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Voyager
Jun 22, 2012 11:36:39 GMT 1
Post by StuartG on Jun 22, 2012 11:36:39 GMT 1
I think the '70's was the zenith of the West's advancement in many fields. Here is one example ... "June 22, 2012: For nearly 35 years, NASA’s Voyager 1 probe has been hurtling toward the edge of the solar system, flying through the dark void on a mission unlike anything attempted before. One day, mission controllers hope, Voyager 1 will leave the solar system behind and enter the realm of the stars—interstellar space. " science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2012/21jun_finalfrontier/
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Voyager
Jun 22, 2012 15:35:43 GMT 1
Post by jonjel on Jun 22, 2012 15:35:43 GMT 1
Interesting subject Stuart. I am amazed that after 35 years and billions of miles it has not collided with a lump of rock or other debris knocking it out.
The other thought I have had is, I assume the batteries are solar powered. What happens when it gets so far from the sun that the available light is just not there to charge the batteries? And has anyone calculated when that will be?
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Voyager
Jun 22, 2012 21:36:39 GMT 1
Post by StuartG on Jun 22, 2012 21:36:39 GMT 1
Jj, "I am amazed that after 35 years and billions of miles it has not collided with a lump of rock or other debris knocking it out" That is just luck, there's plenty of bits and pieces hitting the Earth every day so there's a chance, but it's a very small target in a very, very large pond! Lets hope its luck holds. The power for both the Voyager craft come from an RTG as depicted and discussed generally here ... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoelectric_generator#Historyand specifically here ... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_program#Powerand as it says uses Plutonium-238 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plutonium-238where it says ... "This technology was first developed by Los Alamos National Laboratory during the 1960s and 1970s to provide radioisotope thermoelectric generator power for cardiac pacemakers. Of the 250 plutonium-powered cardiac pacemakers Medtronic manufactured, twenty-two were still in service more than twenty-five years later, a feat that no battery-powered pacemaker could achieve." ... which is fine for the recipient but it makes it a bit of a bugger to bury you when you do shuffle off. It also makes the point again about the '70's being the zenith of the West. Do please note that it is the heat developed by the decay that generates the electricity and not the radio-active reaction itself. The Voyager is already too far from the Sun for any of its radiation to be useful for power production. Mars is roughly the distance limit of useful power and is the reason for the remark in the last wiki ... "then we won't go beyond Mars anymore. We won't be exploring the solar system beyond Mars and the asteroid belt." In turn this makes the point in microcosm for any power generation from radio-active sources, the difficulty with disposal of the spent reagents and fuels.
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Voyager
Jun 24, 2012 19:00:34 GMT 1
Post by StuartG on Jun 24, 2012 19:00:34 GMT 1
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