NASA tries to unscramble Voyager 2 signals

NASA tries to unscramble Voyager 2 signals
Scientists puzzled by undecipherable data from solar system’s edge
By John Antczak
The Associated Press
updated 8:25 p.m. ET, Thurs., May 6, 2010

LOS ANGELES - Engineers are working to solve a problem with science data transmissions from the Voyager 2 spacecraft near the edge of the solar system, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said Thursday.

The spacecraft late last month began sending science data 8.6 billion miles (13.8 billion kilometers) to Earth in a changed format that mission managers could not decode.

Engineers have since instructed Voyager 2 to only transmit data on its own health and status while they work on the problem.

That engineering data is in a different format and is fine, said Ed Stone, the Voyager project scientist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

More: www.msnbc.msn.com...

"This is volatile memory just like in your computer where you boot up," Stone said. "And so occasionally a cosmic ray particle can cause one of the bits to flip, or it can actually have a failure in one of the bits."

I was thinking along the lines of something like this.

Nice find, though. S&F.

Wow that is really cool that they are still transmitting 33 years later.

I bet they have the issue worked around in no time!

reply to post by Pauligirl

in a changed format that mission managers could not decode

But everything is fine they say. "Everything is fine...nothing to see etc. etc....."

Funny how a pre-programmed piece of equipment is all of a sudden returning un-decodable data.

well...no surprise really. Computer hardware breaks down all the time, especially in an enviroment as harsh as space. I like the explanation of the bit flipping b/c of a cosmic ray-after all all those signals are just electrical ones and zeros originally.

Originally posted by UberL33t
Funny how a pre-programmed piece of equipment is all of a sudden returning un-decodable data.

Well it's been doing what it does now for 33 years, you wouldn't have a 1970's computer running non stop and expect it to be bug free would you? And it does have to contend with all sorts out there, radiation and all sorts.

Maybe they can re-boot it? - Or like they say, workaround the new format from here?

I...am...Veeger.

uh oh.

reply to post by Phage


You know that is still my favorite Star Trek Movie.

Though Voyager was a great series.


rotf..sorry to be OT OP!

I don't see how a particle flipping an 0 to a 1 is going to change the formatting of all data to undecipherable.

It doesn't make sense.

And, if something like that DID happen, I am sure there would be ways to isolate different date transmissions, so they would be able to pinpoint where such a chip/flip would have happened.

This chip handles this, that chip handles that, etc.


And, yes, I do know what I am talking about.

To be totally honest. I'm surprised it's still chugging along. I know it was built for the journey but most of us don't have cars that old. Hell, when was the last time any of you guys fired up your 8 track players?

Oops did I say that?

I'm looking forward to hearing more on this story. OP keep us posted.



[edit on 6-5-2010 by SLAYER69]

You can bure it wasn't running Windoze or they would have gotten the blue-screen-of-death a LONG time ago.

This thing to be chugging along for 33yrs probably means that it had no Parts from China in it.

This is called BIT ROT. It happens to old rom chips, game cartridges all the time. The problem here is that they probably didn't embed an error checking routine nor any routine to mark bad bits and remap memory storage.

Leaving a perfectly crafted computer in a climate controlled storage area for even 20 years could yield the same thing. Amazing craftsmanship on the Voyagers!!! I really miss the old Nasa.

all of you people with your "logical" answers.

I'm pretty sure aliens updated the hardware to some new fangeld technology causing the signal to send an entirely new code.... /sarcasm.

Cool find, but I'm sure its nothing more then a hiccup in the system, it is over 30 years old, flying incredible fast threw the vacuum of space, it wouldn't take much to cause it to error, maybe a cosmic ray as suggested, maybe a micro meteor damaging a component who knows. Still cool tho, thanks op for bringing this to my attention.

It was HAARP.
HAARP did it.

After all, every other happening, occurrence, or manifestation is always attributed to HAARP these days.

Yeah... NASA was their convenient factual stories that seem plausible.

Who do they take us for?

We all know it was a reptilian Elvis from Niburi telepathically reprogramming it to start the countdown to 2012 from inside the Tardis using a Prime computer.

That or the missing lesbian radio astronomer.

-m0r

Originally posted by UruFist
I don't see how a particle flipping an 0 to a 1 is going to change the formatting of all data to undecipherable.

It doesn't make sense.

And, if something like that DID happen, I am sure there would be ways to isolate different date transmissions, so they would be able to pinpoint where such a chip/flip would have happened.

This chip handles this, that chip handles that, etc.


And, yes, I do know what I am talking about.

I understand what Chip Rot is. What I thought was weird, was that everything still works, and data was transmitted. And, that NASA tried to decipher it.

I would really love to see that transmission released, so others could check it out.

Originally posted by Phage
I...am...Veeger.

uh oh.

LMAO now that would be hilarious.

Shame it cannot send back video-footage. I wonder how many UFO's it has already encountered...

is it Voyager 2 that is being drug off course by something or some computer error? this could also account for that maybe? I mean instead of Nibiru...