Science

Voyager 1 Stops Communicating With Earth Due To Computer Issue

Published

12 months ago

2023-12-13

Kiara Grace

A computer fault on NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft has caused a communication failure between the 46-year-old probe and its mission team on Earth.

Engineers are working to resolve the problem as the aging spacecraft explores uncharted cosmic territory in the solar system’s farthest reaches.

Voyager 1 is now the farthest distant spaceship from Earth, at around 15 billion miles (24 billion kilometers), whereas Voyager 2 has traveled more than 12 billion miles (20 billion kilometers). Both are in interstellar space and are the only spacecraft that has ever operated outside the heliosphere; the sun’s bubble of magnetic fields and particles extends well beyond Pluto’s orbit.

The probes, originally planned to survive five years, are the longest-running spacecraft in history. Because of their extraordinarily lengthy lifespans, both spacecraft have contributed further insights into our solar system and beyond despite fulfilling their initial goals of flying by Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune decades ago.

Voyager 1 Stops Communicating With Earth Due To Computer Issue

Their unexpectedly long excursions, however, have been challenging.

Voyager 1 includes three onboard computers, including a flight data system that takes data from the spacecraft’s science equipment and combines it with engineering data to determine the spacecraft’s current health condition. On Earth, mission control receives the data in binary code, a series of ones and zeros.

However, the flight data system looks trapped on auto-repeat, evocative of the movie “Groundhog Day.”

The problem was discovered on November 14 when the flight data system’s telecoms unit began sending back a repetitive sequence of ones and zeroes as if stuck in a loop.

While the spacecraft can still receive and execute mission crew directives, an issue with the communications unit means that no science or engineering data from Voyager 1 is being delivered to Earth.

Voyager 1 Stops Communicating With Earth Due To Computer Issue

The Voyager crew transmitted commands to the spacecraft over the weekend to restart the flight data system, but no useable data has returned yet, according to NASA.

According to Calla Cofield, a media relations specialist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, which handles the project, engineers are currently working to gather more information about the underlying source of the issue before considering the next steps to rectify it. The procedure could take many weeks.

The last time Voyager 1 had a similar, but not identical, problem with the flight data system was in 1981, and the current issue does not appear to be related to other problems the spacecraft has had in recent years, according to Cofield.

As both probes face new obstacles, mission crew members can only rely on original manuals published decades ago, which cannot account for the challenges the spacecraft face as they age.

Before sending more directives to the spacecraft, the Voyager crew wants to assess all of the potential consequences to ensure that its operations are not unforeseen.

Voyager 1 is so far away that commands delivered from Earth take 22.5 hours to reach the spacecraft. Furthermore, the team must wait 45 hours for a response.

Voyager 1 Stops Communicating With Earth Due To Computer Issue

According to Voyager’s project manager, Suzanne Dodd, as the twin Voyager probes continue to explore the cosmos, the team has gradually shut off instruments on these “senior citizens” to preserve power and extend their missions.

Both spacecraft have suffered unanticipated troubles and dropouts along the journey, including seven months in 2020 when Voyager 2 could not communicate with Earth. In August, the mission team utilized a long-shot “shout” approach to reestablish communications with Voyager 2 after a command incorrectly positioned the spacecraft’s antenna.

While the team intends to restore the steady stream of data sent by Voyager 1, the mission’s fundamental significance, according to Cofield, is its lengthy endurance. Scientists, for example, want to see how particles and magnetic fields change as the probes travel further away from the heliosphere. However, if Voyager 1 can return data as it travels, the dataset will be complete.

In recent years, the mission team has been innovative in its tactics for prolonging the power supply on both spacecraft to allow their record-breaking missions to continue.

“They are performing far, far past their prime missions and longer than any other spacecraft in history,” he stated. “So, while the engineering team is working hard to keep them alive, we also fully expect issues to arise.”

SOURCE – (CNN)

Science

Australia Asks Residents to Catch Deadly Funnel Web Spider

Published

5 days ago

2024-11-20

Geoff Brown

As summer approaches in Australia, residents are warned to look out for the funnel web spider, one of the country’s deadliest species.

In addition to advising the public to avoid funnel-web spiders during mating season, the Australian Reptile Park in New South Wales has even asked people to capture live funnel-web spiders so they can “milk” their venom.

Native to eastern Australia, the funnel web spider can kill humans in as little as fifteen minutes if they do not receive medical treatment for its poisonous bite.

There have been thirteen fatalities attributable to this species, but none since the development of antivenom in 1981. The Australian Reptile Park is appealing to the public for assistance capturing and donating spiders, as the serum relies on milking live spiders.

Hunting for the funnel net spider in residential areas is common practice after a particularly wet and warm season. Look for spiders in cool, dark places like pools, garden residue, heaps of dirty clothing, and outside shoes.

Australian Reptile Park spider keeper Emma Teni recently blogged about how they rely on spider donations more than ever, especially now that breeding season has arrived and the temperature is perfect.

“Male funnel-web spiders have short lifespans, and with approximately 150 spiders required to make just one vial of antivenom, we need the public’s help to ensure we have enough venom to meet demand.”

“If you spot an egg sac while collecting a spider, it’s important to safely collect that as well,” said Teni. “It can provide a robust supply of healthy young spiders to aid in our antivenom production.”

The spiders won’t be able to climb plastic or glass, but Teni suggests capturing funnel webs in a wide-mouthed jar with a cover. Then, you can lead the spiders into the container using a long spoon or something similar.

After that, fill the jar with moist soil, screw on the top, and bring it to the designated drop-off spot.

“We depend on the public for spider donations, and we want to make sure everyone stays safe during the collection process, especially with conditions being so favourable this year,” said Teni.

Trudeau Orders Facebook to Block Presser Video from Australia

Trudeau Orders Facebook to Block Australian Presser Video

Science

A Spacecraft Is On Its Way To A Harmless Asteroid Slammed By NASA In A Previous Save-The-Earth Test

Published

2 months ago

2024-10-10

Kiara Grace

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida – A spacecraft launched Monday to probe the site of a cosmic accident.

The European Space Agency’s Hera spacecraft launched on a two-year trip to the little, harmless asteroid slammed by NASA two years ago as a practice run for the day when a murderous space rock threatens Earth. It’s the second phase of a planetary defense experiment that could one day save the globe.

SpaceX’s Falcon rocket vanished with Hera into the late morning clouds. An hour later, cheering erupted in the control center in Germany as the spacecraft split from the rocket’s upper stage and returned home. “It’s an amazing day,” the space agency’s director general, Josef Aschbacher, said later.

The 2022 crash of NASA’s Dart spacecraft reduced Dimorphos’ orbit around its larger companion, indicating that if a harmful rock was heading our way, it might be pushed off course with adequate warning.

nasa

A Spacecraft Is On Its Way To A Harmless Asteroid Slammed By NASA In A Previous Save-The-Earth Test

Scientists are eager to analyze the aftermath of the impact up close to determine how effective Dart was and what improvements may be required to protect Earth in the future.

“The more detail we can glean the better as it may be important for planning a future deflection mission should one be needed,” University of Maryland astronomer Derek Richardson stated before launch.

Researchers want to know if Dart (short for Double Asteroid Redirection Test) created a crater or changed the 500-foot (150-meter) asteroid more dramatically. It seemed to be a flying saucer before Dart’s blow and may now resemble a kidney bean, according to Richardson, who participated in the Dart mission and is assisting Hera.

Dart’s wallop sent rubble and boulders hurtling off Dimorphos, adding to the impact’s momentum. For months, the debris track extended thousands of miles (almost 10,000 kilometers) into space.

According to flight director Ignacio Tanco, some rocks and debris may still be hovering about the asteroid, posing a threat to Hera.

A Spacecraft Is On Its Way To A Harmless Asteroid Slammed By NASA In A Previous Save-The-Earth Test

“We don’t really know very well the environment in which we are going to operate,” Tanco informed me. “But that’s the whole point of the mission is to go there and find out.”

European authorities refer to the $400 million (363 million euros) effort as a “crash scene investigation.”

“Hera is going back to the crime scene and getting all the scientific and technical information,” said project manager Ian Carnelli.

Carrying a dozen science instruments, the compact car-sized Hera must swing past Mars in 2025 for a gravitational boost before landing at Dimorphos by the end of 2026. It’s a moonlet of Didymos, the Greek word for twin, a five-times larger asteroid that spins quickly. At that point, the asteroids will be 120 million miles (195 million kilometers) from Earth.

Hera will attempt to enter orbit around the rocky duo, progressively reducing flyby distances from 18 miles (30 kilometers) to a half-mile (1 kilometer). The spacecraft will examine the moonlet for at least six months to determine its mass, shape, composition, and orbit around Didymos.

Before the crash, Dimorphos circled its larger partner from three-quarters of a mile (1,189 meters) away. Scientists believe the orbit has become tighter and more oval-shaped, and that the moonlet may be tumbling.

Two shoebox-sized Cubesats will launch from Hera for even closer drone-like examinations, with one employing radar to peek beneath the moonlet’s boulder-strewn surface. Scientists believe Dimorphos was produced from particles shed by Didymos. The radar measurements should assist in determining whether Didymos is the small moon’s parent.

A Spacecraft Is On Its Way To A Harmless Asteroid Slammed By NASA In A Previous Save-The-Earth Test

After their survey, the CubeSats will attempt to land on the moonlet. If the moonlet tumbles, the situation will become more complicated. Hera may potentially conclude its mission with a perilous touchdown but on the bigger Didymos.

Neither asteroid poses a threat to Earth, before or after Dart appeared. That is why NASA chose the pair for humanity’s first asteroid-deflecting demonstration.

Asteroids, which are remnants of the solar system’s origin 4.6 billion years ago, circle the sun principally between Mars and Jupiter in what is known as the main asteroid belt, where millions of them live. When they fall from the belt and land in our area, they become near-Earth objects.

NASA now has around 36,000 near-Earth objects, the majority of which are asteroids, although there are also some comets. More than 2,400 of them are deemed potentially dangerous to the Earth.

SOURCE | AP

Science

A Rare Comet Brightens The Night Skies In October

Published

2 months ago

2024-10-09

Kiara Grace

NEW YORK — Prepare to spot a rare and dazzling comet.

The space rock is hurling toward Earth from the far reaches of the solar system and will make its closest approach on Saturday. It should be visible through the end of October, assuming clear skies.

A Rare Comet Brightens The Night Skies In October

Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas should be visible to the naked eye, but binoculars and telescopes will provide a clearer view.

“It’ll be this fuzzy circle with a long tail stretching away from it,” explained Sally Brummel, planetarium manager at the Bell Museum in Minnesota.

What is a comet?
They are frozen remains from billions of years ago when the solar system was formed. They heat up as they swing toward the sun, revealing their distinctive streaming tails.

In 2023, a green one that had last visited Earth 50,000 years ago flew past again. Other significant flybys were Neowise in 2020 and Hale-Bopp and Hyakutake in the mid to late 1990s.

Where did Tsuchinshan-Atlas come from?
Also known as C/2023 A3, was found last year and named after the observatories in China and South Africa that spotted it.

It originated in the Oort Cloud, which extends far beyond Pluto. After making its closest approach to Earth at 44 million miles (71 million kilometers), it will not return for another 80,000 years, provided it survives the journey.

A Rare Comet Brightens The Night Skies In October

Every year, several comets are detected, but many of them burn up near the sun or are too far away to be observed without special equipment, according to Larry Denneau, a key researcher with the Atlas telescope that helped discover it.

How to View

Those seeking to see Tsuchinshan-Atlas should go outside about an hour after sunset on a clear night and look to the west.

The comet should be visible from both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

SOURCE | AP