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Week 2023-W31 in reading

Voyager 2 Communications Pause

Source: NASA Mission Update: Voyager 2 Communications Pause

Voyager 2, the space probe launched in 1977 and still working, has pointed its antenna 2 degrees away from the Earth, making communication impossible at the moment. However, the spacecraft has been designed so carefully, that it is programmed to reset its orientation multiple times each year, so it's just a pause in communication most probably.

This is the very opposite of “move fast, break things”. I admire this careful and thoughtful engineering, but rarely see it nowadays in this “fast moving world”. (Voyager is by no means slow, moving at a velocity of 15374.14 m/s. See mission status for up-to-date details.)