Voyager 1 is likely dead
- Thread starter UnCytely
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KidSilverhair
Well-Known Member
Naw, that can’t be right, I was a kid in the 1960s, 50 years before that they weren’t flying biplanes … oh. Wait a minute.
One of you nerds has to be able to explain to me how this can start working again. Was it passing through some kind of radiation field? Did it get closer to some kind of light source? Did Voyager run into a female Voyager and decide it wanted some privacy?
Basically, a memory chip failed, and they had to tell Voyager to painstakingly move the code on that chip to a different memory location.
After months of silence, Voyager 1 has returned NASA's calls
The spacecraft launched in 1977 and is now 15 billion miles from Earth. It went silent in November. Scientists at JPL figured out how to get it talking again.
Thank youBasically, a memory chip failed, and they had to tell Voyager to painstakingly move the code on that chip to a different memory location.
After months of silence, Voyager 1 has returned NASA's calls
The spacecraft launched in 1977 and is now 15 billion miles from Earth. It went silent in November. Scientists at JPL figured out how to get it talking again.www.latimes.com
“There's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive." - Miracle Max
KidSilverhair
Well-Known Member
KidSilverhair
Well-Known Member
Basically, a memory chip failed, and they had to tell Voyager to painstakingly move the code on that chip to a different memory location.
After months of silence, Voyager 1 has returned NASA's calls
The spacecraft launched in 1977 and is now 15 billion miles from Earth. It went silent in November. Scientists at JPL figured out how to get it talking again.
So these guys can remotely fix a computer issue 15 billion miles away but if I have an issue with my internet it’s either “too bad, live with it” or “we’ll send a guy out in three weeks”? Yeah, right … it was space wizards who did it.
Clearly you need to call NASA to fix your internet.
If there's one thing I learned from Independence Day it's that you call the Cable Guy to fix your space problems.
Have you tried restarting your 1977 space craft?
"All dead - Well with all dead there is usually only one thing you can do. Go through his clothes and look for loose change."
Cool interview with the Voyager director.
Takeaways:
The space ship was built in 1972 and launched in 1977, but the faulty chip was a 1964 model (made by Texas Instruments).
The test bed that the Voyager had used for previous troubleshoots broke years ago. The Voyager computer system outlived the test one built.
Voyager's gas propellents to change its attitude to point the craft towards earth, has enough propellent for years and will probably the last thing working once the space ship power shuts down.
The faulty chip allows less than 300 words of code.
www.space.com
Takeaways:
The space ship was built in 1972 and launched in 1977, but the faulty chip was a 1964 model (made by Texas Instruments).
The test bed that the Voyager had used for previous troubleshoots broke years ago. The Voyager computer system outlived the test one built.
Voyager's gas propellents to change its attitude to point the craft towards earth, has enough propellent for years and will probably the last thing working once the space ship power shuts down.
The faulty chip allows less than 300 words of code.
This Week In Space podcast: Episode 110 — Voyager 1's Brush with Silence
Saving an Icon With Project Scientist Dr. Linda Spilker
More sophisticated than we thoughtCool interview with the Voyager director.
Takeaways:
The space ship was built in 1972 and launched in 1977, but the faulty chip was a 1964 model (made by Texas Instruments).
The test bed that the Voyager had used for previous troubleshoots broke years ago. The Voyager computer system outlived the test one built.
Voyager's gas propellents to change its attitude to point the craft towards earth, has enough propellent for years and will probably the last thing working once the space ship power shuts down.
The faulty chip allows less than 300 words of code.
This Week In Space podcast: Episode 110 — Voyager 1's Brush with Silence
Saving an Icon With Project Scientist Dr. Linda Spilker
Other things I have learned. Engineers used Saran wrap in wrapping some of the components when it was built. The chips are bigger on Voyager than what they use now and that probably has led to its longevity. Also, while there were a couple of engineers who worked with Voyager for years it was a young man just out of colllege who figured out much of the solution. He learned the same coding in college that was used by NASA 50 years ago and had it fresher in his mind. The engineers taped up and drew flow charts, sticky notes and code on a wall, very similar to how engineers had to solve Apollo 13’s problems. The engineers said that’s what they liked the most.
