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Voyager 2 is back online after eight months of radio silence

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Re: Voyager 2 is back online after eight months of radio silence

#21

Post by jacobwilliamroy »

m4rtink wrote: post #17
jacobwilliamroy wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Check out Hardtack Teak. It was an exo-atmospheric nuclear test above Johnston Atoll. The blast was visible from Honolulu and a large glowing red cloud drifted over the island chain all the way from Johnston Atoll. There are areas of the zone underneath the explosion which are still hot to this day. And that was just one of the tests that went right. There were plenty of failures too, both in atmosphere and on the la…

Well, you don't necessarily need to launch from Earth - starting an Orion mission from say high lunar orbit should be perfectly safe.

Maybe. Personally, I would want to see A LOT of math and paperwork first before I listen to anyone who uses "perfectly safe" and "nuclear explosion" in the same sentence. I'm still hoping we can figure out some other form of space travel which doesn't involve really, really, really big explosions.

Re: Voyager 2 is back online after eight months of radio silence

#22

Post by ponker »

superasn wrote: post #3

I was just reading the pale blue dot and he mentions that Voyager 2’s scan platform jammed after its encounter with Saturn. Voyager 2 emerged from behind Saturn (as seen from the Earth) in August 1981. The scan platform had been moving feverishly—pointing here and there among the rings, moons, and the planet itself during the all-too-brief moments of close approach. Suddenly, the platform jammed. A stuck scan platfor…

They didn't even spin something 350 times before launching it out of the solar system?

Re: Voyager 2 is back online after eight months of radio silence

#23

Post by dirktheman »

ponker wrote: post #22
superasn wrote: post #3

I was just reading the pale blue dot and he mentions that Voyager 2’s scan platform jammed after its encounter with Saturn. Voyager 2 emerged from behind Saturn (as seen from the Earth) in August 1981. The scan platform had been moving feverishly—pointing here and there among the rings, moons, and the planet itself during the all-too-brief moments of close approach. Suddenly, the platform jammed. A stuck scan platfor…

They didn't even spin something 350 times before launching it out of the solar system?

If the actuator broke down the 351st time, would you've commented 'they didn't even spin something 400 times...'? What would be a number you'd be comfortable with instead?

Re: Voyager 2 is back online after eight months of radio silence

#24

Post by ReptileMan »

m463 wrote: post #7
superasn wrote: post #3

I was just reading the pale blue dot and he mentions that Voyager 2’s scan platform jammed after its encounter with Saturn. Voyager 2 emerged from behind Saturn (as seen from the Earth) in August 1981. The scan platform had been moving feverishly—pointing here and there among the rings, moons, and the planet itself during the all-too-brief moments of close approach. Suddenly, the platform jammed. A stuck scan platfor…

It has become commonplace to solve hardware problems with software. But many times it is not for heroic reasons, it's because hardware is cost-reduced.

Unfortunately when preparing something for space missions you have constraints that are not as easily solvable as throwing more money.

Re: Voyager 2 is back online after eight months of radio silence

#25

Post by mkl »

prox wrote: post #18
Cthulhu_ wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It makes me think of the demoscene, that is doing things like getting 3D graphics on the Commodore or whatever it was.

Future Crew - Second Reality

That was a 1993 PC demo, not C64. I had to mess with my config.sys and autoexec.bat to get it to run, but watched it repeatedly.

Re: Voyager 2 is back online after eight months of radio silence

#27

Post by mkl »

prox wrote: post #19
m4rtink wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, you don't necessarily need to launch from Earth - starting an Orion mission from say high lunar orbit should be perfectly safe.

I think for Nuclear Propulsion we do need to start building in Space or on the Lunar Surface. Another interesting idea is to propel micro crafts with lasers. I think there was an article on HN about that.

Micro craft with light sails propelled by lasers have been discussed quite a bit. My favourite instance of it is in Charlie Stross's novel Accelerando.

Re: Voyager 2 is back online after eight months of radio silence

#28

Post by amelius »

dirktheman wrote: post #23
ponker wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They didn't even spin something 350 times before launching it out of the solar system?

If the actuator broke down the 351st time, would you've commented 'they didn't even spin something 400 times...'? What would be a number you'd be comfortable with instead?

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