Voyager 1 may have left solar system

[Nick R]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/120029-NASAs-Voyager-1-May-Have-Left-Our-Solar-System

The voyager program has probably been a much bigger return on it's investment than almost any project in history. This is/could be big news for some people. Something built by humans, is, or could very soon be, outside of our solar system. It makes me feel very proud. I hope that our future in space shines ever brighter because of it.

 

[apwillard1986]

I saw a news article about this yesterday. It is very cool indeed.

 

[buster]

Awesome!

 

[Gabe]

It is amazing what NASA is able to do. Keep in mind, this is 1977 technology that is now traversing to another solar system!!

 

[javacontour]

In some ways, I wonder if 1977 technology is more robust for such an application. As feature sizes get smaller, electronics are more susceptible to the effects of a single gamma ray, etc.

Just ask any Sun FSE/SSE about E-cache parity issues in the late 1990's early 2000's. Seems cosmic rays could flip bits on CPU cache, causing all sorts of interesting issues.

But I digress. It is pretty amazing what we did on 1950's - 1970's tech.

 

[dparm]

That graph is excellent.

 

[simple_gifts]

Originally Posted By: javacontour


Just ask any Sun FSE/SSE about E-cache parity issues in the late 1990's early 2000's. Seems cosmic rays could flip bits on CPU cache, causing all sorts of interesting issues.


Yeah, we are still using our E220Rs, notorious for this.

Just wait for the EMP. A stack of tube transmitters and a 50' antenna will work better than the iPhone5

 

[javacontour]

I have a customer with an E10000, with 250MHz procs, still in production. I just groan anytime I get a call on it. Can't find parts for it or admins who know what the SSP is, let alone how to manage that critter.

End of threadjack.

 

[fdcg27]

This is really neat.
IIRC, this Voyager did a grand tour of our system.
It is great that it survives and continues on its journey.
This thing is now ~ 35 years old.
Still, there really is no hard boundry as to where our system ends.
The Kuiper belt, of which Pluto is the largest object, segues into the Oort Cloud, which may extend 2-3 light years from the sun.
This is where comets come from, and it is certainly a part of our system.

 

[Astro14]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
This is really neat.
IIRC, this Voyager did a grand tour of our system.
It is great that it survives and continues on its journey.
This thing is now ~ 35 years old.
Still, there really is no hard boundry as to where our system ends.
The Kuiper belt, of which Pluto is the largest object, segues into the Oort Cloud, which may extend 2-3 light years from the sun.
This is where comets come from, and it is certainly a part of our system.


The heliopause defines the edge of our system - it's the region where the sun's influence ends and interstellar space begins...Voyager is starting to measure the effects that are predicted for the heliopause...that's what is so cool about it...the system edge is simpler than objects, it's the edge of solar wind, and the beginning of true interstellar space...

 

[Rick in PA]

That's one rugged little space probe.

 

[daves87rs]

Cool!

 

[Loobed]

Reminds me of the original Star Trek Movie.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Motion_Picture

 

[LTVibe]

Originally Posted By: Loobed
Reminds me of the original Star Trek Movie.

...or how about Voyager's fate in 'Star Trek V: The Final Frontier'...

 

[dparm]

Can we please never mention Star Trek V ever again?

 

[Nick R]

If anyone is interested, netflix has a very interesting series,
"when we left earth: the nasa missions" that cover the entire space
program starting with project mercury. IT is probably one of my all
time favorite TV shows.

 

[Astro14]

Originally Posted By: dparm
Can we please never mention Star Trek V ever again?


There is a simple rule: all odd-numbered Star Trek movies are @$#%@, all even-numbered Star Trek movies are good....

To varying degrees, this has proven true...