Voyager - The Ultimate Remote Communication Device

[admin]

On my continuing quest to get RF working in the entire Audioholics showcase home so I can operate all of my theater equipment from the furthest reaches of my bathroom, I am perplexed that I still don’t have a 100% reliable system. Meanwhile, over 30 years ago, NASA successfully launched two Voyager probes that are to this day are still fully functional and transmitting signals back to earth at over 3 times the distance of Pluto! With that, they even include vinyl records in hopes to assimilate aliens into the wonderful world of audiophile nirvana or the non tech geeks may refer to as neurosis.


Discuss "Voyager - The Ultimate Remote Communication Device" here. Read the article.

[10010011]

On my continuing quest to get RF working in the entire Audioholics showcase home so I can operate all of my theater equipment from the furthest reaches of my bathroom, I am perplexed that I still don’t have a 100% reliable system. Meanwhile, over 30 years ago, NASA successfully launched two Voyager probes that are to this day are still fully functional and transmitting signals back to earth at over 3 times the distance of Pluto! With that, they even include vinyl records in hopes to assimilate aliens into the wonderful world of audiophile nirvana or the non tech geeks may refer to as neurosis.

Um... A couple things to think about here.

Voyager may be a lot further away than your bathroom but remeber there is nothing in the way and the receiving antenna they are using is probably larger than your entire house.

So to achieve that level of reliability you just need to tear down all the walls in your house and use an antenna that big.

Oh and its a gold record (litterally made out of gold) not vinyl.

[stratman]

All hail V'ger!

[Buckle-meister]

Voyager 1 currently is the farthest human-made object, traveling at a distance from the sun of about 15.5 billion kilometers (9.7 billion miles). Voyager 2 is about 12.5 billion kilometers (7.8 billion miles) from the sun.

You'd think that being capable of such impressive feats they'd have put a man on the moon by now.

[astrodon]

A very nicely written article and I am pleased to see it on the Audioholics web site. Most of the Mariners, Pioneers, and the two Voyager spacecrafts, and the prolific IUE (International Ultraviolet Explorer) telescope all outlasted their designed lifetimes by many times over -- IUE was designed to last 3 years but lasted 17 before it was put to sleep (i.e., turned off), though it was pretty crippled when finally shut down. It puts things in perspective when noting the various malfunctions NASA has experience with its spacecraft over the past 20 years (though some relatively recent missions, like SOHO and the other solar telescopes are performing well without severe problems). I guess this is what happens when one goes with the lowest bidder.

I still remember my excitement when the Voyager images from all of the Jovian (Jupiter-like) planets were first released -- the tubulence in Jupiter's astmosphere, volcanos on Io, the details of Saturn's rings, the Great Blue Spot on Neptune, and nitrogen geysers on Neptune's moon Triton. I can't wait for the New Horizon's spacecraft to get to Pluto, even if it is no longer a major planet!

[stratman]

Just exactly what is Pluto now? Excuse my ignorance I'm not really into astronomy.

[no. 5]

All hail V'ger!

Nerd alert! Nerd alert!

Just exactly what is Pluto now? Excuse my ignorance I'm not really into astronomy.

As far as I know, Pluto is nothing; you're free to tear it off of any astronomy posters you may happen to see.

[astrodon]

Just exactly what is Pluto now? Excuse my ignorance I'm not really into astronomy.

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) decided on 3 classifications of bodies orbiting the Sun on Aug 24, 2006:

Planets (also called major planets): This is a celestial body that: (a) is in orbit around the Sun; (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a nearly round shape (due to a hydrostatic equilibrium); and (c) has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit. There are 8 of these in the solar system: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.

Dwarf planets: This is a celestial body that: (a) is in orbit around the Sun; and (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a nearly round shape (due to a hydrostatic equilibrium); but (c) has not cleared the neighborhood around its orbit; and (d) is not a satellite of another planet. As defined, the solar system has probably has at least one dwarf planet in the main asteroid belt (Ceres), Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt (Pluto and Eris); and Oort Cloud (possibly Sedna). In addition, the "dwarf planet" Pluto is recognized as a prototype of a new class of trans-Neptunian objects also called "Kuiper-belt objects."

Smaller Solar System Bodies: This category collectively refers to all other celestial bodies orbiting the Sun (proper name: Sol) including asteroids (also called minor planets), comets, meteoroids, and satellites of the major/dwarf planets.

Pluto's demotion from major planet classification is not the first time this has happened to such smaller bodies in the solar system. When the first asteroids were discovered, they were called planets (Ceres was the first discovered in 1801). However as more and more of these objects were discovered (in orbit about the Sun between the orbits of Jupiter and Mars), it was realized that a new classification should be given to these smaller objects. After that (in the 1840s), these object were called minor planets or asteroids.

By the way, professional astronomers only use the names of objects in the sky as voted and agreed upon by the IAU. One cannot buy a name for a star and expect that name to be recognized by professional (and amatuer) astronomers. Buyer beware!

[Johnd]

Yeah, yeah.

But the real problem is what is to become of the phrase (acronym):

My Very Eager Mother Just Served Us Nine Pickles?

Perhaps the new saying ought to be:

My Very Eager Mother Just Served Us Nothing.

[astrodon]

Yeah, yeah.

But the real problem is what is to become of the phrase (acronym):

My Very Eager Mother Just Served Us Nine Pickles?

Perhaps the new saying ought to be:

My Very Eager Mother Just Served Us Nothing.

My Very Eager Mother Just Served Us Nachos!

Nachos rule! - Beavis