What If We Turned On Voyager 1’s Camera?

That picture of Earth was taken as a request from Carl Sagan. He convinced NASA that it would be tragic not to take that opportunity. Never again would this opportunity exist. Thank you Dr. Sagan!

I gotta say. For a "digital camera" of the 1970's, a ~600kb is insanely impressive. And a transfer rate of ~100kb/second is even more impressive from that time and distance.

Hearing about “Pale Blue Dot” always makes me shiver. To know that something out there took photo from that far away…. It truly represents humanity’s potential, that we may eventually travel that far.

I had to do a class project on the Voyager 1 and 2 satellites. At the time, I had an uncle who worked at JPL, and he gave me the opportunity to speak with engineers who worked in communications, and on various satellite programs. Even though I was only in 4th grade at the time, just being able to walk the JPL campus, and interview the amazing women and men who worked in various capacities, at JPL, I’ve always looked back at this as a life experience. Nowadays we have the internet and technology to assist with research. Back then, all I had was a journal, number 2 pencil, college ruled paper, people to interview, and books to use. Truly a fond memory that your video has brought back to mind for me. Thank you very much 🙏

Getting the final transmission from the Opportunity rover that read, "My battery is low and it's getting dark," was one of my favorite space moment. Despite being designed to function for only 90 days, the rover continued working for a full 15 years until a  massive dust storm finally led to death for the solar-powered rover.🥺🥺

My favourite space moment was the moonlanding. It may seem like a lazy choice, but when you watch the 50-year old videos it still gives me a goosebumps,that people actually walked (and played golf) on a different cosmic body. Seems so fascinating and sad that last mission was completed before 50years

This video answered MANY questions I have had for years. I have always wondered about the resolution and transmission rate of this era's spacecraft. My favorite memories were the very late Apollo missions (moon buggy) and early shuttle eras.

My favorite is voyager, but a very specific aspect of it. The golden record carried on it. All kinds of languages, music, important things to us. It just shows how we as a species are so inclined to reach out and connect with others.

Voyager was NOT filled with tech that was "way ahead of its time". In fact, by the time of launch, its tech was almost 10 years old. The planning, production and testing of Voyager was so intricate and complex, it was impossible to update its components once the planning was complete and production began.

It's sad that we won't ever be able to see images from Voyager 1 again, but it's nice knowing it's out there somewhere, for possibly millions of years after we're gone. Kind of like a memorial of Humanity's achievements edit: I understand that there's a possibility of the Voyager 1 getting hit, but I'm talking about the possibility that it doesn't get hit.

The most defining space moment for me was the space shuttle challenger explosion because as a 6 year old boy who had never experienced a death, it made me realize just how precious life is. Sitting around my classmates watching it happen and everyones jaw dropped and not knowing how to react. Our teachers played a pivotal role in how we handle death. I may get some flak for that, but that's the moment that stands out.

It is hard to believe it has been that long. I was part of the deep space tracking team, DSS14 Goldstone tracking station. It took many many weeks to get ready for Voyager 2 and 1 launch. All the other missions we didn't start tracking until the spacecraft was in deep space. For reasons still unknown to me, we where to start tracking on the first pass. We had to make many modifications to our tracking system because the signals were too strong. Even pointing the 64 meter dish antenna was a challenge.

My favorite space moment was the hammer and feather test on the moon. I am currently in college studying physics and when I first saw that video I was blown away. The fact that when two masses fall without air resistance and land at the same time is unbelievable.

Wow, hearing about the voyagers always gives me the chills...the distances they're traveling!

The sheer vastness of space is humbling.

The most amazing thing about these things is that after launch, that’s the technology it has and we’ll just have to work with it. Like some of them run on systems only a handful of people today actually know, cause those systems have been replaced long ago. They really put a lot of work into keeping them going as long as possible

My favorite space moment was the launch of JWST last year. It was the most exiting and nerve racking launch I have ever seen, and the pictures it’s taking now are amazing!

I think my favorite space moment was watching the two side boosters from Falcon Heavy land themselves. Probably because that’s the biggest space achievement I’ve actually gotten to watch in real time. Keep up the great work on these videos, I love them! :)

a huge coincidence that I check this out on the 33rd anniversary of this picture. Such an incredible perspective comes from seeing this picture

I don't know why but it makes me cry Thinking about the beauty of the universe, our existence in it, and our perseverance to put something out there that says "we were here" Even if no one ever sees it, I still think it's really beautiful