You Tube: The Voyagers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFnJzyxd78o&feature=player_embedded

One would think that with all the music, languages, that are sent, by Voyager 1, and 2, we should have had some contact. Then again, not sure if I... want contact. Could be a little scary.


Voyager: the space explorers that are still boldly going to the stars

If the Voyagers are still operational or functional, they perhaps still are able to take some photographs?

It would have been very interesting to have pictures of the sun as seen from outside our solar system. Also other objects in space, including the Milky Way itself perhaps could have been portrayed using long exposure photography.

Does anyone have any information regarding these possiblilities or opportunities?

One would think that with all the music, languages, that are sent, by Voyager 1, and 2, we should have had some contact. Then again, not sure if I... want contact. Could be a little scary.

The spacecrafts would have to be physically intercepted by intelligent beings to get to the languages--do you think that they might understand,say, Urdu as opposed to Italian. Since it would be about 75000 years until it travels far enough to reach even the nearest star, I wouldn't hold my breath. Unless you posit that there are these creatures cruising around looking for our space probes then you can realize that none of us will be around if anyone maybe 30,000 light years away happens to find what is left of these craft.

One would think that with all the music, languages, that are sent, by Voyager 1, and 2, we should have had some contact. Then again, not sure if I... want contact. Could be a little scary.

The spacecrafts would have to be physically intercepted by intelligent beings to get to the languages--do you think that they might understand,say, Urdu as opposed to Italian. Since it would be about 75000 years until it travels far enough to reach even the nearest star, I wouldn't hold my breath. Unless you posit that there are these creatures cruising around looking for our space probes then you can realize that none of us will be around if anyone maybe 30,000 light years away happens to find what is left of these craft.

Just saying : Intelligent beings, if they are out there, would/should know we are around. Even in our own galaxy, there is an abundance full of planet's, stars. Except for the "WoW Signal", Wow!_Signal
All the computers sending signals, no one is calling home. I don't think there is a need for camera's. The music alone is enough. So are the voyagers, just for entertainment??


The maths that made Voyager possible

Today, 35 years after leaving Earth, Voyager 1 is 18.4 billion km (11.4 billion miles) from Earth and about to cross over the boundary marking the extent of the Sun's influence, where the solar wind meets interstellar space.

Sometime in the next five years, it will likely break through this so called "bowshock" and head out into the galaxy beyond. Its twin, Voyager 2, having flown past all the outer giant planets, should pass over into interstellar not long after.

I think the music included is our best hope for someday making friendly first contact. Somehow I think music is mankinds greatest artistic achievement.

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Bob DeWoody

My motto: Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow as it may not be required. This no longer applies in light of current events.

Not only artistic:

Music is mathematics for the soul
Mathematics is music for the soul

Hence mathematics and music commute, hence they form an Abelian algebra.
Tullio

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Last night I saw a beautiful presentation of the Voyager project by prof. Stone who was its director for many years. It was streamed from the CERN site in Geneva. Tonight (8 pm CEST) there shall be another one on the ISS.
Tullio

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Voyager 1 finds a surprise at the edge of the solar system


11 billion miles out, Voyager 1 nears interstellar space

Data from NASA's Voyager 1 probe indicates the spacecraft has moved into an unexpected region of the outer solar system, possibly the last hurdle before crossing into interstellar space.

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The universe wastes nothing, it's simply transferred.

Voyager 1 finds a surprise at the edge of the solar system


11 billion miles out, Voyager 1 nears interstellar space

Data from NASA's Voyager 1 probe indicates the spacecraft has moved into an unexpected region of the outer solar system, possibly the last hurdle before crossing into interstellar space.

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The universe wastes nothing, it's simply transferred.

I wonder how the two Voyagers are faring structurally, internally and externally,
at the moment?

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The Kite Fliers

--------------------
Kite fliers: An imaginary club of solo members, those who don't yet
belong to a formal team so "fly their own kites" - as the saying goes.

I wonder how the two Voyagers are faring structurally, internally and externally, at the moment?

Very cold and hanging on with only a meager glimmer of power.

Recently, they have been switched over to use their previously unused backup attitude thrusters so that some fuel line heaters to the primary thrusters could be switched off to conserve the available electrical power. Those fuel lines can now be expected to have frozen unusable.

The thrusters are typically used twice a year to reorient the Voyagers to point their high gain dish to follow Earth's orbit. Other maneuvers are made on occasion to reorient the spacecraft for the sensors to sample a different view. And NASA are so frugal with the fuel, assuming nothing too much freezes, they should be able to keep with that regime for very many years yet.

Operating the scientific instruments is a juggle of what must be switched off before something else is switched on. Also, some instruments are a long way below their designed-for operating range... I'm sure great care is being taken to maintain and confirm calibration!

And all that is orchestrated over a Morse code speed datalink that needs the largest DSN dishes available, with a round-trip time of about a day!


Unfortunately, there is a lot of pressure to abandon the Voyagers due to the inordinate amount of DSN time needed to keep them running and reporting...

And all on the old frozen compute power of a child's calculator!


Anyone like to correct/comment?

Fabulous stuff!

Keep searchin',
Martin


DSN: Deep Space Network (radio dishes)

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See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Current roundtrip light time from the sun for the Voyagers:

Voyager 1: 34h 14m 29s

Voyager 2: 28h 00m 21s

Source.

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Member of the People Encouraging Niceness In Society club.

Unfortunately, there is a lot of pressure to abandon the Voyagers due to the inordinate amount of DSN time needed to keep them running and reporting...

That is sad, but I wonder if there are many of "Joe public" that even know the Voyagers exist! It is no longer "sexy science" Nothing "newsworthy" is likely to happen so it will just "fade away".

When I was young I expected to see colonies on the Moon and perhaps even Mars by now. I am now 61 and I don't believe we will ever be a "space faring" race.

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I wonder how the two Voyagers are faring structurally, internally and externally, at the moment?

Very cold and hanging on with only a meager glimmer of power.

Recently, they have been switched over to use their previously unused backup attitude thrusters so that some fuel line heaters to the primary thrusters could be switched off to conserve the available electrical power. Those fuel lines can now be expected to have frozen unusable.

The thrusters are typically used twice a year to reorient the Voyagers to point their high gain dish to follow Earth's orbit. Other maneuvers are made on occasion to reorient the spacecraft for the sensors to sample a different view. And NASA are so frugal with the fuel, assuming nothing too much freezes, they should be able to keep with that regime for very many years yet.

Operating the scientific instruments is a juggle of what must be switched off before something else is switched on. Also, some instruments are a long way below their designed-for operating range... I'm sure great care is being taken to maintain and confirm calibration!

And all that is orchestrated over a Morse code speed datalink that needs the largest DSN dishes available, with a round-trip time of about a day!


Unfortunately, there is a lot of pressure to abandon the Voyagers due to the inordinate amount of DSN time needed to keep them running and reporting...

And all on the old frozen compute power of a child's calculator!


Anyone like to correct/comment?

Fabulous stuff!

Keep searchin',
Martin


DSN: Deep Space Network (radio dishes)

Yarrrrrr, fabulous stuff Martin. If they should decide to abandon the voyagers
then I would suggest they attempt to send them back our way. Could retrieve
them in years to come giving us a chance to study how they faired over all
this time.

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The Kite Fliers

--------------------
Kite fliers: An imaginary club of solo members, those who don't yet
belong to a formal team so "fly their own kites" - as the saying goes.

Yarrrrrr, fabulous stuff Martin. If they should decide to abandon the voyagers
then I would suggest they attempt to send them back our way. Could retrieve
them in years to come giving us a chance to study how they faired over all
this time.

No can do...

They do not have enough fuel to reverse their flight.

They are well above escape velocity for our solar system and so are headed out forever into the vastness of space. There's various estimates of how long the gold "Carl Sagan" disks on them announcing our existence might survive. Regardless, those bits of gold are a fantastic vanity project and some very effective far reaching public outreach!


Keep searchin',
Martin

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See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

I hear there is some new news - Sirius(?), please update us.

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

If this is correct, all I can say is...

WOW, what an achievement!

Voyager craft "Exits" Solar System

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If this is correct, all I can say is...

WOW, what an achievement!

Voyager craft "Exits" Solar System

I'm not sure that I agree that it has left the Solar System just yet. According to the article it is 18 billion km out, which sounds a very long way but is actually less than a light-day whereas most astronomers would consider the Oort Cloud to be a part of the Solar system and it extends upwards of a light-year from Sol.

It'll be another 18000 to 20000 years before truly exits the Solar System. (People sometimes don't appreciate just how vast these distances are.)

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Pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas.

Albert Einstein

It's amasing how it is still working after all this time.

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The Kite Fliers

--------------------
Kite fliers: An imaginary club of solo members, those who don't yet
belong to a formal team so "fly their own kites" - as the saying goes.

NASA Voyager Status Update on Voyager 1 Location

"The Voyager team is aware of reports today that NASA's Voyager 1 has left the solar system," said Edward Stone, Voyager project scientist based at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif. "It is the consensus of the Voyager science team that Voyager 1 has not yet left the solar system or reached interstellar space. In December 2012, the Voyager science team reported that Voyager 1 is within a new region called 'the magnetic highway' where energetic particles changed dramatically. A change in the direction of the magnetic field is the last critical indicator of reaching interstellar space and that change of direction has not yet been observed."


When it does leave, will go where no man has ever gone. Exciting!