NASA’s Voyager 2 has lost communication with Earth due to an unintentional shift in its antenna direction. The next programmed orientation adjustment on October 15 is expected to restore communication, while Voyager 1 continues to operate as usual.

A series of scheduled commands directed at NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft on July 21 led to an unintentional change in antenna direction. Consequently, the antenna moved 2 degrees off course from Earth, causing the spacecraft to lose its ability to receive commands or transmit data back to our planet.

  • The Snark Urge@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    We’re talking about the most proverbially gone shit in human history. Not only is it too far away, it is going faster than any man-made object has ever gone.

    …And we once launched a massive metal disc out of a giant bore hole with a nuclear explosion.

    Edit: actually Operation Plumbbob sent the steel bore cap nearly 4x as fast as Voyager. Suck it, nerds.

    • QuinceDaPence@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      The fastest man-made object would be the NASA Parker Solar Probe spacecraft which reached a speed of 535,000 kilometers per hour…0.05% of the speed of light

      • The Snark Urge@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Holy shit, that’s significantly faster than a steel plate that was launched by a nuke and subsequently vaporized. Insane. Thank you