![]() ![]() There are seven top-level fault protection routines, each capable of covering a multitude of possible failures. The Voyager system is one of the most sophisticated ever designed for a deep-space probe. Like the HAL computer aboard the ship Discovery from the famous science fiction story 2001: A Space Odyssey, each Voyager is equipped with computer programming for autonomous fault protection. Since a color TV set contains about 2500 equivalent parts, each Voyager has the equivalent electronic circuit complexity of some 2000 color TV sets. One computer memory alone contains over one million equivalent electronic parts, with each spacecraft containing some five million equivalent parts. Many of these parts have a large number of "equivalent" smaller parts such as transistors. Voyager SpacecraftĮach Voyager spacecraft comprises 65,000 individual parts. A modern-day electronic digital watch operates at a power level 20 billion times greater than this feeble level. The antennas must capture Voyager information from a signal so weak that the power striking the antenna is only 10 exponent -16 watts (1 part in 10 quadrillion). The sensitivity of our deep-space tracking antennas located around the world is truly amazing. This represents enough bits to fill more than seven thousand music CDs. ![]() This is equivalent to one-third the amount of effort estimated to complete the great pyramid at Giza to King Cheops.Ī total of five trillion bits of scientific data had been returned to Earth by both Voyager spacecraft at the completion of the Neptune encounter. A total of 11,000 workyears was devoted to the Voyager project through the Neptune encounter.The entire cost of Voyager is a fraction of the daily interest on the U.S. resident per year, or roughly half the cost of one candy bar each year since project inception. on a per-capita basis, this is only 8 cents per U.S.At first, this may sound very expensive, but the fantastic returns are a bargain when we place the costs in the proper perspective. The total cost of the Voyager mission from May 1972 through the Neptune encounter (including launch vehicles, radioactive power source (RTGs), and DSN tracking support) is 865 million dollars. Several may seem difficult to believe, but they are all true and accurate. These tidbits have been summarized below in appropriate categories. It must come as no surprise that there are many remarkable, "gee-whiz" facts associated with the various aspects of the Voyager mission. The Voyager spacecrafts are still performing like champs. Through the dedicated efforts of many skilled personnel for over three decades, the Voyagers have returned knowledge about the outer planets that had not existed in all of the preceding history of astronomy and planetary science. The Voyager mission was officially approved in May 1972. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |