Questions tagged [voyager]
The Voyager program is an American scientific program that launched two unmanned space missions, the probes Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. Although they were designated officially to study just the planetary systems of Jupiter and Saturn, the space probes were able to continue their mission into the outer solar system, and they are expected to push through the heliosheath in deep space.
16
votes
8answers
9k views
Why didn't Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 crash on into Jupiter or Uranus when they approached near to these massive planets?
I was reading about gravity assist and I read that both the Voyagers used gravitational force of these planets to speed up.
But I wanted to know why weren't they completely attracted by their ...
0
votes
0answers
36 views
Can Voyager I be turned around? [duplicate]
This video discusses the looming death of the Voyager I.
Is it possible for the craft to be reprogrammed, thus making its way back to earth?
1
vote
0answers
47 views
Could outer system probes detect lasers shone at them from earth (orbit)?
Does the Voyager spacecraft have instruments capable of detecting laser light if shone at them? New Horizons certainly does. Any other probes?
Is there any laser capable of accuracy and power enough ...
2
votes
0answers
62 views
Why is the operating temperature for the Voyagers' receiver noise calculation about 1550K?
In line 10 of Table 5.2 of DESCANSO IV - Voyager Telecommunications it shows a value of the uplink receiver noise spectral density of -166.7 dBm/Hz, which is 196.7 dBW/Hz which is 2.1E-20 Watts/Hz = $...
11
votes
2answers
3k views
Why is Voyager/Pioneer so slow compared to Parker Solar Probe?
Deep space probes should be the fastest ones, due to incredible distances they are supposed to travel. AFAIK, Parker Solar (PS) will reach more than 600 000 km/h, incredible. On the other hand, ...
3
votes
1answer
82 views
Would the Voyager probes go backwards affected by the strong interstellar wind beyond Heliosphere?
The Heliosheath is the solar wind piles up as it presses outward against the approaching wind in interstellar space. It seems the balance in pressure between Heliopause and interstellar wind causes ...
3
votes
1answer
93 views
Satellites around outer planets that act like amplifier to signals from voyager like objects
One issue of deep space exploration is that once the object (like Voyager) is far out in the solar system the physical distance is so great that the signal reaching Earth is very weak. I was wondering ...
21
votes
1answer
4k views
If a Voyager crashes into something, would we know?
A recent question asked about the feasibility of using Voyager 2 to detect objects in the Oort cloud. The answers indicate, among other issues, the instruments on-board the Voyagers would likely be ...
1
vote
0answers
34 views
How long to surpass Voyager satellite distances using modern technology? [duplicate]
NASA's JPL just recently acknowledged that Voyager II has now joined Voyager I in entering interstellar space after 41 years of space travel. This got me to wondering: when will we ever get to Alpha ...
9
votes
3answers
2k views
Is Voyager 2 capable of proving the existence of Oort cloud?
Yesterday on Dec 10 2018, NASA announced that Voyager 2 probe has exited the heliosphere - the protective bubble of particles and magnetic fields created by the Sun and entered the interstellar-medium;...
0
votes
0answers
102 views
How are Voyager's 16 thrusters oriented?
@RussellBorogove's excellent answer to the question How do Voyager 1's Trajectory Control Thrusters differ from its Attitude Control Thrusters? describes the locations and usage patterns of the 16 ...
13
votes
1answer
2k views
Why didn't the Pioneer probes maintain communications with Earth as long as the Voyagers have?
The Pioneer Missions. March 26, 2007
PIONEER 10 SPACECRAFT SENDS LAST SIGNAL - After more than 30 years, it
appears the venerable Pioneer 10 spacecraft has sent its last signal
to Earth. ...
43
votes
1answer
7k views
Why were the Voyager spacecraft numbered “out-of-order”?
Voyager 2 was launched on August 20, 1977. Sixteen days later, Voyager 1 was launched on September 5, 1977.
Why was the first spacecraft numbered #2 and the second spacecraft numbered #1?
...
6
votes
1answer
111 views
Unknown Moons and Planetary Flybys
I’ve a question for any trajectory experts out there:
The Pioneer and Voyager probes discovered new moons during their flybys of our four giant planets (and indeed rings). These didn’t come as much ...
3
votes
0answers
180 views
What will the condition of the Voyager craft be like far enough into the future so as to have “truly” exited the Solar System?
I am curious about this. I saw this article:
https://www.popsci.com/voyager-2-interstellar-space?con=TrueAnthem&dom=tw&lnk=TATW&src=SOC&utm_campaign=&utm_content=...
2
votes
0answers
75 views
Did any of Voyagers' receivers' front ends take advantage of the “cold of space” to lower noise?
Most of the Voyagers' electronics are kept warm by electrical heaters powered by their RTG's, and presumably protected by some amount of insulation from the "cold of space" which means loss of heat ...
7
votes
1answer
207 views
How often do we get information from the Voyager spacecrafts?
Checking the JPL website for the Voyager spacecrafts (https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status/) I can see a distance input from the sun and earth. The description for the distance claims that "...
3
votes
1answer
154 views
Did Voyager 1 and 2 record while not near any planets to get “ambient mechanical noise” for smoothing?
Background:
I was looking at a lot of the voyager spectrograms and listening to their sounds and I was honestly starting to wonder whether or not they had any sort of ambient noise negation applied ...
2
votes
0answers
79 views
Did anyone suggest theories on the sounds voyager 1 captured from 2012-2013?
I was watching this on the JPL Youtube channel and it doesn't have much context other than 2 minutes of footage, and cuts to slides with some information, but not a lot of information. I'm wondering ...
15
votes
2answers
5k views
How does a space probe maintain its trajectory while passing through the extreme gravitational field of the gas giants of our solar system?
Space probes like Voyager 1, 2, New Horizons, etc, traveled beyond those gas giants, how did they cope up with their extreme gravity?
How was the trajectory of these probes unhindered by the immense ...
3
votes
2answers
636 views
Could space probe Voyager 1 or 2 reach Alpha Centauri?
Is it possible for Voyager 1 or 2 to reach any other star? If yes, which one is it and how much time does it take to do that?
And in which direction are they now, and could we still communicate with ...
10
votes
1answer
2k views
Why is New Horizons' data transmission speed so slow compared to Voyager?
New Horizons was said to be able to communicate at ~1kbit/s at Pluto and 38kbit/s at Jupiter.
Communication with the spacecraft is via X band. The craft had a communication rate of 38 kbit/s at ...
3
votes
1answer
383 views
Have deep-space spacecraft always used some form of spread-spectrum for data downlink?
tl;dr:
Question: Have deep-space spacecraft always use some form of spread-spectrum for data downlink?
note: I'm looking for some insight into why, and any possible exceptions, not just a "yes" or "...
8
votes
1answer
172 views
What is the difference in resolution between the cameras in Voyager and Juno?
Both Voyager I and the Juno spacecraft photographed Jupiter (among other things). What is the difference in camera resolution between the two spacecraft? Did we receive larger photos from Juno?
0
votes
1answer
569 views
Are the Voyager spacecrafts ever coming back? [duplicate]
The Voyager spacecrafts were sent out over 40 years ago to conduct closeup studies of Jupiter and Saturn, Saturn's rings, and the larger moons of the two planets, but something went wrong and they ...
8
votes
1answer
295 views
At what exact time was the Pale Blue Dot image taken?
The date of the "Pale Blue Dot" photo is 14 February 1990, but is its exact time of capture (or at least hour) known?
I was a school child back then, and I am trying to figure out what I was most ...
9
votes
2answers
1k views
How to calculate data rate of Voyager 1?
I've read the following passage in the answer to the Quora question How can Voyager send a signal strong enough for us to receive, in spite of its enormous distance from us? And how can it have the ...
14
votes
2answers
1k views
How is Voyager 1 still operating?
I watched a documentary on Voyager 1 and 2 last night and wondered "how is the digital equipment on them still operating"?
I work in IT, and decided to look up what the longest running servers were - ...
7
votes
3answers
420 views
Shortest time to place a probe further than Voyager 1?
Based on today's technology (requiring no new engineering hurdles to be solved), could a new interstellar space probe overtake Voyager 1's distance? It doesn't need to go in the same direction, but ...
6
votes
1answer
1k views
How does Voyager 1 keep track of its orientation?
With the Voyager 1 attitude correction all over the news (related: How do Voyager 1's Trajectory Control Thrusters differ from its Attitude Control Thrusters?), I wonder with what instrument such ...
12
votes
1answer
2k views
How do Voyager 1's Trajectory Control Thrusters differ from its Attitude Control Thrusters?
There are several popular news items about the recent test of Voyager 1's Trajectory Control Thrusters to see if they can be used for attitude control to facilitate communication with Earth. The ...
4
votes
1answer
209 views
Is there a planet walk with the positions of Voyager 1 and 2?
There are a lot of walks like the Sagan Planet Walk (see the list on Wikipedia).
But are there any of these walks that include the position of the Voyager space probes?
Some days ago I was ...
39
votes
3answers
4k views
Would we be able to detect an extraterrestrial “Voyager” if it came near us?
Attached to the Voyager probes are the golden records, which are essentially messages-in-a-bottle sent out into the vast sea of interstellar space, containing of course the "message of humanity". ...
6
votes
1answer
1k views
How does Voyager take pictures in space?
Voyager launched in the 70s. At that time, modern CCD or CMOS image sensor may not have been available.
So how does Voyager take pictures in space, digitize the image and send it back to us?
The ...
10
votes
2answers
923 views
How cold are the Voyagers now? Colder than LOX? Colder than SOX?
The MHW-RTG model Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators on the two Voyager spacecraft started out at about 1000C and 300C on the hot and cold sides, but will have dropped somewhat due to slow decay ...
2
votes
1answer
431 views
Can aliens use Voyager to communicate with us? [closed]
An alien intelligence, after observing Voyagers trajectory to work out where it came from, would know that there is intelligent life on Earth.
How could they use that information to start ...
4
votes
1answer
298 views
How will the Voyager 1 manage to generate electricity in the future or even now?
Voyager 1 has gone far enough probing the interstellar spaces outside the Solar System, after its Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators would completely decay the radioactive material inside, the ...
6
votes
3answers
3k views
Why is Voyager 1 faster than all other space probes?
From the Wikipedia article, List of artificial objects leaving the Solar System:
Although other probes were launched first, Voyager 1 was able to achieve a higher speed and has overtaken all ...
3
votes
0answers
121 views
Isn't the escape velocity for the solar system at the Earth 42.1 km/s? Then why does the graph show 36 km/s for the same value? Is the plot wrong? [duplicate]
The graph shows that 36 km/s is the escape velocity of the solar system at the Earth. But if we do some calculations, we will get 42.1 km/s as the right answer. I have been checking all other escape ...
1
vote
2answers
237 views
Satellite Position
The Voyager 1 took one last photograph in 1990 and after that, the camera equipment was shut off for power saving. However, the estimates of where the photo was taken in space vary by many hundreds of ...
3
votes
2answers
1k views
Voyager Earth to Jupiter journey time
Voyager 1 was launched on Sept 5, 1977 and encountered Jupiter March 5, 1979, a journey of less than 2 years.
When I try to calculate the trajectory of the probe I assume a Hohmann transfer from ...
21
votes
3answers
12k views
Can Voyager 1 or 2, theoretically, return to earth if given instructions before their electronic instruments shut down in 2025?
According to the NASA Website, the Voyager probes will begin powering down electrical components soon with all electronic functions ceasing some time around 2025.
With no ability to transmit back to ...
6
votes
1answer
948 views
What is the brown band in which we find the pale blue dot that is Earth?
In the famous "pale blue dot" picture:
we see Earth in a brown band. What is that band? Is it an artifact of the camera? Is it a ring of dust orbiting around the Sun akin to the rings of Saturn and ...
9
votes
1answer
373 views
How did Voyager 1 avoid crashing into Jupiter?
Consider the following video (taken from here):
To me it looks like Voyager 1 will crash into Jupiter. Obviously Voyager 1 didn't crash into Jupiter, but at a glance it looks like it will.
What ...
10
votes
0answers
327 views
How are the Voyagers' thrusters configured in a novel way to minimize accelerations along Earth-spacecraft axis?
I've just read in Eshleman et al 1977 Radio Science Investigations with Voyager that the voyagers have:
...a novel attitude-control thruster configuration that minimizes accelerations along the ...
0
votes
1answer
381 views
Do the Voyager probes experience time moving faster due to relativity?
Time goes faster the weaker the gravitational field you are in as long as your velocity is constant. The Voyager probes have moved a long way from the sun and its planets so I presume time must be ...
6
votes
6answers
1k views
Do electronics and mechanical components work in a vacuum or require a sealed controlled atmosphere?
I'm curious about the electronics and other instruments on Voyager and similar spacecraft. Are the electronic components kept in open vacuum or in a sealed atmosphere? I imagine cooling gets tricky ...
2
votes
1answer
222 views
Voyager 1 tape recorder
I followed the string of notes regarding the disturbances caused by the Voyager tape-recorder. It sounds like the recorder has a net angular momentum when the tape is running and that the hydrazine ...
1
vote
1answer
321 views
Why does DSN sometimes uses two dishes at the same time to receive Voyager-1?
I just looked at the Deep Space Network site DSN Now at https://eyes.nasa.gov/dsn/dsn.html and I saw that both dish numbers 25 and 26 are receiving a 8.42 GHz downlink signal from Voyager 1. Both ...
5
votes
0answers
219 views
Frequency responses of Voyager's S-band high gain antenna's feed-horn and receiver front end & IF?
I'm working on this question. This is the farthest (known) communications link humans have ever engineered - an one node is running in deep space on 40 year old technology. Pretty amazing!
In the ...
