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Voyager 1 Sends Messages from the Edge

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the so-long-and-thanks-for-all-the-fish dept.

dalmozian writes "NASA's Latest News about the Voyager 1 is being run on Sci-Tech. The Voyager has passed into the border region at the edge of the solar system and now is sending back information about this never-before-explored area, say scientists at the University of Maryland. From the article: 'Voyager 1 and its twin spacecraft Voyager 2 are now part of a NASA Interstellar Mission to explore the outermost edge of the sun's domain and beyond. Both Voyagers are capable of returning scientific data from a full range of instruments, with adequate electrical power and attitude control propellant to keep operating until 2020.'" The proof of crossing the termination shock was covered earlier this year but now we can see the actual data.

45 of 287 comments (clear)

  1. Wow. by doxology · · Score: 5, Funny

    Those roaming charges must be astronomical!

    --
    sigfault. core dumped.
    1. Re:Wow. by GillBates0 · · Score: 5, Funny

      On the other hand, the signal quality is stellar.

      --
      An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
    2. Re:Wow. by spoonyfork · · Score: 3, Funny

      Those roaming charges must be astronomical!

      $65+ million over the next 15 years to put a number on it. My mobile bill doesn't seem so bad anymore.

      --
      Speak truth to power.
    3. Re:Wow. by doxology · · Score: 5, Funny

      With that sort of cost, it would suck to cross the event Verizon and be pulled into a Cingular-ity.

      --
      sigfault. core dumped.
    4. Re:Wow. by hamburger+lady · · Score: 4, Funny

      still not as bad as my sprint bill.

      --

      ---
      Is this the MPAA? Is this the RIAA? Is this the DMCA? I thought it was the USA!
    5. Re:Wow. by DeadVulcan · · Score: 4, Insightful

      ...it would suck to cross the event Verizon and be pulled into a Cingular-ity.

      Where is that "+1 Funny-to-some-but- may-induce-vomiting- in-others" moderation I've always wanted?

      --
      Accountability on the heads of the powerful.
      Power in the hands of the accountable.
  2. Top 10 List by AKAImBatman · · Score: 5, Funny

    My attempt at humor. (Stand back.)

    You might be an astrophysicist if:

    10. You only refer to the ninth planet as "Pluto-Charon"
    9. You constantly correct everyone that Pluto-Charon is sometimes the eighth planet.
    8. You've throttled someone for joking about "The Borg" when you mentioned Wolf 359.
    7. You are of the opinion that there are only 8 planets in the solar system.
    6. You get booted out of the family reunion for constantly correcting "scientific" conversations.
    5. You think that the slowdown of the Pioneer Space Probe is a more important mystery than the Pyramids.
    4. The last JPL probe burst at least 10 of your pet theories.
    3. You punched Neil Armstrong for "contaminating" the moon with human presence.
    2. You passed out before Neil's return punch landed.

    And the number one way to tell you're an astrophysicist is...

    1. You hold your breath in awe as a probe sends back data on inky blackness.

    Thank you, thank you! I'll be here all week! (Ok, ok. So the rest of the gags all sprung out of the number one "joke". Try not to groan too much.) :-P

    --
    Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
    1. Re:Top 10 List by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative
      5. You think that the slowdown of the Pioneer Space Probe is a more important mystery than the Pyramids.
      Mystery no more?
    2. Re:Top 10 List by RatBastard · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Not to hijak the thread too much, but what "mystery of the pyramids"? People built the largest stone structures they could using the most stable shape they could find. Where's the mystery? And it's not even like they got them right the first time. They had at least one pyramid colapse because the angle was too steep, hence the resulting "bent pyramid" where they changed angles half-way up. And they started with a much simpler design of a series of stepped platforms on top of each other. It's not that hard to think that an engineer looked at that and thought "Hey! I bet we could add sloped sides to that and it would look really cool!" and acted on it.

      The only "mystery" is people being unwilling to understand the sheer number of men it took to build them. No one questions how the Great Wall of China was built, and it is a much more impressive engineering feat than the pyramids.

      --
      Boobies never hurt anyone. - Sherry Glaser.
    3. Re:Top 10 List by Rei · · Score: 3, Funny

      8.5: You know that Charon was intended to be pronounced "Sharon"

      --
      ... in Siberia, where Putin killed a fish with a speargun. He later claimed it was killed by Ukrainian separatists.
    4. Re:Top 10 List by AKAImBatman · · Score: 4, Informative

      That's one theory that's been suggested, but there are many more. While the RTG explanation seems most likely, many scientists hold to the idea that the RTG doesn't produce *enough* thrust to cause the anomaly.

      --
      Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
    5. Re:Top 10 List by Fallingcow · · Score: 5, Funny

      Indeed, there are many theories. We should avoid intellecual stagnation by teaching only one of them. I demand that we teach Intelligent Slowing in the classroom! ... bye bye, karma :(

    6. Re:Top 10 List by thesandtiger · · Score: 3, Funny

      There may still be argument over this as the wheel was invented about 3000 B.C. However, Egypt was supposedly quite late in getting wheel technology.

      Really? I always play as the Zulus, and those bastards always seem to be a few steps ahead of me, tech-wise. You must play on Chieftan.

      --
      Since I can't tell them apart, I treat all ACs as the same person.
    7. Re:Top 10 List by deesine · · Score: 4, Interesting


      For being a site for nerds, I'm surprised that only you and I have heard of Dr. Schoch's findings and his subsequent run-ins with prominent Egyptologists.

      For those unfamiliar with this man and his claims, go here.

      Indeed, there is more mystery to the great pyramids than "how did they put such large stones in place?". Check it out.

      --
      damaged by dogma
    8. Re:Top 10 List by jc42 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Isn't the Earth-Moon system also technically a binary planet?

      Yeah, some astronomers have suggested that. The problem is, as explained in an adjacent article, the term "planet" has never actually had a proper astronomical definition. There's an IAU panel working now to settle the terminological debate. The current proposal is that "planet" by itself be delisted as an astronomical term. They suggest that a modifier be required before "planet".

      Part of the debate is that there's a significant crowd that objects to classification terms that depend on things that are not properties of the object. Or, at least, we should make a strict distinction between terms that describe an object, and terms that describe its relationship to other objects.

      This would mean, for example, that the question of whether Luna and Titan are planets or moons would be answered "Yes." They are planets that are orbiting another planet as moons. But others insists that they won't allow something to be both a planet and a moon.

      The Earth-Luna pair is an interesting case, because it's somewhat borderline. The common center of gravity is inside the Earth, but close to the surface. Another interesting bit of trivia is that the Lunar path around the Sun is everywhere convex (relative to the Sun) This means that it's more accurate to describe Earth-Luna as a pair that share an orbit around their common primary, rather than one orbiting the other.

      But it's all rather silly, because there's no agreed-on definition of "planet". The term just refers to a historical list that is looking less and less relevant with time.

      Anyway, stay tuned. Maybe the IAU will settle the matter, at least for those of us who consider their opinion important. Most likely, they'll just discard the term. If they do define it as an isolated term, the result will be a rewriting of the list of planets in the Solar System, as the current list is starting to look somewhat inappropriate.

      It's too bad that the universe isn't cooperative enough to fit into a classification scheme that someone invented a few centuries back.

      --
      Those who do study history are doomed to stand helplessly by while everyone else repeats it.
  3. Voyager1 here, I've reached... by supe · · Score: 3, Funny

    the neutral zone and I'm frightened!

  4. Why are they cancelling funding...? by barawn · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I actually got to see this data presented at a cosmic ray conference this summer. There are a few things you have to realize:

    • This is the only astronomical shock we are able to study closely
    • There are a lot of things we don't understand about shocks
    • Voyager 2 is still working, with better instruments, and will reach the termination shock early
    • We're seeing things we never, never expected


    For instance, on the last bit, we expected to see cosmic rays from the termination shock, because shocks accelerate particles. We see them. But they don't appear to be coming from the shock. They're coming from somewhere else that we don't know. We see another set of cosmic rays (with a different spectrum) that we don't understand at all - we just call them "anomalous cosmic rays."

    Also, inside the heliosphere, Voyager 1 kept crossing magnetic domains (so a needle on a compass would swing back and forth) periodically. It was expected after the shock that those domain switches would keep happening, much much faster. That didn't happen. In fact, the domain switches stopped. We don't understand why. That doesn't make a lot of sense.

    This is our only probe and our only example of a large astronomical shock. It's full of information about how the Universe produces such violent outbursts like supernovae, or gamma ray bursts. We need to keep studying this.
    1. Re:Why are they cancelling funding...? by swb · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I'm not a scientist, and it seems weird to me that they would stop spending money on something that still works and gone someplace nothing else has. It just seems wasteful. And it's not like they can justify it by saying they'll have a replacement there tomorrow, either, since they won't.

      I also thought it was weird that they had to authorize more spending when the rovers were still working past their estimated useful life. You've got a remote control car on fucking Mars that still works and somebody wants to just switch it off? It reminds me of rich kids who throw out good toys simply because they're bored with them.

      I guess the space program has become just like any other corporate entity -- if it can't show glossy, short-term results that look good in :15 on the evening news, it's "not viable." Yay. Another triumph of modern civilization.

    2. Re:Why are they cancelling funding...? by nerdygeek · · Score: 5, Informative

      Anomalous cosmic rays are particles accelerated at the termination shock. They are anomalous inasmuch as they have a different spectrum to the incredibly high energy cosmic rays that come from outside of the solar system. No-one knew what caused these particles originally so they were labelled "anomalous". In fact the unrolling of the spectrum of the ACRs was critical evidence that we had reached the TS. And I'm not sure what you mean when you say the energetic particles are "coming from somewhere else that we don't know"?

      Whilst there's lots about the TS that is suprising and exciting and that we don't understand, it is not quite as mysterious as barawn makes out.

      As for Voyager 2 - it has a fully working plasma instrument that will give direct measurements of the plasma temperature, density, pressure, flow speed and so on, something we didn't have for V1. Is was the lack of proper plasma measurements that led to some teams claming V1 had crossed the TS and then recanting these claims.

    3. Re:Why are they cancelling funding...? by pixelpusher220 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The point is called 'budgeting'.

      You make an educated (hopefully) guess as to how long your 'rover on fscking Mars' will be operating.
      You figure how much it costs to run the rover and it's support systems for that time.
      You (hopefully) add in a percentage increase in case it runs longer.

      However, you don't budget double or more of educated guess on duration, just not realistic. So after the expected time frame the money is being used somewhere else and you need to apply for a reallocation to continue the misson.

      Now throw politics into the equation and well, good luck ;-)

      I'm definitely in the 'this is priceless data' camp and would continue funding this over almost anything, but it's just a realization that things are finite and need to be weigh against other choices.


      --
      People in cars cause accidents....accidents in cars cause people :-D
    4. Re:Why are they cancelling funding...? by Pchelka · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I was not involved in the decision to cancel funding for Voyager, but I have had some involvement in the process that NASA uses to review missions and decide which spacecraft operations to keep funding. I'm relatively low on the totem pole, so don't blame me if you don't like the funding decisions NASA makes. I don't always like them either!

      I suspect that some of the issues considered were the numbers of new publications from Voyager data compared to the more recent missions, the status of Voyager's instruments, and the ability of our ground stations to pick up signals from the spacecraft. These issues come up with any older NASA mission and are not unique to Voyager.

      I agree that the data from Voyager about the termination shock are important - this was one of the reasons why funding to operate Voyager has continued as long as it has. However, there aren't really a whole lot of data from the termination shock, so a relatively small group of people are studying this data. This means a lower science return for the money spent, at least in terms of the numbers of papers published using new Voyager data. Some of the more recent unmanned spacecraft are also in danger of being cut, and there are still hundreds of scientists around the world working on data from these missions.

      While it is true that Voyager is providing a unique data set, the data from this spacecraft are from older instruments that may not be running at their optimal capacity. We have missions with newer, far superior instruments studying other regions of our solar system right now. So which does NASA choose to keep operating - the older spacecraft with limited capabilities, or the newer missions with greater potential for science? When you look at it this way, it doesn't seem quite so bad to cut funding for Voyager, even though the recent discoveries from Voyager have been very newsworthy.

      One of the other posts claimed that the termination shock is the only astrophysical shock we can study so we need to keep funding Voyager. It isn't entirely true that the termination shock between our heliosphere and the interstellar wind is the ONLY astrophysical shock we can study. A shock in a space plasma is a shock no matter where it is, and they all are pretty similar. The same physical processes happen in coronal mass ejections from the Sun, at the Earth's bow shock, at the bow shocks of Saturn and Jupiter, and near the heliosphere's termination shock. The main differences between these shocks are the magnetic field strengths and the scale sizes of the shocks. Other than that, the physics is pretty much the same. So NASA has to make a choice - spend the money to support research on all of these other things, or spend it to keep an aging spacecraft going to study just one region of space.

      Don't get me wrong - I'm sad to see the Voyager mission winding down. It
      would be great to see more discoveries from beyond the boundaries of our solar system. Unfortunately, we can't keep Voyager going forever. We just have to leave some discoveries for future generations.

    5. Re:Why are they cancelling funding...? by Tim+Doran · · Score: 3, Insightful
      Don't get me wrong - I'm sad to see the Voyager mission winding down. It would be great to see more discoveries from beyond the boundaries of our solar system. Unfortunately, we can't keep Voyager going forever. We just have to leave some discoveries for future generations.

      I suspect that reversing a small fraction of the recent tax cuts for the wealthy could fund Voyager for a long, long time. Or heck, cancel the Alaska "Bridge to Nowhere". This isn't a matter of "we can't", it's a matter of "we choose not to".

    6. Re:Why are they cancelling funding...? by barawn · · Score: 3, Interesting

      One of the other posts claimed that the termination shock is the only astrophysical shock we can study so we need to keep funding Voyager. It isn't entirely true that the termination shock between our heliosphere and the interstellar wind is the ONLY astrophysical shock we can study. A shock in a space plasma is a shock no matter where it is, and they all are pretty similar.

      No. Absolutely not. The termination shock is huge. It's something like ~150-200 AU across the heliosphere. We have no idea what the structure of a shock like that is. I said it's the only astrophysical shock we can study, and I stand by that - it's the only astrophysical scale shock we can study. CMEs are far too small.

      The fact that we're seeing things we completely didn't expect should tell you that. We do not understand the acceleration of particles at a shock. Coronal mass ejections happen in a few seconds. The termination shock has existed for millions of years. These are very different phenomena.

      Cancelling the funding for Voyager right now is simply idiotic. We just found out that a lot of assumptions we had about the termination shock are wrong, and there's another probe heading there right now!, with more instruments! In terms of science per dollar, there is no better bet right now than funding Voyager.

  5. Too bad they're going to stop listening by AdamBlom · · Score: 5, Insightful

    As mentioned on Slashdot in April of this year, NASA is planning to terminate funding to the Voyager programs. SpaceDaily has an article from earlier this year that says that funding is not available for the seven older missions (Voyager, Ulysses, Polar, Wind, Geotail, FAST and TRACE) beyond the end of NASA's fiscal year, which ends in October. Given the fact that Voyager only costs $4.1M a year, hopefully someone will realize that it's not really an effective cost saving measure before they pull the plug!

    1. Re:Too bad they're going to stop listening by Karma_fucker_sucker · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Here's another article about the funding cut.

      I just don't get it. Multi-billion dollar projects and/or pork just sail through Congress, but something that's actually producing some unique and useful (redundant?) data has to struggle for a few million dollars.

      Must...stop...now...rant...coming...on...and...p olitical...aaarrrrgggg!

      --
      Evil people don't think they're evil. - George Lucas, Making of Ep III
    2. Re:Too bad they're going to stop listening by FlynnMP3 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      To think that something manmade is at the outer limits or our solar system boggles the mind! Instellar distances are almost unfathomable, but now we have a small inkling of what they are. It would be great to get empirical data from that region.

      I am saddened to the extreme that useful, scientifically important research is going to be cancelled because of lack of funds. What makes this even worse is is takes so long to get out there, and these are the only 2 satellites that are close. Another opportunity won't come for decades!

      I am sure each research project has their own concerns and ideals, but COME ON! Can't this at least count for something?!? Just a little bit more to count in it's favor?

      *sigh*
      Now I am depressed.

    3. Re:Too bad they're going to stop listening by standards · · Score: 5, Funny
      Given the fact that Voyager only costs $4.1M a year, hopefully someone will realize that it's not really an effective cost saving measure before they pull the plug!

      Whoa! I think you need a SERIOUS reality check. Do you realize what one can do with $4.1 MILLION a year? You crazy space cadets only think of yourself, and not the needs of this country:

      1. We could rebuild Trent Lott's house in New Orleans
      2. We could give a federal tax rebate to a person that earns $15 million/year
      3. We could have a series of meeting with the oil industry executives - including a nice catered lunch
      4. The government could support a mismanaged airline for an entire day


      So before you just jump around throwing away our hard-earned money, please think of those in need.

    4. Re:Too bad they're going to stop listening by Fulcrum+of+Evil · · Score: 4, Funny

      6. We could build one support beam for a bridge in Alaska that nobody actually wants.

      --
      "We returned the General to El Salvador, or maybe Guatemala, it's difficult to tell from 10,000 feet"
    5. Re:Too bad they're going to stop listening by An+Onerous+Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      1) It's hard to tell when fundamental research will have big payoffs, and whether those payoffs will be solely academic or also economic. Before we accept your question, you have to show that the research "doesn't actually matter".

      2) Because the government needs to do things that "provide for the common defense," "promote the general welfare" and whatnot, and therefore the government needs to "forcibly confiscate" from somewhere.

      3) Given #2, it's hard to feel sorry for somebody when they'll still have $11M/year to live on.

      4) You're working under the simplistic idea that there is a perfect link between a person's economic value and their economic compensation. In the era of Carly-style CEOs, the evidence for the premise that wealth is earned isn't as strong as it might be.

      --

      You want the truthiness? You can't handle the truthiness!

  6. Sadly by lateralus_1024 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Sadly that message was: "A/S/L/Pic"

    --
    If you think /. comments are bad, check out Digg.
  7. Voyager's message to the extraterrestrials by jzeejunk · · Score: 5, Informative

    from TFA The Voyagers each carry a message to any extraterrestrials they might encounter. Each messages is carried by a phonograph record -- a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk containing sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth.
    To find out more about the message - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_Golden_Record

    --
    sarchasm
  8. In related news... by adolfojp · · Score: 4, Funny

    VGER called... ...and he wants to speak to the creator.

  9. i 0\/\/n0rZ t3h \/()j463r! woooot! by Dogtanian · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Let's /. the voyager!

    I thought about something along those lines a while back. More specifically, with most space probes, what's stopping a malevolant third party from sending their own control transmissions to a probe, and making it do their bidding?

    My guess is that they might include some precautions nowadays, but what of probes from a few years back?

    --
    "Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
    1. Re:i 0\/\/n0rZ t3h \/()j463r! woooot! by Thanatopsis · · Score: 5, Informative

      Yeah sure all we need is a deep space antenna and we will total own it. Oh yeah I don't have one of those.

      --

      Thalasar
  10. Re:And the message was.. by AuMatar · · Score: 4, Funny

    Actually, it was "My name is V'ger".

    --
    I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
  11. Just imagine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    If we would have to do it over again we would not even be able to decide on putting on a golden HDVD or Blue-Ray disk...

  12. The text of it's message: by !splut · · Score: 3, Funny

    "My God, it's full of stars!"

    --
    The angel in the oatmeal.
  13. How government works by Mr.+Underbridge · · Score: 4, Insightful
    I also thought it was weird that they had to authorize more spending when the rovers were still working past their estimated useful life. You've got a remote control car on fucking Mars that still works and somebody wants to just switch it off? It reminds me of rich kids who throw out good toys simply because they're bored with them.

    Ya gotta understand how government works. It's not that someone was actively trying to get these projects defunded - it's just that there was no money allocated for that, since no one anticipated they'd still be working. And since all government work has to be charged to specific accounts, someone would have had to redo that, or else the project would have had no way to spend any money.

    In other words, this is a matter of bureaucracy, not malignance.

  14. Voyager 1 Sends Messages from the Edge by lateralus_1024 · · Score: 5, Funny

    How does Bono feel about this?

    --
    If you think /. comments are bad, check out Digg.
  15. FOS by oliverthered · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Couldn't they just open source Voyager and get a number of nations to fork the bill?

    --
    thank God the internet isn't a human right.
  16. Big stuff in the Kuiper belt by spaceyhackerlady · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Many scientists now believe that Pluto should be more properly classified as the largest Kuiper Belt Object ever found.

    Even that is debatable, if the figures on 2003 UB313 are anywhere near correct. If it's as shiny as white snow, it's bigger than Pluto. If it's darker, it's bigger still.

    ...laura

  17. Last image from Voyager... by payndz · · Score: 3, Funny
    ...was of a green, somewhat bird-of-prey shaped spacecraft bearing down upon it in a threatening manner.

    [Waits for someone even more geeky than me to point out that Klaa blew up one of the Pioneer probes...]

    --
    You must think in Russian.
  18. xxx.lanl.gov? by wsanders · · Score: 3, Funny

    Does is bother anyone that PDF version of that paper gets downloaded from "xxx.lanl.gov"? Oh great, now my employer is going to bag me for downloading pr0n.

    I think this is some kind of LANL inside joke - a few years ago, some poor sap got several years in Club Fed for running a Usenet news server inside Lawrence Livermore Labs that included some alt.... groups.

    --
    Give a man a fish and you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish, and he'll say "WHERE'S MY FISH, YOU IDIOT?"
  19. Re:Voyager's binary transmission leaked! by schnits0r · · Score: 3, Informative

    "Die carbon-based lifeforms die!"

    is what it translates to.

    --


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    Support Indy Music. Buy
  20. Okay, but why? by benjamindees · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The real mystery is more of an economic-political one. Why did such a large number of people essentially devote their lives to building monuments? How was it paid for? Did the pyramids possibly have some redeeming purpose other than as religious symbols? Why are pyramids on my money? How could leaders who have nothing better to spend money on than worthless make-work projects stay in power for so long?

    --
    "I assumed blithely that there were no elves out there in the darkness"