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09:22 PM
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Jupiter-sized object lurking at the solar system’s edge, affecting Earth.
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[quote:Astronut:MV8xMjczMDg0XzIwOTUwMTAwXzdCOTEyODVG] [quote:Least Servant] Any thoughts on the "reprogramming" of one probe and the complete loss of escape velocity on another? I'm busy so I assume you know the probes I am talking about... Thanks! :hf: [/quote] I assume you're talking about the voyager bit flip in the first part? It was just a single "bit" of data that caused that problem, a bit flip. The most likely cause is that of a cosmic ray hit on the chip holding that bit, causing it to switch. Had it actually been "reprogramed" showing a significant amount of its memory changing then it might have been something truly abnormal, but bit flips in spacecraft are not unusual. It's actually less common for Voyager because there's less solar radiation to contend with, which can also cause bit flips in near-earth (or at least, intrasolar system) satellites. It happened with Cassini just a matter of days ago: http://satelit.web.id/2010/11/25/cassini-back-to-normal-after-bit-flip.html The second part of your question I'm less sure of. Are you referring to the Japanese probe that flew by Venus instead of going into Venusian orbit? [/quote]
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Found this pretty interesting
A few excerpts from article:
A century of comet data suggests a dark, Jupiter-sized object is lurking at the solar system’s outer edge and hurling chunks of ice and dust toward Earth.
In 1999, Matese and colleague Daniel Whitmire suggested the sun has a hidden companion that boots icy bodies from the Oort Cloud, a spherical haze of comets at the solar system’s fringes, into the inner solar system where we can see them.
Rather than a malevolent death star, a smaller and more benign companion called Tyche (
Nemesis’ good sister in Greek mythology
) could send comets streaming from the Oort Cloud toward Earth
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link to www.wired.com
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