@therickson100
An item not mentioned: The reason the probes can still be heard is that there have been huge advances in the receivers used for communication. A very important part of this amazing journey has been work done here on Earth to improve the equipment used to communicate with the space probes.
@jerrybeirnemusic
My uncle (dad's brother) was in charge of the accounting on the project that created the nuclear power supplies, and I work in the same building today. I have the award poster he got for his efforts, and it hung in my cube for years. Talk about a cool project!
@dimbulb23
At 12 I saw Sputnik 2 tumble and flash across the sky. At 19, I serviced supersonic fighter avionics, at 23 started working for IBM installing, troubleshooting and fixing computers in the era of core memory and punch cards. In '75 it was OS code troubleshooting, in '85 I was writing OS code for PCs. And now, long retired, my FitBit has more computing power than flew on any Apollo mission. What a trip, it has been. My paternal grandparents were born before the American Civl War began, they lived on a farm without electricity or plumbing, she died in 1904 and never rode in a car. My grandfather, i met when I was 2. He could read, my father born in 1895. He never learned to read and worked in coal mines in the era before dynamite, black powder when the miners work headlamps with open an flame and mules were used to pull coal from the mine. And I'm going to build a couple of PCs this year but I seriously thinking of just buying them. What crazy, wonderful era in which to live.
@deborahchesser7375
In my opinion, the Voyager program was the most ambitious and well executed effort we ever made for space exploration. And after all, they are still functioning almost 47 years later, absolutely amazing !
@stevendimmock4791
For me the saddest thing is that I have been following the Voyagers most of my life, ( I'm nearly 64 years old) and if all goes well, I probably won't see the end of their travels. But what an amazing journey to go so far and still be in touch with us. You really can say 'Wow!!'
@Yaivenov
That the memory deck still works is probably the most amazing mechanical aspect of the Voyagers.
@debbiesimmons3081
My dad built the Voyagers. He died early 2010 so he missed seeing all the excitement about them leaving the solar system . He built lots of space faring vehicles as well as many other important technologies. Most people in the world would have used something that he developed.
@joep3279
Meanwhile, my refrigerator's broken again.
@PointyTailofSatan
You should have mentioned the RAM. 48k of plated wire memory, a technology that was already 15 years obsolete when Voyager was launched. On the good side though, the memory junctions are so huge, compared to modern TTL based memory, that the plated wire memory is almost indestructible, and immune to damage or data corruption from cosmic radiation.
@Mlogan11
Hats off to the scientists and engineers that helped create these amazing machines.
@kirstenb7105
My grandfather worked at JPL and on the Voyager project. I recall receiving photos before they were released to the public (still have some of them). His part was with the antennae sending receiving of radio waves (not sure if it was the earth or voyager side). Some of that technology is what makes cell phone communication possible. It's so wonderful to see that the voyagers continue.
@supergeek0177
As someone who enjoys maintaining retro computers, I can fully appreciate the passion the NASA engineers must have to keep these old beasts running! I wonder if they still give the retired engineers phone calls for advice? I would be curious about the amount of people working at NASA who could still actively code in machine language and understand the componentry fully on those things! Also loved the Deep Space Control room stills from across the decades, really shows the progression!
@SeaWolfEntertainment
My uncle was just two years out of college when he went to work for JPL. Has his degree in metallurgy with a minor in computer science. Voyager 1 was already in space when my uncle was asked to join the team to troubleshoot some problems (I don’t know exactly what problems he was troubleshooting). My uncle worked as a metallurgist for 45 years at JPL and has worked on every unmanned space probe that JPL has sent to space. Fun fact the first voyager launched was given the name voyager 2 while the second voyager was given the name voyager 1. Reason: the math hippies did there math and said that the second voyager launched aka voyager 1 would be traveling faster and would be the first man made object to go interstellar.
@argentin2306
Petition to make a funeral for the Voyagers when they fully stop working
@markromine5103
I was 9 years old when the two voyagers were launched. The documentaries that ran on network tv sparked a life-long interest in engineering through a degree and a decades long career. Taking a five year mission to 45+ years is an engineering achievement that should be lauded and studied, imho.
@dingdongbells3314
The simplicity of the voyager probes, while frustrating for how little data it can return to us from the farthest fringes of the solar system, is likely the only thing that kept it alive this long... fewer points of failure
@nzriot
The story of these old Voyager probes has been inspirational to all other space exploration... because of how it doesn't take very much technology to go REALLY far.
@myyklmax
One of the advantages of Voyager's base programming being on magnetic discs, it that even if Voyager goes into standby due to reduction or lack of communication with Earth, once the connection to Earth is retored, Voyagers can reboot itself from its onboard data discs.
@vokhev
The Voyager probes have always fascinated me and I've always felt very attached to them. Maybe it's partly because we are about the same age. When I was a teenager, over 30 years ago, I already saw them as old but awesome pieces of technology. As time passes, they keep getting older and more awesome by continuing to do amazing science where nothing human made has ever gone before. When we finally lose contact with them, I'll be very sad. It'll be like loosing someone who's adventures I followed all my life.
@RetroGamerr1991