NASA Revives Voyager Thrusters 'Considered Dead' for 20 Years
NASA Revives Voyager Thrusters 'Considered Dead' for 20 Years
gizmodo.com
NASA Revives Voyager Thrusters 'Considered Dead' for 20 Years
7 comments
7 comments
NASA Revives Voyager Thrusters 'Considered Dead' for 20 Years
NASA Revives Voyager Thrusters 'Considered Dead' for 20 Years
Damn, they sure built things to last in those days. I can't even wrap my head around the fact that they had enough fuel on board for the thrusters to last 50 friggin' years.
Flyby: the interplanetary odyssey of Voyager 2 (1987) by Joel Davis is a fascinating read about the behind the scenes to get things to work. Back then it was an amazing feat both in the results it gave and how they did it despite lots of problems. That we're still seeing such miracles of science is incredible.
200 pounds of hydrazine is a shitload of monopropellant for a probe that should almost never have to make major adjustments to its alignment.
It is. I'm just surprised they included so much. If you can get by with 100 pounds or 50 pounds, why wouldn't you? Every ounce matters when getting to orbit. No one expected 50 years from these things, did they?