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NASA’s Voyager Team Focuses on Software Patch, Thrusters (www.jpl.nasa.gov)

submitted 11 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Engineers for NASA’s Voyager mission are taking steps to help make sure both spacecraft, launched in 1977, continue to explore interstellar space for years to come.

One effort addresses fuel residue that seems to be accumulating inside narrow tubes in some of the thrusters on the spacecraft. The thrusters are used to keep each spacecraft’s antenna pointed at Earth. This type of buildup has been observed in a handful of other spacecraft.

The team is also uploading a software patch to prevent the recurrence of a glitch that arose on Voyager 1 last year. Engineers resolved the glitch, and the patch is intended to prevent the issue from occurring again in Voyager 1 or arising in its twin, Voyager 2.

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[–] [email protected] 37 points 11 months ago (3 children)

I'm amazed that 2 spacecraft, launched years before I was born, are still out there exploring and we're still in contact despite them being out of the solar system. And the fact that we have a good enough connection to patch their software is just insane.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Right? These machines are a marvel of human ingenuity.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago

They’re coming up on 50 years old!!

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Simply amazing:

One effort addresses fuel residue that seems to be accumulating inside narrow tubes in some of the thrusters on the spacecraft. The thrusters are used to keep each spacecraft’s antenna pointed at Earth. This type of buildup has been observed in a handful of other spacecraft.

The team is also uploading a software patch to prevent the recurrence of a glitch that arose on Voyager 1 last year. Engineers resolved the glitch, and the patch is intended to prevent the issue from occurring again in Voyager 1 or arising in its twin, Voyager 2.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago

If I remember correctly the connection to the Voyager probes in the range of bites per minute speeds. So think how small the patch would have had to be just to send in a reasonable period of time.

Makes me wonder what language it was programmed in.