The venerable Voyager 1 spacecraft is finally phoning home again. This is much to the relief of mission engineers‚ scientists‚ and Voyager fans around the world. On November 14‚ 2023‚ the aging spacecraft began sending what amounted to a string of gibberish back to Earth. It appeared to be getting commands from Earth and seemed to be operating okay. It just wasn’t returning any useful science and engineering data. The team engineers began diagnostic testing to figure out if the spacecraft’s onboard computer was giving up the ghost. They also wanted to know if there was some other issue going on. It wasn’t completely surprising that Voyager 1 would have issues‚ after all. And‚ this isn’t the first time Voyager 1 has sent back garbly data. It’s been traversing space since its launch in 1977. Currently‚ the spacecraft is rushing away from the Solar System toward interstellar space. The spacecraft systems will eventually fail due to age and lack of power. But‚ people have always held out hope for them to last as long as possible. That’s because Voyager 1 is probing unexplored regions of space. What Happened to Voyager 1&;#63; The diagnostic testing led the engineering team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to look at old engineering documents and manuals for the onboard computers. Eventually‚ they found that the flight data subsystem (FDS) was having an issue. In the spacecraft’s data handling pipeline‚ this system takes information from the instruments and packages it into a data stream for the long trip back to Earth. It turns out that the FDS has a bit of a memory problem. The engineers found this out by poking at the computer—literally sending a “poke” command to Voyager 1. That prompted the FDS to disgorge a readout of its memory—including the software code and other code values. The readout showed that about 3 percent of the FDS memory is corrupted due to a single chip failing. That’s just enough to keep the computer from doing its normal work of packaging science and engineering data. Unfortunately‚ engineers can’t replace the chip. No repair is possible‚ so the technical team devised a workaround. Fixing the Faulty Code and Chip So‚ how did engineers reach across 24 billion kilometers of space to restore communication with Voyager 1&;#63; They focused on a specific part of the computer. The loss of the code on that failed chip made it impossible for the computer to do its job. So‚ they figured out a way to divide the code into sections and store them in various locations around the FDS. Then they had to make the sections work together to do their original job. They started out by taking the code that packages engineering data and moving it to a safe spot in FDS. Then they sent some commands to the spacecraft for the FDS to do some tasks. That worked because‚ on April 20th‚ they heard back from the spacecraft with clear‚ intelligible data. Now‚ they just need to do the same thing with other bits of code so that the spacecraft can send back both engineering and science data. The Voyager 1 flight team members celebrate in a conference room at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory on April 20 after receiving confirmation that their repair to the spacecraft’s FDS worked. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech For now‚ at least‚ the science and engineering teams can check the spacecraft’s health and its systems. Once they relocate the other bits of code and test them after being moved‚ they should be able to start receiving science data again. This could take several weeks to accomplish. They’re communicating with a spacecraft that’s 22.5 light-hours away‚ so having a lengthy diagnostic conversation with Voyager is going to take some time. This isn’t the only problem engineers have had to contend with recently with Voyager 1. In October 2023‚ they worked to overcome a fuel flow problem affecting its thrusters. Voyager 1 Into History Voyager 1 was launched on a planetary flyby trajectory on September 5‚ 1977. It passed by Jupiter in March 1979 and Saturn in November 1980. The mission then morphed into an extended period of exploration and exited the heliopause in 2012. On its way out of the Solar System‚ the spacecraft also “looked back” at Earth. Now‚ it’s exploring the interstellar medium but has not yet traversed the Oort Cloud‚ the outermost portion of the Solar System. This updated version of the iconic “Pale Blue Dot” image taken by the Voyager 1 spacecraft uses modern image-processing software and techniques to revisit the well-known Voyager view while attempting to respect the original data and intent of those who planned the images. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Several of Voyager 1’s science instruments are shut down‚ including its ultraviolet spectrometer‚ the plasma subsystem‚ planetary radio astronomy instrument‚ and scan platform. In the not-too-distant future‚ more instruments will be powered down‚ along with the data tape recorder‚ the gyroscopes‚ and other systems will be off. Sometime in the next decade‚ the spacecraft won’t have enough power to keep anything running‚ and that is when we’ll finally lose contact with Voyager 1. This will probably happen by the mid-2030s‚ and by that time‚ Voyager 1 will have been “in service” for around 55 years. Along with its twin‚ Voyager 2‚ this spacecraft opened up exploration of the outer solar system and interstellar space. They’ll continue out to the stars‚ their last mission being as a calling card to any civilizations that might find them in the distant future. For More Information NASA’s Voyager 1 Resumes Sending Engineering Updates to EarthEngineers Pinpoint Cause of Voyager 1 Issue‚ Are Working on Solution The post NASA Restores Communications with Voyager 1 appeared first on Universe Today.

Why four&;#63;

Site has no Description

The verdict is in.

We missed you.

Born in Haifa‚ Israel in 1949‚ Chaim Witz moved with his parents to the United States at the age of eight and a little more than a decade later changed his name to Gene Simmons and helped Paul Stanley‚ Peter Criss and Ace Frehley to form Kiss. In the following decades‚ they would become one of the most influential Hard Rock bands of all time and would sell an estimated amount of more than 100 million records worldwide. He certainly had a unique life since he was a little kid and had the chance to have many experiences that not many people can have in their lives. So he has an interesting point of view on things is and once he revealed what is the meaning of life in his opinion. What is the meaning of life according to Gene Simmons In an interview with Classic Rock in 2016‚ the Kiss bassist‚ singer and songwriter was asked what was the meaning of life. But he actually said that he doesn't care much about that but that is to try to enjoy life and not hurt no one. &;quot;Oh‚ I don’t give a shit. It doesn’t matter what we think it is. All we know is we’re here and then we’re not. Or‚ in more poetic terms‚ we’re all just passing through.&;quot; &;quot;So if we live in Western culture‚ where we have a say in how we lead our lives‚ we may as well have a great time. Try not to hurt anybody and enjoy life. That’s about it‚ actually. We’re lucky to have a choice in our lives‚&;quot; Gene Simmons said. During the same conversation he was also asked what was his biggest regret. He explained that he actually envies people who are greater than he was able to be. People who speak more languages that he can or inventors‚ for example. About the thing in life he was most proud of‚ he chose himself. Because according to him‚ he came from nothing and couldn't speak a word in English. But obviously‚ became a really successful Rock star a few decades later. Alongside Paul Stanley‚ Simmons kept Kiss alive for 50 years until they decided to end the band in 2023. They released 20 studio albums‚ the final one being &;quot;Monster&;quot; in 2012. Now that the group is over‚ Simmons is focused on his solo career. https://www.youtube.com/watch&;#63;v=qrn6GcDMHBYThe post What is the meaning of life according to Gene Simmons appeared first on Rock And Roll Garage.

Formed in Toronto‚ Ontario‚ Canada in 1968‚ Rush had many line-up changes in the early days but in 1974 as a trio formed by Geddy Lee (Vocals‚ keyboards‚ bass)‚ Alex Lifeson (Guitar) and John Rutsey (Drums) had the chance to release their self-titled debut album. But after they decided to fire the drummer‚ the band replaced him with Neil Peart‚ who not only became their main lyricist‚ but also was elected many times one of the best drummers of all time. They released 19 studio albums over the decades and sold an estimated amount of more than 42 million records worldwide. But going back to the beginning of the band‚ how did they get the name Rush&;#63; How Rush got their name As the guitarist Alex Lifeson recalled in an interview with Prog magazine in 2013‚ there were only 20 people at the first Rush show at a Toronto venue called &;quot;The Coff-In&;quot;. Curiously‚ Geddy Lee wasn't part of the band yet and besides Lifeson‚ the line-up had John Rutsey on drums and Jeff Jones on bass and vocals. Lifeson and Rutsey had been playing together for a few years already in a little basement and used to call themselves The Projection. But they didn't have a bass player back then. So when the opportunity to do this gig appeared‚ Alex called Jones‚ who was someone he already knew. John Rutsey's brother Bill‚ was who suggested the name Rush‚ because he thought that their name should be short and have something to do with energy. &;quot;John and I had been playing together for three years in a little basement band called The Projection. We were as psychedelic as 15-year-old kids could be. In our paisley shirts&;#33; And we played covers: 'The House Of The Rising Sun'‚ 'I'm A Man'‚ stuff like that. But we also jammed with other people. When we got the offer to do this gig at The Coff-Inn‚ I called up a bass player I knew‚ Jeff Jones. Jeff had his own band. But I said‚ 'Do you want to do this gig for $10&;#63; You can make three dollars. It'll be fun.' He continued: &;quot;It was actually John's brother Bill who suggested we use the name Rush for that gig. We thought The Projection was a pretty cool name. But Bill said: 'You need something shorter and to-the-point‚ something with energy to it. How about Rush&;#63;' And we were like‚ 'Okay‚ that sounds good.' And it stuck‚&;quot; Alex Lifeson said. As the guitarist recalled‚ they performed many covers doing that first show. Some of them were Jimi Hendrix's &;quot;Fire&;quot; and &;quot;Foxy Lady&;quot;‚ Cream's &;quot;Spoonful&;quot; and John Mayall's &;quot;Snowy Wood&;quot;. At that time‚ Jeff Jone was already part of another band and he couldn't make it to their second gig. So that was when Lifeson decided to call Geddy Lee and invite him to do the show. That was the first show of the line-up that would end up recording their debut album. https://www.youtube.com/watch&;#63;v=5eZqkaP37po&;pp=ygUQd29ya2luZyBtYW4gcnVzaA%3D%3DThe post How Rush got their name appeared first on Rock And Roll Garage.