NASA just told a spacecraft that is 11.7 billion miles away to do a somersault so that the science

[soothsayer]

Link to tweet

?s=21

angel of the supermarket💀
@shannonmstirone

NASA just told a spacecraft that is 11.7 billion miles away to do a summersault so that the science team can better understand the magnetic field environment of interstellar space.

NSFVoyager2
@NSFVoyager2
Re-starting my magnetometer calibration roll routine. Note that to have enough electrical power for the gyros, I have to turn off one of my heaters!: BAY 1 HTR OFF BEGIN GYONBC CCS:BR1 Initialize Dry Rotor Inertial Reference Unit (2021:077:222913:2T)

The last time we commanded a MAGROL (Magnetometer roll) was in 2020 and it triggered the spacecraft to go into safe mode. Let’s hope this MAGROL goes well because Voyager is old and we need it to stick around as long as possible.

By having it do this flip it gives the magnetometer a chance to detect changes in the magnetic environment which gives sort of a 3D structure to where Voyager 2 is flying through. Somewhere between our star and another.

This also means lots of talking so right now we are locked onto Voyager 2 and receiving data. This is likely health data confirming its shut off the heater to begin the roll.

https://eyes.nasa.gov/dsn/dsn.html



So once MAGROL has begun we have to wait at least 17 hours to hear back from the spacecraft that it’s ok because the one way light travel time is over 17 hours. We likely won’t have confirmation from JPL for several days that it’s ok and things went well. Sigh.

[Tommy Carcetti]

1. Go V'ger! nt

[lagomorph777]

2. That's scary - like asking your 20 year old dog to do a somersault.

I hope all goes well. I get why they want to do it: to understand the magnetic field in 3D. This is (in the most literal possible meaning of the phrase) uncharted territory. Literally, trailblazing exploration.



By the way, that Deep Space Network tracker site is just awesome. It's hypnotizing to watch!

[Wounded Bear]

3. Cool stuff! Thanks for the link! nt

[underpants]

4. Show off 😡

[Dale in Laurel MD]

5. If my quick arithmetic is right...

Having the command reach the spacecraft and getting an answer back will take about 35 hours.

[electric_blue68]

6. You can do it! 👍Cool site. V'ger (heh)