Voyager 1 Has Left the Building

H3LL · 11th July 2012, 01:49 AM

Voyager 1 is about to leave the solar system in as far as that "border" can be assessed.

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lionking · 11th July 2012, 02:12 AM

Very interesting information about what's meant by the boundary of the solar system.

Thanks for this. When will we completely lose contact with Voyager 1?

H3LL · 11th July 2012, 02:38 AM

Originally Posted by lionking

When will we completely lose contact with Voyager 1?

Apparently no earlier than 2025 for Voyager 1 and 2.

Spacecraft Lifetime

.

Multivac · 11th July 2012, 04:42 AM

Originally Posted by H3LL

Apparently no earlier than 2025 for Voyager 1 and 2.

Spacecraft Lifetime

.

Interesting, thankyou.

rjh01 · 11th July 2012, 02:14 PM

It is a great channel.

MG1962 · 11th July 2012, 02:23 PM

What astounds me is the technology - The craft have been in space 35 years. Think about that......what electronics if anything do we own in our homes that date back that far.

The people who designed, built and executed these missions must be extremely proud

Weak Kitten · 11th July 2012, 02:30 PM

It's had to believe that something as technologically advanced as the Voyager 1 is older than I am. I wonder if someday, when close or faster than light travel is achieved, our descendents will go looking for it and bring it home. Will they look at Voyager 1 with the same awe and surprise that we look at the Antikythera mechanism?

Beerina · 11th July 2012, 02:58 PM

Ahhh they've been saying it's almost there, just quite just about, wait for it, any second now...for months.

IIRC, this is where the bow shock ends and all particles it passes through have no influence from the sun (light rays aside) just no push from solar wind or magnetic field. It's passed the furthest reach of the wave you're making as your boat pushes through the water.

rjh01 · 11th July 2012, 03:03 PM

Originally Posted by Beerina

Ahhh they've been saying it's almost there, just quite just about, wait for it, any second now...for months.

IIRC, this is where the bow shock ends and all particles it passes through have no influence from the sun (light rays aside) just no push from solar wind or magnetic field. It's passed the furthest reach of the wave you're making as your boat pushes through the water.

Actually the edge of the solar system is not a certain place. There are two winds, one from the sun and the other from the galaxy. The edge of the solar system is where the wind from the sun is taken over by the wind from the galaxy. Where Voyager 1 is now both winds can be detected.

tfk · 13th July 2012, 11:14 AM

The scale of things.

It takes 16+ HOURS for the radio signals to get to the earth. Compare that with 8 minutes from the sun, and it is 16 x 60/8 = 120x further than the 93 million miles to the sun. Over 11,000 million miles away..!

Yeah, I know there are simpler ways to do that calc, but I've been doing it that way for about 20 years.

And, yeah I know that 11,000 million is VERY similar to 11 billion, but billions are tough to grasp.

But the point of this post is the bit of trivia that the transmitters on board the Voyagers (& Pioneers) are 8 Watt transmitters.

They use about as much energy as a small Christmas tree lightbulb.

Those sumbitches were clever boys, 35 years ago.

Almo · 13th July 2012, 11:20 AM

Originally Posted by tfk

The scale of things.

It takes 16+ HOURS for the radio signals to get to the earth. Compare that with 8 minutes from the sun, and it is 16 x 60/8 = 120x further than the 93 million miles to the sun. Over 11,000 million miles away..!

Yeah, I know there are simpler ways to do that calc, but I've been doing it that way for about 20 years.

And, yeah I know that 11,000 million is VERY similar to 11 billion, but billions are tough to grasp.

But the point of this post is the bit of trivia that the transmitters on board the Voyagers (& Pioneers) are 8 Watt transmitters.

They use about as much energy as a small Christmas tree lightbulb.

Those sumbitches were clever boys, 35 years ago.

Wow. When you put it that way, it's even more amazing than it already is!

pgwenthold · 13th July 2012, 11:20 AM

What information is Voyager still sending back?

PS Has it turned into V-Ger yet?

Mark6 · 13th July 2012, 11:22 AM

Originally Posted by tfk

But the point of this post is the bit of trivia that the transmitters on board the Voyagers (& Pioneers) are 8 Watt transmitters.

They use about as much energy as a small Christmas tree lightbulb.

Those sumbitches were clever boys, 35 years ago.

Actually, sumbitches since then have been very clever too, and still are. Deep Space Network as it was 35 years ago could never have picked up these signals from 120 AU. A lot of upgrades went into DSN in the intervening time, both hardware and software.

Almo · 13th July 2012, 11:28 AM

Originally Posted by Mark6

Actually, sumbitches since then have been very clever too, and still are. Deep Space Network as it was 35 years ago could never have picked up these signals from 120 AU. A lot of upgrades went into DSN in the intervening time, both hardware and software.

Good point.

Moon-Spinner · 13th July 2012, 12:16 PM

Originally Posted by MG1962

What astounds me is the technology - The craft have been in space 35 years. Think about that......what electronics if anything do we own in our homes that date back that far.

The people who designed, built and executed these missions must be extremely proud

Most electronics can last that long - As long as my mother isn't there pushing this button and that button trying to figure out how to use the blasted thing, and eventually blowing it all up!!

Macgyver1968 · 13th July 2012, 12:21 PM

Don't forget to write!

billw · 13th July 2012, 06:46 PM

Originally Posted by MG1962

The people who designed, built and executed these missions must be extremely proud

Yes, we are

I started working for the Deep Space Network at JPL in early 1980, an enormously exciting time. Voyager 2 Jupiter encounter had just happened in the summer of 1979, and Voyager 1 Saturn encounter was coming up in the fall of 1980. Carl Sagan had his own named parking space in the little lot just to the west of the Space Flight Operations Facility (SFOF), and I remember checking it in the mornings when I got to work to see if his Cadillac was there that day.

Constant upgrading of ground-based communications facilities was the order of the day. DSN 26-meter diameter dish antennas were expanded to 34-meters in the early '80's, and the 64-meter antennas were expanded to 70-meters in the mid '80's at the Goldstone, Madrid and Canberra DSN tracking stations.

The link below is to a picture of the SFOF Control Center AKA the Darkroom. The picture is 1980's vintage; I know this because I actually participated in assembling and racking gear in those ugly mustard-yellow with dark-brown trim consoles. The controllers who staffed those consoles were contractors from BFEC - Bendix Field Engineering Corporation.

http://deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/dsn/im...lbum/dsn43.jpg

I still have a lot of memorabilia from that era at JPL, out in boxes in the garage - I wonder if it's time yet to start selling it on EBay...

BTW, Pioneer 10 is pretty far out there, too.

sts60 · 13th July 2012, 10:35 PM

Originally Posted by MG1962

What astounds me is the technology - The craft have been in space 35 years. Think about that......what electronics if anything do we own in our homes that date back that far.

The people who designed, built and executed these missions must be extremely proud

I'm not one of them, but I work for some of the guys who were part of the RTG program that made it all possible. I'm sort of proud by reflection; it's a privilege to work with them. Some of them have been at it longer than I've been alive, and I am no spring chicken. Not many people are passionate about their work for that long.

Mr. Scott · 13th July 2012, 10:45 PM

Originally Posted by MG1962

What astounds me is the technology - The craft have been in space 35 years. Think about that......what electronics if anything do we own in our homes that date back that far.

The people who designed, built and executed these missions must be extremely proud

There's a great difference between consumer and industrial electronics.

Consumer electronics only has to last a few years -- long enough for the consumer to be sufficiently satisfied to buy the same brand when the old unit breaks. Cost is the most important factor.

Consumers won't buy a product that's more expensive because it will last longer, but NASA will.

Drs_Res · 13th July 2012, 11:36 PM

Originally Posted by pgwenthold

What information is Voyager still sending back?

PS Has it turned into V-Ger yet?

No. Vger was/is Voyager 6.

/nerd

Squeegee Beckenheim · 14th July 2012, 04:53 AM

Originally Posted by Drs_Res

No. Vger ~~was/is~~ [will be] Voyager 6.

/nerd

/even more pedantic nerd

not_so_new · 14th July 2012, 08:10 AM

Originally Posted by billw

Yes, we are

I started working for the Deep Space Network at JPL in early 1980, an enormously exciting time. Voyager 2 Jupiter encounter had just happened in the summer of 1979, and Voyager 1 Saturn encounter was coming up in the fall of 1980. Carl Sagan had his own named parking space in the little lot just to the west of the Space Flight Operations Facility (SFOF), and I remember checking it in the mornings when I got to work to see if his Cadillac was there that day.

Constant upgrading of ground-based communications facilities was the order of the day. DSN 26-meter diameter dish antennas were expanded to 34-meters in the early '80's, and the 64-meter antennas were expanded to 70-meters in the mid '80's at the Goldstone, Madrid and Canberra DSN tracking stations.

The link below is to a picture of the SFOF Control Center AKA the Darkroom. The picture is 1980's vintage; I know this because I actually participated in assembling and racking gear in those ugly mustard-yellow with dark-brown trim consoles. The controllers who staffed those consoles were contractors from BFEC - Bendix Field Engineering Corporation.

http://deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/dsn/im...lbum/dsn43.jpg

I still have a lot of memorabilia from that era at JPL, out in boxes in the garage - I wonder if it's time yet to start selling it on EBay...

BTW, Pioneer 10 is pretty far out there, too.

VERY COOL!!!

That's some really great stuff there.

Belz... · 14th July 2012, 09:42 AM

Originally Posted by MG1962

What astounds me is the technology - The craft have been in space 35 years. Think about that......what electronics if anything do we own in our homes that date back that far.

The people who designed, built and executed these missions must be extremely proud

It shows how well humans can build things when we have the proper budget and ambition.

Belz... · 14th July 2012, 09:45 AM

Originally Posted by tfk

The scale of things.

It takes 16+ HOURS for the radio signals to get to the earth. Compare that with 8 minutes from the sun, and it is 16 x 60/8 = 120x further than the 93 million miles to the sun. Over 11,000 million miles away..!

Yeah, I know there are simpler ways to do that calc, but I've been doing it that way for about 20 years.

And, yeah I know that 11,000 million is VERY similar to 11 billion, but billions are tough to grasp.

But the point of this post is the bit of trivia that the transmitters on board the Voyagers (& Pioneers) are 8 Watt transmitters.

They use about as much energy as a small Christmas tree lightbulb.

Those sumbitches were clever boys, 35 years ago.

Pfft. Miles. You Americans and your silly measurements.

h.g.Whiz · 16th July 2012, 05:46 AM

Originally Posted by Belz...

Pfft. Miles. You Americans and your silly measurements.

Charlie in Dayton · 16th July 2012, 06:10 AM

Last week was the 50th anniversary of commercial satellite communications. Remember both the satellite and the song 'Telstar'?

The BBC did a big retrospective of that first week or so of comms...I actually teared up a bit remembering watching some of it as a tad...there was a baseball game out of Chicago that was beamed to Europe. When the announcement was made at the park of the feat, the crowd at the game gave their European viewers a standing O...now, as they said on the NBC news, they don't even bother telling you that the correspondent from Outer Farblungistan is reporting and being interviewed by satellite. Even us ham radio operators have our own satellites out there beeping away.

Sir Arthur C. Clarke would have been so proud...

tfk · 16th July 2012, 09:19 AM

Gotta correct a number... (HATE IT when this happens.)

Doing a little research (jpl website), I now find that the transmitters were (depending on source) around 20 - 23 watts.

Gee, those guys back then were only 1/3rd as clever as I thought. ANYONE could do it with 20 watts. Right?

Sorry for the misinfo.

Tom

KingMerv00 · 16th July 2012, 09:45 AM

Originally Posted by pgwenthold

what information is voyager still sending back?

01010100 01101000 01100001 01101110 01101011 01110011 00100000 01100110 01101111 01110010 00100000 01100001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01100110 01101001 01110011 01101000 00101110

tfk · 16th July 2012, 09:46 AM

Originally Posted by Belz...

Originally Posted by tfk

... Over 11,000 million miles away..!

Pfft. Miles. You Americans and your silly measurements.

Sorry, my bad.

I forgot that we are an international community, here.

Let me fix that.

"… over 88 x10⁹ furlongs"
9.68 x10¹² fathoms
3.2 x10⁹ leagues
1.9 x10¹³ yards

Or, my personal favorite, 1.04 x10¹³ smoots
(look it up, good story. It should be in "newSmoots", of course.)

If you prefer metric units, here ya go...
"… over 1.77 x10²³ angstroms"

Or, we can even invent our own units...
"… over 0.39 Mole of angstroms)"

Happy to help.

Tom

KingMerv00 · 16th July 2012, 09:50 AM

Originally Posted by Belz...

Pfft. Miles. You Americans and your silly measurements.

You're not British are you? He who lives in glass houses should not weigh in stone.

Psi Baba · 16th July 2012, 10:02 AM

Originally Posted by tfk

The scale of things.

It takes 16+ HOURS for the radio signals to get to the earth. Compare that with 8 minutes from the sun, and it is 16 x 60/8 = 120x further than the 93 million miles to the sun. Over 11,000 million miles away..!

Yeah, I know there are simpler ways to do that calc, but I've been doing it that way for about 20 years.

And, yeah I know that 11,000 million is VERY similar to 11 billion, but billions are tough to grasp.

But the point of this post is the bit of trivia that the transmitters on board the Voyagers (& Pioneers) are 8 Watt transmitters.

They use about as much energy as a small Christmas tree lightbulb.

Those sumbitches were clever boys, 35 years ago.

Damn, and I can't even take a 3-hour drive and be able to listen to an entire hockey game.

pgwenthold · 16th July 2012, 11:03 AM

Originally Posted by Charlie in Dayton

Last week was the 50th anniversary of commercial satellite communications. Remember both the satellite and the song 'Telstar'?

Odd, I always associated the song with the early 70s. We had the 45 when I was little.

pgwenthold · 16th July 2012, 11:04 AM

Originally Posted by KingMerv00

01010100 01101000 01100001 01101110 01101011 01110011 00100000 01100110 01101111 01110010 00100000 01100001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01100110 01101001 01110011 01101000 00101110

Oooo, that's hot!

MG1962 · 16th July 2012, 11:22 AM

Originally Posted by KingMerv00

01010100 01101000 01100001 01101110 01101011 01110011 00100000 01100110 01101111 01110010 00100000 01100001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01100110 01101001 01110011 01101000 00101110

Reported

Moon-Spinner · 16th July 2012, 12:00 PM

Originally Posted by pgwenthold

Odd, I always associated the song with the early 70s. We had the 45 when I was little.

You were only ten years off, the song was originally released in 1962

Cylinder · 7th October 2012, 12:44 PM

The distinct drop in solar particles is holding:

Image courtesy NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

spin0 · 7th October 2012, 01:36 PM

^ Thanks for the update. That huge drop looks promising! Plus at the same time galactic cosmis rays have increased. Graphs here: http://blog.chron.com/sciguy/2012/10...-solar-system/
Really looks like Voyager 1 is about cross/crossed the heliopause and entering to interstellar space.

Originally Posted by Beerina

IIRC, this is where the bow shock ends and all particles it passes through have no influence from the sun (light rays aside) just no push from solar wind or magnetic field. It's passed the furthest reach of the wave you're making as your boat pushes through the water.

Apparently our Solar System does not have a bow shock according to new measurements by IBEX-mission: Surprise! IBEX Finds No Bow ‘Shock’ Outside our Solar System

The paper was published in Science: The Heliosphere’s Interstellar Interaction: No Bow Shock

Quote:

Abstract
As the Sun moves through the local interstellar medium, its supersonic, ionized solar wind carves out a cavity called the heliosphere. Recent observations from the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) spacecraft show that the relative motion of the Sun with respect to the interstellar medium is slower and in a somewhat different direction than previously thought. Here, we provide combined consensus values for this velocity vector and show that they have important implications for the global interstellar interaction. In particular, the velocity is almost certainly slower than the fast magnetosonic speed, with no bow shock forming ahead of the heliosphere, as was widely expected in the past.

Sherman Bay · 7th October 2012, 01:49 PM

Originally Posted by spin0

^ Thanks for the update. That huge drop looks promising! Plus at the same time galactic cosmis rays have increased. Graphs here: http://blog.chron.com/sciguy/2012/10...-solar-system/
Really looks like Voyager 1 is about cross/crossed the heliopause and entering to interstellar space.

Could someone explain to a non-astronomer why the drop should be so drastic? It seems logical that it would taper off, but why so sudden?

H3LL · 8th October 2012, 12:17 AM

Originally Posted by Sherman Bay

Could someone explain to a non-astronomer why the drop should be so drastic? It seems logical that it would taper off, but why so sudden?

Seconded.

.

rjh01 · 8th October 2012, 03:27 AM

Originally Posted by Sherman Bay

Could someone explain to a non-astronomer why the drop should be so drastic? It seems logical that it would taper off, but why so sudden?

The particles from the sun generating the solar wind are mostly protons and electrons. These do not have much penetrating power.

Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_wind

11th July 2012, 02:12 AM	#2
lionking In the Peanut Gallery Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Melbourne Posts: 29,688	Very interesting information about what's meant by the boundary of the solar system. Thanks for this. When will we completely lose contact with Voyager 1?
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11th July 2012, 02:38 AM	#3
H3LL Illuminator Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: (ləʊˈkeɪʃən) - n. 1. a site or position; situation. Posts: 4,976	Originally Posted by lionking When will we completely lose contact with Voyager 1? Apparently no earlier than 2025 for Voyager 1 and 2. Spacecraft Lifetime .
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11th July 2012, 02:14 PM	#5
rjh01 Gentleman of leisure Tagger Join Date: May 2005 Location: Planet Earth Posts: 17,198	It is a great channel.
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11th July 2012, 02:30 PM	#7
Weak Kitten Graduate Poster Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Lost and lonely...will you be my friend? Posts: 1,733	It's had to believe that something as technologically advanced as the Voyager 1 is older than I am. I wonder if someday, when close or faster than light travel is achieved, our descendents will go looking for it and bring it home. Will they look at Voyager 1 with the same awe and surprise that we look at the Antikythera mechanism?
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11th July 2012, 02:58 PM	#8
Beerina Sarcastic Conqueror of Notions Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: A floating island above the clouds Posts: 23,835	Ahhh they've been saying it's almost there, just quite just about, wait for it, any second now...for months. IIRC, this is where the bow shock ends and all particles it passes through have no influence from the sun (light rays aside) just no push from solar wind or magnetic field. It's passed the furthest reach of the wave you're making as your boat pushes through the water.
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11th July 2012, 04:42 AM	#4
Multivac Graduate Poster Join Date: Aug 2011 Posts: 1,947	Originally Posted by H3LL Apparently no earlier than 2025 for Voyager 1 and 2. Spacecraft Lifetime . Interesting, thankyou.

11th July 2012, 02:23 PM	#6
MG1962 Guest Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Kansas (Australia) Posts: 14,750	What astounds me is the technology - The craft have been in space 35 years. Think about that......what electronics if anything do we own in our homes that date back that far. The people who designed, built and executed these missions must be extremely proud

11th July 2012, 03:03 PM	#9
rjh01 Gentleman of leisure Tagger Join Date: May 2005 Location: Planet Earth Posts: 17,198	Originally Posted by Beerina Ahhh they've been saying it's almost there, just quite just about, wait for it, any second now...for months. IIRC, this is where the bow shock ends and all particles it passes through have no influence from the sun (light rays aside) just no push from solar wind or magnetic field. It's passed the furthest reach of the wave you're making as your boat pushes through the water. Actually the edge of the solar system is not a certain place. There are two winds, one from the sun and the other from the galaxy. The edge of the solar system is where the wind from the sun is taken over by the wind from the galaxy. Where Voyager 1 is now both winds can be detected.
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13th July 2012, 11:14 AM	#10
tfk Master Poster Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 2,978	The scale of things. It takes 16+ HOURS for the radio signals to get to the earth. Compare that with 8 minutes from the sun, and it is 16 x 60/8 = 120x further than the 93 million miles to the sun. Over 11,000 million miles away..! Yeah, I know there are simpler ways to do that calc, but I've been doing it that way for about 20 years. And, yeah I know that 11,000 million is VERY similar to 11 billion, but billions are tough to grasp. But the point of this post is the bit of trivia that the transmitters on board the Voyagers (& Pioneers) are 8 Watt transmitters. They use about as much energy as a small Christmas tree lightbulb. Those sumbitches were clever boys, 35 years ago.
tfk Master Poster Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 2,978

13th July 2012, 11:20 AM	#11
Almo Masterblazer Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Montreal, Quebec Posts: 6,409	Originally Posted by tfk The scale of things. It takes 16+ HOURS for the radio signals to get to the earth. Compare that with 8 minutes from the sun, and it is 16 x 60/8 = 120x further than the 93 million miles to the sun. Over 11,000 million miles away..! Yeah, I know there are simpler ways to do that calc, but I've been doing it that way for about 20 years. And, yeah I know that 11,000 million is VERY similar to 11 billion, but billions are tough to grasp. But the point of this post is the bit of trivia that the transmitters on board the Voyagers (& Pioneers) are 8 Watt transmitters. They use about as much energy as a small Christmas tree lightbulb. Those sumbitches were clever boys, 35 years ago. Wow. When you put it that way, it's even more amazing than it already is!
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13th July 2012, 11:20 AM	#12
pgwenthold Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Sep 2001 Posts: 12,074	What information is Voyager still sending back? PS Has it turned into V-Ger yet?
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13th July 2012, 11:22 AM	#13
Mark6 Illuminator Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 4,178	Originally Posted by tfk But the point of this post is the bit of trivia that the transmitters on board the Voyagers (& Pioneers) are 8 Watt transmitters. They use about as much energy as a small Christmas tree lightbulb. Those sumbitches were clever boys, 35 years ago. Actually, sumbitches since then have been very clever too, and still are. Deep Space Network as it was 35 years ago could never have picked up these signals from 120 AU. A lot of upgrades went into DSN in the intervening time, both hardware and software.
Mark6 Illuminator Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 4,178	__________________ Gamemaster: "A horde of rotting zombies is shambling toward you. The sign over the door says 'Accounting'"

13th July 2012, 11:28 AM	#14
Almo Masterblazer Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Montreal, Quebec Posts: 6,409	Originally Posted by Mark6 Actually, sumbitches since then have been very clever too, and still are. Deep Space Network as it was 35 years ago could never have picked up these signals from 120 AU. A lot of upgrades went into DSN in the intervening time, both hardware and software. Good point.
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13th July 2012, 12:16 PM	#15
Moon-Spinner Graduate Poster Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Within a star too far to dream of Posts: 1,485	Originally Posted by MG1962 What astounds me is the technology - The craft have been in space 35 years. Think about that......what electronics if anything do we own in our homes that date back that far. The people who designed, built and executed these missions must be extremely proud Most electronics can last that long - As long as my mother isn't there pushing this button and that button trying to figure out how to use the blasted thing, and eventually blowing it all up!!

13th July 2012, 12:21 PM	#16
Macgyver1968 Illuminator Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Dallas, Texas Posts: 3,615	Don't forget to write!
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13th July 2012, 06:46 PM	#17
billw Critical Thinker Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Far North Glendale Posts: 463	Originally Posted by MG1962 The people who designed, built and executed these missions must be extremely proud Yes, we are I started working for the Deep Space Network at JPL in early 1980, an enormously exciting time. Voyager 2 Jupiter encounter had just happened in the summer of 1979, and Voyager 1 Saturn encounter was coming up in the fall of 1980. Carl Sagan had his own named parking space in the little lot just to the west of the Space Flight Operations Facility (SFOF), and I remember checking it in the mornings when I got to work to see if his Cadillac was there that day. Constant upgrading of ground-based communications facilities was the order of the day. DSN 26-meter diameter dish antennas were expanded to 34-meters in the early '80's, and the 64-meter antennas were expanded to 70-meters in the mid '80's at the Goldstone, Madrid and Canberra DSN tracking stations. The link below is to a picture of the SFOF Control Center AKA the Darkroom. The picture is 1980's vintage; I know this because I actually participated in assembling and racking gear in those ugly mustard-yellow with dark-brown trim consoles. The controllers who staffed those consoles were contractors from BFEC - Bendix Field Engineering Corporation. http://deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/dsn/im...lbum/dsn43.jpg I still have a lot of memorabilia from that era at JPL, out in boxes in the garage - I wonder if it's time yet to start selling it on EBay... BTW, Pioneer 10 is pretty far out there, too.
	__________________ I may be going to hell in a bucket But at least I'm enjoying the ride. -- John Perry Barlow

13th July 2012, 10:35 PM	#18
sts60 Graduate Poster Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 1,518	Originally Posted by MG1962 What astounds me is the technology - The craft have been in space 35 years. Think about that......what electronics if anything do we own in our homes that date back that far. The people who designed, built and executed these missions must be extremely proud I'm not one of them, but I work for some of the guys who were part of the RTG program that made it all possible. I'm sort of proud by reflection; it's a privilege to work with them. Some of them have been at it longer than I've been alive, and I am no spring chicken. Not many people are passionate about their work for that long.
sts60 Graduate Poster Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 1,518

13th July 2012, 10:45 PM	#19
Mr. Scott Under the Amazing One's Wing Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: USA Posts: 2,284	Originally Posted by MG1962 What astounds me is the technology - The craft have been in space 35 years. Think about that......what electronics if anything do we own in our homes that date back that far. The people who designed, built and executed these missions must be extremely proud There's a great difference between consumer and industrial electronics. Consumer electronics only has to last a few years -- long enough for the consumer to be sufficiently satisfied to buy the same brand when the old unit breaks. Cost is the most important factor. Consumers won't buy a product that's more expensive because it will last longer, but NASA will.
	__________________ "thhere's waaaay too much colonialism and white supremacy in our culture to even THINK about addressing the religion of brown people, the end." A+ Global Moderator ceepolk, Dec. 9, 2012

13th July 2012, 11:36 PM	#20
Drs_Res NWO Acorn Hoarder Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: N 34 3 8 / W 118 14 33 Posts: 1,831	Originally Posted by pgwenthold What information is Voyager still sending back? PS Has it turned into V-Ger yet? No. Vger was/is Voyager 6. /nerd
	__________________ Vote Bunk and vote often. If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning. "Yes, well, I'm polymerized tree sap and you're an inorganic adhesive, so whatever verbal projectile you launch in my direction is reflected off of me, returns on its original trajectory and adheres to you." - Sheldon - TBBT

14th July 2012, 04:53 AM	#21
Squeegee Beckenheim Illuminator Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 4,260	Originally Posted by Drs_Res No. Vger ~~was/is~~ [will be] Voyager 6. /nerd /even more pedantic nerd
	__________________ I don't trust atoms. They make up everything.

14th July 2012, 08:10 AM	#22
not_so_new Graduate Poster Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 1,544	Originally Posted by billw Yes, we are I started working for the Deep Space Network at JPL in early 1980, an enormously exciting time. Voyager 2 Jupiter encounter had just happened in the summer of 1979, and Voyager 1 Saturn encounter was coming up in the fall of 1980. Carl Sagan had his own named parking space in the little lot just to the west of the Space Flight Operations Facility (SFOF), and I remember checking it in the mornings when I got to work to see if his Cadillac was there that day. Constant upgrading of ground-based communications facilities was the order of the day. DSN 26-meter diameter dish antennas were expanded to 34-meters in the early '80's, and the 64-meter antennas were expanded to 70-meters in the mid '80's at the Goldstone, Madrid and Canberra DSN tracking stations. The link below is to a picture of the SFOF Control Center AKA the Darkroom. The picture is 1980's vintage; I know this because I actually participated in assembling and racking gear in those ugly mustard-yellow with dark-brown trim consoles. The controllers who staffed those consoles were contractors from BFEC - Bendix Field Engineering Corporation. http://deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/dsn/im...lbum/dsn43.jpg I still have a lot of memorabilia from that era at JPL, out in boxes in the garage - I wonder if it's time yet to start selling it on EBay... BTW, Pioneer 10 is pretty far out there, too. VERY COOL!!! That's some really great stuff there.

14th July 2012, 09:42 AM	#23
Belz... Fiend God Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: In the details... Posts: 28,532	Originally Posted by MG1962 What astounds me is the technology - The craft have been in space 35 years. Think about that......what electronics if anything do we own in our homes that date back that far. The people who designed, built and executed these missions must be extremely proud It shows how well humans can build things when we have the proper budget and ambition.
	__________________ The Onmyouza Theatre, An unofficial international fanclub forum dedicated to the Japanese heavy metal band Onmyo-Za: "In the interests of time and space, it is not unreasonable to cite one point at a time. Citing 30 is the equivalent of citing none. Obviously." - Robert Prey "Physical evidence must be observed and interpreted by witnesses which makes it subjective and subject to mistakes and to fraud." - Robert Prey

14th July 2012, 09:45 AM	#24
Belz... Fiend God Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: In the details... Posts: 28,532	Originally Posted by tfk The scale of things. It takes 16+ HOURS for the radio signals to get to the earth. Compare that with 8 minutes from the sun, and it is 16 x 60/8 = 120x further than the 93 million miles to the sun. Over 11,000 million miles away..! Yeah, I know there are simpler ways to do that calc, but I've been doing it that way for about 20 years. And, yeah I know that 11,000 million is VERY similar to 11 billion, but billions are tough to grasp. But the point of this post is the bit of trivia that the transmitters on board the Voyagers (& Pioneers) are 8 Watt transmitters. They use about as much energy as a small Christmas tree lightbulb. Those sumbitches were clever boys, 35 years ago. Pfft. Miles. You Americans and your silly measurements.
	__________________ The Onmyouza Theatre, An unofficial international fanclub forum dedicated to the Japanese heavy metal band Onmyo-Za: "In the interests of time and space, it is not unreasonable to cite one point at a time. Citing 30 is the equivalent of citing none. Obviously." - Robert Prey "Physical evidence must be observed and interpreted by witnesses which makes it subjective and subject to mistakes and to fraud." - Robert Prey

16th July 2012, 05:46 AM	#25
h.g.Whiz Illuminator Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Egoville Posts: 3,086	Originally Posted by Belz... Pfft. Miles. You Americans and your silly measurements.
	__________________ Reading this sentence is ineluctable.

16th July 2012, 06:10 AM	#26
Charlie in Dayton Rabid radioactive stargazer and JREF kid Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 1,087	Last week was the 50th anniversary of commercial satellite communications. Remember both the satellite and the song 'Telstar'? The BBC did a big retrospective of that first week or so of comms...I actually teared up a bit remembering watching some of it as a tad...there was a baseball game out of Chicago that was beamed to Europe. When the announcement was made at the park of the feat, the crowd at the game gave their European viewers a standing O...now, as they said on the NBC news, they don't even bother telling you that the correspondent from Outer Farblungistan is reporting and being interviewed by satellite. Even us ham radio operators have our own satellites out there beeping away. Sir Arthur C. Clarke would have been so proud...
	__________________ "If a tree is cut down in the rainforest, and is used to make paper to print a book, and the book is really bad, and there's nobody that will read it, do you still hear a sucking sound?" Charlie in Dayton

16th July 2012, 09:19 AM	#27
tfk Master Poster Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 2,978	Gotta correct a number... (HATE IT when this happens.) Doing a little research (jpl website), I now find that the transmitters were (depending on source) around 20 - 23 watts. Gee, those guys back then were only 1/3rd as clever as I thought. ANYONE could do it with 20 watts. Right? Sorry for the misinfo. Tom
tfk Master Poster Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 2,978

16th July 2012, 09:45 AM	#28
KingMerv00 Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Philadelphia, PA...USA Posts: 14,482	Originally Posted by pgwenthold what information is voyager still sending back? 01010100 01101000 01100001 01101110 01101011 01110011 00100000 01100110 01101111 01110010 00100000 01100001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01100110 01101001 01110011 01101000 00101110
	__________________ If man came from dust, why is there still dust?

16th July 2012, 09:46 AM	#29
tfk Master Poster Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 2,978	Originally Posted by Belz... Originally Posted by tfk ... Over 11,000 million miles away..! Pfft. Miles. You Americans and your silly measurements. Sorry, my bad. I forgot that we are an international community, here. Let me fix that. "… over 88 x10⁹ furlongs" 9.68 x10¹² fathoms 3.2 x10⁹ leagues 1.9 x10¹³ yards Or, my personal favorite, 1.04 x10¹³ smoots (look it up, good story. It should be in "newSmoots", of course.) If you prefer metric units, here ya go... "… over 1.77 x10²³ angstroms" Or, we can even invent our own units... "… over 0.39 Mole of angstroms)" Happy to help. Tom
tfk Master Poster Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 2,978

16th July 2012, 09:50 AM	#30
KingMerv00 Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Philadelphia, PA...USA Posts: 14,482	Originally Posted by Belz... Pfft. Miles. You Americans and your silly measurements. You're not British are you? He who lives in glass houses should not weigh in stone.
	__________________ If man came from dust, why is there still dust?

16th July 2012, 10:02 AM	#31
Psi Baba Homo Skepticalis Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Occupying my barstool Posts: 3,183	Originally Posted by tfk The scale of things. It takes 16+ HOURS for the radio signals to get to the earth. Compare that with 8 minutes from the sun, and it is 16 x 60/8 = 120x further than the 93 million miles to the sun. Over 11,000 million miles away..! Yeah, I know there are simpler ways to do that calc, but I've been doing it that way for about 20 years. And, yeah I know that 11,000 million is VERY similar to 11 billion, but billions are tough to grasp. But the point of this post is the bit of trivia that the transmitters on board the Voyagers (& Pioneers) are 8 Watt transmitters. They use about as much energy as a small Christmas tree lightbulb. Those sumbitches were clever boys, 35 years ago. Damn, and I can't even take a 3-hour drive and be able to listen to an entire hockey game.
	__________________ Save Caribbean Rum! (seriously)

16th July 2012, 11:03 AM	#32
pgwenthold Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Sep 2001 Posts: 12,074	Originally Posted by Charlie in Dayton Last week was the 50th anniversary of commercial satellite communications. Remember both the satellite and the song 'Telstar'? Odd, I always associated the song with the early 70s. We had the 45 when I was little.
	__________________ "Baseball is a philosophy. The primordial ooze that once ruled our world has been captured in perpetual motion. Baseball is the moment. Its ever changing patterns are hypnotizing yet invigorating. Baseball is an art form. Classic and at the same time...progressive. Baseball is pre-historic and post-modern. Baseball is here to stay." (Stolen from the side of a lava lamp box, and modified slightly)

16th July 2012, 11:04 AM	#33
pgwenthold Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Sep 2001 Posts: 12,074	Originally Posted by KingMerv00 01010100 01101000 01100001 01101110 01101011 01110011 00100000 01100110 01101111 01110010 00100000 01100001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01100110 01101001 01110011 01101000 00101110 Oooo, that's hot!
	__________________ "Baseball is a philosophy. The primordial ooze that once ruled our world has been captured in perpetual motion. Baseball is the moment. Its ever changing patterns are hypnotizing yet invigorating. Baseball is an art form. Classic and at the same time...progressive. Baseball is pre-historic and post-modern. Baseball is here to stay." (Stolen from the side of a lava lamp box, and modified slightly)

16th July 2012, 11:22 AM	#34
MG1962 Guest Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Kansas (Australia) Posts: 14,750	Originally Posted by KingMerv00 01010100 01101000 01100001 01101110 01101011 01110011 00100000 01100110 01101111 01110010 00100000 01100001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01100110 01101001 01110011 01101000 00101110 Reported

16th July 2012, 12:00 PM	#35
Moon-Spinner Graduate Poster Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Within a star too far to dream of Posts: 1,485	Originally Posted by pgwenthold Odd, I always associated the song with the early 70s. We had the 45 when I was little. You were only ten years off, the song was originally released in 1962

7th October 2012, 12:44 PM	#36
Cylinder Illuminator Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Arkansas Posts: 3,874	The distinct drop in solar particles is holding: Image courtesy NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
	__________________ If you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed ; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than live as slaves. - Winston Churchill, The Gathering Storm