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17. No full-time staff on the job.

Tue Sep 4, 2012, 08:08 AM

Sep 2012

snip from the article>

These days, a handful of engineers diligently listen for the Voyagers from a satellite campus not far from the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which built the spacecraft.

The control room, with its cubicles and carpeting, could be mistaken for an insurance office if not for a blue sign overhead that reads "Mission Controller" and a warning on a computer: "Voyager mission critical hardware. Please do not touch!"

There are no full-time scientists left on the mission, but 20 part-timers analyze the data streamed back. Since the spacecraft are so far out, it takes 17 hours for a radio signal from Voyager 1 to travel to Earth. For Voyager 2, it takes about 13 hours.

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35 years later, Voyager 1 is heading for the stars [View all] Omaha Steve Sep 2012 OP

just amazing when you consider the way they must control it - with all the old bells & whistles tomm2thumbs Sep 2012 #1

Actually, sonny, we used to get up off the couch and turn the dial on the tv set... rfranklin Sep 2012 #3

heh heh heh - tomm2thumbs Sep 2012 #4

I remember those. And my grandmother used to have a crystal candy bowl... Ian David Sep 2012 #23

omg - that must've been hilarious the day you figured that out tomm2thumbs Sep 2012 #32

My dad had three remote controls... awoke_in_2003 Sep 2012 #21

Geesh - I *must* be old. 38. mwooldri Sep 2012 #22

I remember when Missycim Sep 2012 #24

Heck, our first TV wth a remote had a wire! Archae Sep 2012 #38

In 1960, we rented a modest shore house in NJ but it had an electric antenna! rfranklin Sep 2012 #44

I will admit we could have got more channels when I was younger. mwooldri Sep 2012 #57

Worse than that oldsarge54 Sep 2012 #65

No full-time staff on the job. enough Sep 2012 #17

Must be lots ot trips to the surplus JPL hardware bins to get parts tomm2thumbs Sep 2012 #31

Delete. roamer65 Sep 2012 #54

What's powering the spacecraft...too far for solar power isn't it? rfranklin Sep 2012 #2

Radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) n/t Wilms Sep 2012 #7

Nuclear-powered. Each has an eight-track tape recorder. And 68 kilobytes of memory. Auggie Sep 2012 #5

We're sending eight-track tapes to the stars? JustABozoOnThisBus Sep 2012 #11

You know whats sad? Missycim Sep 2012 #25

Also read as "GET OFF MY LAWN!!!!" :P octothorpe Sep 2012 #47

I am only 42 I will have you know :p Missycim Sep 2012 #48

I've worked with a robotic 8-track system before... Ian David Sep 2012 #26

I dont remember that far back but I think either I had one of these or a friend did. lol Missycim Sep 2012 #49

We also sent a gold plated 70's era laser disc daleo Sep 2012 #64

"To boldly go where no man has gone before..." Surya Gayatri Sep 2012 #6

And oldsarge54 Sep 2012 #8

It's not set in an orbit. It won't be coming back unless we somehow retrieved it. Fearless Sep 2012 #13

You didn't see the first Star Trek movie? Missycim Sep 2012 #27

Lol, I hadn't thought of that. Touche' Fearless Sep 2012 #41

Worst costume design I have ever seen Missycim Sep 2012 #42

*Shudders* Fearless Sep 2012 #45

Sorry oldsarge54 Sep 2012 #29

It'll have Firewire ports N/T tonekat Sep 2012 #63

We might christx30 Sep 2012 #67

V'ger . . . nt Bernardo de La Paz Sep 2012 #9

I will just give up the information N/T Throckmorton Sep 2012 #12

Sorry Missycim Sep 2012 #28

Harse Mistress reference oldsarge54 Sep 2012 #30

Adam Selene will speak at the Democratic Convention, I hope. nt Bernardo de La Paz Sep 2012 #35

Or Prof Paulie Sep 2012 #46

We'll see it again, perhaps. We simply need to master fusion energy and new propulsion drives. Selatius Sep 2012 #10

Ahhh, the good old minimal tech days. geckosfeet Sep 2012 #14

Actually, that was Maximal Tech .... Mustellus Sep 2012 #16

Of course. But engineers always strive to sqeeze the last bit of performance out of everything. geckosfeet Sep 2012 #19

11 billion mile message in a bottle IADEMO2004 Sep 2012 #15

Great stuff. I also recommend a visit to the Voyager mission page at NASA: Robb Sep 2012 #18

At Voyager's speed it would take 50,000 years to reach the nearest star Baclava Sep 2012 #20

re:35 years later, Voyager 1 is heading for the stars allan01 Sep 2012 #33

re:35 years later, Voyager 1 is heading for the stars allan01 Sep 2012 #34

I thought Pioneer 10 had already left the solar system... EX500rider Sep 2012 #36

Nope. Voyager is faster. AtheistCrusader Sep 2012 #39

Massive scale of the universe. Nearest star is 270,000 AU away SWTORFanatic Sep 2012 #50

I'm heading to a presentation about the Voyagers at JPL tonight. Kablooie Sep 2012 #37

I'm jealous! neverforget Sep 2012 #52

Here's a video of the whole presentation. Kablooie Sep 2012 #58

and no sign of heaven yet LOL snooper2 Sep 2012 #40

sad we never used nuclear pulse propulsion. we could still get to alpha centauri in my lifetime SWTORFanatic Sep 2012 #43

Those 2 spacecraft amaze me. Odin2005 Sep 2012 #51

Video Tribute to a lonely Space Probe ThoughtCriminal Sep 2012 #53

I am assuming that New Horizons will eventually overtake the Voyagers...maybe? roamer65 Sep 2012 #55

Voyager's doing 17km/sec to New Horizon's 13 or 14. (nt) Posteritatis Sep 2012 #56

You can view the daily current Voyager data on the web. Kablooie Sep 2012 #59

That's what can happen when "planned obsolesence" is taken out of the equation Duer 157099 Sep 2012 #60

Voyager is one of the best things we've done burrowowl Sep 2012 #61

who said 8-track tapes would not come back? ChairmanAgnostic Sep 2012 #62

A beacon of our existence...nt and-justice-for-all Sep 2012 #66