[0]https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/voyager-1-2-discovers-evidence...
There apparently are hot plasma at edge of our solar system.
https://public.nrao.edu/ask/how-strong-is-the-signal-from-th...
I'm no physicist, but I don't understand how a signal is detectable from that far. Also, am very impressed that voyager can aim at earth from that far away too.
I'm pretty sure, at that distance, it doesn't even matter anymore whether it is pointing at earth, the moon or the sun.
https://www.nasa.gov/podcasts/invisible-network/bonus-dsn-yo...
It does have an AACS system, which is tracking the sun and a bright star (Canopus) to orient itself earlier in the mission.
A quick search indicates it is still doing about 1 puff per hour to keep pointing the right way. The biggest problem seems to be that the lines for those puffs are clogging.
centuries from now we'll launch a drone that will pass by it in 50 days
then many more centuries someday in 50 minutes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kscm2_RCcA&t=50s
EDIT: n/m. The famous plaque is borne by Pioneers 10 and 11. Not Voyager.
May only be another Sydney Sweeney American Eagle ad away...
> "We knew that if you filled up to brimming point the spacecraft with all the fuel it ever needed, it'd be OK," recalled Hunt. "We did. But we never told anybody."
The mission was supposed to only do two planets even though it was known to be the only opportunity to do 4 planets in one launch. But the new Nixon Administration was not excited by a rapidly changing field of science. So the NASA administrators proposed limiting it two planets. In the next administration, they were like OK keep exploring. And sure enough the launch went on to explore four planets.
Maybe nobody in the science world. But in the commercial world, it's the requirement so it's not a bug it's a feature.
1. Would our current technology be able to detect life on EARTH ITSELF from "just" as far as Pluto?
2. If an alien probe was sending pings towards Earth, deliberately or not, from as far away as Voyager, would we be able to, detect of course, but notice it?
Regarding 2, depends entirely on the pings. Their doing it deliberately would certainly increase the odds. :)
captainkrtek•5mo ago
https://www.pbs.org/the-farthest/
marcusb•5mo ago
https://itsquieterfilm.com/