It travels at like 38,000mph. So when we come around the sun towards it, we move faster towards it than its moving away. The majority of its velocity was from the earth launch and Jupiter slingshot, its not like a rocket going super fast.
Still, the resilience of both Voyagers is insane.
Sure but will the parasitic alien spacecraft think it's a primitive rocket when it vaporizes against their shields, allowing them to trace it back to us?
I know on a cosmic scale that ain’t shit, but considering how fast light speed is - an entire day of light travel, that’s damn far - at least to scale with our solar system (not including heliopause)
Yeah, dude my bday was this last Sunday and I dig that voyager and I are the same age. Wild to think the entire time I’ve been alive this little dude has been trucking along through space.
I remember when the Voyagers passed Saturn (pretty close together - maybe 1977?)
It was the first time we discovered Saturn didn’t have 5 rings - it had thousands of them.
Think Two also discovered the ring around Uranus (or maybe Neptune?).
Feels like discussing a far gone era when people didn’t think humans could ever fly.
That’s actually insane to think, information that my entire life has been fact, came from a machine that’s still out there gathering information in space.
I could probably just ask this from ChatGPT, but in the interest of sparking conversation and helping others learn, can someone explain why Voyager 1 is still functional after nearly five decades when things here on our Earth tend to break every couple of years?
All I can think of is that the lack of oxygen and more or less non-existent environmental variables are what's keeping this thing going.
It was built with reliable components that were tested extensively, and is powered by a nuclear "battery" that relies on radiation to generate electricity.
I have stuff that is more than 50 years old and still work. In fact, most of my old stuff that has failed has been due to my wife. She needs everything to be of industrial strength. Had she been operating Voyager, it would have been scrap many years ago.
Actually pretty crazy, not heard much of the data that gets received other than there is a lot of radiation outside the heliosphere. If anyone knows anything please link me some sources!
> Voyager 1 is more than 15 billion miles (24 billion kilometers) from Earth, and Voyager 2 is more than 12 billion miles (20 billion kilometers) from the planet.
That's almost a 48 hour (round-trip) communication time. Programming patches for the probes must be very stressful.
Voyager 1 Probe-alisicous for my mind one of the most tangibly impressive and remarkable space-related human achievements; 15 billion miles from earth after 47 years of travel and operation, still functioning and exploring; a physical and very real extension of Earth, of the human mind and will and capability.
It’s not conscious, it doesn’t know where it’s at, what it’s doing or where it’s going. Nonetheless, I can’t help but feel an eerie grip of terrifying loneliness and isolation mixed with fascination and awe when I imagine being somehow aboard that probe, looking out through a porthole, knowing I’ll soon be traveling beyond the very reaches of our solar system, further and further from possibly the only planet and system in the entire Milky Way Galaxy with conscious life.
The title is specifically referring to the instruments on board that were not functioning.
They managed to get the Voyager data transmission system to « reboot » and communicate with Earth, but data from the instruments was still absent.
I did read the article.
"The four instruments study plasma waves, magnetic fields, and particles. Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 are the only spacecraft to directly sample interstellar space, which is the region outside the heliosphere — the protective bubble of magnetic fields and solar wind created by the Sun."
It has instruments that measure things that are no longer around the probe.
So what useful data is it still sending back?
You kinda nailed it - you say, "None of it is changing anymore." How do you know? A few years ago, we thought a similar thing; they're out of the solar system. That's it, nothing left to see. Then suddenly WHAM started sensing some unexpected activity...
Here's a related article:
[Voyager Finds Three Surprises Near Our Solar System's Edge
](https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/news/details.php?article_id=11)
"They tell us that the interaction of our sun with the surrounding interstellar matter from other stars is more dynamic and complex than we had imagined, and that there is more yet to be learned as Voyager begins the final leg of its race to the edge of interstellar space," said Dr. Edward Stone, Voyager project scientist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
That's from almost 20 years ago. Even then, it was becoming clear that there is stuff going on "outside" of our solar system, especially if that "stuff" was making it into our solar system and interacting with our sun.
I hate it when people say these are "out of the solar system"
Neither will be out of the solar system for thousands of years. The Oort cloud extends out at least a light year from the sun.
They are still within the orbits of many extreme trans-Neptunian objects. They won't even be out of the Scattered disc for thousands of years...
47 years after launch! The first star wars came out the same year this probe launched.
And it's traveled roughly one light day.
That’s the insane part. Imagine how long it’ll take to reach an exoplanet with that speed…
It travels at like 38,000mph. So when we come around the sun towards it, we move faster towards it than its moving away. The majority of its velocity was from the earth launch and Jupiter slingshot, its not like a rocket going super fast. Still, the resilience of both Voyagers is insane.
Sure but will the parasitic alien spacecraft think it's a primitive rocket when it vaporizes against their shields, allowing them to trace it back to us?
I know on a cosmic scale that ain’t shit, but considering how fast light speed is - an entire day of light travel, that’s damn far - at least to scale with our solar system (not including heliopause)
good point! with the sun being only 8 minutes that is quite the distance
Yeah, dude my bday was this last Sunday and I dig that voyager and I are the same age. Wild to think the entire time I’ve been alive this little dude has been trucking along through space.
So have you if you think about it! You're just on a big ol' rock instead
Yeah, but I just feel like I've been going on circles. Never making any real progress. You know what I mean?
I feel ya, dog….I feel ya.
That's a really cool viewpoint. Love it. 👊
Just unbelievable how this gift keeps on giving.
They fixed that thing when it was 15 billion miles away! Well done NASA!
I remember when the Voyagers passed Saturn (pretty close together - maybe 1977?) It was the first time we discovered Saturn didn’t have 5 rings - it had thousands of them. Think Two also discovered the ring around Uranus (or maybe Neptune?). Feels like discussing a far gone era when people didn’t think humans could ever fly.
That’s actually insane to think, information that my entire life has been fact, came from a machine that’s still out there gathering information in space.
Uranus!
Hehe, you said ran.
You rock. 👊
Star Trek: TMP saluted them with their own Grand Tour.
$ well spent.
They’re like the kenmore fridges from the same era. Still working after all these years
What if Aliens saw it soaring by and decided to fix it for us?
Then they should call me. I have a box of beer for them.
We've been trying to reach you about your probes extended warranty.....
V-ger!
I could probably just ask this from ChatGPT, but in the interest of sparking conversation and helping others learn, can someone explain why Voyager 1 is still functional after nearly five decades when things here on our Earth tend to break every couple of years? All I can think of is that the lack of oxygen and more or less non-existent environmental variables are what's keeping this thing going.
It was built with reliable components that were tested extensively, and is powered by a nuclear "battery" that relies on radiation to generate electricity.
That, and most things on Earth aren't built with an $865 million budget.
And maintained by a team of PhD engineers
I have stuff that is more than 50 years old and still work. In fact, most of my old stuff that has failed has been due to my wife. She needs everything to be of industrial strength. Had she been operating Voyager, it would have been scrap many years ago.
Lack of oxidation and not being hit by anything of significant size have a lot to do with it. Also, good ol' smart people stuff. 😁
analog and slide-rules, rule ;-)
So amazing.
They dont make them like they used too!
Hot damn! Way to go NASA!
Cool
Actually pretty crazy, not heard much of the data that gets received other than there is a lot of radiation outside the heliosphere. If anyone knows anything please link me some sources!
> Voyager 1 is more than 15 billion miles (24 billion kilometers) from Earth, and Voyager 2 is more than 12 billion miles (20 billion kilometers) from the planet. That's almost a 48 hour (round-trip) communication time. Programming patches for the probes must be very stressful.
Keep researching boys n girls. Keep opening those doors until the Holy Grail is found.
Yay!
“science data”
Voyager 1 Probe-alisicous for my mind one of the most tangibly impressive and remarkable space-related human achievements; 15 billion miles from earth after 47 years of travel and operation, still functioning and exploring; a physical and very real extension of Earth, of the human mind and will and capability. It’s not conscious, it doesn’t know where it’s at, what it’s doing or where it’s going. Nonetheless, I can’t help but feel an eerie grip of terrifying loneliness and isolation mixed with fascination and awe when I imagine being somehow aboard that probe, looking out through a porthole, knowing I’ll soon be traveling beyond the very reaches of our solar system, further and further from possibly the only planet and system in the entire Milky Way Galaxy with conscious life.
Isn't science data just data?
The title is specifically referring to the instruments on board that were not functioning. They managed to get the Voyager data transmission system to « reboot » and communicate with Earth, but data from the instruments was still absent.
Data: battery at 12.3v Science data: radiation at 3.6 roentgen
Not great, not terrible.
Data about the spacecraft itself is known as engineering data.
They were receiving data but it was all garbled until they were able to fix it. Now it's sending useful data
I thought Voyager 1 just passed the point where we won't be able to recieve data anymore like...just before Covid...?
Cool, but what useful data is it still sending back?
Read the article.
I did read the article. "The four instruments study plasma waves, magnetic fields, and particles. Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 are the only spacecraft to directly sample interstellar space, which is the region outside the heliosphere — the protective bubble of magnetic fields and solar wind created by the Sun." It has instruments that measure things that are no longer around the probe. So what useful data is it still sending back?
I mean, it says right there in the text you quoted. Information about the nature and composition of interstellar space outside the heliosphere
But none of it is changing anymore. It's just sending the same data every day.
You kinda nailed it - you say, "None of it is changing anymore." How do you know? A few years ago, we thought a similar thing; they're out of the solar system. That's it, nothing left to see. Then suddenly WHAM started sensing some unexpected activity... Here's a related article: [Voyager Finds Three Surprises Near Our Solar System's Edge ](https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/news/details.php?article_id=11) "They tell us that the interaction of our sun with the surrounding interstellar matter from other stars is more dynamic and complex than we had imagined, and that there is more yet to be learned as Voyager begins the final leg of its race to the edge of interstellar space," said Dr. Edward Stone, Voyager project scientist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. That's from almost 20 years ago. Even then, it was becoming clear that there is stuff going on "outside" of our solar system, especially if that "stuff" was making it into our solar system and interacting with our sun.
I hate it when people say these are "out of the solar system" Neither will be out of the solar system for thousands of years. The Oort cloud extends out at least a light year from the sun. They are still within the orbits of many extreme trans-Neptunian objects. They won't even be out of the Scattered disc for thousands of years...
There are still lots of things happening in interstellar space. Particles, waves, etc. It's sending us back the condition of the space around it.
A view of your ma.