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Voyager Set to Enter Interstellar Space

science.nasa.gov

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Re: Voyager Set to Enter Interstellar Space

#61

Post by jasongullickson »

Deestan wrote: post #40
jeza wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I'd argue that more complex ones (appear) beneficial to programmers more than anything else (users don't appear to benefit from complexity).

Re: Voyager Set to Enter Interstellar Space

#62

Post by nooneelse »

prawn wrote: post #33
naz wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

If it is a generation ship or some other from of slow craft (and aren't they all at the scales we are discussing), then it needs to contain a biosphere if it is going to take humans in their current form. We aren't anywhere near good at making those at all.

Unless we are thinking about some form of entirely synthetic food and oxygen production, in which case, we aren't any better at those really.

Re: Voyager Set to Enter Interstellar Space

#63

Post by daimyoyo »

The fact is that we won't break the bonds of earth with NASA. Decades of bureaucracy and budget cutting has left them as little more than another government agency that exists solely to expand and maintain it's own budget. I'm 29 years old. So is the space shuttle program. It's completely unacceptable that we are taking 30 year old vehicles to space. Would you trust a 30 year old sedan on a cross country road trip? I wouldn't. And now, the program is being discontinued with nothing ready to replace it. We are going to have to rely on Russia until we can get our next rocket operational. If the men who created the Apollo program were told that one day we'd rely on the Russians for our space travel, they'd laugh you out of the room. Also, why haven't we been to the Moon in nearly 40 years? Is there nothing worth exploring left on the entire thing? Thank(insert deity here) that companies like Space X are taking up the slack. It's unfortunate that NASA has fallen so far, but it has.

Re: Voyager Set to Enter Interstellar Space

#64

Post by ANH »

brudgers wrote: post #53
ANH wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with your assessment if you're talking about perception, not actual risk. Shortly before Cassini was launched there were some people on my college campus protesting the mission on grounds of risk of radioactive debris spreading if the launch failed. Motivated by my distaste for fearmongering, I did some reading and found that nearly all the scholarly research and engineering studies suggested the risk was inf…

In light of recent events in Japan, engineering risk assessments regarding the hazards posed by industrial uses of plutonium are not exactly gospel. The fact that 3 of 4 failures of the Titan IV rocket occurred following Cassini's launch, the prelaunch engineering risk assessment for Cassini is likely to have underestimated it's risk in a similar manner. [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Titan_launches ]

Cassini was launched by the IV-B variant of the Titan. Given that only one IV-B launch had taken place prior to Cassini, I'm guessing they applied a pretty big risk factor to the launch vehicle.

Re: Voyager Set to Enter Interstellar Space

#65

Post by jordan0day »

daimyoyo wrote: post #63

The fact is that we won't break the bonds of earth with NASA. Decades of bureaucracy and budget cutting has left them as little more than another government agency that exists solely to expand and maintain it's own budget. I'm 29 years old. So is the space shuttle program. It's completely unacceptable that we are taking 30 year old vehicles to space. Would you trust a 30 year old sedan on a cross country road trip? I…

Your 30 year old sedan analogy is terrible. A space shuttle isn't a "daily driver" that NASA changes the oil in every three months or 3 million miles. They're meticulously maintained. Yes, they're old tech and certainly in need of replacement, but they're not bad just because they're old.

Heck, thousands of people use the Golden Gate bridge every day, and it's 70 years old!

Anyway, I'm much less pessimistic w.r.t. NASA than you. Am I disappointed that we don't have permanent bases on the moon and mars? Most definitely. I'm a huge fan of space exploration, and I really wish we were farther along. That said, NASAs robotic exploration continues to impress. There have been failures, mismanagement and poor performance in plenty of cases, but I'd be willing to pay even more tax to increase NASAs budget. I still view them as a good example of things the public sector can do right.

Re: Voyager Set to Enter Interstellar Space

#66

Post by prawn »

nooneelse wrote: post #62
prawn wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

If it is a generation ship or some other from of slow craft (and aren't they all at the scales we are discussing), then it needs to contain a biosphere if it is going to take humans in their current form. We aren't anywhere near good at making those at all. Unless we are thinking about some form of entirely synthetic food and oxygen production, in which case, we aren't any better at those really.

True, true - but with funds and 5-10 years, surely we could ramp up a serious shot?

Re: Voyager Set to Enter Interstellar Space

#67

Post by shin_lao »

Jach wrote: post #47
shin_lao wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Funny you should try to imply that our fundamental physics are somehow wrong in a serious way that we have a high chance of finding a deeper physics that shows "impossible" things by today's physics are possible (want to take bets on timeframes?), on an article about two space probes that have lasted 34 years out there because of our understanding of the fundamental laws. As for not understanding the "why" of inertia…

I'm not implying that they're wrong, I'm implying we're missing pieces from the puzzle.
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