Voyager 1 still transmits data... what is that like at NASA?

[Skammer]

@eltro102

It managed this because it has solar panels, periodically cleaned by the wind

Think how long it would have lasted if they’d thought to put windshield wipers on the solar panels.

[hajario]

@eltro102

a bit unrelated but the mars rover opportunity is still roving around on Mars, 9 years after it landed (even though its original mission was only 92 days!). It managed this because it has solar panels, periodically cleaned by the wind (unlike curiosity, which will only last 4-5 years because of its nuclear source)

A former colleague of mine did some of the analysis on that. They weren’t sure how sticky the soil would be and the most conservative estimates had dust continuing to pile up on the panels until they couldn’t gather anymore light. As it happened, fortunately, there is just a thin layer of dust and the rest blows/shakes off.

[gnoitall]

@control-z

I say after it passed Pluto it was out of the solar system.

Why Pluto? It’s not as if it were one of the planets.

Besides, for about 1/12 of its year, Pluto is closer to the Sun than Neptune.

And the Oort Cloud (source of many comets) is part of the Solar System, and that’s well beyond the planets OR the heliosphere. The Oort cloud may exend almost an entire light-year around the Sun. From a gravitational perspective (rather than an electromagnetic and particle perspective), the Oort cloud can be considered the edge of the Solar System, but Voyager is still a hell of a long ways from that edge.

[Senegoid]

@Learjeff

Sorry, I was just joking.

So was I.

@anson2995

The answers to many of these questions can be found at the Voyager team’s NASA website. And if you still have questions, you can email the team directly.

Yes, the FAQ there does talk about sending commands from Earth to the Voyagers. That’s impressive that this works.

[Frumpy_Jones]

@gnoitall

Why Pluto? It’s not as if it were one of the planets.

insert obligatory Jonathan Coulton song about Pluto here (it’s a free download.. That’s how cool JoCo is)…

[Frumpy_Jones]

@Kevbo (I bolded the point of my reply)

Note that this does not mean it takes 16 hours to transmit a picture. (I’m pretty sure it takes far longer at this point, actually). It means that it takes 16 hours for the radio signal, which is traveling at the speed of light, to get from the spacecraft to the earth. Back in 1990 when the last pale blue dot photos were taken, the spacecraft was “only” about 5 light hours from earth.

Ummmmm, unless there’s something I’m missing, and it’s quite possible I am, how does a radio wave, which is sound if I remember correctly, travel at the speed of light?

[Northern_Piper]

a radio-wave is part of the electromagnetic spectrum and travels at the same rate as light, which is also part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Here on Earth, we use it to transmit sound, but the sound at the transmitter is converted to radio waves, and then the receiver re-converts the radio-waves back to sound. The original sound does not travel over the radio waves.

[Tangent]

Radio waves are not sound waves. They are electromagnetic waves (“light waves”) with relatively long wavelengths.

Wikipedia article on radio waves

[Frumpy_Jones]

See how I covered my ass before sounding like an uninformed dolt?

Thanks for the info

[control-z]

I think alien teenagers have captured Voyager 1 and are sending back fake transmissions. They sit around all day listening to the Voyager gold record and smoking space weed.

[rogerbox]

@control-z

I think alien teenagers have captured Voyager 1 and are sending back fake transmissions. They sit around all day listening to the Voyager gold record and smoking space weed.

I wrote a short story for a contest which is almost exactly that.

[Northern_Piper]

but are they playing it backwards?

“Hey man, Paul’s dead!”

“Who’s Paul?”

“Dunno, but don’t bogart the space joint, man.”

[Elendil_s_Heir]

Send more Chuck Berry!

[Pasta]

@Senegoid

Does NASA have two-way communication with Voyager I? Can they send out commands to it, like they send commands to the not-so-distant Mars scouts?

The current communication rate is around 100 bits per second. The Voyager missions have a few tens of hours per week allocated on the Deep Space Network for communication with Voyager 1. NASA does send commands, e.g. for systems tests or instrument settings. Voyager sends blocks of data a couple of times a day.

I can only WAG about the specifics of how incoming data is handled, but I expect it is roughly as follows: automated scripts spool over status info and alert a handful of individuals if any problems are noted. Someone is likely assigned the task of looking at a batch of status reports and summary data from Voyager on a weekly-ish basis (maybe more frequently, but not more often than daily). The scientific data is collected through DSN and processed at a basic level to verify its soundness but is otherwise not examined on a day to day basis. When enough data is collected for a particular scientific question (year-ish scale), one or two people run their dusty ten-year-old code to chew on the data. A paper is produced.</wag>

[Svejk_1]

So what are the data that they’re getting back? What variables are being recorded, I mean? Temperature? Relative prominence of space creatures?

[Chronos]

I think the most valuable data nowadays is strength and direction of magnetic fields.

And to what Pasta said, I’ll add that the “dusty ten-year-old codes” are probably more like 30 years old, and the institution may even keep one obsolete rustbucket of a computer around because it’s the only thing that can still run that code.

[Pasta]

@Chronos

I’ll add that the “dusty ten-year-old codes” are probably more like 30 years old, and the institution may even keep one obsolete rustbucket of a computer around because it’s the only thing that can still run that code.

I was writing with optimism that some eager grad student ported everything over at some point in the last ten or fifteen years, but on second thought, I think you’re right. I’d probably only take 5-to-1 odds on such porting having happened.

[squeegee]

@ftg

For a while there an anomaly was detected with Pioneer spacecraft that was thought to indicate our understanding of gravity was off a bit, but that’s been resolved by normal means.

Wait, what? Since when?

[ZenBeam]

@squeegee

Wait, what? Since when?

Well, from that link:

The two spacecraft were launched in 1972 and 1973 and the anomalous acceleration was first noticed as early as 1980, but not seriously investigated until 1994.[1] The last communication with either spacecraft was in 2003, but analysis of recorded data continues.
Various theories, both of spacecraft behavior and of gravitation itself, were proposed to explain the anomaly. Over the period 1998-2012, one particular explanation became accepted.

Also, there have been several threads here discussing this, for example
Could the Pioneer Anomaly be caused by the relativistic mass of the sun?
What’s the deal with Pioneer 9/10 ?
Antigravity and space probes

[XanderCrews]

Just want to add that I live next to the Goldstone satelites that talk to Voyager. They have a few old abandoned ones that you can climb in, but the ones that are still working are off limits. Black SUV off limits.

Editing to add that they are off limits to climbing and trespass, but you can still take a tour if you’d like.