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> Not only is the technical achievement something to be celebrated Only the _documentation_ effort must be monumental.

OldGuyInTheClub 3y ago
Yes, and JPL makes it available. Voyager Telecom: https://descanso.jpl.nasa.gov/DPSummary/Descanso4--Voyager_new.pdf https://descanso.jpl.nasa.gov/DPSummary/Descanso4--Voyager_n... A lot more at the top-level site and the links on the right-hand side: https://descanso.jpl.nasa.gov/ https://descanso.jpl.nasa.gov/
quietpain 3y ago
Lets hope the _archival_ effort can match or in 50 years time we’ll have another one of these: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_11_missing_tapes https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_11_missing_tapes https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stolen_and_missing_Moon_rocks https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stolen_and_missing_Moon_rock...
- shiroiuma 3y ago
  Even with those problems, those are still far better than the (complete lack of) documentation I see in software workplaces these days.
  - mdaniel 3y ago
    In fairness to the workplaces that I've been in, documentation for a software stack, or even the product, from 18 months ago may as well be in Swahili for as much good as it would do any new member to the team Just like the comparison to code quality I often see is any such NASA thread: it's a whole different ballgame when one is sending a spacecraft out, or carrying lives to space, than "I tried to send a Slack message and it did a sowweee,oopsiez"
- chpatrick 3y ago
  The missing tapes are definitely one of the saddest engineering stories for me. Such an important moment in history and we just threw it away.
ChicagoBoy11 3y ago
I've been trying to "learn" the missions more thoroughly by flying them on Orbiter and NASSP, and just the sheer amount and depth of documentation that is accessible today is truly astounding. There's something awe-inspiring about sitting and my computer and looking at the mission plan, only to then not understand the "why" of this particular switch that I'm throwing, to then open a pdf with a "astronaut training booklet" which explains the overview of the thing I'm using, to then open another pdf with the detail technical documentation of it, to then a schematic of the equipment should I at any point (but prob not) ever try building one myself.

Yes, and JPL makes it available. Voyager Telecom: https://descanso.jpl.nasa.gov/DPSummary/Descanso4--Voyager_new.pdf https://descanso.jpl.nasa.gov/DPSummary/Descanso4--Voyager_n... A lot more at the top-level site and the links on the right-hand side: https://descanso.jpl.nasa.gov/ https://descanso.jpl.nasa.gov/

quietpain 3y ago

Lets hope the _archival_ effort can match or in 50 years time we’ll have another one of these: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_11_missing_tapes https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_11_missing_tapes https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stolen_and_missing_Moon_rocks https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stolen_and_missing_Moon_rock...

shiroiuma 3y ago
Even with those problems, those are still far better than the (complete lack of) documentation I see in software workplaces these days.
- mdaniel 3y ago
  In fairness to the workplaces that I've been in, documentation for a software stack, or even the product, from 18 months ago may as well be in Swahili for as much good as it would do any new member to the team Just like the comparison to code quality I often see is any such NASA thread: it's a whole different ballgame when one is sending a spacecraft out, or carrying lives to space, than "I tried to send a Slack message and it did a sowweee,oopsiez"
chpatrick 3y ago
The missing tapes are definitely one of the saddest engineering stories for me. Such an important moment in history and we just threw it away.

ChicagoBoy11 3y ago

I've been trying to "learn" the missions more thoroughly by flying them on Orbiter and NASSP, and just the sheer amount and depth of documentation that is accessible today is truly astounding. There's something awe-inspiring about sitting and my computer and looking at the mission plan, only to then not understand the "why" of this particular switch that I'm throwing, to then open a pdf with a "astronaut training booklet" which explains the overview of the thing I'm using, to then open another pdf with the detail technical documentation of it, to then a schematic of the equipment should I at any point (but prob not) ever try building one myself.