NASA Transmits Patches to the Two Voyager Probes Launched in 1977 (nasa.gov) 74
"It's not every day that you get to update the firmware on a device that was produced in the 1970s," writes Hackaday, "and rarely is said device well beyond the boundaries of our solar system.
"This is however exactly what the JPL team in charge of the Voyager 1 & 2 missions are facing, as they are in the process of sending fresh firmware patches over to these amazing feats of engineering."
From NASA's announcement: 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... In some of the propellant inlet tubes, the buildup is becoming significant. To slow that buildup, the mission has begun letting the two spacecraft rotate slightly farther in each direction [almost 1 degree] before firing the thrusters. This will reduce the frequency of thruster firings... While more rotating by the spacecraft could mean bits of science data are occasionally lost — akin to being on a phone call where the person on the other end cuts out occasionally — the team concluded the plan will enable the Voyagers to return more data over time.
Engineers can't know for sure when the thruster propellant inlet tubes will become completely clogged, but they expect that with these precautions, that won't happen for at least five more years, possibly much longer. "This far into the mission, the engineering team is being faced with a lot of challenges for which we just don't have a playbook," said Linda Spilker, project scientist for the mission as NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. "But they continue to come up with creative solutions."
But that's not the only issue: 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...
In 2022, the onboard computer that orients the Voyager 1 spacecraft with Earth began to send back garbled status reports, despite otherwise continuing to operate normally... The attitude articulation and control system (AACS) was misdirecting commands, writing them into the computer memory instead of carrying them out. One of those missed commands wound up garbling the AACS status report before it could reach engineers on the ground.
The team determined the AACS had entered into an incorrect mode; however, they couldn't determine the cause and thus aren't sure if the issue could arise again. The software patch should prevent that.
"This patch is like an insurance policy that will protect us in the future and help us keep these probes going as long as possible," said JPL's Suzanne Dodd, Voyager project manager. "These are the only spacecraft to ever operate in interstellar space, so the data they're sending back is uniquely valuable to our understanding of our local universe."
Since their launch in 1977, NASA's two Voyager probes have travelled more than 12 billion miles (each!), and are still sending back data from beyond our solar system.
"This is however exactly what the JPL team in charge of the Voyager 1 & 2 missions are facing, as they are in the process of sending fresh firmware patches over to these amazing feats of engineering."
From NASA's announcement: 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... In some of the propellant inlet tubes, the buildup is becoming significant. To slow that buildup, the mission has begun letting the two spacecraft rotate slightly farther in each direction [almost 1 degree] before firing the thrusters. This will reduce the frequency of thruster firings... While more rotating by the spacecraft could mean bits of science data are occasionally lost — akin to being on a phone call where the person on the other end cuts out occasionally — the team concluded the plan will enable the Voyagers to return more data over time.
Engineers can't know for sure when the thruster propellant inlet tubes will become completely clogged, but they expect that with these precautions, that won't happen for at least five more years, possibly much longer. "This far into the mission, the engineering team is being faced with a lot of challenges for which we just don't have a playbook," said Linda Spilker, project scientist for the mission as NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. "But they continue to come up with creative solutions."
But that's not the only issue: 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...
In 2022, the onboard computer that orients the Voyager 1 spacecraft with Earth began to send back garbled status reports, despite otherwise continuing to operate normally... The attitude articulation and control system (AACS) was misdirecting commands, writing them into the computer memory instead of carrying them out. One of those missed commands wound up garbling the AACS status report before it could reach engineers on the ground.
The team determined the AACS had entered into an incorrect mode; however, they couldn't determine the cause and thus aren't sure if the issue could arise again. The software patch should prevent that.
"This patch is like an insurance policy that will protect us in the future and help us keep these probes going as long as possible," said JPL's Suzanne Dodd, Voyager project manager. "These are the only spacecraft to ever operate in interstellar space, so the data they're sending back is uniquely valuable to our understanding of our local universe."
Since their launch in 1977, NASA's two Voyager probes have travelled more than 12 billion miles (each!), and are still sending back data from beyond our solar system.
Multi-generational space missions are now a thing. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
The 2 Voyagers are possibly the best science money ever spent. They visited all the gas giants with clarity never seen before, and sniffed interstellar space where no probe has gone before.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
> I wasn't around to see that, but I can imagine the awe.
I was. I walked into a convenience store one day and saw a magazine cover with a surreal swirling paisley portrait of Jupiter and its big four moons, full of variety, and was thinking, this can't real! Wow, WTF! I forgot what I came to buy.
Io was pizza-esque, Europa a cracked snow-ball, Ganymede a shattered glass marble, and Calisto an ocean of small pearls.
Re: (Score:2)
Continuity over 50+ years... (Score:5, Insightful)
I am amazed that there has been a continuity of funding and knowledge transfer to allow this equipment and these programs to continue functioning.
It's not just handling the spacecraft, but also coordinating and maintaining access to the tracking stations (Deep Space Network) necessary to send/receive information.
https://www.nasa.gov/centers-a... [nasa.gov]
Even if you were an intern when the spacecraft launched, you'd be well into retirement age now (1977-2023), nevermind the engineers and scientists who were deep into their careers to design and build the spacecraft prior to the actual launch date.
Here's hoping we're able to keep these systems online for at another 5 years. Apparently the RTGs used as thermal batteries are already at their limit. The current hack to get as much voltage as possible looks like they can extend the mission to 2026 for Voyager 2...
https://www.npr.org/2023/04/30... [npr.org]
Current estimate is that they'll both be operationally exhausted by 2030:
https://www.amnh.org/explore/n... [amnh.org]
At that point, these spacecraft will have been in continuous program operation for 53 years.
Re:Continuity over 50+ years... (Score:4, Interesting)
A good article on RTGs used in space from hackaday:
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/0... [hackaday.com]
Re:Continuity over 50+ years... (Score:5, Interesting)
Heh, my father started working (as a college co-op) at NASA in 1962 (on the Saturn rocket), and only retired for real this year. He retired from full-time civil service 15 years ago and continued working part-time as a contractor until this year. So while I'm sure there are younger folks working on the Voyager project, there could also still be some original people still involved.
Re: (Score:2)
Heh, my father started working (as a college co-op) at NASA in 1962 (on the Saturn rocket), and only retired for real this year. He retired from full-time civil service 15 years ago and continued working part-time as a contractor until this year. So while I'm sure there are younger folks working on the Voyager project, there could also still be some original people still involved.
There is something to be said for corporate memory.
Re: (Score:2)
Obligatory but can you imagine a beowulf cluster of these... ;-)
Re:Continuity over 50+ years... (Score:5, Informative)
Re: Imagine (Score:5, Funny)
I'm sure the design review would entail an hours long struggle session about how voyaging into space is an act of colonialist violence.
Re: (Score:1, Troll)
Please can you fuck off with spamming your identity politics all over every thread? No one cares except you.
Re: (Score:2)
To their credit, they are embracing their handle / nickname (possibly as a joke?). After all, that's what right wing nut jobs do - ignore any substance-based statements or arguments and instead just bang their fist on the table shouting about "woke" without being able to define it in any meaningful way.
It's about as reasonable to request that a vulture completely ignore some roadkill it's circling.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
You joke, but a number of idiots have already bleated about the disk attached to the Pioneer probes was patriarchal (man larger than woman, you know, like in the real world) and racist (couple depicted were caucasian). Nothing and nowhere is safe from the diseased paranoid minds of these woke freaks.
Re: (Score:1)
The only real danger is the far right who use the "War on Woke" to distract from their coming theo-fascist dictatorship. Then you'll find out the real meaning of "cancel culture".
Re: (Score:2)
Theo-fascist dictatorship?
Lmao, one of your sociology professors teach you that?
Re: (Score:3)
Call it what you like, but it seems pretty accurate for some of the things being talked about by not-so-fringe members of the Republican party. Seems some of them are far more interested in what the Bible says about freedom than what the Constitution says - you know, that document that they took oaths to defend and protect upon taking office.
Re: (Score:2)
So "some" members of a huge political party said some dumb shit therefore we are headed to a Theo-fascist dictatorship?
Can I use the same false logic to refer to the entirety of the other party based on what "some" of them have said?
Is that a valid argument? Because if so the results are pretty wild. In a large enough group there will always be some dumb asses.
Re: (Score:2)
It's so precious that you're trying to gaslight people into thinking that it's only "some members said some dumb shit". If only it was simply that:
Tell you what, sparky; you can use the same logic if:
if those "some others" are holding the entire legislative branch hostage [jpost.com] in order to get their demands, which are always changing.
if those "some others" are actively trying to pass legislation that limits or abolishes individual freedoms [nytimes.com].
if those "some others" are actually removing other opposition politicians [npr.org]
Re: (Score:1)
6 people out of 221 people.
Got it.
Yes, some people are assholes.
You want to play the game in reverse? You think I can't find 6 Democrat assholes who deny elections, want to steal rights, encourage political violence, and so on?
This is not a game you want to play. The fruit on this one is hanging so low, they had to dig a pit under the branches so it wouldn't touch the ground.
Re: (Score:2)
You don't want to actually read what I wrote, or look at any of the supporting links I provided.
Got it.
Bad faith argumentation isn't something I need to waste my time on.
Re: (Score:2)
I read it. I understand the point you're trying to make. You failed.
You also completely ignored my point. Multiple times. You are the king of bad faith.
Are there or are there not assholes saying stupid shit from both parties? There are. A trivial minority saying dumb things does not mean we sue headed to a neo fascist theocracy. That phrase doesn't even mean anything. It also doesn't mean we are headed to a Marxist race driven dystopia, either. There are several assholes on the left espousing that.
Re: (Score:2)
Lmao, ok AC. And what percentage of Democrats don't believe in 1a or 2a rights? Or only believe in them for people they like?
Can play this game allllll day, AC.
Your response was just as fail as the other guy.
Re: (Score:1)
Call it what you like, but it seems pretty accurate for some of the things being talked about by not-so-fringe members of the Republican party. Seems some of them are far more interested in what the Bible says about freedom than what the Constitution says - you know, that document that they took oaths to defend and protect upon taking office.
Well, you hace to admit, that the Republican party is now actually following The son of Man, the Christ.
Donald Trump is the second Christ, sent to save the USA https://www.amazon.com/Preside... [amazon.com]
Get your act together Democrats, lest he drive you like snakes to the sea, and usher in a thousand year Reich..H^H^H^H^H^ erm era of peace.
Re: (Score:2)
Canceling people by premature cremation again? Those were the days...
Races of humankind (Score:2)
I read that the man who is depicted is Black and the woman is East Asian.
Looking at their faces doesn't contradict this.
Re: Races of humankind (Score:2)
Doesnt look like that to me but line drawings can be open to interpretation.
Re: Imagine (Score:2)
Until that never gets sufficiently large, it's important to ignore stupidity like this. Social media has given them a platform they don't deserve.
Yay, Voyager!
Re: (Score:2)
racist (couple depicted were caucasian).
This is factually incorrect - despite the limitations of the line-illustration format they are clearly a mixed race couple. The female is clearly Asian. [wikipedia.org] Of course that has its own implied cultural biases.
Re: Imagine (Score:1)
Who says they're a couple? Maybe the dude's gay and the chick thinks she's a dude who's gay for biological females.
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
They'd start by insisting on installing nvm on Voyager and a re-architecture to Node and microservices, claiming that it will increase scalability and reduce the number of bugs.
They could have morning stand up meetings to respond to the concerns of the day.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I would imagine that a full simulation of the entire system would easily run on a Raspberry Pi.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm doubtful it'd be useful. If the hardware is simulated inaccurately by software then software simulations are just CYA pageantry; and any inaccuracy would only be revealed after it's too late to prevent harm created by the inaccuracy.
On the other hand if constructed original hardware spec is maintained in a working state to test? Might be enough to prevent a someone having to explain how they bricked space history by shipping buggy code.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Sometimes, sometimes not. You can have a full engineering model, a bench model (same h/w componants, but layed out on a bench), a simulation running using the same physical processor, or a complete software simulation. And probably other variations.
Modifing the on-board spacecraft software is often done to cope with hardware that's either failing, or behaving differently than expected. It's not just s/w bug fixing. That kind of fix might be easier to test in a software simulation, were you have full control
Re: (Score:2)
I would put money on a bet that JPL has a real test article kicking around a storage room in Pasadena that they could run a few tests on before doing the real "deployment".
Re: (Score:3)
Don't forget the opportunity to rewrite the code in Rust to reduce bugs :-)
Re: (Score:2)
World it launched from doesn't even exist anymore (Score:2)
When that equipment left Earth I was programming CDC 6000/7000 and Univac 1108 computers with jobs submitted on Hollerith card decks. You interacted with a computer more often than not via an ASR 33 teletype or if you were well funded a Hazeltine 2000 CRT.
All that stuff is long gone. Not even findable in junk yards anymore.
Yet those probes are still there. It is astounding that we can even maintain radio contact. Does anyone know what the specs for that RF link is? It can't be consuming more than
Re: (Score:3)
No, he isn't lying. I was using Hollerith card decks to program a CDC 6500 at a university in CS in the late 1970s. The EE dept had some terminals and as soon as I found those, I'd steal over there to use their equipment.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
You lie. These were launched in the late-70s and nobody was programming like that.
I was using punch cards into the 1980s. Terminals for programming were around, but tended to be in short supply in many facilities.
Re: (Score:2)
There's a joke somewhere... (Score:3)
...about "right to repair" but I haven't found it yet. ;D
Re: (Score:2)
Those NASA hipsters had a right to repair before it was cool.
Cool NASA probe map app (Score:4, Interesting)
Here's a cool NASA app [nasa.gov] that lets you view the solar system from the perspective of outer probes. Click on the probe and drag your mouse to change your angle of view. (Scroll down about 2 pages if you don't see the app.)
And you can click on the other probes' and landmarks' tags to shift your perspective to them. Other probes include New Horizons, Pioneer 10 & 11 (defunct).
Astonishing (Score:2)
Every time I read a story about these probes, I'm more and more astonished they still function, especially at that distance, and that we can still target them to issue commands, which they actually obey.
Those old timey NASA engineers were absolute gods!!
Re: (Score:2)
No, they were programmers of the 1970s.
So ... well, ok, yes.
Re: (Score:2)
Is it sinking in? That you're ancient now?
Re: (Score:2)
Dammit, sonny, write bigger, my eyes ain't what they used to be!
Out of bounds writes? (Score:2)
I had a very similar experience lately (Score:2)
As someone who has to work with and audit ancient mainframe code from time to time, I can imagine what their biggest problem might be.
With most other systems, when you encounter something in a piece of code that needs explanation, you ask "is that guy who wrote that still in the company?". With mainframe (and I can only assume Voyager) code, the question is more likely "is the guy who wrote that still alive?"
Fortunately, back then documentation was actually a thing.
A lot of the code I encounter is older tha
Into the Quiet (2022) (Score:2)
Movie link: It's Quieter in the Twilight (2022) - IMDB [imdb.com]
It is shot before and during COVID. This puts it around the upgrade of one of the primary dishes used to communicate with them in Australia.
Keep your eye out for all of the "retro" tech gear they have to keep running. Perfect movie for all you astro geeks out there :)
Quieter in the Twilight (2022) (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Hey - Slashdot has been that bad for literally decades. At least you can delete a tweet and repost a corrected version...
There's hope (Score:5, Funny)
Maybe some day my Motorola smartphone will get an update too: it's still in the Solar system and it has more bandwidth than the Voyager probes.
Sadly, Motorola is in charge of updates, not JPL. So it's not super likely.
Aging Probes in deep space What can go wrong? (Score:2)
How many times have they updated? (Score:2)
Anyone knows how many times those 2 probes have been updated with new code since they were launched?
And is it common to update probes after they have launched?
Just curious.
Voyager 2 only patched .. (Score:2)