Voyager Probes

[Steve]

I watched a documentary on the Voyager Probes from the early 1970s with the family last night. I mentioned to my daughter that in the first Star Trek movie, Voyager came back to earth ready to kick some butt. She reminded me of all of the things that Star Trek predicted that have actually come to fruition...

Think about that for a while :tf

[av8tor152d]

I still don't have a machine that is voice activated and produces any type of food I want out of thin air...not buying it.

And I can't beam myself to work yet.

[The Poet]

Star Trek did NOT predict a pair of sneakers that will order you a pizza.

[shark]

Voyager 1 is in interstellar space now. After all of those years I'm sure everything is dead on it now electronically. I remember the featured editions of the flybys of Jupiter and Saturn in National Geographic (Dad had a subscription for a long time).

[Wharf Rat]

The probe to watch right now is Cassini. It's orbit around Saturn is being altered so it will pass in between the rings and finally crash into the planet.

[jonumberone]

Did they ever send a probe into Uranus?

:D

[pnoon]

Did they ever send a probe into Uranus?

:D

:lr

[Footbag]

Voyager is still returning data. Right now, it's helping to determine where our solar system actually ends. Basically, confirming or in some cases contradicting theory.

[Steve]

Did they ever send a probe into Uranus?

:D

Not mine... :r

[AdamJoshua]

Another prob sent out in the 60s just started transmitting again for no apparent reason, the true Vegar.

[jledou]

I am always amazed that these are still working and they were able to pull off the actual flight and mechanical computation given that we all carry more computing power in our pockets on a daily basis now.

[kydsid]

I still don't have a machine that is voice activated and produces any type of food I want out of thin air...not buying it.

And I can't beam myself to work yet.

Alexa will send the Dominoes guy to my house toot sweet. Even remembers my order. ;)

[shark]

I am always amazed that these are still working and they were able to pull off the actual flight and mechanical computation given that we all carry more computing power in our pockets on a daily basis now.

All of the calculations alone to get the probes where they want them to go are mind boggling. They don't just send it up and towards the targeted planet. https://www.universetoday.com/113488/how-do-gravitational-slingshots-work/

NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft made 2 Earth flybys, 2 Venus flybys and 3 Mercury flybys before it was going slowly enough to make an orbital insertion around Mercury. Ulysses, the solar probe launched in 1990, used gravity assists to totally change its trajectory into a polar orbit above and below the Sun. And Cassini used flybys of Venus, Earth and Jupiter to reach Saturn with an efficient flight path.

[icehog3]

It's a city of apes!