Editing 2624: Voyager Wires
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | + | {{incomplete|Created by a WIRE CUT BECAUSE OF BUDG- are you there houston? it's me v----ger, you'll never guess what I found! Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} | |
− | + | This comic claims that the Voyager probes communicate with NASA though ridiculously long copper wires, when in truth they use radio waves.{{citation needed}} These wires would have to be continuously lengthened as the probes travel away from Earth. Supposedly, because of "high copper prices and budget constraints," they may not be able to afford to lengthen the wires much longer. If this occurred, they would have to either cut the wires or let them break, which would prevent any further communications with the probes. As mentioned earlier, however, they actually use radio waves, not long copper wires, so this will not actually happen. | |
− | + | If copper wires were dragged by the Voyager probes, the resulting wire would slow down the probes by drag, but be perfect space elevators for lightweight spacecraft. | |
+ | Of course, since the Earth spins, the wires would also spool around the Earth, slowing the probes down even further. Clearly, this is not a good idea.{{citation needed}} | ||
− | + | This doesn't even factor in how the Earth, in it's rotation around the sun, will drag these copper wires in a circular orbit leading the wires through the sun at least once per year. The difference between the melting point of copper and the average core temperature of the sun has not yet been established by reproducible experiment, but is believed to be incompatible with the high quality required for signal transmission. | |
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+ | The consequence of a cable between a craft in space and a planetary location being suddenly retracted was recently demonstrated in the first episode of the Apple TV series {{w|Foundation}}. It didn't end well for anyone. | ||
− | + | ====Alternate Explanation==== | |
+ | When Randall Munroe states that Voyager 1 and 2 are cabled to the Earth by copper wires, his assertion deserves serious consideration.{{citation needed}} | ||
− | The | + | The primary explanation, above, takes the position that this comic is ridiculously wrong.{{citation needed}} But the insertion of several "citation needed" links suggests that the explanation's position is weak.{{citation needed}} |
− | + | The comic's author, Randall Munroe,{{citation needed}} is well attested as a competent scientist,{{citation needed}} for example see the citations in the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randall_Munroe Wikipedia Randall Munroe page]. His books, cited in that same Wikipedia article,{{citation needed}} offer well-researched easy to understand discussions of science and of everyday phenomena.{{citation needed}} Trust him.{{citation needed}} | |
− | + | (For completeness, see another Wikipedia article, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disinformation Disinformation]. In its subsection ''Strategies for spreading disinformation'', strategy number 4 is "Directly Sharing Disinformation".{{citation needed}} That is mentioned here only because the top header at the xkcd web site states it is a webcomic of romance, '''sarcasm,''' math, and language.){{citation needed}} | |
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==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
− | + | {{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} | |
− | + | [There is an image of a space probe, presumably one of NASA's Voyager probes, with a long wire connecting it to a ball, presumably earth. To the left, there is a second wire, which goes offscreen. Below, there is a caption.] | |
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+ | Caption: "Sad news: Due to high copper prices and budget constraints, NASA may finally have to cut the wires that they've been spooling out to communicate with Voyager 1 and 2." | ||
{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
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