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NASA's Voyager 1 Resumes Sending Engineering Updates to Earth

blogs.nasa.gov

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Re: NASA's Voyager 1 Resumes Sending Engineering Updates to Earth

#251

Post by 8bitsrule »

xattt wrote: post #207
wolverine876 wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> [1] https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/frequently-asked-questions/ Also: Even if science data won't likely be collected after 2025, engineering data could continue to be returned for several more years. The two Voyager spacecraft could remain in the range of the Deep Space Network through about 2036, depending on how much power the spacecraft still have to transmit a signal back to Earth. That FAQ covers a lot of interes…

> the cameras were turned off to save power and memory Since it’s powered by an RTG, how does the power get “used up”? I assume that this refers to the available power budget at a given moment versus some sort of expendable power reserve.

It's the first question at the top of that ^ FAQ page. One of their comments is : "Mission managers removed the software from both spacecraft that controls the camera." Makes me wonder if that unused RAM came in handy lately!

Re: NASA's Voyager 1 Resumes Sending Engineering Updates to Earth

#252

Post by exitb »

wolverine876 wrote: post #193
retrac wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The plutonium 238 decays according to a curve, and the thermocouples are degraded as well by heat and radiation according to a curve. So the power output drops rather predictably: "The radioisotope thermoelectric generator on each spacecraft puts out 4 watts less each year." [1] The Voyagers will soon no longer have enough power to operate any of their instruments. They'll have enough power to continue operating the…

> [1] https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/frequently-asked-questions/ Also: Even if science data won't likely be collected after 2025, engineering data could continue to be returned for several more years. The two Voyager spacecraft could remain in the range of the Deep Space Network through about 2036, depending on how much power the spacecraft still have to transmit a signal back to Earth. That FAQ covers a lot of interes…

> The two Voyager spacecraft could remain in the range of the Deep Space Network through about 2036

It would be quite depressing if it was us failing to receive a fainter signal, rather than Voyager failing to send it.

Re: NASA's Voyager 1 Resumes Sending Engineering Updates to Earth

#253

Post by eru »

echelon wrote: post #122
Night_Thastus wrote: post #59

There's something very beautiful about Voyager's journey so far. I hope one day when we're a true interstellar species we'll still keep tabs on it. The data may not be useful anymore, but it would be cool to imagine a year 3000 society with a little "Look at where Voyager is now :)" tool that you can see its path and where humans have colonized by comparison.

> when we're a true interstellar species If we can harness all of the energy and mass available in our solar system, we [1] can likely compute more than several galaxies full of classical humans. We might even begin to test the edges of physics. Maybe we don't need to go anywhere at all. Maybe we [1] have all we need right here to become literal gods. [1] Our digital descendants. Humans are very much fit to the gas e…

> If we can harness all of the energy and mass available in our solar system, we [1] can likely compute more than several galaxies full of classical humans. We might even begin to test the edges of physics.

I grant that. But why would that keep us from pressing on?

If we have more resources in general, we will also have more resources for interstellar adventures.

Re: NASA's Voyager 1 Resumes Sending Engineering Updates to Earth

#254

Post by nolist_policy »

GeekyBear wrote: post #246
AstroJetson wrote: post #45

Yep, 45 years old hardware, still getting software updates. Hey Apple, JPL is close to you, can you get someone to bike over and see how they do it? Thanks!

[flagged]

The Google Pixel 8 series receives 7 years of updates. And unlike Apple they are upfront about it, which is important. Maybe your iPhone gets 8 years of updates, maybe 6 noone knows.

Re: NASA's Voyager 1 Resumes Sending Engineering Updates to Earth

#255

Post by dmurray »

retrac wrote: post #159
iampivot wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do we know how long the power source will last?

The plutonium 238 decays according to a curve, and the thermocouples are degraded as well by heat and radiation according to a curve. So the power output drops rather predictably: "The radioisotope thermoelectric generator on each spacecraft puts out 4 watts less each year." [1] The Voyagers will soon no longer have enough power to operate any of their instruments. They'll have enough power to continue operating the…

> the transmitter (which serves as a science experiment of its own) into the 2030s.

One of the longest-running scientific experiments, too. It's already about as old as the Queensland pitch drop experiment was when Voyager I was launched.

Re: NASA's Voyager 1 Resumes Sending Engineering Updates to Earth

#256

Post by fforflo »

divbzero wrote: post #234

The substance of this news release is incredible, but its style is also admirable. The authors managed to convey in seven paragraphs a concise and comprehensible explanation of how the team resolved the technical issue.

That's what happens when you're freed from "SEO-optimized content". It's also a culture thing I'd probably put under military philosophy. I've worked with ex-military engineers, and you can tell from how they communicate. Writing technical reports and memos is a skill.

Re: NASA's Voyager 1 Resumes Sending Engineering Updates to Earth

#257

Post by eh_why_not »

nirav72 wrote: post #208

All I can say is wow! This probe refuses to die. Despite being built with almost 50 year old technology. Amazing engineering by the people that designed and built it. Even more amazing is the people that continue to debug software problems from 2 light days distance.

> from 2 light days distance

The distance is currently 22.5 light hours (and increases by half-hour per year.) But it is indeed about 2 days of round-trip time for debugging.

Re: NASA's Voyager 1 Resumes Sending Engineering Updates to Earth

#259

Post by olabyne »

AstroJetson wrote: post #71
its_ethan wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The current iOS 17 is compatible with the iPhone XS, which is from 2018. That's 6 years for a piece of tech that the majority of people replace after Also to nit pick, Apple is based in Cupertino (northern CA) and JPL is in Los Angeles - so it'd be quite a bike ride lol

I have an iPad Air from 2014 that hasn’t been able to get updates since iOS 12.5, so 2019. The electronics are fine, a browser update would be awesome. Would people not replace phones in Sorry about the distance thing. I’m from Philadelphia, so all of that (vaguely waving west) has got to be bikeable. But I’ll remember the /s for next time.

I have an Ipad Air 2 from 2014, running Ios15 (not too old yet) with security updates.

Re: NASA's Voyager 1 Resumes Sending Engineering Updates to Earth

#260

Post by eigenket »

science4sail wrote: post #197
echelon wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> when we're a true interstellar species If we can harness all of the energy and mass available in our solar system, we [1] can likely compute more than several galaxies full of classical humans. We might even begin to test the edges of physics. Maybe we don't need to go anywhere at all. Maybe we [1] have all we need right here to become literal gods. [1] Our digital descendants. Humans are very much fit to the gas e…

> compute more than several galaxies full of classical humans Unfortunately the simulated classical humans in your Matrioshka Brain will want to mine Bitcoin, which means that our digital descendants will have to become a true interstellar species anyway in order to convert the Laniakea Supercluster into coin-mining computronium.

This is essentially the plot of a book called Accelerando, published way back in 2005!
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