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NASA Shuts Off Instrument on Voyager 1 to Keep Spacecraft Operating

science.nasa.gov

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Re: NASA Shuts Off Instrument on Voyager 1 to Keep Spacecraft Operating

#91

Post by ndiddy »

peteforde wrote: post #58

I would love to better understand how a device launched the year before I was born could be so flexible in its configuration and operation. I can't update the code running on a microcontroller on my desk in front of me without it triggering a reboot. When they talk about rerouting power and performing a "big bang" reconfiguration with a 23 hour lag on equipment that was underpowered when the 8088 came out... it kind…

Here's a talk about how the Voyager team fixed the flight data computer on Voyager 1 when a memory chip went bad on it a few years ago. It goes over how the flight computer works and he walks through a few assembly routines. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcUycQoz0zg

Some of the challenges they had to deal with while developing the fix:

- The only source code they had for the flight data software was an OCR'd Microsoft Word document (with typos) that was likely scanned from a hard copy assembler listing printout.

- The processor runs a custom instruction set developed by JPL for the Voyager mission. The documentation they had on the processor was incomplete.

- Everybody who had designed the flight software was dead.

- They had no assembler, no debugger, and no processor simulator. They had no testbed, the only two FDS processors were in space.

Re: NASA Shuts Off Instrument on Voyager 1 to Keep Spacecraft Operating

#92

Post by sidewndr46 »

dylan604 wrote: post #37
anigbrowl wrote: post #31

It continues to irritate me that There aren't any other functioning deep space probes besides New Horizons (launched in 2006, and which flies at a slower speed than Voyagers). One new operating deep space probe in nearly 50 years is just embarrassing. I mean yay space telescopes and everything, but we seem to have given up anything that isn't a state-of-the-art prestige project. I was hopeful about projects like Brea…

What else are you looking to see from such deep space? Nothing we launch will ever reach anything anything interesting in probably the life of humanity. Just to get to Pluto in our life times meant going so fast that it could only fly by. Maybe flying around in the Oort cloud might, unlikely though, be interesting.

It's the same notion that has us going "back to the moon" right now. The US did something impressive and interesting several times. In the absence of anything else impressive and interesting now, we're trying to pull the same trick again. As if we're going to arrive on the Moon's surface and suddenly discover it isn't a barren sphere with a rocky surface, no atmosphere & tiny amounts of water on it.

There's a reason why Apollo was cancelled. Putting people on the moon is interesting in the context that it was accomplished. Putting people on the moon today is like that friend who won't stop talking about how we was on the football team in senior year and they went to the state championship.

Re: NASA Shuts Off Instrument on Voyager 1 to Keep Spacecraft Operating

#93

Post by sidewndr46 »

tavavex wrote: post #63
peteforde wrote: post #58

I would love to better understand how a device launched the year before I was born could be so flexible in its configuration and operation. I can't update the code running on a microcontroller on my desk in front of me without it triggering a reboot. When they talk about rerouting power and performing a "big bang" reconfiguration with a 23 hour lag on equipment that was underpowered when the 8088 came out... it kind…

NASA pioneered a lot of what underpins modern design of critical computer systems. Voyager's systems are impressively robust. As far as I know, they can patch it by directly sending up new assembly instructions that are written into its memory, and doing a warm reboot to get it to start executing new instructions without powering down anything. They had the foresight to make their software highly editable, while also…

As another commenter noted, NASA did not design Voyager. They are responsible for launch and operations.

Re: NASA Shuts Off Instrument on Voyager 1 to Keep Spacecraft Operating

#94

Post by SilentM68 »

toyg wrote: post #80
SilentM68 wrote: post #39

Ideally, just how much longer can the crafts keep going even with the "Big Bang" fix, given the old hardware that they carry?

I reckon "old hardware" is likely to be more reliable of "new hardware", generally speaking... If we could fix how they get energy, these things could probably go on for centuries.

[dead]

Re: NASA Shuts Off Instrument on Voyager 1 to Keep Spacecraft Operating

#95

Post by avian »

avian wrote: post #84
reader9274 wrote: post #22

I had the honor and pleasure to take a class from the venerable professor, JPL director, and Voyager project scientist Ed Stone at Caltech in 2018. He excitedly told us a "secret" on November 1st that Voyager 2 had reached interstellar space, and he showed us the actual data proving it. But we had to keep it a secret until the press release that Monday, November 5. It was a special moment to see his passion for the p…

Not to detract from the amazing success that is Voyager - I also still remember attending a lecture given by a JPL engineer that worked on one of the instruments - but I feel like the "Voyager has reached interstellar space" thing has been milked to death by PR. There was a period where I feel like there was one such announcement published in media each month with very unsatisfactory explanation (if any) how it diffe…

Because this is getting downvoted, and to check if my memory serves me well:

Here's an excerpt from a 2013 article in Scientific American that appears on the first page of results when searching for "voyager left the solar system" [1]:

> Voyager 1 was starting to get a reputation as the spacecraft that cried wolf, after scientists repeatedly claimed it was leaving the solar system, only to change their minds and say it wasn’t quite there yet.

[1] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/voyager-1-leaves-...

Re: NASA Shuts Off Instrument on Voyager 1 to Keep Spacecraft Operating

#96

Post by dylan604 »

sidewndr46 wrote: post #92
dylan604 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What else are you looking to see from such deep space? Nothing we launch will ever reach anything anything interesting in probably the life of humanity. Just to get to Pluto in our life times meant going so fast that it could only fly by. Maybe flying around in the Oort cloud might, unlikely though, be interesting.

It's the same notion that has us going "back to the moon" right now. The US did something impressive and interesting several times. In the absence of anything else impressive and interesting now, we're trying to pull the same trick again. As if we're going to arrive on the Moon's surface and suddenly discover it isn't a barren sphere with a rocky surface, no atmosphere & tiny amounts of water on it. There's a reason…

We've been building race cars for a long time, but every time a new one is built they give it some test/practice laps before actually entering it into a race. That's all Artemis is doing is working out the kinks of the new space craft. There are larger plans now, and you can't go from ideation of plan to completion of plan in one attempt. Each Artemis mission is testing and moving towards the next step. The people involved in Apollo are no longer around, so a new generation of people need to gain experience. The Apollo spacecraft are also not being used, so new equipment is being put through the paces.

If you seriously believe that there's nothing new to learn from continuing to study the moon up close and in person, then you're just deliberately being obstinate about the subject. Humans are explorers, and the moon is just the next closest thing to explore. You're "won't stop talking about" comment is also just lame. If the 1400s explorers had decided that continuing to sail the seas looking for new routes or new lands was like having a friend that wouldn't stop talking about their childhood experiences, then the colonists would never have left Europe.

Re: NASA Shuts Off Instrument on Voyager 1 to Keep Spacecraft Operating

#97

Post by dylan604 »

philipswood wrote: post #49
dylan604 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What else are you looking to see from such deep space? Nothing we launch will ever reach anything anything interesting in probably the life of humanity. Just to get to Pluto in our life times meant going so fast that it could only fly by. Maybe flying around in the Oort cloud might, unlikely though, be interesting.

Exoplanet closeups? You can use the sun as a gravitational lens: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_gravitational_lens You need to be about 550 au out.

Veeger is currently less that 200 AU, and it's dying. For us to build a craft that could stay alive long enough to make it to 550AU and still be functioning would take an incredible leap in technology. This plan also has a fatal flaw in that you can only ever hope to look at one thing. You can't just slew that craft to be able to line up the next target.

Re: NASA Shuts Off Instrument on Voyager 1 to Keep Spacecraft Operating

#98

Post by dylan604 »

karlgkk wrote: post #72
dylan604 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hmm, I definitely remembered it being referred to as the fastest human made thing. Just missed the salient "launched" detail

Maybe that was Parker? Parker and new horizons often get lumped together for some reason

By who? The Parker is doing everything it can to get closer to the sun by dipping into the sun's atmosphere while New Horizons went to Pluto and is getting further and further away from the sun. I don't think you could have a more opposite mission than these two.

Re: NASA Shuts Off Instrument on Voyager 1 to Keep Spacecraft Operating

#99

Post by ashirviskas »

smackeyacky wrote: post #78
dylan604 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What else are you looking to see from such deep space? Nothing we launch will ever reach anything anything interesting in probably the life of humanity. Just to get to Pluto in our life times meant going so fast that it could only fly by. Maybe flying around in the Oort cloud might, unlikely though, be interesting.

The best time to plant a tree is 50 years ago. The second best time is now.

I'd argue there are `50 years / planck time` better times to plant a tree than now.

Re: NASA Shuts Off Instrument on Voyager 1 to Keep Spacecraft Operating

#100

Post by dylan604 »

smackeyacky wrote: post #78
dylan604 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What else are you looking to see from such deep space? Nothing we launch will ever reach anything anything interesting in probably the life of humanity. Just to get to Pluto in our life times meant going so fast that it could only fly by. Maybe flying around in the Oort cloud might, unlikely though, be interesting.

The best time to plant a tree is 50 years ago. The second best time is now.

The best time to plant is when the conditions are right for the planting. If you've never planted seeds in less than ideal conditions, it'll be hard to understand. At the time of Voyagers, the conditions were right in a way that only happens every 175ish years. Anything now and since would have been less than ideal conditions to the point the newly launched craft would not be as performant as Voyagers.
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