Science celebrates 30 years of the Voyager space probes whose discoveries opened up new frontiers in the study of space.
Voyager 2 used the gravity of the planets it visited to slingshot it towards the outer planets.
IN an auditorium at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in California occupying pride of place is a full-size replica of the two Voyager spacecraft, launched 30 years ago. Why, after all this time, are the Voyager probes still remembered so fondly? Quite simply, they opened up whole new vistas of the solar system, made many new discoveries that have influenced every space mission since and, despite being the most distant human-built objects ever, are still conducting valuable science.
Sent on two different trajectories, Voyager 1 completed its primary mission in 1981 after it encountered Saturn, while Voyager 2 continued onwards to visit Uranus and Neptune. Both are still going strong, voyaging outwards from the sun into realms unknown and unexplored on the edge of the solar system and beyond. To celebrate the anniversary of these remarkable emissaries from earth, let us take a look at their goal and objectives already achieved.
Read the lines below Quoted from the article written by AMALENDU BANDYOPADHYAY. Where he gives a wonderful explanation between Science and Technology.
"Sending spacecraft to another world is very expensive, and it may seem pointless when that world seems totally hostile to human life. What practical value is there in sending a space probe to Jupiter or Saturn? To resolve that question we need to consider the distinction between science, technology and engineering.
Science is nothing more than the logical study of nature and the goal of science is a better understanding of how nature works. Technology, in contrast, is the practical application of scientific knowledge to solve a specific problem. Engineering is the most practical form of technology. An engineer is likely to use well-understood technology to find a practical solution to a problem.
We might describe science that has no known practical value as basic science or basic research. Our exploration of worlds such as Jupiter or Saturn would be called basic science and it is easy to argue that basic science is not worth the effort and expense because it has no known practical use.
Of course, we have no way of knowing what knowledge will be of use until we acquire that knowledge. In the middle of the 19th century, Queen Victoria is supposed to have asked physicist Michael Faraday what good his experiments with electricity and magnetism were. He answered, “Madam, what good is a baby?” Of course, Faraday’s experiments were the beginning of the electronic age. "
An excellent article on Frontline (Into the unknown). Read the full article here.
Frontline can be downloaded in Pdf format for free here.
We might describe science that has no known practical value as basic science or basic research. Our exploration of worlds such as Jupiter or Saturn would be called basic science and it is easy to argue that basic science is not worth the effort and expense because it has no known practical use.
Of course, we have no way of knowing what knowledge will be of use until we acquire that knowledge. In the middle of the 19th century, Queen Victoria is supposed to have asked physicist Michael Faraday what good his experiments with electricity and magnetism were. He answered, “Madam, what good is a baby?” Of course, Faraday’s experiments were the beginning of the electronic age. "
An excellent article on Frontline (Into the unknown). Read the full article here.
Frontline can be downloaded in Pdf format for free here.
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