<https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-66371569>

On Tue, 1 Aug 2023 17:11:43 +0100
Tease'n'Seize <tease-and-seize@invalid> wrote:

> <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-66371569>

<Before reading>
UK applies to join EU ?
<after>
Thought not - lbooyd ehll I gooved they'd lost touch with the
Voyagers years ago.

--
Steve O'Hara-Smith
Odds and Ends at http://www.sohara.org/
Host: Beautiful Theory meet Inconvenient Fact
Obit: Beautiful Theory died today of factual inconsistency

On Tue, 1 Aug 2023 17:11:43 +0100
Tease'n'Seize <tease-and-seize@invalid> wrote:

> <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-66371569>

Has it stopped moving?

<Quote>
The probe has been floating in space since 1977 when it was launched to
study the outer solar system.
</Quote>

--
Bah, and indeed Humbug.

On Tue, 1 Aug 2023 17:11:43 +0100
Tease'n'Seize <tease-and-seize@invalid> wrote:

> <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-66371569>

They've got in touch again.

--
Steve O'Hara-Smith
Odds and Ends at http://www.sohara.org/
Host: Beautiful Theory meet Inconvenient Fact
Obit: Beautiful Theory died today of factual inconsistency

On Tue, 1 Aug 2023 19:48:26 +0100
"Kerr-Mudd, John" <admin@127.0.0.1> wrote:

> On Tue, 1 Aug 2023 17:11:43 +0100
> Tease'n'Seize <tease-and-seize@invalid> wrote:
>
> > <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-66371569>
>
> Has it stopped moving?

No but it's not being accelerated except by gravity.

> <Quote>
> The probe has been floating in space since 1977 when it was launched to
> study the outer solar system.
> </Quote>

I goove "drifting through" would be better than "floating in".

--
Steve O'Hara-Smith
Odds and Ends at http://www.sohara.org/
Host: Beautiful Theory meet Inconvenient Fact
Obit: Beautiful Theory died today of factual inconsistency

In article <20230801210339.802beb6731eeaf44f658bafe@eircom.net>, Ahem A
Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> on Tue, 1 Aug 2023 at 21:03:39 awoke
Nicholas from his slumbers and wrote
>On Tue, 1 Aug 2023 17:11:43 +0100
>Tease'n'Seize <tease-and-seize@invalid> wrote:
>
>> <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-66371569>
>
> They've got in touch again.
>
It should complete a re-alignment in October. This should be automatic,
the re-alignment takes place several times a year.

It still has some hydrazine left in its tanks which is the fuel used for
attitude control. Each time there is a mistake like this more fuel will
be used up. There is no re-fuelling space craft travelling with it <sad
face>

The power supply comes from a plutonium isotope with a relatively short
half life (87+ years), if you wanted Voyagers to continue broadcast
indefinitely. The thermocouple is also deteriorating as was expected.

Most instruments have been shut down because of decreasing power
availability, a brown out! Of course some instruments are of no use at
this stage in the life of the spacecraft. Cameras have nothing to point
at and no light to speak of coming from their parent star. I think it
was Voyager 2 that sent back its last photograph which was of Earth,
less than a pixel.

--
0sterc@tcher -

"Où sont les neiges d'antan?"

On 01-Aug-23 19:48, Kerr-Mudd, John wrote:
> On Tue, 1 Aug 2023 17:11:43 +0100
> Tease'n'Seize <tease-and-seize@invalid> wrote:
>
>> <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-66371569>
>
> Has it stopped moving?
>
> <Quote>
> The probe has been floating in space since 1977 when it was launched to
> study the outer solar system.
> </Quote>

It must on the surface and not swimming anywhere.

--
Sam Plusnet

On Tue, 1 Aug 2023 23:52:18 +0100
"Nicholas D. Richards" <nicholas@salmiron.com> wrote:

> In article <20230801210339.802beb6731eeaf44f658bafe@eircom.net>, Ahem A
> Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> on Tue, 1 Aug 2023 at 21:03:39 awoke
> Nicholas from his slumbers and wrote
> >On Tue, 1 Aug 2023 17:11:43 +0100
> >Tease'n'Seize <tease-and-seize@invalid> wrote:
> >
> >> <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-66371569>
> >
> > They've got in touch again.
> >
> It should complete a re-alignment in October. This should be automatic,
> the re-alignment takes place several times a year.

Yep - unless it picks up the instruction to realign that's being
sent repeatedly since they heard from it.

--
Steve O'Hara-Smith
Odds and Ends at http://www.sohara.org/
Host: Beautiful Theory meet Inconvenient Fact
Obit: Beautiful Theory died today of factual inconsistency

Yes they really should take more care with old hardware. Do you realise that
the ZX Spectrum had not even been designed when it was launched. Its
impressive reliability, when you consider that most of our current home
computers break down in about 7 years.
Brian

--

--:
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...
briang1@blueyonder.co.uk
Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!
"Tease'n'Seize" <tease-and-seize@invalid> wrote in message
news:VpGdnR0V1Ywjs1T5nZ2dnZfqn_adnZ2d@brightview.co.uk...
> <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-66371569>

Nicholas D. Richards wrote:

> It still has some hydrazine left in its tanks which is the fuel used for
> attitude control. Each time there is a mistake like this more fuel will
> be used up.

As the radiothermal generator uses up its fuel, it has less power
available, so they've gradually been turning off instruments, in a
couple of years time all instruments will be off, I presume the radios
will still be on, so it will just be shouting "I'm still alive you know"
into the void as its signals get weaker and weaker here on Earth?

No, they did not. They were deliberately given larger dishes than required
for this very purpose, but the bit rate is now lower than we used to get
from acoustic coupled modems now.
The interference is the main issue, as there is very little in the way.
I don't actually remember what device did the transmitting be it a
travelling wave tube or something else but the power is now reducing due to
the nuclear decay generator getting less warm and driving the thermocouple
battery chargers less efficiently. The batteries are amazing and when they
were storing the pictures it was all done on a data tape recorder. Each of
these has to be wound back and forth to stop them sticking as they age.
Brian

--

--:
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...
briang1@blueyonder.co.uk
Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!
"Ahem A Rivet's Shot" <steveo@eircom.net> wrote in message
news:20230801174228.7e63a7b0dd61075375010e63@eircom.net...
> On Tue, 1 Aug 2023 17:11:43 +0100
> Tease'n'Seize <tease-and-seize@invalid> wrote:
>
>> <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-66371569>
>
> <Before reading>
> UK applies to join EU ?
> <after>
> Thought not - lbooyd ehll I gooved they'd lost touch with the
> Voyagers years ago.
>
> --
> Steve O'Hara-Smith
> Odds and Ends at http://www.sohara.org/
> Host: Beautiful Theory meet Inconvenient Fact
> Obit: Beautiful Theory died today of factual inconsistency

On Wed, 2 Aug 2023 09:57:43 +0100
"Brian Gaff" <brian1gaff@gmail.com> wrote:

> Yes they really should take more care with old hardware. Do you realise
> that the ZX Spectrum had not even been designed when it was launched.

The ZX80 hadn't been designed then either, nor the BBC Micro, even
the Acorn Atom was two years away - the company wasn't even formed! Heck
the Science of Cambridge (another Sinclair company) MK14 was still a year
away! The Z80 CPU was only a year old and the Z80A was still to come.

> Its
> impressive reliability, when you consider that most of our current home
> computers break down in about 7 years.

That's the difference between designing to spec and designing to
price.

My NAS server is about ten years old as are the eight 2TB SAS drives
in it. They spent three years in some data centre before being refurbished
and sold cheap. All the error counters show long strings of zeroes - it'll
probably run for another decade unless I replace it. Not bad for 500 EUZu.

--
Steve O'Hara-Smith
Odds and Ends at http://www.sohara.org/
Host: Beautiful Theory meet Inconvenient Fact
Obit: Beautiful Theory died today of factual inconsistency

On Wed, 2 Aug 2023 10:03:21 +0100
"Brian Gaff" <brian1gaff@gmail.com> wrote:

> No, they did not. They were deliberately given larger dishes than required
> for this very purpose, but the bit rate is now lower than we used to get
> from acoustic coupled modems now.
> The interference is the main issue, as there is very little in the way.
> I don't actually remember what device did the transmitting be it a
> travelling wave tube or something else but the power is now reducing due to
> the nuclear decay generator getting less warm and driving the thermocouple
> battery chargers less efficiently. The batteries are amazing and when they
> were storing the pictures it was all done on a data tape recorder. Each of
> these has to be wound back and forth to stop them sticking as they age.
> Brian
>

Golly!
https://www.wired.com/2013/09/vintage-voyager-probes/

64k mem, tape storage, sort of home PC spectrum/atom/C64 etc style
--
Bah, and indeed Humbug.

Tease'n'Seize <tease-and-seize@invalid> wrote in
news:wwudnUU8i-tWh1f5nZ2dnZfqnPidnZ2d@brightview.co.uk:

> As the radiothermal generator uses up its fuel, it has less power
> available, so they've gradually been turning off instruments, in a
> couple of years time all instruments will be off, I presume the radios
> will still be on, so it will just be shouting "I'm still alive you
> know" into the void as its signals get weaker and weaker here on
> Earth?

Its last message will be "I told you I was ill".

--
Peter
-----

On Wed, 2 Aug 2023 11:05:20 +0100
"Kerr-Mudd, John" <admin@127.0.0.1> wrote:

> Golly!
> https://www.wired.com/2013/09/vintage-voyager-probes/
>
> 64k mem, tape storage, sort of home PC spectrum/atom/C64 etc style

A few years earlier than any of those. More like cut down PDP-11 or
IBM-1130 style.

--
Steve O'Hara-Smith
Odds and Ends at http://www.sohara.org/
Host: Beautiful Theory meet Inconvenient Fact
Obit: Beautiful Theory died today of factual inconsistency

In article <XnsB0547958D3005Factura3476@135.181.20.170>, Peter
<myshed@prune.org.uk> on Wed, 2 Aug 2023 at 10:55:42 awoke Nicholas
from his slumbers and wrote
>Tease'n'Seize <tease-and-seize@invalid> wrote in
>news:wwudnUU8i-tWh1f5nZ2dnZfqnPidnZ2d@brightview.co.uk:
>
>> As the radiothermal generator uses up its fuel, it has less power
>> available, so they've gradually been turning off instruments, in a
>> couple of years time all instruments will be off, I presume the radios
>> will still be on, so it will just be shouting "I'm still alive you
>> know" into the void as its signals get weaker and weaker here on
>> Earth?
>
>Its last message will be "I told you I was ill".
>
Dúirt mé leat go raibh mé breoite
--
0sterc@tcher -

"Où sont les neiges d'antan?"

Nicholas D. Richards said:
> In article <XnsB0547958D3005Factura3476@135.181.20.170>, Peter
><myshed@prune.org.uk> on Wed, 2 Aug 2023 at 10:55:42 awoke Nicholas
> from his slumbers and wrote
>>Tease'n'Seize <tease-and-seize@invalid> wrote in
>>news:wwudnUU8i-tWh1f5nZ2dnZfqnPidnZ2d@brightview.co.uk:
>>
>>> As the radiothermal generator uses up its fuel, it has less power
>>> available, so they've gradually been turning off instruments, in a
>>> couple of years time all instruments will be off, I presume the radios
>>> will still be on, so it will just be shouting "I'm still alive you
>>> know" into the void as its signals get weaker and weaker here on
>>> Earth?
>>
>>Its last message will be "I told you I was ill".
>>
> Dúirt mé leat go raibh mé breoite

That's easy for you to say ...

--
Richard Robinson
"The whole plan hinged upon the natural curiosity of potatoes" - S. Lem

My email address is at http://qualmograph.org.uk/contact.html

On 01/08/2023 17:11, Tease'n'Seize wrote:
> <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-66371569>

I see down towards the bottom of the page that the programmers in the
1970s covered this possibility with an automatic reboot of the antenna
alignment every so often. If all else fails, October's the next one.

--
Tciao for Now!

John.

On 2023-08-02, Nicholas D. Richards <nicholas@salmiron.com> wrote:
> In article <XnsB0547958D3005Factura3476@135.181.20.170>, Peter
><myshed@prune.org.uk> on Wed, 2 Aug 2023 at 10:55:42 awoke Nicholas
> from his slumbers and wrote
>>Tease'n'Seize <tease-and-seize@invalid> wrote in
>>news:wwudnUU8i-tWh1f5nZ2dnZfqnPidnZ2d@brightview.co.uk:
>>
>>> As the radiothermal generator uses up its fuel, it has less power
>>> available, so they've gradually been turning off instruments, in a
>>> couple of years time all instruments will be off, I presume the radios
>>> will still be on, so it will just be shouting "I'm still alive you
>>> know" into the void as its signals get weaker and weaker here on
>>> Earth?
>>
>>Its last message will be "I told you I was ill".
>>
> Dúirt mé leat go raibh mé breoite

!. good old Erse
--
greymausg@mail.com
God Damn the Influencers