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Submission + - NASA Engineers Help Prolong Voyager 2's Science Mission (nasa.gov)

AmiMoJo writes: Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory have successfully freed up power on Voyager 2, extending how long the spacecraft can continue to do science.

Nicknamed the “Big Bang,” the effort involved simultaneously turning off certain powered devices and substituting them with lower-power alternatives while ensuring the spacecraft remains warm enough to operate.

The Voyagers get their power from radioisotope thermoelectric generators, devices that convert heat from decaying plutonium into electricity. Due to the plutonium supply continually depleting, both probes lose about 4 watts of power each year. After almost a half-century since launch, the spacecraft power margins have grown razor thin, requiring the team to conserve energy by shutting off non-essential devices and systems.

The mission team plans to perform the same swap on Voyager 1, which is farther from Earth than Voyager 2, and to complete the effort in the coming months.

Comment Re:Crime is the new look for Rapeublicans (Score 1) 121

It will be interesting to see if any mergers/takeovers happen, because anyone attempting it will be gambling that the next Democrat administration (assuming there is one) won't reverse it and force them to break up their media empire.

Could SCOTUS also force it to happen too? Not that it is likely at the moment.

Comment Re:Side effects (Score 1) 198

I have auto immune issues, and it seems like the exact nature of the response is different enough that it doesn't affect me as badly. I'm not a biologist but my understanding is that mRNA vaccines bypass a step in the process of creating immunity, so maybe it's that step that is causing me problems.

Comment Re:Side effects (Score 2) 198

In my personal experience, for what little that is worth, the traditional AstraZenica vaccine really screwed me up. Badly enough that I couldn't work for a while.

The mRNA COVID vaccines have been fine. Maybe a day or two of feeling off, some shivers the first time. The traditional flu vaccine is much worse.

If they could create a generic flu one that would be great, so they don't have to predict it every year.

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