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A large amount of Voyager 1 & 2 's success isn't just technological it is the ability to take advantage of a specific planetary alignment for a gravity assist [

A large amount of Voyager 1 & 2 's success isn't just technological it is the ability to take advantage of a specific planetary alignment for a gravity assist [1] that can only occur every 175 years [2] . [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_assist https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_assist [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_1#/media/File:Voyager_Path.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_1#/media/File:Voyager_...

joe_mamba 7mo ago
Fingers crossed, if we manage not to blow each other up until then, we have 126 years to go till we can try again.
- toomuchtodo 7mo ago
  You might enjoy "A Canticle for Leibowitz" on this topic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Canticle_for_Leibowitz https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Canticle_for_Leibowitz | https://openlibrary.org/works/OL2626638W/A_Canticle_for_Leibowitz https://openlibrary.org/works/OL2626638W/A_Canticle_for_Leib...
  - smithza 7mo ago
    I read the book but don't recall any correlation to the topic of solar system alignment. Spoiler: Era 3 in the novel does speak of space exploration but this is all before the launches of Voyager (though Sputnik had launched by the books release IIRC).
    - toomuchtodo 7mo ago
      > if we manage not to blow each other up until then, we have 126 years to go till we can try again. > A Canticle for Leibowitz is a post-apocalyptic social science fiction novel by American writer Walter M. Miller Jr., first published in 1959. Set in a Catholic monastery in the desert of the southwestern United States after a devastating nuclear war, the book spans thousands of years as civilization rebuilds itself. The monks of the Albertian Order of Leibowitz preserve the surviving remnants of man's scientific knowledge until the world is again ready for it.
- mememememememo 7mo ago
  Ideally cattle not pets. We are continually shooting stuff out and in 126 years it'll be as nerveracking and watching a train departure, but still exciting knowing the train is going further.
  - gus_massa 7mo ago
    Good idea, but it's hard to get funding for cattle, people pay more for pets perks. From another comment Jupiter and Saturn align every 20 years, so we have 5 rehearsal windows before the big one. What fancy projects can we do in them to get funding? Is it too late for the first one? Can we ask Elon to pay for the first two?
    - openuntil3am 7mo ago
      Excellent opportunity to dump Tesla and pump SpaceX.
ahazred8ta 7mo ago
Every 20 years, Jupiter and Saturn are in position for a gravity assist, which allows you to reach half the outer solar system. In the 1970s, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto were all in the right half.
brador 7mo ago
I wonder what the optimal most fastest speed out of the solar system gravity assist path ever possible is and when that occurs?

joe_mamba 7mo ago

Fingers crossed, if we manage not to blow each other up until then, we have 126 years to go till we can try again.

toomuchtodo 7mo ago
You might enjoy "A Canticle for Leibowitz" on this topic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Canticle_for_Leibowitz https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Canticle_for_Leibowitz | https://openlibrary.org/works/OL2626638W/A_Canticle_for_Leibowitz https://openlibrary.org/works/OL2626638W/A_Canticle_for_Leib...
- smithza 7mo ago
  I read the book but don't recall any correlation to the topic of solar system alignment. Spoiler: Era 3 in the novel does speak of space exploration but this is all before the launches of Voyager (though Sputnik had launched by the books release IIRC).
  - toomuchtodo 7mo ago
    > if we manage not to blow each other up until then, we have 126 years to go till we can try again. > A Canticle for Leibowitz is a post-apocalyptic social science fiction novel by American writer Walter M. Miller Jr., first published in 1959. Set in a Catholic monastery in the desert of the southwestern United States after a devastating nuclear war, the book spans thousands of years as civilization rebuilds itself. The monks of the Albertian Order of Leibowitz preserve the surviving remnants of man's scientific knowledge until the world is again ready for it.
mememememememo 7mo ago
Ideally cattle not pets. We are continually shooting stuff out and in 126 years it'll be as nerveracking and watching a train departure, but still exciting knowing the train is going further.
- gus_massa 7mo ago
  Good idea, but it's hard to get funding for cattle, people pay more for pets perks. From another comment Jupiter and Saturn align every 20 years, so we have 5 rehearsal windows before the big one. What fancy projects can we do in them to get funding? Is it too late for the first one? Can we ask Elon to pay for the first two?
  - openuntil3am 7mo ago
    Excellent opportunity to dump Tesla and pump SpaceX.

ahazred8ta 7mo ago

Every 20 years, Jupiter and Saturn are in position for a gravity assist, which allows you to reach half the outer solar system. In the 1970s, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto were all in the right half.

brador 7mo ago

I wonder what the optimal most fastest speed out of the solar system gravity assist path ever possible is and when that occurs?