Uptime 15,364 days - The Computers of Voyager
summary
Voyager 1 and 2 continue returning telemetry after 15,364 days (launched 1977) using three core computers — CCS, AACS and the faster CMOS Flight Data System — and survive on three RTGs that produced about 450 watts at launch from 13.5 kg of plutonium‑238. Systems use plated‑wire memory, an 18‑bit bipolar CCS (~11k instr/s), an 80k‑instr/s CMOS FDS, an eight‑track tape holding ~500 megabits (~100 full images), Golay and Reed‑Solomon FEC and runtime reconfiguration; power limits predict roughly five more years of operation.
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chapters (16)
- 0:00Background on Voyager
- 1:16Talk outline
- 2:00About the speaker
- 2:25Origins of Voyager
- 3:18Initial requirements
- 8:25Revised program
- 10:05The 3 R's
- 11:08Probe design
- 12:55Command Computer System
- 17:40Attitude and Articulation Control System
- 20:04Flight Data System
- 23:56Voyager 0
- 24:35Voyager 2 mission
- 29:07Sustaining power
- 30:26The golden record
- 31:20Q&A
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