One for the Conspiracy Theorists

[Ouroboros]

OK. Well, I don’t know then. 

[StarryEyed]

I've seen the sensors in an AZ GTI do exactly the same thing so maybe if NASA can fix Voyger they might email Skywatcher the solution. 

Edited May 22, 2022 by StarryEyed

[maw lod qan]

The question I have always had is, with the time it takes, say for a probe to reach Jupiter. After the couple of gravity assisted course correction, what do the engineers do for the years that the only thing that is happening is the little probes sitting in the back seat asking "are we there yet? ARE WE THERE YET?" And the missus probe wanting to know when they'll see the next rest stop with a bathroom?

And V'ger has been 40+ years?

[StarryEyed]

Did you ever wonder why those long space missions always have a young bunch of team members at the start. Makes you wonder how many generations might be involved in the first robotic interstellar mission. 

[Carbon Brush]

3 hours ago, StarryEyed said:

Did you ever wonder why those long space missions always have a young bunch of team members at the start. Makes you wonder how many generations might be involved in the first robotic interstellar mission. 

It is worth remembering that for any space muission, there are years spent beforehand getting project approval, then funds, then designing, then building, then testing.
I'm sure the voyager designers are long retired.
It certainly stresses the need for documenting everything. How does this work? Ask......

[DaveL59]

2 hours ago, Carbon Brush said:

It is worth remembering that for any space muission, there are years spent beforehand getting project approval, then funds, then designing, then building, then testing.
I'm sure the voyager designers are long retired.
It certainly stresses the need for documenting everything. How does this work? Ask......

I expect a lot of the low-level board stuff has changed significantly since then too and a couple generations later it'd be a lot harder to figure even with circuit diagrams, perhaps. Sure principles can be understood but the 'why' something was done a particular way might be harder to discern for those used to large IC/PIC to do the heavy lifting. At least v'ger would have been transistor generation rather than valve tubes, tho I wonder if there's any electrolytic caps in the mix somewhere... the bain of many current boards when they start to leak.

[Astro Noodles]

31 minutes ago, DaveL59 said:

I expect a lot of the low-level board stuff has changed significantly since then too and a couple generations later it'd be a lot harder to figure even with circuit diagrams, perhaps. Sure principles can be understood but the 'why' something was done a particular way might be harder to discern for those used to large IC/PIC to do the heavy lifting. At least v'ger would have been transistor generation rather than valve tubes, tho I wonder if there's any electrolytic caps in the mix somewhere... the bain of many current boards when they start to leak.

Many years ago, when I worked for a large railway infrastructure company, a certain number of electrical engineers were retained on zero-hours contracts. These 'Zero Men' had specific knowledge and skills related to all the legacy electronics used in the railway system - some dating back over a century.

I'm sure that NASA and JPL have a contingency for a similar set of issues which will inevitably arise with the march of progress.

[StarryEyed]

56 minutes ago, DaveL59 said:

I expect a lot of the low-level board stuff has changed significantly since then too and a couple generations later it'd be a lot harder to figure even with circuit diagrams, perhaps. Sure principles can be understood but the 'why' something was done a particular way might be harder to discern for those used to large IC/PIC to do the heavy lifting. At least v'ger would have been transistor generation rather than valve tubes, tho I wonder if there's any electrolytic caps in the mix somewhere... the bain of many current boards when they start to leak.

I did earlier look this up and they used a cosmac 1802 which originaly was designed by a Joseph Weisbecker - Wikipedia in his garage at home. Apparently he went around all the Radio shacks buying transistors to build it. He's now one of my heroes for coming up with that and for it to be sent of into the void on such a mission. In fact he's a legend what an achievement. 

[Mr Spock]

V'ger has detected an infestation of carbon units on Earth which must be sterilised.

V'ger has also detected an intelligence called 'Commodore 64', and hopes to mate with it later.

[Mandy D]

On 22/05/2022 at 17:16, DaveL59 said:

I expect a lot of the low-level board stuff has changed significantly since then too and a couple generations later it'd be a lot harder to figure even with circuit diagrams, perhaps. Sure principles can be understood but the 'why' something was done a particular way might be harder to discern for those used to large IC/PIC to do the heavy lifting. At least v'ger would have been transistor generation rather than valve tubes, tho I wonder if there's any electrolytic caps in the mix somewhere... the bain of many current boards when they start to leak.

I can't imagine they would have used aluminium electrolytics. Surely they would not survive well in low temperatures and hard vacuum. Tants may fare better, but I'm still not sure. It's all d.c. anyway, I guess, given it runs from a thermo-electric generator so less need for big caps. Today, I might consider ceramic caps or polyester film.

[iapa]

11 minutes ago, Mandy D said:

I can't imagine they would have used aluminium electrolytics. Surely they would not survive well in low temperatures and hard vacuum. Tants may fare better, but I'm still not sure. It's all d.c. anyway, I guess, given it runs from a thermo-electric generator so less need for big caps. Today, I might consider ceramic caps or polyester film.

Cost, tantalum is very expensive.

Availability, they weren't available until the '80s 

[Mandy D]

3 minutes ago, iapa said:

Cost, tantalum is very expensive.

Availability, they weren't available until the '80s 

Space missions are extremely expensive: cost premium for tants would not even register.

I was using tants in the 70s.

[iapa]

1 minute ago, Mandy D said:

Space missions are extremely expensive: cost premium for tants would not even register.

I was using tants in the 70s.

eyesight, I mis read 1960s and 1980s - time for new glasses, and sleep

[StarryEyed]

On 16/08/2022 at 23:09, iapa said:

eyesight, I mis read 1960s and 1980s - time for new glasses, and sleep

This is what happens to all those old voyager engineers. Nurse talking to old engineer "NASA called I said no only old folk here you must have the wrong number"  "I said NASA called"  "No NASA"  "NO YOUR NOT A NASA ENGINEER  YOUR OLD ah forget it" 

 

This is how voyager ends... 

Edited August 18, 2022 by StarryEyed