Voyager 1 and 2 still alive!!!! 38,000 mph!

[amazinblue82]

FAA is now involved. ‘Free’ help is coming. They best figure this out or they’ll quickly become like Boeing.

I don’t believe that, but it’s up to them.

Ona good note, if they keep this up, my nephew will have work for life!

They are the only game in town, Chief, AND they really are a good company (harmonic problems, however, are difficult to isolate in a machanical doohickey THAT big, and powerful), AND we still gotta get to Mars.

I predict, your Neph can likely be there as long as he wants to be.

If I (not me, but he's wearing my lid) wasn't so friggin' old, hell I would wanna work there.

 

[3175375]

They are the only game in town, Chief, AND they really are a good company (harmonic problems, however, are difficult to isolate in a machanical doohickey THAT big, and powerful), AND we still gotta get to Mars.

I predict, your Neph can likely be there as long as he wants to be.

If I (not me, but he's wearing my lid) wasn't so friggin' old, hell I would wanna work there.

View attachment 709560

Oh but you are missing my point. They best fix this FAST because the government WILL get involved and it won’t be helpful on many levels.

 

[amazinblue82]

Oh but you are missing my point. They best fix this FAST because the government WILL get involved and it won’t be helpful on many levels.

I stand by my point, sorta.

The boss cat over at Space X is breathin' the thin air these days. I suspect IF the FAA proved to be a bother, they might get swatted. That intrigue aside, they willl be in the rocket business a long time I think.

Then again? You may be exacty right

 

[3175375]

I stand by my point, sorta.

The boss cat over at Space X is breathin' the thin air these days. I suspect IF the FAA proved to be a bother, they might get swatted. That intrigue aside, they willl be in the rocket business a long time I think.

Then again? You may be exacty right

They will be in the business for a long time. If they don’t fix this quickly then it’s going to be a LOT harder.

 

[amazinblue82]

Couple of different images of the same cosmic activity: star-making.

Star forming regions are where interstellar dust clouds collapse under gravity, heat up, fusion starts, and depending on the size of the new star(s), it "burns" for a few million to several billion years.

The gas cloud can for 2-3 stats, or several hundred stars.

source: James Webb Space Telescope - NASA Science

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First pic below. Lynd justs 483

650 LY away, so we see it as it was 650 years ago. in infrared, since its from Jimbo Webb

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Immediately below: NCG 2283

barred spiral galaxy, relatively closeby at 45 LY away. We've know abouat this one for over 400 years. A Local_Group (e.g., Milky Way, Andromeda, Magellenic Cloud, etc) galaxy, btw.

 

[amazinblue82]

It's gonna happen. Getting closer.

Webb will find "life", with same/similar chemical properties as life on THIS rock.

Very likely will be someplace we can never get to, probably won't be "human" life, but it'll be out there.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2025/04/16/nx-s1-5364805/signs-life-alien-planet-biosignatures-exoplan

124 LY away, a water-covered planet orbiting a red dwarf in that star's "habitable" (Goldilocks) zone, with sulfides in it's hydrogen atmosphere.

you can veg out at the link. not time to pop the champagne yet, but pretty exciting.

Artist's conception

 

[3175375]

Back on topic. I remember at the Eagle Scout Dinner in 1980 (yes, I am an Eagle Scout), an engineer from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, CA presented images from Voyager I.

Voyager 1: A 1977 Time Capsule Still Exploring the Cosmos
Over 15 billion miles from Earth, Voyager 1 runs on 69 KB of memory, an 8-track tape recorder, and code written in FORTRAN. It's controlled using 50-year-old blueprints and takes 22 hours to receive a single command.

Why it still works?
Rugged, radiation-hardened parts
Simple, reliable design
Backup systems
Engineers who think like it’s 1977

A true marvel of human ingenuity.

 

[3175375]

Skylab B was a proposed second US space station similar to Skylab but intended for different purposes, mostly involving the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project. However, it was canceled due to lack of funding. Two Skylab modules were built in 1970 by McDonnell Douglas for the Skylab program, originally the Apollo Applications Program. The first was launched in 1973 and the other put in storage, while NASA considered how to use the remaining assets from Apollo.

One considered option was to use Saturn V SA-515 (originally to be used for Apollo 20) to launch the backup Skylab station into orbit sometime between Jan. 1975 and Apr. 1976. That way, it could expand the Apollo–Soyuz mission by 56–90 days. Further proposals were made for an International Skylab, launched using Saturn V SA-514 (originally intended for Apollo 18 or 19). This station would have been serviced by Apollo, Soyuz and, later, by the Space Shuttle. As it turned out, the vision of an international space station would not be realized until two decades later.

Shown here is the Skylab B Orbital Workshop on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C.

 

[amazinblue82]

Source: Soviet spacecraft Cosmos 482 expected to crash back to Earth after 'final death plunge'

So what is this Russian thing about to crash land on Earth, after 50 years since it was launched, and we don't know "where" its gonna crash?

Since 70% of earth is covered with water (oceans), its likely to hit that. It therefore follows, however, that there is a NON-zero probablility it'll land in my front yard.

Long story short (check out the article or the 8 min video if you wanna go deeper)), Russia lauched a Venus probe in 1972. As it was trying to leave the earth, it malfunctioned and wound up:

(1) in pieces (i.e., its various "stages", parts of which COULD survive a plunge into the hostile Venusian atmosphere), and
(2) still in earth orbit -- a very "eccentric" orbit (i.e, more of an "oval" shape vs. a "circle" shape.).

source: Supermoons - NASA Science

Our own Moon's orbit (diagrams above) is slightly eccentric (giving us "supermoons" that look bigger in the sky .. they are because they are a little closer to earth at at those times).

So, the eccentriciy of this probe was something like a few HUNDRED miles at its closest ("perigee") to earth, and like TEN THOUSAND miles at its furthest ("apogee") away.

Anyway, its taken 50 years for gravity to drag this failed launch back to where the earth's atmosphere can really slow it down and basically drag it to the ground.

We've known about and tracked this thing (and other space "junk") for a long time.

But because we don't yet know exactly "WHERE" this Russian doohickey will enter the atmosphere, we don't yet know "WHERE" it will come down ON the earth. Again, likely in the ocean, but not necessarily.

The "WHEN" it will re-enter is estimated to be between May 7 and May 13.

I am not gonna waste any brain cells worrying about it, but it will likely be in the news over the next few days until the space kids can be more definitive about what/where things will happen.

 

[cuda hunter]

Thanks for posting! That is very interesting.

 

[Fratzog]

I wonder if that thing has a nuclear reactor aboard?

 

[cuda hunter]

A nuclear reactor wouldn't blow up when it hits or re-enters would it?
That takes a reaction to create the explosion, right?

 

[amazinblue82]

I wonder if that thing has a nuclear reactor aboard?

A nuclear reactor wouldn't blow up when it hits or re-enters would it?
That takes a reaction to create the explosion, right?

i do not think its nuclear-powered.

more likely batteries/solar panels since it could only last a few hours after it landed on Venus (Venera 7, in 1970 was first to take pics from Venus, lasted less than half hour on the the surface), plus the round trip of six months maybe.i

like @cuda hunter said, i doubt, however, even if it was nuclear powered, atmospheric conditions of re-entering earth atmosphere are of sufficient temps/pressures (ignoring it would be in a case designed to resist the effects of re-entry) to start a fission chain reaction (i.e., though conditions are hostile, they are just not powerful enough to split an atom).

plus, likely there would not be weapons grade, nor nearly enough, enriched fissile material on board to make a bomb anyway.

thats my $0.02.

 

[3175375]

On February 21, 1969, the Soviet Union made its first attempt to launch the massive N1 Moon rocket from Site 110/38 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. This powerful launch vehicle featured 30 NK-15 engines in its first stage, with additional stages designed to carry a Zond L1S-1 spacecraft and a mockup of an LK lunar lander.
Unfortunately, the mission ended in failure just one minute after liftoff due to multiple technical issues, including an engine failure, ruptured fuel and oxidizer lines, and a resulting crash at T+183 seconds. However, the launch escape system successfully carried the spacecraft away from the failing rocket.
After three more unsuccessful launches, the N1 program was ultimately canceled, and two flight-ready rockets with upgraded NK-33 engines were scrapped.

 

[cuda hunter]

That was quite the explosion!

 

[3175375]

For those interested, there’s a series on Apple TV titled ‘For All Mankind’ that in my opinion is very good.

I have provided the Wikipedia link, but if you’re interested in the show, don’t read too deep into the link as you might find more than you wish. (Spoiler alert)

For All Mankind (TV series) - Wikipedia

 

[amazinblue82]

For those interested, there’s a series on Apple TV titled ‘For All Mankind’ that in my opinion is very good.

I have provided the Wikipedia link, but if you’re interested in the show, don’t read too deep into the link as you might find more than you wish. (Spoiler alert)

For All Mankind (TV series) - Wikipedia

i don't receive Apple TV, but i have heard only good things about this series.

An imaginative, thought- provoking, historical "what-if" thats well-written/acted. I gotta find some way to watch it without committing to Apple TV.

 

[amazinblue82]

On February 21, 1969, the Soviet Union made its first attempt to launch the massive N1 Moon rocket from Site 110/38 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. This powerful launch vehicle featured 30 NK-15 engines in its first stage, with additional stages designed to carry a Zond L1S-1 spacecraft and a mockup of an LK lunar lander.
Unfortunately, the mission ended in failure just one minute after liftoff due to multiple technical issues, including an engine failure, ruptured fuel and oxidizer lines, and a resulting crash at T+183 seconds. However, the launch escape system successfully carried the spacecraft away from the failing rocket.
After three more unsuccessful launches, the N1 program was ultimately canceled, and two flight-ready rockets with upgraded NK-33 engines were scrapped.

View attachment 719076

It was apparent TO the Russians, well before this N1_(rocket) debacle (nevertheless a fascinating story for any space nerds like me), that they were NOT going to beat US to the moon. We were technically TOO strong, and fiscally TOO rich.

So yeah, the US blew up things up along the way, lost some astronauts, etc., -- so it wasnt always smooth sailing for us to get to the moon -- but we had the horses and money to figure it out/get 'er done.

As far as the N1 was concerned, it was NEVER gonna work -- and they (the scientists/engineers) knew it but kept going with it.

Saturn V vs. N1 size

 

[amazinblue82]

source: https://www.space.com-kosmos-482-crashes-to-earth

Indian ocean somewhere, yesterday, May 10, 2a.m. EDT

"The Kosmos 482 probe crashed to Earth today (May 10) after circling our planet for more than five decades. Reentry occurred at 2:24 a.m. ET (0624 GMT or 9:24 a.m. Moscow time) over the Indian Ocean west of Jakarta, Indonesia, according to Russia's space agency Roscosmos. Kosmos 482 appears to have fallen harmlessly into the sea."

 

[amazinblue82]

sources: NASA’s Voyager 1 Revives Backup Thrusters Before Command Pause - NASA Science, https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/voyager-1-fires-dormant-thrusters-in-deep-space/

The space kids and our remarkable "V'Gers".

This time Voyager 1 (and by association its twin "brother" Voyager 2). The NASA article at the link explains it. A lot going on, so you might need to read a couple sections more than once.

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Voyagers have always needed to point their high-gain antennas (that's the big parabolic one) AT the earth. Ground based antennas are used to get signals/data FROM, and send signals/data TO, each spacecraft.

As the V'Gers did their thing flying around the solar system, the orientation of their antennas relative to the earth would obviously change. The spacecraft uses "thrusters" to reorient them (pitch and roll - so left, right, up, down)) as needed.

In 2004, the primary thrusters on Voyager 1 stopped working (27 years after launch), so NASA started using the "backup" thruster system to control orientation.

Now, the backup thruster system (21 years later) on V'Ger 1 is about to fail.

Against that backdrop, the ONLY (out of the three sites they use to track the spacecraft) ground-based antenna STRONG enough (given how far away the spacecraft are now) to get signals/data TO the spacecraft, is about to go offline for upgrades/maintenance.

Boil all that down, the spacekids decided to try to get the PRIMARY thrusters working again (21 years after failing) BEFORE the backup system possibly fails. If neither system remained active, NO reorientations, therefore NO communications, with V'Ger 1 would be possible.

With some ingenuity, foresight, and big, brass ones, the space kids got the primary thruster system to work. The high points of how they did it are described in the link above.

Remarkable feat, in a series of death-defying heroics as these spacecraft approach 50 years old (they were only supposed to last five years), and 15+ billion miles away.

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One thing I dont get?

What is causing spacecraft orientation to change as it now streaks through intergalactic space?

I guess its just as simple as EVERYTHING in the universe is still moving (earth around the sun, the solar system position IN the Milky Way, Milky Way itself spinning around its black hole, the effects of all that ON the spacecraft, etc).

All that complex cosmic dancing, in turn, MIGHT require the space kids to reorient the antennas? Maybe its something else?