Idiot At NASA Sent Voyager 2 The Wrong Commands So Now The Game-Changing Satellite Is Billions of Miles Away And Completely MIA BUT--- There's Hope
Nasa has lost contact with its Voyager 2 probe billions of miles away from Earth after sending it the wrong command, the space agency has revealed.
Last month, the spacecraft - exploring the universe since 1977 - tilted its antenna to point two degrees away from Earth after the mistake was made.
As a result, the probe has stopped receiving commands or sending data.
Nasa said it hopes communication will resume when the probe is due to reset in October.
Voyager 2 is more than 12.3 billion miles (19.9 billion km) from Earth, where it is hurtling at an estimated 34,390mph (55,346km/h) through interstellar space - the space between the stars.
Sometimes when I hear scientific facts, my brain melts just a tiny little bit out of my ear. It's not like the whole brain or anything. It's just a touch of cerebral fluid that trickles down my ear lobe and falls gently on my soldier.
This is one of those facts. How are we doing wrong commands? I mean, Barstool has multiple layers now to approve tweets if they are a little controversial. We aren't showing our work and getting cleared hot for satellites that are 12 billion miles away. That distance is nearly unfathomable to my human mind so I did some quick math and am going to try to make it make sense.
When I think of distance travel, there are a few modes of transportation that really jump out to me. Boats, fighter jets, electric scooters, and a pogo stick if you just wanna goof some on the way.
Boats: We all love boats for their tranquil sailings on Earth's waters, but how would they fare in the vastness of space? Assuming an average boat speed of 30 miles per hour, it would take 456,000 fucking years to reach the Interstellar Galaxy! That's a long time, my friends.
The Fighter Jet: This one should be much faster as fighter jets are known for being fast as hell, but space is a different ballgame. The fastest fighter jet, the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, can reach speeds of up to 2,200 miles per hour. Even at that crazy speed, it would still take over 136,000 years to complete the 12-billion-mile journey. Again, that's a long time but doable imo. You just gotta stop being a pussy and you can get it done.
The Electric Scooter: While electric scooters are great for short city commutes, they lack the power to propel us through the vastness of space according to experts. Assuming an optimistic top speed of 15 miles per hour, it would take over 3.4 million years to reach the Interstellar Galaxy and that's outrageous. 3.4 million years is four hundred thousand years longer than 3 million years which is still a very long time to travel. You'd be exhausted and, sadly, most likely dead. RIP you.
The Pogo Stick Rider: Pogo sticks are fun as hell and great for exercise too. Unfortunately, hopping through space might not be the most efficient way to travel. Assuming an average speed of 3 miles per hour, it would take a staggering 1.2 billion years to cover the 12 billion-mile journey. Brother, that's like 1/5th of the universe's existence. You simply cannot pogo to space.
I say all that to say that you must feel like absolute shit when you walk into your boss' office and tell her that you lost the signal to a game-changing and vital satellite that has allowed the world to see all sorts of intergalactic wonders. That's not a simple goof that you take to HR and apologize about so that you don't get a blemish on your file. That's one that NASA probably has the right to hang you for.
This poor engineer has gotta hope that the satellite turns back on and someone blows in it to get it back on track or his ass is in the jackpot in a real big way.
BUT, if it takes a jet 467k years to get there, why did it only take 47 to get that far? The reason Voyager 1 and its sister spacecraft, Voyager 2, were able to cover such vast distances in a relatively short time compared to human travel is due to their incredible speeds and the nature of their trajectory by taking advantage of something that scientists and myself refer to as a Gravity Assist. The Voyagers used a technique called "gravity assist" or "gravity slingshot." They flew by multiple planets in our Solar System, using the planets' gravitational pull to accelerate the spacecraft. Each gravity assist maneuver added significant velocity to the spacecraft, allowing them to reach higher speeds and explore more distant regions of space.
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Once they got that big bitch cruisin through the air, the Voyagers continued to travel at a nearly constant speed, with no need for propulsion adjustments or deceleration. Their onboard propulsion systems were mainly used for course corrections and fine-tuning trajectories.
But, those things were all taken offline and now we waited with bated breath until October.
Last note: it's insane that this thing was designed in the 1970s. Insane