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

[amazinblue82]

NASA temporarily loses contact with one of its most distant spacecraft

NASA temporarily loses contact with one of its most distant spacecraft – Ars Technica

I havent found anything yet that described "why" NASA was even messin' with it .. I am sure they had their reasons but maybe "old age" and billions of miles away caused it to misinterpret "basic" maintenance commands?

The "miracle" continues for these remarkable machines..

Now, in interstellar space (the area between stars), seems rather uneventful. That's good in a way - we dont expect them to find/come close to anything . For about 40,000 years at least .. and they STILL will be light years away from anything.

source: Voyager - Frequently Asked Questions

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[Turboomni]

It is my understanding that that either the spacecraft entirely or the antenna [don't know which ,maybe both??'] must be re aimed every so often so the antenna is pointing obviously directly at the Earth. In another article or perhaps this one don't remember the position of the antenna pointing towards the earth is now 2 degrees off. With only 23 watts of transmitting power and 2 degrees off this is a complete miss. Wonder how they're gonna fix this?? I know they most likely will but that is quite a puzzle to me with absolutely no communication. But voyagers do know where they are based on stars and the sun etc. Maybe they will automatically reset and re aim the antenna in October or whatever month they mention on their own.. In the mean time I guess Voyager II will just chill, sit back and enjoy 35,000 mph ride.

 

[LocuMob]

It is my understanding that that either the spacecraft entirely or the antenna [don't know which ,maybe both??'] must be re aimed every so often so the antenna is pointing obviously directly at the Earth. In another article or perhaps this one don't remember the position of the antenna pointing towards the earth is now 2 degrees off. With only 23 watts of transmitting power and 2 degrees off this is a complete miss. Wonder how they're gonna fix this?? I know they most likely will but that is quite a puzzle to me with absolutely no communication. But voyagers do know where they are based on stars and the sun etc. Maybe they will automatically reset and re aim the antenna in October or whatever month they mention on their own.. In the mean time I guess Voyager II will just chill, sit back and enjoy 35,000 mph ride.

Oct 15 I think was the date stated that Voyager 2 will self-reset. It's programmed to do that every so often.

 

[DeltaV]

NASA Mission Update: Voyager 2 Communications Pause

Voyager 2 is programmed to reset its orientation multiple times each year to keep its antenna pointing at Earth; the next reset will occur on Oct. 15, which should enable communication to resume.

 

[LocuMob]

They heard Voyager 2.

NASA hears 'heartbeat' signal from Voyager 2 spacecraft after mistakenly cutting contact

 

[PeugFra]

Now NASA should make itself heard by Voyager 2.

 

[LocuMob]

Now NASA should make itself heard by Voyager 2.

They still think they will have to wait until October. We shall see.

 

[DeltaV]

NASA Mission Update: Voyager 2 Communications Pause

Voyager 2 is programmed to reset its orientation multiple times each year to keep its antenna pointing at Earth; the next reset will occur on Oct. 15, which should enable communication to resume.

Update from JPL

NASA Mission Update: Voyager 2 Communications Pause

 

[Turboomni]

Nasa Space news

 

[amazinblue82]

Couple days ago. Webb and Hubble compared. Another one, however, where looking at exactly the same patch of sky, Webb picks up things never seen.

Gravitatioinal lensing, another thing Einstein predicted a 100 years ago before we ever saw it in the sky, isn't new. It also gets to the "dark matter" scaffolding that seems to be holding the galaxies together.

Recall the things we can see, (that emit/reflect light) in the WHOLE Universe, are only 5% of whats really there (regular matter like us, C-bodies, B-52s, the Sun, Moon, and stars, etc) is 5%, dark matter 35%, dark energy 60%, so 100%).

The rest of the matter (85% out of the 35%) is "dark", meaning it doesnt emit/reflect light but it DOES have mass. It DOES, therefore, interact with gravity and therefore will affect light's movement through space-time.

Stated another way, light passes straight through dark matter like its not even there, just like TRILLIONS of neutrinos went through each of us in the time it took to read thise sentence.

BUT if the observer has a sight line to a light source (i.e., like e a distant galaxie or giant star say 10 Billion LY away from Earth. and a massive group of galaxies is in BETWEEN (say 6 Billion LY away IN the line of sight), the MORE DISTANT galaxie/star's light will be distorted ("stretched", "curved", "smudged", etc, BY the gravity of the CLOSER, massive items.

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again you can can nerd out at the link: Webb Spotlights Gravitational Arcs in ‘El Gordo’ Galaxy Cluster.

El Gordo is in Earth's line of sight, so we are seeing galaxies behind (i.e., further away) El Gordo. The GRAVITY of El Gordo is BENDING the light from things that are more distant.

The gravity is FROM the massive, bright stuff in El Gordo that we see, PLUS the "dark" matter in and all around El Gordo that we CAN'T see but we know its there because it's lensing bright things behind it in our line of sight.

Again, the way it seems is if there was no "dark matter", there would be no humans ... and we don't even know what the stuff is. We only know its there because GRAVITY bends LIGHT because it CURVES space-time, which light in turn FOLLOWS that curvature.

And again, that's why -- to understand all that better hopefully -- Webb is parked at L2 doing fantastic science, standing on Hubble's shoulders.

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Webb shot of El Gordo

Hubble shot of El Gordo

 

[Turboomni]

WOW!!!!

 

[70bigblockdodge]

Couple days ago. Webb and Hubble compared. Another one, however, where looking at exactly the same patch of sky, Webb picks up things never seen.

Gravitatioinal lensing, another thing Einstein predicted a 100 years ago before we ever saw it in the sky, isn't new. It also gets to the "dark matter" scaffolding that seems to be holding the galaxies together.

Recall the things we can see, (that emit/reflect light) in the WHOLE Universe, are only 5% of whats really there (regular matter like us, C-bodies, B-52s, the Sun, Moon, and stars, etc) is 5%, dark matter 35%, dark energy 60%, so 100%).

The rest of the matter (85% out of the 35%) is "dark", meaning it doesnt emit/reflect light but it DOES have mass. It DOES, therefore, interact with gravity and therefore will affect light's movement through space-time.

Stated another way, light passes straight through dark matter like its not even there, just like TRILLIONS of neutrinos went through each of us in the time it took to read thise sentence.

BUT if the observer is BETWEEN a light source (i.e., like e a distant galaxie or giant star say 10 Billion LY away from Earth. and a massive group of galaxies is CLOSER (say 6 Billion LY away IN the line of sight), the MORE DISTANT galaxie/star's light will be distorted ("stretched", "curved", "smudged", etc, BY the gravity of the CLOSER, massive items.

---

again you can can nerd out at the link: Webb Spotlights Gravitational Arcs in ‘El Gordo’ Galaxy Cluster.

El Gordo is in Earth;s line of sight, so we are seeing galaxies BEHIHD (i.e., further away) El Gordo. The GRAVITY of El Gordo is BENDING the light from things that are more distant.

The gravity is FROM the massive, bright stuff in El Gordo that we see, PLUS the "dark" matter in and all around El Gordo that we CAN"T see but we know its there because it's lensing bright things behind it in our line of sight.

Again, the way it seem no "dark matter", no humans ... and we don't even know what it is. We only know its there because GRAVITY bends LIGHT because it CURVES space-time, which light in turn FOLLOWS that curvature.

And again, that's why -- to understand all that better hopefully .. Webb is parked at L2 doing fantastic science, standing on Hubble's shoulders.

---

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Webb shot of El Gordo
View attachment 609378

Hubble shot of El Gordo
View attachment 609380

Makes the Hubble telescope look like a old flip phone camera.
Absolutely amazing. Gives me hope that long after I'm gone there are and will be people smart enough to carry on the human race.

 

[amazinblue82]

News release today. Involves gravitational lensing. Basic principles at link if you wanna veg out.

Source: Webb Reveals Colors of Earendel, Most Distant Star Ever Detected

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There is a massive galaxy, between us and Earendel, that has in effect magnified (bent the light) Earendel by 4,000 times to us. That galaxy's gravity curved space-time, bent Earedel's light AROUND it, and magnified it to our eyes.

Webb has now imaged Earendel, the oldest (most distant) star ever located. Almost 13 billion years old. So it was lit up when the WHOLE universe was less than billion years old (its estimated to be 13.8 billion years old.)

Note: Hubble found it, FIRST, last year and the space kids couldn't wait to get Webb's "eyeballs" on it. You gotta read the fine, nerd print if interested.

In BOTH the Webb and Hubble images, Earendel is a single red dot, in a smeared, curved arc by the lensing. There are much more optical "wow" factors like in #590 above. All I see is more dots but I am sure more fascinating stuff is visible by Webb.

Anyway, as to Earendel, Webb is finding more colors, perhaps another ancient star (meaning Earendel may be in a binary system), determining Earendel is a "B" type star (Sun is a "G" type star, you can nerd out here on star typing scale), twice as hot and a million times brighter that our sun.

Webb is also seeing much more (1,000 times more) than Hubble as we know - stuff Hubble just CANNOT see.

IF Earendel is physically STILL there (I doubt it) due to the expansion of the Universe since the Big Bang, it would be 28 Billion LY away by now. Stars dont live that long as far as we know.

Hypothetically, that red dot we see today as Earendel, could be gone tomorrow .. that would have happened nearly 13 billiion years ago and we are just seeing it. The wonders of cosmology

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Webb

Hubble on Earendel, slightly different tilt but same patch of sky. Less detail than Webb sees of course.

below: https://hubblesite.org/contents/media/images/2022/003/01FWRZTQFDGGP05KM1PRCCNZ1E?news=true

 

[LocuMob]

I don't think I have the time!

It should take another 300 years for NASA's Voyager 1 probe to reach the most distant region of our solar system. Until then, it's cruising through the void between the stars.

 

[polara71]

Will they have enough juice to get them that far?

 

[amazinblue82]

Will they have enough juice to get them that far?

good question boss.

I thought we asked this years ago .. maybe not. Regardless, I don't remember. One thing seems to ring a bell - they WILL run out of power - soon I recall

sources: When will we get the final message from NASA's Voyager spacecraft?, NASA’s Voyager Will Do More Science With New Power Strategy

My understanding was they both have nuclear power sources. U-238 is the fissile material to be precise. NASA/JPL has been "power-managing" the craft to save fuel.

The fact they are still operating at all, so far past their design lives, is unbelievable. Kudos to those folks running them.

The links say both Voyagers will RUN out of fuel between 2026 and 2030.

Depends on what/when the space kids SHUT DOWN the remaining science instruments (e.g., cosmic ray detectors, etc) that demand electricity to operate.

Shut them all off (i.e., the experiments still running now) , they'll both go silent tomorrow after 50 magnificent service years. Sequence the shutdowns, the fuel lasts longer. Seems like they are leaning toward the later.

They'll of course keep traveling, at 40K mph in theory forever (unless they run into something - highly unlikely), but we aint gonna be able to talk to them obviously when they are out of juice.

So, 7 years of life left at most they say, let alone 300 years.

 

[thethee]

7 yeard of life left at most they say

 

[LocuMob]

46 years after launch, 41 years after expected life span, I think they are doing pretty well for themselves. I hope they go on for another fifteen years. It will be fun to watch what they tell us, no matter how long they have.

 

[Turboomni]

Most stuff you guys already know but a few thing maybe of interest. For example Voyager's main thrusters stopped working after 37 years but it had emergency thrusters that had never been used and in space for close to 40 years. They work perfectly. Anyways I thought there was some interesting stuff here.

 

[amazinblue82]

Ah, even the Universe is asking questions

source: James Webb Space Telescope spies giant cosmic question mark in deep space (photo)

"The James Webb Space Telescope continues to provide answers about the earliest days of the universe, but it's also discovering more questions.

Question marks, to be precise.

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) team at the European Space Agency (ESA) released an image on Wednesday (June 26) offering the most detailed look yet at two actively forming young stars located 1,470 light-years from Earth in the Vela Constellation.

In the image, the stars, named Herbig-Haro 46/47, are surrounded by a disk of material that "feeds" the stars as they grow for millions of years."