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Curious, has Voyager 1 brought in any data in recent years that is scientifically meaningful? Not to put down the efforts of keeping it alive, I love that. Just
by junon 6mo ago
Curious, has Voyager 1 brought in any data in recent years that is scientifically meaningful? Not to put down the efforts of keeping it alive, I love that. Just wonder how much of its task is "done".
- sho_hn 6mo agoe.g. https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/as-nasas-voyager-1-surveys-interstellar-space-its-density-measurements-are-making-waves/ https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/as-nasas-voyager-1-surveys-int... [2021]
- tokai 6mo agoI can really recommend the documentary It's Quieter in the Twilight. It covers the flight-team operating Voyager, and shows in-depth what they and Voyager is doing.
- DriftRegion 6mo agoThanks, I enjoyed that.
- s0rce 6mo agoFrom the article: “Voyager 1 still has two remaining operating science instruments — one that listens to plasma waves and one that measures magnetic fields. They are still working great, sending back data from a region of space no other human-made craft has ever explored. The team remains focused on keeping both Voyagers going for as long as possible.”
- goldfishgold 6mo agoyeah the sparse data being returned from Voyager are the only direct observations ever made of the outer solar system / beyond. Even if the data is humdrum and exactly as expected, that in itself is worth something.
- krisoft 6mo agoBut worth enough to send a new probe? Generally we don’t construct and maintain expensive scientific equipment just for the fun of it. There usually is some question or debate we expect them to answer or settle.
- comrh 6mo agoWorth enough is always debatable but here are some future proposed science goals for an interstellar probe: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstellar_Probe_(spacecraft)#Primary_science_goals https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstellar_Probe_(spacecraft...