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Author
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Topic: Artifact mementos taken off Voyager probes
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utahraptor
Member Posts: 35
From: U.K.
Registered: Apr 2007
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posted 02-16-2020 03:16 PM
   
Were any objects/cut offs taken off the Voyager probes, either as mementos to staff who worked on them or to be sold? Thank you. |
oly
Member Posts: 1029
From: Perth, Western Australia
Registered: Apr 2015
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posted 02-17-2020 05:33 PM
At what point in the probes life could "artefacts" have been removed and still considered to be a part of "Voyager"? |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 43817
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 02-17-2020 06:09 PM
Aluminum foil comes to mind.Just months before the probes were launched, engineers decided that the cables aboard both Voyager spacecraft needed more shielding. To solve the problem, they went out to grocery stores and bought as many rolls of kitchen-grade aluminum foil as they could find. The foil was then cut into strips, cleaned and wrapped around the cables. I don't know if any excess foil remained or, if in the process of wrapping the cables, some needed to be trimmed. I also don't know if any of that foil was kept by mission team members. But if it did happen, I would think it would be treated by collectors as an artifact, much in the same way that the Kapton that was removed from the Apollo lunar modules as part of pre-launch maintenance has been considered an artifact, too. |
oly
Member Posts: 1029
From: Perth, Western Australia
Registered: Apr 2015
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posted 02-17-2020 07:30 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
Aluminum foil comes to mind.
To consider such an item to be a part of Voyager would be somewhat subjective, as any left over material never became a part of Voyager in the first place, it was excess material. At what point from manufacture of the material through to launch does the foil become intrinsic to the spacecraft?I would argue that what you would have would be a sample of material used in the program, not a "piece" of the spacecraft, because until launch the material has not become an intrinsic part of the vehicle. |
Ianhetho
Member Posts: 121
From: Bogangar NSW Australia
Registered: May 2018
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posted 05-16-2020 04:03 PM
Are there any lucites from the Voyager programs?Editor's note: Threads merged.
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rgarner
Member Posts: 1235
From: Shepperton, United Kingdom
Registered: Mar 2012
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posted 05-16-2020 04:33 PM
Personally, I would only consider the material from Voyager if it was actually installed/used on the probe and then removed prior to flight, as opposed to left over. The Apollo 11 LM foil being removed prior to flight comes to mind. |
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