I guess their code for signal correction for the case of package loss or data loss on in transit has to be fascinating. Or it is some simple, yet always working method. Anyway, would be cool to read about the details of that logic/implementation.
NASA just sent a software update to a spacecraft 12B miles away
141–150 of 326 posts
Re: NASA just sent a software update to a spacecraft 12B miles away
#142Re: NASA just sent a software update to a spacecraft 12B miles away
#143Re: NASA just sent a software update to a spacecraft 12B miles away
#144I don’t understand why we are not sending these off in every direction constantly. The price can’t possibly be that prohibitive considering what we can accomplish with 40 year old technology.
The equivalent of about 4 billion dollars in modern day money for both of them. That, plus waiting for some very opportune launch times so that we can gravity boost off of everything.
But the more copies you make of something, the cheaper they become. The R&D cost is the same and is only paid once whether you're building 2 space probes or 2000.
Re: NASA just sent a software update to a spacecraft 12B miles away
#145Earlier quoted context omitted.
I highly doubt an amateur has the means to contact the probes. Heck, I'm not even sure any organization besides NASA has antennas big enough for the job.
The Russians, or the Chinese.
Maybe, but what would they gain by this exactly?
Aha! Now you'll have to wait another 40 years to collect information from deep space! Take THAT, Americans!
Re: NASA just sent a software update to a spacecraft 12B miles away
#146I wonder which checksum algorithm they use at those ultra low latencies. Amazing work
Re: NASA just sent a software update to a spacecraft 12B miles away
#147Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think it's better to say - if your phone was 12 billion miles from Earth and used to send sensitive scientific data - it would get updates as well.
Not when you only paid on the order of $1,000 for it. For so little, nobody is going to bother to support your device for decades, no matter how near or far away it is from you or what you happen to be doing with it. The original Voyager budget was $865 million (~$5 billion today), and has paid out even more for maintenance and operation since. Spend that much money on an iPhone and not only will updates be available…
Apple made more than 100 billion on iPhone sales in the first half of 2023 and the marginal cost of an update is essentially 0, so what your saying doesn't make sense.
Re: NASA just sent a software update to a spacecraft 12B miles away
#148Earlier quoted context omitted.
Muricans will use anything but metric.
Metric doesn't let people grasp large numbers.
And yet literally the entire world aside from United States, Liberia, and Myanmar is able to grasp it perfectly.
So such a statement would either insinuate that Americans are genetically inferior somehow, or you're just culturally attuned to an outdated British system.
Re: NASA just sent a software update to a spacecraft 12B miles away
#149Earlier quoted context omitted.
Metric doesn't let people grasp large numbers.
And yet literally the entire world aside from United States, Liberia, and Myanmar is able to grasp it perfectly. So such a statement would either insinuate that Americans are genetically inferior somehow, or you're just culturally attuned to an outdated British system.
What are you talking about? Look at the context before you get outraged. The comparison to metric here is "plutos" kind of like measuring with bananas. Saying a million km is not the same as saying "one moon distance".
Re: NASA just sent a software update to a spacecraft 12B miles away
#150Were unit tests a thing back when the probes were built? I wonder how new engineers learn about the intricacies of such ancient tech, without breaking them.
Unit tests — probably not. They likely have a 'test article' though. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test_article_(aerospace)
That guy in the suite making sure he doesn't leave any dust speckles... but that mirror looks very dusty in that photo. I verified it is not dust on my screen :)