The venerable Voyager 1 spacecraft is experiencing another glitch. Instead of sending science and engg. data, it is sending a 0101 bit pattern.
The problem has been narrowed down to the flight data system (FDS), which is not communicating properly with the telecom unit (TMU). A reboot did not help.
Stay tuned as NASA engrs work out a fix for this 1970's era computer, which has performed magnificently during its long 46-year journey to the planets and to outer space.
https://descanso.jpl.nasa.gov/DPSummary/Descanso4--Voyager_new.pdf
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The two Voyager spacecraft, launched on Sept 5, 1977 and Aug 20, 1977, have been traveling in space for over 46 years.
Voyager 1 is farther away from earth at 24.3 mil km (22.5 light hours), while V2 is 20.3 mil km away, located below the ecliptic. Both spacecraft are in interstellar space.
Here are the locations and some vital stats on the two Voyager spacecraft.
You can follow the real-time status of Voyager at https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status/
Graphic source: https://www.nasa.gov/solar-system/nasas-new-horizons-reaches-a-rare-space-milestone/
#Voyager
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Voyager's computer systems were custom-built using 1960s technology, with clock speeds measured in KHz and RAM in kbytes, running hand-crafted software, crammed into 4K of 18-bit wide plated-wire memory (similar to but better than core mem).
And yes, it uses a digital 8-track tape recorder for storage.
The custom-designed hardware and (upgraded) software (and most instruments) are still functioning after 46 years in space!
https://history.nasa.gov/computers/Ch6-2.html
https://hackaday.com/2018/11/29/interstellar-8-track-the-low-tech-data-recorders-of-voyager/
#Voyager
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How the **** does the tape work at those temperatures?!?!
Vacuum is a pretty good insulator (you only radiate jest away), so hearing is not as expensive as one might think.
