Engineers at NASA say they have successfully revived thrusters aboard Voyager 1, the farthest spacecraft from our planet, in the nick of time before a planned communications blackout.
A side effect of upgrades to an Earth-based antenna that sends commands to Voyager 1 and its twin, Voyager 2, the communications pause could have occurred when the probe faced a critical issue — thruster failure — leaving the space agency without a way to save the historic mission. The new fix to the vehicle’s original roll thrusters, out of action since 2004, could help keep the veteran spacecraft operating until it’s able to contact home again next year.
Voyager 1, launched in September 1977, uses more than one set of thrusters to function properly. Primary thrusters carefully orient the spacecraft so it can keep its antenna pointed at Earth. This ensures that the probe can send back data it collects from its unique perspective 15.5 billion miles (25 billion kilometers) away in interstellar space, as well as receive commands sent by the Voyager team.
I’m curious, do the same people who think that the moon landing was faked also believe that Voyager is fake? Because to me, Voyager is more impressive at this point.
Let’s be honest, why would they believe it was real? Literally the only piece of evidence any of them might have even heard of from Voyager would be the Pale Blue Dot, and they would just say “wow, someone poked some holes in a blanket with some lens flare”. All of the planet pictures can be explained away as artists’ renditions.
ETA: Also, if you haven’t seen it by now, I recommend watching the film “behind the curve” to understand the level of willful self-delusion in which this sort of person engages, all to feel like they belong and their perspicacity is recognized by their chosen in-group.
I can also recommend In Search Of A Flat Earth by Dan Olson.
He also explores how the conspiracy landscape changed over time
Very much recommend Dan Olson over Netflix’s Flat Earth documentary. Behind the Curve is much more about having a Curb Your Enthusiasm ending and going “look how silly these people are” than any attempt at understanding motivation or background.
Also he makes an amazing shot of a lake demonstrating curvature and explains how / why, including having a separate video about it and how to do so yourself.