V'Ger is back

[Tom62]

If you tried to start a car that's been sitting in a garage for decades, you might not expect the engine to respond. But a set of thrusters aboard the Voyager 1 spacecraft successfully fired up Wednesday after 37 years without use.

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2017-310

[xSilverPhinx]

Nothing's built to last anymore...

[Dave]

Nothing's built to last anymore...

You just beat me to it, Silver, woz gonna say, "The don't build them like that any more!"

[xSilverPhinx]

Nothing's built to last anymore...

You just beat me to it, Silver, woz gonna say, "The don't build them like that any more!"

[Recusant]

There are a few Voyager 1 threads, chose this one to revive.

Seems as if one of our long-distance missions has developed an electronic version of aphasia. 

"NASA's Voyager 1 Is Glitching, Sending Nonsense From Interstellar Space" | Smithsonian

NASA's Voyager 1 probe is experiencing a glitch that's causing it to send a repeating, gibberish pattern of ones and zeroes back to Earth, the agency announced this week. The spacecraft is still able to receive and execute commands sent to it, but it's unable to transmit back science or engineering data.

After ruling out other possibilities, the Voyager team determined the spacecraft's issues stem from one of its three computers, called the flight data system (FDS). Last weekend, engineers tried to restart the FDS to see whether they could resolve the problem, but the probe still isn't returning usable data, according to NASA.

Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 and its twin spacecraft Voyager 2 are NASA's longest-operating mission. They are the only probes to ever explore interstellar space, or the vast area between stars. The spacecraft were initially launched to study Jupiter and Saturn, and they were only intended to last five years. But after making a series of discoveries—including spotting active volcanoes on Jupiter's moon Io—NASA extended their mission. Both spacecraft carry a "golden record," a 12-inch, gold-plated, copper disk that contains sounds and images to represent humankind in case any extraterrestrials ever encounter them.

By today's standards, the technology aboard the Voyager crafts is ancient. Their computers only have 69.63 kilobytes of memory—about enough to store an average jpeg file. To make room for new observations, they must erase data after sending it to Earth.

"The Voyager computers have less memory than the key fob that opens your car door," Linda Spilker, a planetary scientist who started working on the Voyager missions in 1977, told Scientific American's Tim Folger last year.

But the simple, yet hardy design of the Voyagers has contributed to their longevity and allowed them to hop between missions to collect valuable data. Still, both aging spacecraft have experienced glitches.

[Continues . . .]

[Tank]

Well it's about time it retired. It started work the same year as I did and I retired in 2019. I'm not surprised it's talking gibberish.

[Asmodean]

Gotta admit, that's a LOT of solar radiation and such like for the ole motherboard to handle. Impressive that it lasted as long as it did.

Now, is it indeed gibberish in Alienese, The Asmo wonders, or is the craft transmitting His plan to conquer the galaxy in their language, perchance?

[Icarus]

Here's a salute to Voyager. That thing has outlasted all expectations. 

[Asmodean]

I knew people who were born after it was launched, had children of their own and even passed away as it still did its job. Imagine that... A piece of really old tech, outlasting generations in the very tech-hostile Solar system.

[billy rubin]

my 16 year old truck needs US$2000 to get it out of the shop.

why cant old tech reliability also apply to the transmission in a chevrolet?

[The Magic Pudding..]

Maybe it isn't talking gibberish, could be talking whale
No that's not right, that was IV, we're talking I.
It probably wants to merge with someone.

[Asmodean]

my 16 year old truck needs US$2000 to get it out of the shop.

why cant old tech reliability also apply to the transmission in a chevrolet?

If it's any consolation, 2000 bucks would barely buy me a new clutch (installed. The part is around what, 800?)

[billy rubin]

the problem here is modern technology. i used to drop a transmission in about one hour and do a clutch for about $100, including re-surfacing th eflywheel. that would be about $300 today.

this 16 year old pickup needs two pressure modules changed out above th evalve body, so all of it can be done just by dropping the pan, nuts and bolts stuff. easy. just parts changing.

but then th emodules have to be flashed to match the driveline configuration, and thats dealer-only. unless i have $1800 tp pay, which buys me a license to flash as many as i want for something like three days.

i only have one.

i am not impressed by modern efficiency. i can rebuild carburetters and change out a distributor. i dont need port fuel injection or coil-over-plug crank-triggered sparks.

i used to never drive anything that wasnt older than i was, but thats pretty hard to do these days.

[Dark Lightning]

I get it, Billy. I have a '70 Chevy 3/4 ton truck. I can fix anything on it but the transmission- a turbo-hydramatic 400- and the AC compressor. Both take tools that I would use once and never again, so pointless to buy. Jump in and fire it up, if it has only been sitting for a day or two. This volatile fuel evaporates quickly nowadays. I have a 2016 Kia Forte that is still under the extended warrantee. It has just over 27k miles on it. I'm looking for another old vehicle to replace it. Nothing wrong with it yet, and I'm in no hurry. But everything on it that can break is $1k+ to repair/replace. If I'm still alive when the warrantee is expired, I hope to have its replacement. NB- I'm not in imminent danger of dying.

[Icarus]

Billy you are living in the past.  Dropping a transmission and resurfacing a flywheel would cost a helluva lot more than $300 in my world. 

Dealer shop rates run from 120 to 140 dollars per hour. Dealers invariably use the flat rate manual to set their charges. The manual assumes that the mechanic is really slow. The manual will give the mechanic....ooops I mean Technician, one and a half to two times the needed time to remove and replace anything.

A while back my Honda Element was in the dealer service area to do some sort of air bag recall. While there a man who owned a Honda Pilot was checking out. He had his vehicle in for a routine service check. His bill was a bit north of $900. He protested and asked why so much.  The service writer told him that the spark plugs had to be replaced. The owner asked how much that cost. The service writer said $600. Holy sweet mother of God....six spark plugs cost 600 bucks to replace? Yep!  About 60 dollars for the plugs and $540 for labor.