Reply With QuoteIf Keith Richards was a spacecraft :)
I read this evening that they have managed to remotely fix Voyager 1 after its started sending back scrambled information. It’s travelling at some 38k mph and over 15 billion miles away. There are some supremely clever people in this world. JLR couldn't send us patch files successfully from Solihull.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/...year-old-probe
If Keith Richards was a spacecraft :)
Mostly 1960s technology. Likewise, you could probably instruct the owner to repair his Series 2 over the phoneOriginally Posted by Franky Four Fingers
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
That's a story for movies (and yes, they've done a few with that theme). The old 'When you put your mind to it, you can make it happen!' In this case they needed a few people who have a 'free bus pass' to come back, I guess. (And I think that the JLR help desk employees in Mumbay or Delhi are too young to help you with these older Series LRs...)
If it has an accident that far away is it only covered Third Party?
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
Getting the signal there is so complex but it's just "remotely" in the media :-)
B
Few things are as awe-inspiring to me as Voyager 1.
When I was 10 or 11, I had a book that described NASA's intention to launch a probe that would take advantage of a planetary alignment that only takes place once every 176 years. This was due to happen in the late '70s and back then the proposed mission was known as the "Grand Tour".
So Voyager 1 was launched in September 1977.
It's into the last few years of its useful life now - not because of the distance, but because it's running out of power. It converts heat from decaying plutonium into electricity to power its instruments, antiquated onboard computer and transmitters, and the stuff only lasts so long.
Its cameras were switched off in 1990, to save memory (the onboard computer only has 70k).
I find it a bit eerie to think about it out there in the bleak coldness of space.
On a cosmological scale though, it's still very close. If you imagine Earth to be the monument at Charing Cross Station and the edge of our galaxy (about 23,000 light years away) to be the closest bit of the M25, Voyager 1 has travelled about 2mm. It's not actually travelling in the direction of the nearest star but if it was, even at a bit over 10 miles per second it would take roughly another 75,000 years to get there.
Now for the inevitable, predictable Douglas Adams quote:
“Space is big.
You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is.
I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.”
It amazes me just how they're still in contact with them, it takes nearly a day for the signal to travel the 15 billion miles. But I can't get a signal on my sky box from isleworth if the weather is a bit off
Just incredible.
Since Douglas Adams has been mentioned…
The story so far:
In the beginning the Universe was created.
This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
... or Terry Pratchet: 'In the beginning there was nothing, which exploded.'
Always loved that.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
I’m sure most are aware of it already, but the documentary movie about Voyager is awesome: “The Farthest”
I didn't, so many thanks for the pointer.
Using a VPN, I managed to watch it at www.pbs.org/the-farthest...a site worth exploring (through the menu) for more information on Explorer.
Another good watch.
Just watching "NASA's Voyager Mission:Remastered.
On you tube...2hrs 45mins
Jackson Tyler's Homemade Documentaries are all excellent watching; some of the best on YouTube - assuming you can find the time.
https://www.youtube.com/@JacksonTyler
15 billion miles away and a senior from Florida has not managed to run into it even more amazing.
It takes 22.5 hours for a signal to reach it and same coming back.
And the golden record on board, so any alien species knows where we are to come and kill us. The not so bright part of the mission
Why would Aliens waste time coming to kill us when they can just watch from a distance and see just how good we are at killing ourselves.
We are the biggest threat to any life in the entire Universe.
Man has barely if at all evolved since He started killing on this planet.
Perhaps if they join TZ they can also see how petty and childish some Humans are too each other!......re "stuff for sale"....
Last edited by P9CLY; 25th April 2024 at 16:55.
Why does any advanced civilisation attack/invade a less advanced one? Because they can, and the rewards are perhaps worth it.
Your knowledge of the 'entire universe' is astounding.
Ridiculous. Man's lineage started to split from that of chimpanzees around 7 million years ago. To say we haven't evolved since is not true. We simply evolved into better killers than our relatives. That's why we're here, and why we went from flint axes to Exocets and they didn't.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
No matter how clever we like to think we are, our time here is limited.
I think you've taken all I said quite literally.
You are intelligent and evolved enough to see the point I was trying to put across.
Yes You did & are outstanding.
1:-We don't need assistance from Aliens to kill us....were good at inflicting pain death & injury on Man ourselves!.
2:-Based on the above & what you said about any advanced civilisation attacking lesser mortals.That then covers what I said about Man being a threat to the entire Universe,If He ever did that.
3:-And in 1&2 Re Man evolving was in terms of Man intent on relentless killing of Man.No evolving there!.
Don't take things quite so literally & perhaps consider My tongue in cheek remarks.
All the best to you Earthling....Nanu Nanu.
Last edited by P9CLY; 25th April 2024 at 18:50.
You two dimensional beings are funny
Except for a small handful of aliens. Alf who ate cats, ET with his glowing probing finger, a whacko from Orc and My Favorite Martian (US 60's TV show)
All others want to kill us. If they're capable of flying through space to other planets. They're most likely capable of killing us off with little effort
Fair play, it’s sometimes difficult to tell when people are being serious or ‘tongue in cheek’ online.
Live long and prosper, earthling.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
We're actually four dimensional, except on paper.
Now for the inevitable, predictable Monty Python clip:
Don't just do something, sit there. - TNH
Thanks for the pointer...well worth a watch.
The above told me that the Voyager digital data tape recorder is driven by a rubber belt and uses 328 m of 1/2 inch 8 track tape, capable of holding 67 Mb data at launch. The total power available to the craft was 470 W at launch and that too degrades over time.Mostly 1960s technology. Likewise, you could probably instruct the owner to repair his Series 2 over the phone
It's 67MB, or 536Mb.
And it's been that way since 2002. That's something I had not realised, thank you.
Whichever way one cuts it, it's a magnificent piece of engineering bearing in mind that an average PC is pretty much unusable garbage after a hand full of years.
The fact that NASA can communicate with it over millions and millions of miles is amazing frankly, bearing in mind my mesh system doesn't even reach the en-suite.
I agree.Whichever way one cuts it, it's a magnificent piece of engineering bearing in mind that an average PC is pretty much unusable garbage after a hand full of years.
The fact that NASA can communicate with it over millions and millions of miles is amazing frankly, bearing in mind my mesh system doesn't even reach the en-suite.
That digital communications over such a distance is a) possible b) still effective in controlling Voyager is a marvel (IMO).
That the onboard computer can still be reprogrammed by those communications is somewhat astonishing. That there are digital to analogue converters onboard that can translate the messages to electromechanical devices to steer antennae etc stands as a monument to the depth of forethought and planning applied by the designers and constructors.
It does have a hint of Space Cowboys in it
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Given the memory available to be used, I’m amazed how future proof they appear to have made it. To be updated remotely just blows my tiny mind!
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
These days, 67MB doesn't even cover one full resolution image taken on an iPhone 15 Pro Max; and that's for entirety of a space craft including data recording - on a piece of tape.
I love watching those Discovery Science 'How the Universe Works' series, I'm a keen old school Sci-Fi lover but understand nothing of maths. But when watching that stuff I do realise we are a laughable bunch stuck on a tiny speck of dust. We should just be glad we have this blue ball and cherish it. The universe is a mind boggling big space we will never travel it (sadly) by spacecraft, it's just far to big. The only thing I'm sad about is not being alive when we try to reach Proxima Centauri and the chance of a habitable planet a few ligtyears away.
The fact the universe is expanding so fast that in the end there will be only blackness and no stars in the sky is beyond my comprehension.
Got a new watch, divers watch it is, had to drown the bastard to get it!
Amazing content memory wise, wow!
I never knew that, thank you, my mind is blown for the week now.
They explained it with an elasticated rubber mat example, if you stand in the middle of the mat and they have put some apples at random places on the mat and start pulling at the edges you remain at the same spot and the apples are getting away from you.
But the fact it will all turn black around us is still not really taking shape in my mind.
Got a new watch, divers watch it is, had to drown the bastard to get it!
I wouldn't worry too much. The Earth and all upon it will be long gone by the time any noticeable darkness is visible. Our own star will wipe us out, plus the Andromeda Galaxy is fast on its way to us like a freight train.
No worries mate ;)
Just can't get my head wrapped around the fact.
Got a new watch, divers watch it is, had to drown the bastard to get it!
I get that. The universe is truly mind boggling. Shame, on a personal basis, we'll never know what it's all about - well I assume we'll never know, but I stand to be corrected in some future multi-dimensional life :)
Rubber mat…..are you saying the universe is flat like the earth? lol
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That is what they are thinking at the moment, there is no evidence it might be different.
Last edited by Daddelvirks; 30th April 2024 at 21:30.
Got a new watch, divers watch it is, had to drown the bastard to get it!
What's it expanding into?
I think nothing exploded and is expanding into nothingness.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
That's what blows my mind, if all the mass was in one "dot" before the big bang and the universe didn't exist, what did that dot exist within? And now it's expanding what is it expanding into? Is it a big box and the universe will hit the walls eventually? If so what is the box in? Another box?
It presumably has something to dowith there being no edge and it sort of wrpas back around on itself in a dimension we don't understand i.e. in the same way the earth is a globe and you can go roudn in any direction and get back to where you started if you go far enough in one direction in the universe will you get to the opposite side of the universe from which you were heading. James Webb telescope might give us more clues and it's successor in 30 years time might be able to go even further.
While not possible to move faster than the speed of light in this particular universe, the key word there is "in".
If this universe itself is continually expanding, the edges may be moving faster than light. In which case at some distance (the cosmic event horizon) light, or anything else, will never be able to be received back here. Too all intents and purposes, that distance is the edge of the universe, from our perspective at least. Even though there is stuff beyond it. We'll never see it, detect it, or otherwise know of its existence.
This works the other way too. Observers beyond the cosmic event horizon will never be able to detect signals from our part of the universe. Scientists have speculated this is the universe's way of providing at least one area untouched by even a distant echo of vigorous Rolex debate.
Ha ha, very good.
But yes, that's about it, we are currently seeing things that will disappear over the event horizon never to be seen again.
Even if warp speed is possible (warp 10) we will will only be able to cover a tiny part of our own galaxy.
Got a new watch, divers watch it is, had to drown the bastard to get it!
This cosmic horizon you speak of, is it the place the ancients referred to when they said "I'm gonna put this somewhere safe"? I heard it was an old incantation that opens a portal to a random point in another timeline, through which all safely kept things travel, never to be
seen again.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Ahhh, of course.
Here on earth an explosion takes quite a concerted effort to conduct, in space however, where there was nothing, it appears to have been quite easy.
I've never been wholly convinced at the big bang theory.
As the theory goes - the Big Bang wasn't really an explosion, but in any case the conditions prevailing at the very beginning of time, before even atoms existed were so different that it's not meaningful to compare it to an explosion on Earth. The laws of physics may have been different.Ahhh, of course.
Here on earth an explosion takes quite a concerted effort to conduct, in space however, where there was nothing, it appears to have been quite easy.
I've never been wholly convinced at the big bang theory.
Time did not exist.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
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