V'Ger
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"45 years into a planned 4 year mission, the first man-made objects to travel to interstellar space, Voyager 1 and 2 are still going. They have less computing power than your key fob and record their data on 8-track tapes before transmitting it through a transmitter that emits about as much energy as the light bulb in your refrigerator. Truly one of the most remarkable engineering feats mankind has ever pulled off. Godspeed little probes, just don't come back at the heart of a giant cloud and kill us all."
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/record-breaking-voyager-spacecraft-begin-to-power-down/
Long, long article that goes into the utter simplicity of design and how it has lasted more than 10 times longer than planned.
Just amazing.
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Nice
How much longer might the Voyagers last? “If everything goes really well, maybe we can get the missions extended into the 2030s,” Spilker says. “It just depends on the power. That's the limiting point.”
Even after the Voyagers are completely muted, their journeys will continue. In another 16,700 years, Voyager 1 will pass our nearest neighboring star, Proxima Centauri, followed 3,600 years later by Voyager 2. Then they will continue to circle the galaxy for millions of years. They will still be out there, more or less intact, eons after our sun has collapsed and the heliosphere is no more, not to mention one Pale Blue Dot.
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Cool stuff!!! Definitely got the moneys worth from this project!!
