The Loyal Engineers Steering NASA’s Voyager Probes Across the Universe

[Cripplecreek]

n the early spring of 1977, Larry Zottarelli, a 40-year-old computer engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, set out for Cape Canaveral, Fla., in his Toyota Corolla. A Los Angeles native, he had never ventured as far as Tijuana, but he had a per diem, and he liked to drive. Just east of Orlando, a causeway carried him over the Indian and Banana Rivers to a triangular spit of sand jutting into the Atlantic, where the Air Force keeps a base. His journey terminated at a cavernous military hangar.

A fleet of JPL trucks made the trip under armored guard to the same destination. Their cargo was unwrapped inside the hangar high bay, a gleaming silo stocked with tool racks and ladder trucks. Engineers began to assemble the various pieces. Gradually, two identical spacecraft took shape. They were dubbed Voyager I and II, and their mission was to make the first color photographs and close-up measurements of Jupiter, Saturn and their moons. Then, if all went well, they might press onward — into uncharted territory.

A long but worthy read.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/03/magazine/the-loyal-engineers-steering-nasas-voyager-probes-across-the-universe.html

Most of these folks didn't even come to the program til after the craft were well on their way. Most would be considered elderly.

Larry Zottarelli
Sun Kang Matsumoto
Ed Stone
Tom Weeks
Enrique Medina
Roger Ludwig
Jefferson Hall
Suzanne Dodd

[kidd]

It is a good read, and not all that long. And some kudos to Ronald Reagan from the NYT.

These guys not only have to be experts at astrophysics - they must also be proficient in 1970s era programming languages.

One thing I didn't know is that it may be over a hundred and fifty years (without a radically new propulsion system) for the big planets to line up so that similar spacecraft can reach the heliosphere in a reasonable amount of time.

[dfwgator]

[Cripplecreek]

It is a good read, and not all that long. And some kudos to Ronald Reagan from the NYT.

These guys not only have to be experts at astrophysics - they must also be proficient in 1970s era programming languages.

One thing I didn't know is that it may be over a hundred and fifty years (without a radically new propulsion system) for the big planets to line up so that similar spacecraft can reach the heliosphere in a reasonable amount of time.

I've heard the joke that Thomas Jefferson blew his chance.

[Cripplecreek]