Author Topic: Voyager 1 spacecraft thrusters fired up for first time since 1980  (Read 6240 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline CatalinaWOW

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 5170
  • Country: us
Re: Voyager 1 spacecraft thrusters fired up for first time since 1980
« Reply #25 on: December 05, 2017, 05:38:49 am »
It is impressive that this worked after all this time, but what really impresses me is that none of the connections, pressure relief valves, control valves and so on in the fuel system leaked enough to eliminate the fuel supply. 
 

Online BrianHG

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 7660
  • Country: ca
Re: Voyager 1 spacecraft thrusters fired up for first time since 1980
« Reply #26 on: December 05, 2017, 12:05:39 pm »
For those who know, get BBC's 'The.Farthest.Voyagers.Interstellar.Journey' at MVG.
I give it 5 stars.
Did you know that at the last minute, the engineers on Voyager ran to supermarkets to purchase good old fashioned tinfoil for added shielding of the electronics in both probes, otherwise they would have died in Jupiter magnetic field.  Yes, they have household tinfoil in them, and Voyager 1 is over 11 billion miles away from us now, thanks in part to having that added tinfoil, for real, watch the documentary...  Of course, the Golden Record is what's important now...
« Last Edit: December 05, 2017, 12:09:18 pm by BrianHG »
 

Offline Gixy

  • Regular Contributor
  • *
  • Posts: 232
  • Country: fr
Re: Voyager 1 spacecraft thrusters fired up for first time since 1980
« Reply #27 on: December 05, 2017, 02:56:56 pm »
Quote
For those who know, get BBC's 'The.Farthest.Voyagers.Interstellar.Journey' at MVG.
Sadly not viewable outside UK due to rights issues...
 

Offline rrinker

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 2046
  • Country: us
Re: Voyager 1 spacecraft thrusters fired up for first time since 1980
« Reply #28 on: December 05, 2017, 04:39:18 pm »
 Surely one of the greatest engineering achievements in, well, maybe forever. Nearly 40 years in space, the harshest possible environment, and STILL functioning.

 

Offline StillTrying

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 2850
  • Country: se
  • Country: Broken Britain
Re: Voyager 1 spacecraft thrusters fired up for first time since 1980
« Reply #29 on: December 05, 2017, 09:33:36 pm »
"Sadly not viewable outside UK"
I don't know if this will work or not. http://ihavenotv.com/the-farthest-voyagers-interstellar-journey-storyville
.  That took much longer than I thought it would.
 
The following users thanked this post: nugglix

Offline Gixy

  • Regular Contributor
  • *
  • Posts: 232
  • Country: fr
Re: Voyager 1 spacecraft thrusters fired up for first time since 1980
« Reply #30 on: December 06, 2017, 06:26:06 am »
Doesn't work with IE nor Firefox. Didn't try with Chrome.
 

Offline dr.diesel

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 2214
  • Country: us
  • Cramming the magic smoke back in...
Re: Voyager 1 spacecraft thrusters fired up for first time since 1980
« Reply #31 on: December 06, 2017, 09:04:26 am »
The Farthest

Highly recommended for anyone interested in space exploration.

That was very good, thanks!

Offline Halcyon

  • Global Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 5629
  • Country: au
Re: Voyager 1 spacecraft thrusters fired up for first time since 1980
« Reply #32 on: December 06, 2017, 09:20:23 am »
Great documentary! Some fantastic images (even the computer generated ones).

If you do a bit of Googling, you should be able to find it fairly easily.

*cough*
 

Online BrianHG

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 7660
  • Country: ca
Re: Voyager 1 spacecraft thrusters fired up for first time since 1980
« Reply #33 on: December 06, 2017, 10:02:51 am »
Great documentary! Some fantastic images (even the computer generated ones).

If you do a bit of Googling, you should be able to find it fairly easily.

*cough*
Uuugllly, cropped and cut, low res, bad sound...
Here is the true real McCoy: http://docuwiki.net/index.php?title=The_Farthest:_Voyager%27s_Interstellar_Journey
Subtitles available too.
Enjoy!
« Last Edit: December 06, 2017, 10:05:40 am by BrianHG »
 

Offline Halcyon

  • Global Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 5629
  • Country: au
Re: Voyager 1 spacecraft thrusters fired up for first time since 1980
« Reply #34 on: December 06, 2017, 10:25:36 am »
Sorry my bad. I did download the original HD copy but I couldn't find the original link anymore.
 

Offline EEVblog

  • Administrator
  • *****
  • Posts: 37661
  • Country: au
    • EEVblog
Re: Voyager 1 spacecraft thrusters fired up for first time since 1980
« Reply #35 on: December 06, 2017, 12:03:56 pm »
It's incredible how far that is now and how we can still talk to it.

I wonder though, how did they send a command if the dish was not pointing to Earth?  Does it also have an omni receiver antenna?  The amount of precision to beam a signal that far would be crazy though!  Must be nerve wracking to send a command and have to wait so long to know if it did anything.   The fact that it takes so long is incredible in itself as it just shows how crazy far it is.









 
The following users thanked this post: Homer J Simpson, BrianHG, Vtile, schmitt trigger

Offline PA0PBZ

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 5121
  • Country: nl
Re: Voyager 1 spacecraft thrusters fired up for first time since 1980
« Reply #36 on: December 06, 2017, 01:11:55 pm »
Doesn't work with IE nor Firefox. Didn't try with Chrome.

Works fine for me in Chrome, Firefox and IE.
Keyboard error: Press F1 to continue.
 

Offline BradC

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 2104
  • Country: au
Re: Voyager 1 spacecraft thrusters fired up for first time since 1980
« Reply #37 on: December 06, 2017, 01:26:16 pm »
Quote
For those who know, get BBC's 'The.Farthest.Voyagers.Interstellar.Journey' at MVG.
Sadly not viewable outside UK due to rights issues...

This is exactly why I have a Raspberry Pi 3 under the telephone table at my inlaws place in Scotland :)
 

Offline StillTrying

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 2850
  • Country: se
  • Country: Broken Britain
Re: Voyager 1 spacecraft thrusters fired up for first time since 1980
« Reply #38 on: December 06, 2017, 03:16:13 pm »
This is exactly why I have a Raspberry Pi 3 under the telephone table at my inlaws place in Scotland :)

What does it do ?  :-X
.  That took much longer than I thought it would.
 

Offline BradC

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 2104
  • Country: au
Re: Voyager 1 spacecraft thrusters fired up for first time since 1980
« Reply #39 on: December 06, 2017, 10:47:53 pm »
This is exactly why I have a Raspberry Pi 3 under the telephone table at my inlaws place in Scotland :)

What does it do ?  :-X

Gives me a presence in the UK with access to iplayer.
 
The following users thanked this post: StillTrying

Offline timb

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 2536
  • Country: us
  • Pretentiously Posting Polysyllabic Prose
    • timb.us
Re: Voyager 1 spacecraft thrusters fired up for first time since 1980
« Reply #40 on: December 07, 2017, 03:32:44 am »
Well, this news should make Captain Janeway happy...
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic; e.g., Cheez Whiz, Hot Dogs and RF.
 
The following users thanked this post: Electro Detective

Offline Nerull

  • Frequent Contributor
  • **
  • Posts: 694
Re: Voyager 1 spacecraft thrusters fired up for first time since 1980
« Reply #41 on: December 07, 2017, 08:41:53 pm »
I wonder though, how did they send a command if the dish was not pointing to Earth?  Does it also have an omni receiver antenna?  The amount of precision to beam a signal that far would be crazy though!  Must be nerve wracking to send a command and have to wait so long to know if it did anything.   The fact that it takes so long is incredible in itself as it just shows how crazy far it is.

They aren't just sitting on their thumbs waiting for voyager to drift off-axis. They know well in advance what maneuvers it needs to make and they aren't commanding them in real time.
 

Offline Lord of nothing

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 1581
  • Country: at
Re: Voyager 1 spacecraft thrusters fired up for first time since 1980
« Reply #42 on: December 07, 2017, 09:26:26 pm »
omg there are still a Team who got paid by Tax Money and look after the flying wreckage?
Made in Japan, destroyed in Sulz im Wienerwald.
 

Offline Nusa

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 2416
  • Country: us
Re: Voyager 1 spacecraft thrusters fired up for first time since 1980
« Reply #43 on: December 08, 2017, 12:31:41 am »
Not to nitpick, but it was a case of the TCM thrusters hadn't been fired up since 1980. The attitude control thrusters have been used since launch, but they are running out of fuel. The fact they could be re-purposed to step in and take over is another engineering milestone that should go down in history.

All the thrusters use the same hydrazine source. So it's not running out of fuel so much as becoming less fuel-efficient as they got reamed out from extended use. The TCM thrusters are still fresh. However, the TCM thrusters are separated and more remote and power is required to heat fuel lines. Right now that power can be budgeted, but when that is no longer possible they'll revert to using the worn thrusters. Better than nothing.
 
The following users thanked this post: BradC


Share me

Digg  Facebook  SlashDot  Delicious  Technorati  Twitter  Google  Yahoo
Smf