Voyager

[bitchstewie]

Good read

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/08/03/magazine/the...

[Dog Star]

It was - thanks for the link

[tvrforever]

wonderful article - thanks!

Reminder of the amazing science being done by humble superstars on a daily basis - and of just how little we know about things...

[Eric Mc]

Just because you might not know about something doesn't mean that we are all unaware of what is going on.

I've been following the Voyage missions since before they were even called "Voyager" (the original name was "Mariner-Jupiter/Saturn". In fact, before that, the mission was referred to as "The Grand Tour".

It has been a remarkable mission spanning 40 years - and is still sending back useful data even now.

[Toaster]

tvrforever said:

wonderful article - thanks!

Reminder of the amazing science being done by humble superstars on a daily basis - and of just how little we know about things...

indeed it is and your post is spot on

[andy_s]

Great read - cheers.

[Sylvaforever]

What an excellent article.

Like the part ....'Think of the heliosphere as the walls of your house and then suddenly finding they aren't solid after all"...

..... a LOT.

[PotatoSalad]

Excellent read, thanks for sharing. It is incredible what can be achieved when we take a piece of a mineral, melt it and teach it to do maths.

I've recently seen The Farthest in the cinema, worth watching.

[drdino]

PotatoSalad said:

I've recently seen The Farthest in the cinema, worth watching.

Hmm, I missed that. Seen it in the UK?

[Toaster]

drdino said:

PotatoSalad said:

I've recently seen The Farthest in the cinema, worth watching.

Hmm, I missed that. Seen it in the UK?

Had a check here http://www.londonnet.co.uk/films/thefarthest.html it seems to being shown in ireland

The trailer is here http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6223974/videoplayer/vi...

[PotatoSalad]

drdino said:

PotatoSalad said:

I've recently seen The Farthest in the cinema, worth watching.

Hmm, I missed that. Seen it in the UK?

I think it was a part of the Edinburgh film festival. I've seen it on IMAX screen, fantastic experience and bonus points for not wasting too much time on "if the Earth was a grain of sand..." cliches. Even our 10yr old daughter liked it and sat there with her jaw open.

[RobM77]

I've spoken to the director of The Farthest and she promised to let us know when it's coming to the UK. When I hear anything I'll post on the thread I started for the movie: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[Eric Mc]

Good man. One I definitely would like to see.

[HairyPoppins]

bhstewie said:

Good read

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/08/03/magazine/the...

This bit alarmed me:

The mission quite possibly represents the end of an era of space exploration in which the main goal is observation rather than commercialization. In internal memos, Trump-administration advisers have referred to NASA’s traditional contractors as ‘‘Old Space’’ and proposed refocusing its budget on supporting the growth of the private ‘‘New Space’’ industry, Politico reported in February. ‘‘Economic development of space’’ will begin in near-Earth orbit and on the moon, according to the president’s transition team, with ‘‘private lunar landers staking out de facto ‘property rights’ for Americans on the moon, by 2020.’’

I didn't think any country was allowed to do that - isn't there some kind of International treaty about that?

[Eric Mc]

HairyPoppins said:

bhstewie said:

Good read

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/08/03/magazine/the...

This bit alarmed me:

The mission quite possibly represents the end of an era of space exploration in which the main goal is observation rather than commercialization. In internal memos, Trump-administration advisers have referred to NASA’s traditional contractors as ‘‘Old Space’’ and proposed refocusing its budget on supporting the growth of the private ‘‘New Space’’ industry, Politico reported in February. ‘‘Economic development of space’’ will begin in near-Earth orbit and on the moon, according to the president’s transition team, with ‘‘private lunar landers staking out de facto ‘property rights’ for Americans on the moon, by 2020.’’

I didn't think any country was allowed to do that - isn't there some kind of International treaty about that?

There is a treaty and it's never been tested legally - so no one is completely sure of how it would stand up.

I'm sure there will be quite a few more pure space exploration type probes coming along. I know of a few already in the pipeline. And don't forget that other space agencies beyond NASA do this kind of stuff. I agree that we might see less from NASA, but ESA, India and China want the kudos too of exploring.

[meehaja]

I always assumed the moon treaty business would work along the lines of "we don't own it, we just own all the oxygen/life support mechanisms, which you can use for a cost and if we agree to let you". So as good as owned.

[MartG]

Voyager 1's primary attitude control thrusters have been steadily degrading, so they've just tried out a backup system which hasn't been used for 37 years - and it worked fine

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=701...

[Derek Smith]

A nice little programme on BBC iPlayer on Voyager:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b09gvnty/sto...

[RobM77]

Derek Smith said:

A nice little programme on BBC iPlayer on Voyager:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b09gvnty/sto...

Oops.. I forgot to update the thread, but I went to the UK Premiere of the full version of that film. Highly recommended

[jmorgan]

Just happened to look at DSN
https://eyes.nasa.gov/dsn/dsn.html

Info from Voyager 2 coming in.

And Voyager 1.

150 bits per second.....