Voyager 1 is Officially in Interstellar Space
Voyager 1 is Officially in Interstellar Space
3
rconnor (Mechanical)
(OP)
Voyager 1 is officially in interstellar space.
This is so much more than a neat factoid found on page 6 of tomorrow's paper; this is a profound accomplishment of humanity.
If there is one trait that can be said to define humans, in every period of history and geographic location, it is that we are deeply and innately curious. We are driven to explore all that we can, in both a physical and epistemic sense. We owe all that we have and all that we are to the fruitful results of our inquisitive endeavours. And although the inertia of modern comforts may squelch this urge to some extent, it can never fully extinguish it.
We should duly celebrate when new frontiers are reached as a triumph, not just of individuals, but of our species. This, the emancipation of the first human-made object from our solar system, is a truly extraordinary feat that underscores the very best characteristics of humanity; collaboration, ingenuity and curiosity.
As is becoming rather cliché for people that know me, I'll leave with a few quotes from Carl Sagan (Pale Blue Dot):
"Each Voyager is itself a message. In their exploratory intent, in the lofty ambition of their objectives, in their utter lack of intent to do harm, and in the brilliance of their design and performance, these robots speak eloquently for us."
"In five billion years [estimated life span of the Voyager spacecraft], all humans will have become extinct or evolved into other beings, none of our artifacts will have survived on Earth, the continents will have become unrecognizably altered or destroyed, and the evolution of the Sun will have burned the Earth to a crisp or reduced it to a whirl of atoms. Far from home, untouched by these remote events, the Voyagers, bearing the memories of a world that is no more, will fly on."
This is so much more than a neat factoid found on page 6 of tomorrow's paper; this is a profound accomplishment of humanity.
If there is one trait that can be said to define humans, in every period of history and geographic location, it is that we are deeply and innately curious. We are driven to explore all that we can, in both a physical and epistemic sense. We owe all that we have and all that we are to the fruitful results of our inquisitive endeavours. And although the inertia of modern comforts may squelch this urge to some extent, it can never fully extinguish it.
We should duly celebrate when new frontiers are reached as a triumph, not just of individuals, but of our species. This, the emancipation of the first human-made object from our solar system, is a truly extraordinary feat that underscores the very best characteristics of humanity; collaboration, ingenuity and curiosity.
As is becoming rather cliché for people that know me, I'll leave with a few quotes from Carl Sagan (Pale Blue Dot):
"Each Voyager is itself a message. In their exploratory intent, in the lofty ambition of their objectives, in their utter lack of intent to do harm, and in the brilliance of their design and performance, these robots speak eloquently for us."
"In five billion years [estimated life span of the Voyager spacecraft], all humans will have become extinct or evolved into other beings, none of our artifacts will have survived on Earth, the continents will have become unrecognizably altered or destroyed, and the evolution of the Sun will have burned the Earth to a crisp or reduced it to a whirl of atoms. Far from home, untouched by these remote events, the Voyagers, bearing the memories of a world that is no more, will fly on."





RE: Voyager 1 is Officially in Interstellar Space
Kinda like landing a person on the moon. http://xkcd.com/893/
Too bad we don't do stuff like that any more...
RE: Voyager 1 is Officially in Interstellar Space
RE: Voyager 1 is Officially in Interstellar Space
We should also rejoice that the power supply, computer, and other parts have continued to perform as they have. Without which we have done little more than thrown a rock.
The little 1802 microprocessor that could. And I recall being told that chip will never acomplish much, that I would be better off looking at the 8086 processor.
RE: Voyager 1 is Officially in Interstellar Space
It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.
RE: Voyager 1 is Officially in Interstellar Space
RE: Voyager 1 is Officially in Interstellar Space
- Steve
RE: Voyager 1 is Officially in Interstellar Space
It's in the SciFi section with the movie about the Mars women.
The question I have now is how much longer will it be transmitting (waving bye), and does it have anything new to send us?
RE: Voyager 1 is Officially in Interstellar Space
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoel...
... which is powered by an isotope of Plutonium (which seems appropriate considering where it has been recently) with a half-life of about 90 years. So baring a catastrophic failure, it should be good for many more years.
As for what sort of "new" information might it send us in the future, I would guess that ANYTHING that it sent would be considered as 'new' since it's now where we know very little at all as to what's happening locally. I suspect that any sort of change in readings will be studied for years as to what it might indicate and even if nothing truly unusual is found, that alone would be information that could be telling us something that we didn't know.
And don't forget, even after the last sub-atomic particle gives-up the ghost, the Voyagers will still have the potential to send ONE more monumental message, one that we may never hear about the consequences of but which could totally change the way another civilization looks at itself and the world around it. After all, what would happen here on our little 'blue marble' if we were to encounter something passing through our solarsystem which included something like:
and on the flip-side:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_Golden_Record
John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:
To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
RE: Voyager 1 is Officially in Interstellar Space
RE: Voyager 1 is Officially in Interstellar Space
RE: Voyager 1 is Officially in Interstellar Space
The COSMAC 1802 was a CMOS/SOS processor that was ostensibly radiation hard, so it was a better choice for this than the more powerful 8086 processor. The 1802 was more comparable to the 8080.
TTFN

FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies
Need help writing a question or understanding a reply? forum1529: Translation Assistance for Engineers
RE: Voyager 1 is Officially in Interstellar Space
I might still have one, but it might not work after all these years.
RE: Voyager 1 is Officially in Interstellar Space
Garth Dreger PE - AZ Phoenix area
As EOR's we should take the responsibility to design our structures to support the components we allow in our design per that industry standards.
RE: Voyager 1 is Officially in Interstellar Space
http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/V'Ger
RE: Voyager 1 is Officially in Interstellar Space
RE: Voyager 1 is Officially in Interstellar Space
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/09/22/20637...
RE: Voyager 1 is Officially in Interstellar Space
RE: Voyager 1 is Officially in Interstellar Space
SMIAH - Correct, it’s not 100% accurate to say it has left our solar system but it is in interstellar space (you’ll have to excuse some of the poetic liberties I took in my opening remarks). The difference is interstellar space begins once the heliopause is passed (the boundary of the Sun’s magnetic influence) but the solar system, strictly speaking, does not end until you pass the Sun’s field of gravitation influence (which it won’t pass for a LONG time). However, as the importance of the event is more about entering a new frontier (which we certainly have) and not leaving a known one, it doesn’t diminish the significance. This, to me, is key.
Fun Fact about the Golden Record: Sagan wanted to use the Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun”, which the Beatles agreed to. However, because they didn’t own the rights to their songs and the process of getting EMI to release them were too time consuming, it was not included.
RE: Voyager 1 is Officially in Interstellar Space
RE: Voyager 1 is Officially in Interstellar Space
That's what I think when I listen to my kids' music.
RE: Voyager 1 is Officially in Interstellar Space
In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice however, experience suggests that in practice, there is!
My posts reflect my personal views and are not in any way endorsed or approved by any organization I'm affiliated with.
RE: Voyager 1 is Officially in Interstellar Space