar Space

#35

Post by shin_lao »

cal5k wrote: post #7

It's almost as if the universe was created to mock us. So much space to explore, but physical law makes it impossible to explore more than the smallest, most insignificant fraction.

Correction: laws of physics as we currently understand them

For example, we still don't understand inertia and gravity.

Nothing is impossible.

Re: Voyager Set to Enter Interstellar Space

#36

Post by Locke1689 »

shin_lao wrote: post #35
cal5k wrote: post #7

It's almost as if the universe was created to mock us. So much space to explore, but physical law makes it impossible to explore more than the smallest, most insignificant fraction.

Correction: laws of physics as we currently understand them For example, we still don't understand inertia and gravity. Nothing is impossible.

This is what I like to refer to as the "bias of computing." The idea is that we deal with so much scientific progress in our fields that we tend to think that scientific progress can take us anywhere and no restriction will stand up for long.

However, this is a fallacy that really has no grounding in the laws of physics. What reason do we have for thinking that information can travel faster than the speed of light? Moreover, what evidence do we have that the second law of thermodynamics could be reversed on a macro scale?

The assumption that all barriers will fall as others have seems unreasonable and contradictory to our current evidence.

Re: Voyager Set to Enter Interstellar Space

#37

Post by wladimir »

cal5k wrote: post #7

It's almost as if the universe was created to mock us. So much space to explore, but physical law makes it impossible to explore more than the smallest, most insignificant fraction.

I think the problem is the opposite. We evolved on a planet, so we're only (naturally) suitable to live on a planet.

Once we're able to modify ourselves and our DNA and outrun evolutionary constraints, that might change. Once we're a swarm of small, near-immortal devices, I suppose exploring the universe on large scale will make a lot more sense.

But in the short run, it's fun and interesting to explore the solar system in human form, even given the limits of our current technology. And to not worry about what a small, insignificant fraction it is, because it's still a hell of a lot more than we've seen until now.

Re: Voyager Set to Enter Interstellar Space

#38

Post by schumitsch »

wladimir wrote: post #37
cal5k wrote: post #7

It's almost as if the universe was created to mock us. So much space to explore, but physical law makes it impossible to explore more than the smallest, most insignificant fraction.

I think the problem is the opposite. We evolved on a planet, so we're only (naturally) suitable to live on a planet. Once we're able to modify ourselves and our DNA and outrun evolutionary constraints, that might change. Once we're a swarm of small, near-immortal devices, I suppose exploring the universe on large scale will make a lot more sense. But in the short run, it's fun and interesting to explore the solar sys…

define "we"

Re: Voyager Set to Enter Interstellar Space

#39

Post by wladimir »

schumitsch wrote: post #38
wladimir wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the problem is the opposite. We evolved on a planet, so we're only (naturally) suitable to live on a planet. Once we're able to modify ourselves and our DNA and outrun evolutionary constraints, that might change. Once we're a swarm of small, near-immortal devices, I suppose exploring the universe on large scale will make a lot more sense. But in the short run, it's fun and interesting to explore the solar sys…

define "we"

Humanity, and everything that follows from it.

Re: Voyager Set to Enter Interstellar Space

#40

Post by Deestan »

jeza wrote: post #27
icehawk wrote: post #4

Voyager is a beautiful example of reliable code and engineering. 30 years and 10 billion miles out, and still functioning.

This was back in a time when one guy could be familiar with every single line of code running on a computer, from user space programs right down to the kernel. This level of simplicity surely did wonders for reliability. Not to say you couldn't achieve good results with a more complex modern system, though to spend a lot more time making things failsafe.

> This was back in a time when one guy could be familiar with every single line of code running on a computer, from user space programs right down to the kernel.

This is still possible, by the way. Humanity hasn't lost the ability to create simple computers. :) We just see less of them because the complex ones are more useful for day-to-day life.

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