Voyager 2: Beyond the Heliosphere

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  • čas přidán 13. 01. 2022
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Komentáře • 1K

  • @megaprojects9649
    @megaprojects9649  Před 2 lety +38

    Thanks to Keeps for sponsoring this video! Head to keeps.com/Megaprojects to get 50% off your first Keeps order.

    • @thomasfholland
      @thomasfholland Před 2 lety +1

      V ger 🖖🖖🖖

    • @og_mettle
      @og_mettle Před 2 lety

      Hey Simon, you should do a video on ajanta and Ellora caves in India .

    • @slcpunk2740
      @slcpunk2740 Před 2 lety

      I have to be honest. Considering it was covering the only man-made objects to leave the solar system, the script was a bit flat. No, that wasn't a physics joke either. This one could have been more inspiring, like usually with the space videos there's some personal story about someone involved or the development etc before the specs and a glimpse of hope for the future in the closing. It felt a bit too encyclopedic and not quite Whistlerific.

    • @kdc420421
      @kdc420421 Před 2 lety +1

      Bald looks good on you. Don't sweat the keeps lol

    • @latenighter1965
      @latenighter1965 Před 2 lety

      I wonder how many micro meteor holes are in it.

  • @jacobmarkham2162
    @jacobmarkham2162 Před 2 lety +363

    Simon, we need a James Webb Telescope Megaprojects!!

    • @sccrdude22
      @sccrdude22 Před 2 lety +8

      There is one

    • @alexanderwelshwelsh9931
      @alexanderwelshwelsh9931 Před 2 lety +10

      Right here:
      czcams.com/video/CowU0QK0Pjs/video.html

    • @aceundead4750
      @aceundead4750 Před 2 lety +4

      @@alexanderwelshwelsh9931 in a month or two there'll probably be one about some of the insane discoveries made by JWST. Maybe a year or two actually to allow time between videos and for maximum amount of discoveries to choose from.

    • @MrTexasDan
      @MrTexasDan Před 2 lety +2

      @@aceundead4750 You're going to be very disappointed when the JPL eggheads start releasing IR datasets, while everyone that paid for JWST is expecting amazing visible light images.

    • @gram40
      @gram40 Před 2 lety +8

      @@MrTexasDan JWST can see in the visible spectrum, red and orange wavelengths. The Hubble pictures we see aren’t natural, Hubble has what is basically a black and white camera and they add colour later when the images are processed (the images are known as false colour). JWST images will be processed the same way.

  • @juliadagnall5816
    @juliadagnall5816 Před 2 lety +38

    One thing I found really cool about the Voyager probes is that they could be reprogrammed while in flight. So when Voyager II reached the outer planets where it is very, very dark (and the craft was going very, very fast because of the gravity assist it got from its loop around Saturn) they were able reprogram it to pivot while in flight and use a longer exposure so it could still take clear images. They basically had to teach it how to take a picture in the dark

  • @thomasfholland
    @thomasfholland Před 2 lety +326

    My dad worked on both missions at NASA/JPL in Pasadena, Ca. At that time he worked on the calculations for the trajectory of both Voyagers. Fun fact: The engineers were told not to make them go farther than Jupiter and Saturn, said that would cost to much! (But the engineers decided that they could do that and still keep their budget.)

    • @morkusmorkus6040
      @morkusmorkus6040 Před 2 lety +58

      My dad worked on my mum. Fun fact: that led to my existence and me writing this comment.

    • @handsomeblackmuscle9845
      @handsomeblackmuscle9845 Před 2 lety +10

      That's awesome!!

    • @Space-Audio
      @Space-Audio Před 2 lety +26

      I've been working on the Voyager project (one mission) since my first days as an undergraduate. Sadly, the person responsible for the plasma wave instrument, Don Gurnett, just died yesterday.

    • @aceundead4750
      @aceundead4750 Před 2 lety +15

      That sounds like what the engineers say everytime one is interviewed for a space documentary/docuseries about 70-80% of projects, they also talk about ways they could save money and do more at the same time which always gets poopooed by the higher-ups

    • @amandajones661
      @amandajones661 Před 2 lety

      💙💙💙💙

  • @partlycloudy7707
    @partlycloudy7707 Před 2 lety +61

    The golden records are honestly such a beautiful concept. We, humanity, know it's almost guaranteed that no other civilization will find the records, but still put so much effort into trying to communicate with these hypocritical beings. We did desperately do not want to be alone out here in space, that we made a message in a bottle in an attempt to find anyone out there. It's so beautiful, painfully human to not want to be totally alone

    • @lachinelli
      @lachinelli Před 2 lety +4

      Well, we won't think that way if someday they come to colonize us.

    • @PrimericanIdol
      @PrimericanIdol Před 2 lety +17

      You mean Hypothetical... Right?

    • @scottydu81
      @scottydu81 Před rokem +2

      Yeah way to doxx humanity

    • @camilohiche4475
      @camilohiche4475 Před rokem +1

      @@PrimericanIdol What if he actually meant hypocritical... XD
      Those damn aliens. Fucking hypocrites all of them...

    • @davidtatro7457
      @davidtatro7457 Před rokem +3

      Pretty sure we made those records as a public relations project among ourselves. Nobody who was seriously involved with the project could possibly have thought anyone else would ever find them. I will say though that at the time, they probably had no clue just how much radiation and dust there is in interstellar space. So maybe some of them thought the records would last for millions of years.

  • @AaronHamm
    @AaronHamm Před 2 lety +17

    Hey, you mentioned the pulsar map!
    I've got that tattooed on my chest so I can be sent home when I die in a John Crichton from Farscape scenario!

  • @francispitts9440
    @francispitts9440 Před 2 lety +48

    I was in high school when this was launched and our science teacher mentioned it in class. We talked about what it’s mission was and I remember someone asking when did our teacher think it would complete it’s initial mission and he said it could continue on into our later years long after college or whatever. He said it probably wouldn’t last much longer than that. Well we’re now about 40 some years later and damn if it’s not still going. It outlived our science teacher, something no one would have believed back in the day. Now it seems it will outlive me too lol. Definitely one of the better investments NASA has made.

    • @notmenotme614
      @notmenotme614 Před 2 lety +3

      Technically the Voyagers are going to out live the human race. They’ll still be travelling through space years after we’ve all gone.
      It must be mindblowing to have made these and their legacy will last forever. Imagine if you were in one of those pictures, it’s a (slim) possibility that an alien could be looking at you in a million years from now.

    • @francispitts9440
      @francispitts9440 Před 2 lety

      @@notmenotme614 Never really looked at like that but you’re right. It could travel forever in theory and who knows what might find it if it does stop somewhere or is grabbed by some intelligent race.

    • @DGARedRaven
      @DGARedRaven Před rokem +2

      I am a mere 27 years old, and I do hope that that I still have more than a few decades yet left in me. On top of that, I only recently listened to a podcast of some of the Voyager staff - in their 70s and 80s at this point - still continuing the mission. If that isn't inspiring, I don't know what is. Don't you worry, Mr. Pitts - if we have anything to say about that, we'll stand on the shoulders of giants and carry on even further :)

  • @MrTexasDan
    @MrTexasDan Před 2 lety +22

    I remember the thrill of seeing the Voyager pictures of Jupiter for the first time back when I was 18. The images were so far ahead of what anyone had ever seen. Then The-Gift-That-Kept-On-Giving sent pics of Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Nobody had imagined the breathtaking detail. Simply astounding.

  • @rvaughan1523
    @rvaughan1523 Před 2 lety +103

    The Voyager space crafts have always been my favorites to come out of NASA. I'll be sad the day that both these pieces of technology finally run out of fuel around 2030. Thanks Simon for covering this one!

    • @martinwhitaker5096
      @martinwhitaker5096 Před 2 lety +3

      Same here! They're truly awe inspiring.

    • @coweatsman
      @coweatsman Před 2 lety +5

      They have lasted so long but the power runs out in a few years and then they will assume radio silence.

    • @davidsheckler8417
      @davidsheckler8417 Před 2 lety

      I'm sad you believe this is real

    • @JmKrokY
      @JmKrokY Před rokem +2

      @@davidsheckler8417 what

    • @davidsheckler8417
      @davidsheckler8417 Před rokem

      @@JmKrokY I didn't stutter 🐑

  • @davidmetlesits972
    @davidmetlesits972 Před 2 lety +33

    30 years old tech, kept in a barn for two decades, works like a charm after a deep cleaning: presenting the Commodore 64!

  • @garymcaleer6112
    @garymcaleer6112 Před 2 lety +10

    Great post, Simon. Being 65, I have fond memories of when a big black & white TV on a high cart was wheeled into place and our studies were interrupted to watch the Gemini launches, live. You know this stirred allot of kids hearts including my own. But being a musician from age 4, I left this work to more competent individuals! :^)

  • @infiniteagony5495
    @infiniteagony5495 Před 2 lety +20

    Fun Fact : Since the late 1970s, we've discovered two very inconvenient facts that will most likely render Earth infuriatingly unfindable by any intelligent alien life that happens to locate it.
    1. There are likely about one billion pulsars in the Milky Way.
    2. Which pulsars point their pulses at Earth change over time in an unpredictable fashion.
    Soo we send nudes to our neighbors and then give them wrong address that is just rude

    • @balazsvarga1823
      @balazsvarga1823 Před 2 lety +2

      Imagine the reply from Planet Pa Jeet: beech lasagna.

  • @atlas9852
    @atlas9852 Před 2 lety +5

    Something I love about any sort of content about Voyagers 1 and 2 is the sombre music that's almost always played. There's such a mysterious sense of amazement when you realise just how far away we've been able to reach.

  • @MoshpitMaestro
    @MoshpitMaestro Před 2 lety +18

    We know what will happen to Voyager 1 though. It will be picked up by an alien race of sentient machines, upgraded to the point of not only scanning, but converting what it encounters, and then, upon amassing enough information to gain sentience, attempt to return to earth, at which point it will be intercepted first by Klingon battle cruisers, and eventually by the USS Enterprise, under the captaincy of James T Kirk. Because we have all seen Star Trek: The Motion Picture, no?

  • @vinnypopadop
    @vinnypopadop Před 2 lety +232

    I'm proud of him not making and of the typical "Uranus" jokes... I wonder how many takes were needed to not burst into laughing.

    • @aceundead4750
      @aceundead4750 Před 2 lety +11

      Depends on if this was recorded before or after Brain Blaze, cocaine tends to affect one's funny bone

    • @TheWepwawet
      @TheWepwawet Před 2 lety +2

      Hahahaha... i though that too

    • @Seraphus87
      @Seraphus87 Před 2 lety +14

      "First stop, Uranus."
      I couldn't help it, I had a "Ted Mosby's naked lady chuckle".

    • @xKrispyx
      @xKrispyx Před 2 lety +21

      Fry - "This is great! Eh, as long as you don't make me smell Uranus" *laughing*
      Leela - "I don't get it"
      Prof. Farnsworth - "I'm sorry Fry, but astronomers renamed Uranus in 2620 to end that stupid joke once and for all."
      Fry - "Oh... what's it called now?"
      Prof. Farnsworth - "Urectum."

    • @MrTexasDan
      @MrTexasDan Před 2 lety +6

      Back then, I got suspended from school when I announced to my science teacher that they had just "found rings around Uranus".

  • @amandajones661
    @amandajones661 Před 2 lety +72

    You know how on Star Trek or other sci-fi shows they sometimes show the children in classrooms or museums listening to experts on a video explaining the past? That's exactly the feeling I got watching this video. I could totally see this video being used in the far future or even on a sci-fi movie now.

    • @benjaminrees6665
      @benjaminrees6665 Před 2 lety +4

      Simon in starship troopers

    • @STSWB5SG1FAN
      @STSWB5SG1FAN Před 2 lety +2

      @@benjaminrees6665 OK what was that all about?🤔

    • @randomdavid
      @randomdavid Před 2 lety +3

      @@benjaminrees6665 would you like to learn more?

    • @AuxCart
      @AuxCart Před 2 lety +3

      Researching the history of hair loss treatments and space probes at the same time!

    • @the_kombinator
      @the_kombinator Před 2 lety +2

      Yeah, until a Klingon Bird of Prey destroys it.

  • @callmebigpapa
    @callmebigpapa Před 2 lety +10

    "The chance of the Alien race speaking English, being again Zero" .....I laughed so much !! Fantastic writers you have.

    • @1pcfred
      @1pcfred Před 2 lety +4

      I've watched a lot of science fiction and aliens always speak English!

  • @kjorlaug1
    @kjorlaug1 Před 2 lety +6

    You bastard. I chuckled every time you said "Uranus"

    • @thomasfholland
      @thomasfholland Před 2 lety

      My dad, an engineer at JPL would get pissed off every time I said that! He would always say: Your a nus and I would always laugh.

  • @handsomeblackmuscle9845
    @handsomeblackmuscle9845 Před 2 lety +67

    *"We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can understand the universe. That makes us something very special."*
    -Stephen Hawkins

    • @lagrangian143
      @lagrangian143 Před 2 lety +1

      I don't think that's accurate

    • @christophergruenwald5054
      @christophergruenwald5054 Před 2 lety +2

      @@lagrangian143 I believe it is. Seems I heard Stephen Hawkins say that before.

    • @lagrangian143
      @lagrangian143 Před 2 lety +1

      @@christophergruenwald5054 it was similar but i dont think its exactly that

    • @balazsvarga1823
      @balazsvarga1823 Před 2 lety +3

      Almost accurate, but a very average star is a red dwarf.

    • @nomercyinc6783
      @nomercyinc6783 Před 2 lety

      humans are not special at all. it doesnt matter what anyone dead thought or said.

  • @Beryllahawk
    @Beryllahawk Před 2 lety +15

    I've said it before and I'll probably say it every time, but I LOVE how Simon and team geek out over space topics. I really do. It's absolutely wonderful!
    Also, I happen to be just a smidge older than Voyager 2 - so the "human age" comparisons were brilliant. Also hilarious - "Gee I haven't accomplished much yet" hahah
    One missed opportunity - in all those mentions of probability, not ONCE did you guy choose to say the odds were ASTRONOMICAL. Aim high with the dad jokes y'all! :D
    Also, good on Simon for making through that entire section on Uranus without once cracking a smile about the planet's name. A rare thing to see, hahaha!
    Man, this video was just SO GOOD. Thank you so much - y'all do fabulous work!

  • @notmenotme614
    @notmenotme614 Před 2 lety +6

    It blows my mind to think in 2022 years time from now, or even 2 000 000 years. The Voyagers will still exist and will still be flying through space.
    For those who made the Voyagers, what a legacy! They’ll always live on.

  • @QBCPerdition
    @QBCPerdition Před 2 lety +16

    Imagine if they had kept the Mariner name. Captain Kirk would have had to deal M'Ner instead of V'ger

  • @MrEnjoivolcom1
    @MrEnjoivolcom1 Před 2 lety +7

    Changing the name(s) to Voyager, probably one of the best under appreciated decisions taken by the program.

  • @codybailey8048
    @codybailey8048 Před 2 lety +9

    omg haven't even watched the video yet so excited. I have a tattoo of voyager 2!

  • @cslivestockllc138
    @cslivestockllc138 Před 2 lety +37

    “The odds of life bumping into them are, well, fairly small …” Best line ever 😂

    • @gijake1989
      @gijake1989 Před 2 lety +3

      Well, that's the nature of a message in a bottle.

    • @andersjjensen
      @andersjjensen Před 2 lety +1

      Understatement of the millennium....

    • @zydicious
      @zydicious Před 2 lety +2

      I personally thought astronomical.

    • @intrepidpursuit
      @intrepidpursuit Před 2 lety

      @@zydicious I see what you did there.

  • @agnotwot7997
    @agnotwot7997 Před 2 lety +5

    I was born the year they launched and I remember my father showing me the first two flybys, the flyby of Neptune was the last time my dad, Grandfather and I were in the same room with each other.

  • @ryateo1
    @ryateo1 Před 2 lety +150

    It is astounding with a group of humans was able to do with less technology then you have in your pocket, and they're still serving us..
    The fact that they squeezed so much out of having so little.... it's almost embarrassing.

    • @jonathanmillner
      @jonathanmillner Před 2 lety +13

      I've thought this many times. Like... how is it possible to have done this while only having basic rudimentary computer systems? If it were 1950 and you told me we were going to the moon before that calculating machine in the corner got much more powerful, I'd be like... idk. That seems pretty.... hard. It really speaks volumes to the engineers, but also the pilots, Neil and Buzz, because almost everything is manually controlled. I guess they had the touch.

    • @MrAshCarr
      @MrAshCarr Před 2 lety +16

      You see that a lot throughout our history. We are capable of getting amazing stuff done when we actually set our minds to it, and now we have people saying it must've been aliens. But no, humans got together, figured out how to do the thing, and got it done. We just lack collective focus and get distracted a lot, because we're still basically fancy apes

    • @shaneanderson1229
      @shaneanderson1229 Před 2 lety +16

      Imagine what we could accomplish today if tick tock and Facebook didn’t exist

    • @FREAKIN_BRYAN
      @FREAKIN_BRYAN Před 2 lety

      They weren’t as concerned with political correctness and diversity back then….. in fact they kinda hired actual nazis to do a lot of the stuff for them…..

    • @andromidius
      @andromidius Před 2 lety +5

      @@jonathanmillner Basically, they took risks. They cut corners. They rolled the dice. They just WANTED to do it, so they did it. And the fact nothing bad happened is either extreme levels of good fortune or some incredible planning (or both). There's nothing stopping us doing the same thing now - but now there's no drive to do it and its seen as 'not profitable'. There's no Space Race competition going on anymore, so the US has no interest in doing it.
      Which is a huge shame. With modern technology we could explore the solar system - and we don't even need to send people, we can send drones and quasi-intelligent machines to explore for us and transmit their findings back to us. Yet we don't, because its not profitable and there's no 'great enemy' to 'beat'.

  • @chelseyhackett4494
    @chelseyhackett4494 Před 2 lety +2

    Truly impressed with how many statements you made about Uranus without cracking up.

  • @danielreuben1058
    @danielreuben1058 Před 2 lety +5

    My 11 year old son is fascinated with space. He just did a report on Voyager 2. Thank you for, more, awesome information, he and I can share together. Can I have some free bottles of Beard Blaze oils?

  • @RHCole
    @RHCole Před 2 lety +31

    This video renewed my faith in Humanity a little bit. Thank you Simon.

    • @Chris-Christopher-
      @Chris-Christopher- Před 2 lety +1

      Where are you from and how old are you? While Simon goes into some great details, I'm surprised that the basic knowledge of its existence isn't known by anyone who has or is close to reaching adulthood. This isn't a knock on you. I remember learning about all the space missions by the US and Russia back when I was in school.

  • @Jon.S
    @Jon.S Před 2 lety +15

    I'm 40 years old and still found Simon saying "...on January 24th 1986 Voyager 2 made its closest contact with Uranus..." amusing.

  • @robinheil
    @robinheil Před 2 lety +3

    You should do a video about how they reversed the flow of the Chicago River, a feat dubbed the "Civil Engineering Monument of the Millennium" by the American Society of Civil Engineers

  • @BigDawgRey95
    @BigDawgRey95 Před 2 lety +65

    It's kind of crazy to think that there's a legitimate chance of Voyager II hurtling through interstellar space long after the human race has gone the way of the dodo.

    • @bruns.like.spoons9251
      @bruns.like.spoons9251 Před 2 lety +9

      More like guaranteed, I would think.

    • @intrepidpursuit
      @intrepidpursuit Před 2 lety +11

      It is actually a near certainty.

    • @CrazyYog
      @CrazyYog Před 2 lety +2

      They’ll be epitaphs for the human race.

    • @Benson_aka_devils_advocate_88
      @Benson_aka_devils_advocate_88 Před 2 lety +13

      The funny thing about theoretical space travel is the objects first sent out into space will eventually be overtaken by future, faster craft. One scenario is a generational ship is sent to a nearby habitable star system only to arrive and find the system already inhabited by humans. In the time it took the generational ship to travel there, their descendents on earth built faster, more capable craft that get there first.
      I always think of this when I picture voyager drifting slowly through space, relatively speaking.

    • @andromidius
      @andromidius Před 2 lety +4

      @@Benson_aka_devils_advocate_88 Certainly a possibility - especially if we ever manage FTL equivalent propulsion (either near-light speed, warping space, folding space or wormholes, etc - who knows what the future will dream up?). In fact its one possible way for a form of time travel, though only visual - overtaking light beams and then looking back with cameras so advanced that we can actually observe events in real time from hundreds or thousands of years ago (obviously from a bird's eye view and only things directly visible from that angle of space).
      Whether or not its ever possible to travel that far and fast remains to be seen. But even the idea of it makes me realise just how insignificant our planet is in the grand scheme of space and time.

  • @adzaaahhh
    @adzaaahhh Před 2 lety +3

    Thanks for this Simon, I've been avidly following the progress of the Voyager probes since their launch over (unbelievably) 40 years ago. As you say, surely up there with the most 'mega' of megaprojects.
    There have been many docos on this subject over the years, not least of which (and that which most memorably stuck with me as a child) the great BBC Horizon episodes from the early 80s when they were undertaking their historic flybys of Jupiter and Saturn. In this video, you have given us a nice, concise summary of their progress to date and hopefully inspired your younger viewers who were not around to witness it from the outset.
    Will be interesting to see what documentary-makers present to us Voyager-wise in another 40 years' time - although unfortunately, I doubt I'll be around to see it!

  • @STSWB5SG1FAN
    @STSWB5SG1FAN Před 2 lety +3

    Now we need a Megaprojects on Voyager 6, the probe that disappeared through a black hole.😏😉😂

  • @samw.7929
    @samw.7929 Před 2 lety +11

    V'Ger's older brother. also carries some of the most far-out music -in the world- made by humanity.

    • @alyssinwilliams4570
      @alyssinwilliams4570 Před 2 lety +2

      I see I'm not the only one thinking of V'Ger. Isnt one of the Voyager probes also eventually intercepted by the Borg?

  • @susanellis7780
    @susanellis7780 Před 2 lety +4

    I remember this was the probe that came back in Star Trek.

    • @BrandonWelchAMA
      @BrandonWelchAMA Před 2 lety

      Actually, in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, the probe that came back was Voyager 6. The O, Y, A and 6 were obscured by dust and it called itself V'Ger.

  • @jessicalypso8839
    @jessicalypso8839 Před 2 lety +16

    This was a great video! I love when you do space stuff!
    🌌

  • @furthausen
    @furthausen Před 2 lety +5

    Do any space exploration, and I'll always watch.

  • @joshcee3362
    @joshcee3362 Před 2 lety +2

    Simon, dude, you are a god among history and science communicators. I'm sure Discovery channel could learn a thing or two about how to get back into the education game from you.

  • @TheLoneTerran
    @TheLoneTerran Před rokem +2

    In a game about interstellar diplomacy called Stellaris, there's a rare event that you can in fact detect and capture Voyager 2. It leads you straight to the Sol System, showing you exactly where it is and how to get there. I used it to set up an observation station. Another time a friend landed a devouring swarm and ate all like estimated 9 billion of us. Yet another basically used us like the Xenomorphs and keep us around to mature their young in but we consider it a great..."honor". Yet another friend Borged us. I've gotten the event the most over the years, about five times or so, and only once did humanity make it to a type one civilization. All the other times we nuked ourselves to death. Once though, after nuking our selves, giant cockroaches began to learn how to use bows and arrows on our irradiated Tomb World.

  • @ignitionfrn2223
    @ignitionfrn2223 Před 2 lety +29

    2:25 - Chapter 1 - The craft
    4:35 - Chapter 2 - The mission
    6:45 - Chapter 3 - Jupiter
    8:10 - Chapter 4 - Saturn
    10:15 - Chapter 5 - Uranus
    13:00 - Chapter 6 - Neptune
    15:30 - Chapter 7 - Interstellar space
    19:05 - Chapter 8 - The golden record

  • @paulherman5822
    @paulherman5822 Před 2 lety +5

    Last time I picked up a 30+ year old piece of technology and it worked? Define technology. I regularly use a 1950s Esterbrook fountain pen that has had nothing repaired or replaced since new, and still works well. Does that count? 😁

    • @owenshebbeare2999
      @owenshebbeare2999 Před 2 lety +2

      Got a 1960 Nikon F camera, was tested a few years ago, still within factory settings. The most advanced camera of its day, brought together many then-new technologies into a compact, reliable package, the first true professional SLR camera.

  • @twentypdrparrott694
    @twentypdrparrott694 Před 2 lety +2

    I liken both to messages in bottles cast upon the sea, but on a vastly larger scale.

    • @BrandyHoelscher
      @BrandyHoelscher Před 2 lety

      I’d never considered it like that. Perfectly apt though. I like it.

  • @stanley8869
    @stanley8869 Před 2 lety +2

    Great video. Awe inspiring that a craft launched in 1977 (I was 9) is still going. Disappointed that Simon did not go into detail of how/when V2 will lose contact with Earth. That will be a sad day. We should have International Voyager 2 Day to commemorate the event. Got to give credit to NASA for the effort that went into the Golden Record

  • @markboomgaarden4679
    @markboomgaarden4679 Před 2 lety +21

    The answer to your question about what else works perfectly after 30 years- my Atari 2600. Come to think of it, the voyagers and ataris were made about the same time. Solid tech.

    • @owenshebbeare2999
      @owenshebbeare2999 Před 2 lety

      @Brandon Quist There's the usual Left-wing Left-wing naïvety. Profit is not evil.

    • @slcpunk2740
      @slcpunk2740 Před 2 lety +8

      @@owenshebbeare2999 they didn't say it was, they said profits are being put ahead of making a product that lasts ... only a nutjob makes everything political for no reason whatsoever

    • @seafodder6129
      @seafodder6129 Před 2 lety

      Well, except for the joysticks...

    • @STSWB5SG1FAN
      @STSWB5SG1FAN Před 2 lety

      @@owenshebbeare2999 The LOVE of profit is, if it makes you forsake things like ingenuity, integrity, and honesty.
      Reich-wing Trumpists always projecting their faults onto others.

    • @MrMountainchris
      @MrMountainchris Před 2 lety

      Yeah before companies realized they could make more money off us by building crap that breaks so you have to buy another one.

  • @bradpalmer2914
    @bradpalmer2914 Před 2 lety +14

    How about the story of Dounreay? From cutting edge research years ahead of it's time through the 'least polluting' nuclear power station ever to it's demise and closure due to farcical mismanagement and the nuclear waste pit explosion.
    The biggest UK Megaproject that nobody knows about.

  • @DarrenChen
    @DarrenChen Před 2 lety +2

    This is my favorite episode of mega projects so far! Thank you

  • @avpkid345
    @avpkid345 Před 2 lety +2

    If it’s possible, please do a video on the Cassini Huygens mission. It’s one of NASA’s most successful missions, and showed us new views of Saturn like never before.

  • @willies545
    @willies545 Před 2 lety +3

    Yeah it's odd it took this long to have a mega projects video on voyager 2, and yeah it's definitely one of the biggest and truly a true mega project

  • @KienDLuu
    @KienDLuu Před 2 lety +5

    What's astonishing is that they kept track of the spacecraft's trajectory and orientation with enough accuracy to take photos of planets as they flew by. All this during the time when engineers had to use slide rules to do calculations. Astonishing!

    • @Agarwaen
      @Agarwaen Před 2 lety

      by this time there were already the nascent age of the PC, and a decade after the apollo AGC

    • @KienDLuu
      @KienDLuu Před 2 lety

      @@Agarwaen but development began years before the launch.

    • @Agarwaen
      @Agarwaen Před 2 lety

      @@KienDLuu as did computers...

    • @KienDLuu
      @KienDLuu Před 2 lety

      @@Agarwaen that's exactly what I mean. Wouldnt that mean what was launched was years behind the current state of tech at the time the spacecraft were in service?

    • @Agarwaen
      @Agarwaen Před 2 lety

      @@KienDLuu year and that's always the case.

  • @christopherwebb3517
    @christopherwebb3517 Před 2 lety +2

    It was quite an achievement of science that we were able to probe Uranus so thoroughly.

  • @BCaldwell
    @BCaldwell Před 2 lety +2

    Best episode of Megaprojects yet.... Great job to the team over there!

  • @michaelb1761
    @michaelb1761 Před 2 lety +5

    The number of times Simon says "Uranus", e.g. "made contact with Uranus", "obtained a wealth of knowledge about Uranus", etc., without breaking character shows just what a professional he is.
    (Of course we don't know how many takes he did.)

    • @faxepl
      @faxepl Před 2 lety +1

      Don't forget "exploration of Uranus".

    • @mugendono23
      @mugendono23 Před 2 lety +1

      Giggity

  • @brentboswell1294
    @brentboswell1294 Před 2 lety +20

    Little known fact: Voyager 1 could have been sent to Pluto, but the mission scientists deemed a closeup study of Titan to be of more scientific value. The close Titan flyby meant zero chance for the Pluto "keyhole" gravity assist. New Horizons would have been unnecessary had Voyager 1 visited Pluto instead...

    • @rzpogi
      @rzpogi Před 2 lety +4

      So we don't need to send out Voyager at all since Pioneer 10 and 11 already visited Jupiter and Saturn.
      Every probe visit is necessary to learn more about the planet and the solar system.

    • @MrTexasDan
      @MrTexasDan Před 2 lety +7

      Titan IS more interesting than Pluto, at least with the instruments on V'ger. Pluto really needed New Horizons to do it justice.
      Things have a way of working out.

    • @intrepidpursuit
      @intrepidpursuit Před 2 lety

      Now we will never see a detailed photo of the planet Pluto.

    • @knutthompson7879
      @knutthompson7879 Před 2 lety +2

      I think it was the right call. Titan was a sure thing and it was right there and is at the very least of comparable scientific value. New Horizon is technologically more advanced, so was able to do much more at Pluto than Voyager would have been able to. So it was a win-win.

  • @AndrewPenner
    @AndrewPenner Před 2 lety

    Excellent work as always Simon (and crew). This (and Side Projects) are my favourite of your channels

  • @grapeshot
    @grapeshot Před 2 lety +2

    Does anybody remember that Beast Wars episode when Ravage from the original Transformers. He met the new batch. And the new Megatron had the golden disk that he put on Voyager 2.

    • @jaysonlee4394
      @jaysonlee4394 Před 2 lety

      Hasbro came out with the "Golden Disk"line of Transformers this year..

  • @aaronstonebeat
    @aaronstonebeat Před 2 lety +4

    I'm not a native speaker of English but I distinctly remember learning that the plural of 'craft' (a ship, vehicle etc.) is 'craft'. Has this offficially changed? 'Crafts' sounds strange to me.

    • @mhoppy6639
      @mhoppy6639 Před 2 lety +1

      He says it with aircraft too. I love his vids but I can’t figure out why it’s scripted this way…

    • @kieronparr3403
      @kieronparr3403 Před 2 lety +2

      Just like cannon

    • @owenshebbeare2999
      @owenshebbeare2999 Před 2 lety

      Blame the ignorant American scriptwriters and editors, as scripts are read "sic erat scriptum"; precisely as the are written.

    • @andersjjensen
      @andersjjensen Před 2 lety

      @@owenshebbeare2999 I just love it when someone makes a typo while they're taking a dig at the lack of intellectual prowess of others. Thanks for the laugh! :P

  • @mrougelot
    @mrougelot Před 2 lety

    Brilliant video, thanks so much!

  • @paulgar8
    @paulgar8 Před 2 lety +2

    One of the best of your always good stories.

  • @amandajones661
    @amandajones661 Před 2 lety +4

    I didn't expect a video on Voyager 2 to make me emotional, but here we are.

    • @sandybarnes887
      @sandybarnes887 Před 2 lety

      Why emotional?

    • @amandajones661
      @amandajones661 Před 2 lety +1

      @@sandybarnes887 It reminds me of how amazing we humans can be when we want to be. Plus, how amazing our universe is. Just thinking about the generations of engineers who have and will be on this project is really cool.

    • @sandybarnes887
      @sandybarnes887 Před 2 lety +1

      @@amandajones661 ahh. I understand. 😎

    • @andersjjensen
      @andersjjensen Před 2 lety +1

      I told my girl fiend about the Voyager probes... aand she started crying... apparently NASA are very cruel and callus people for sending them in each their direction so they had to go out of the solar system all alone. I've since had to compromise on my view of the emotional life of unmanned space craft. They're now officially uncomfortable with being alone in the darkness of the ice cold space unimaginably far away from everything they know and love.....

    • @amandajones661
      @amandajones661 Před 2 lety

      @@andersjjensen 🤗💙

  • @michaelpipkin9942
    @michaelpipkin9942 Před 2 lety +5

    Can you do the history of The Thunderbirds?
    The planes evolve, the history is decades long, tragic, and entertained millions.

    • @ilajoie3
      @ilajoie3 Před 2 lety +1

      I was waiting for you to show up again. I wonder if you do this on all his other channels rather than side and mega protects, cause that's alot of channels

    • @cerdjee4918
      @cerdjee4918 Před 2 lety +1

      Thunderbirds are GO!

    • @ilajoie3
      @ilajoie3 Před 2 lety +1

      @@cerdjee4918 I'm pretty sure he's talking about the air force equivalent of the blue angels

    • @cerdjee4918
      @cerdjee4918 Před 2 lety +1

      @@ilajoie3 FAB, Ivan!

  • @brondroid
    @brondroid Před 2 lety

    Absolutely fantastic video! Thanks so much, Simon & Team!

  • @joshuahilmer8547
    @joshuahilmer8547 Před 2 lety +2

    Simon's snarky smile on every Keeps package would sell millions lol

    • @joshuahilmer8547
      @joshuahilmer8547 Před 2 lety

      Oooo what if you add Keeps to Beard Blaze? You could call it ZZ Top Blaze! 😳

    • @joshuahilmer8547
      @joshuahilmer8547 Před 2 lety

      Scratch that... Wizard Blaze 🧙

  • @MrMountainchris
    @MrMountainchris Před 2 lety +3

    It's strange to think this might one day be all that is left of humanity.

  • @grahamsawyer831
    @grahamsawyer831 Před 2 lety +5

    'heliopause' is a cool word...
    seriously though, I have always thought the Voyager missions to be among our greatest achievements so far. nice one Simon for covering this one!

    • @andersjjensen
      @andersjjensen Před 2 lety +1

      Yeah... it's pretty damn amazing that you can yeet a thing out of the solar system... and it's even more impressive that you can make said thing visit 4 planets and 27 moons in the process. I mean, hurling shit stupidly fast is hard in it self. Doing it with this level of precision in the mid 70s is... bonkers to say the least.

  • @dustinpayne6035
    @dustinpayne6035 Před rokem

    I feel like Simon was saying Uranus as much as possible and I love the he held a straight face the whole time.

  • @DataData1000
    @DataData1000 Před 2 lety +2

    I enjoy and appreciate many of your videos. That said, I don't understand why so many videos state that Voyager has left the Solar System. Whenever I ask astronomers and space enthusiasts if the Ort Cloud is part of the Solar System, the answer is nearly always "yes". The Voyager spacecrafts have not even entered this vast region and will not leave the Ort Cloud for thousands of years. Therefore, I respectfully question the notion that "the Voyager spacecrafts have breached the limits of the Solar System" when they will still be gravitationally bound to the Solar System far into the future.

    • @zounds010
      @zounds010 Před 2 lety +1

      It's 'interstellar space' in the sense that the Sun is no longer the dominant factor in the local environment (plasma and charged particles).

    • @kodiakjak1
      @kodiakjak1 Před 2 lety +2

      Current definitions are a bit confusing. Like the reply earlier said, the area past the heliopause is called interstellar space. However, a star system is considered to include all bodies held to a star by attraction. Meaning gravity. The Oort cloud is still theoretical, but scientifically accepted as the extent of our solar system. The Voyager spacecraft still have tens of thousands of years before they leave the solar system.

    • @DataData1000
      @DataData1000 Před 2 lety

      @@kodiakjak1 Thanks. Yes, that has been my argument for the past couple of years. When the spacecraft do exit the Solar System, I wonder if there will be anyone around who knows of their existence. :)

  • @eaphantom9214
    @eaphantom9214 Před 2 lety +3

    What an astronomical masterpiece!
    On par with Voyager 1! 🤩👏👏👍
    Longest megaprojects presentation I noticed

  • @itsmeoli3705
    @itsmeoli3705 Před 2 lety +3

    Great video! Though just a quick correction (if one maybe so bold), Voyager 2 launched from LC-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, not from Kennedy.

  • @blrun129
    @blrun129 Před 2 lety +2

    Wow that was an amazing summary 👏

  • @matthewungar2138
    @matthewungar2138 Před 2 lety

    Appreciate all the videos. Thank you for continuing to be awesome.

  • @BrandonWelchAMA
    @BrandonWelchAMA Před 2 lety +8

    One of my favorite Megaprojects yet!!! Need to do one on New Horizons, and Juno now!!!

  • @timothystockman7533
    @timothystockman7533 Před 2 lety +4

    The spacecraft actually retains its mass of ~720 kg in space. This mass interacts with the gravitation fields of the sun and planets throughout its mission.

  • @amaccama3267
    @amaccama3267 Před 2 lety +2

    "1st stop Uranus". The gags just write themselves. 😁😁

  • @XLessThanZ
    @XLessThanZ Před 2 lety +2

    Keeps: Be proud. You look cool with your hair on the opposite end of your head. 👍

  • @PrimericanIdol
    @PrimericanIdol Před 2 lety +3

    Funny enough, we may develop the technology to eventually travel and catch up to the voyagers.

  • @kirke420
    @kirke420 Před 2 lety +10

    Yeah, my Voyager made close contact with Uranus.
    Simon has awoken the part of me that never made it past age 15. :D

  • @russellfitzpatrick503

    A perfect addition to your video on Voyager 1. Many thanks

  • @georgewilliams8448
    @georgewilliams8448 Před 2 lety

    Thank you for another excellent and informative video.

  • @darylcheshire1618
    @darylcheshire1618 Před 2 lety +3

    regarding hair loss Captain Picard shows that there is no cure for baldness even in the 24th Century. Or To baldly go where no man has gone before.

  • @anonymousrex5207
    @anonymousrex5207 Před 2 lety +8

    I keep trying to tell myself I am a mature adult, but then I keep giggling every time you mention Uranus.

  • @timmotel5804
    @timmotel5804 Před rokem

    Very interesting and educational. Which is great. Thank You

  • @TLSMatt
    @TLSMatt Před 2 lety

    Thanks for putting this together 🙏😎

  • @pantherdddjvdgx
    @pantherdddjvdgx Před 8 měsíci +1

    I couldn’t help myself but chuckle every time Simon said Uranus. I know Simon had a hard time not to laugh when he said: Time to explore Uranus.

  • @stephenhammond6962
    @stephenhammond6962 Před 2 lety

    Nomis! You astound me once again! Keep it up fella, love your work 👍

  • @jamesbodnarchuk3322
    @jamesbodnarchuk3322 Před 2 lety +1

    Very interesting! To go where no man has gone before!

  • @dennisblankenship5979
    @dennisblankenship5979 Před 2 lety

    I find all your videos very interesting and very informative I do not like missing any of the videos regardless of what the subjects are I like to know about a lot of it or all of it

  • @jamesfergusson2047
    @jamesfergusson2047 Před 2 lety +1

    Great work mate

  • @jeremythornton433
    @jeremythornton433 Před 2 lety

    Wow! This is fantastic! Thank you!

  • @StarScapesOG
    @StarScapesOG Před 2 lety +1

    Simon, please do a video on either Bagger 288/293 or Bingham Canyon copper mine!

  • @clarencehopkins7832
    @clarencehopkins7832 Před rokem

    Excellent stuff bro

  • @patrickanderson5927
    @patrickanderson5927 Před 2 lety

    I love your intro with this epic story theme!

  • @basichistory
    @basichistory Před 2 lety

    That was a fascinating video

  • @semaj_5022
    @semaj_5022 Před 2 lety

    This is my kind of megaproject. Hell yes.

  • @DFSJR1203
    @DFSJR1203 Před 2 lety +1

    I love the way Simon breaks down those distance numbers using The Great Wall, Mississippi River, and other things.

    • @palestalemale1779
      @palestalemale1779 Před 2 lety +1

      I actually found that annoying, it would have made more sense to have used the distance from the earth to the moon

    • @owenshebbeare2999
      @owenshebbeare2999 Před 2 lety

      It's both cheesy and arbitrary, and tends to favour American objects which as irrelevant to most of the world.

    • @1pcfred
      @1pcfred Před 2 lety

      Everyone knows the universal unit of measurement is the football field.

    • @1pcfred
      @1pcfred Před 2 lety

      @@owenshebbeare2999 people like you are why I have no pity when I find out we've drone struck random foreigners.

  • @jerichohill487
    @jerichohill487 Před 2 lety +1

    Great video, as always, but I would disagree with one point. I'm pretty sure that those two man hole covers left our solar system before Voyger one or two.

  • @amandajones661
    @amandajones661 Před 2 lety +1

    I love this video!!

  • @Jonowright
    @Jonowright Před 2 lety

    Brilliant video!

  • @grahamt33
    @grahamt33 Před 2 lety

    Awesome script and graphics ! Wow !