I was expecting a nice relaxing day, today. You now, a Sunday steeped in the art of chilling.
But then, I made two mistakes!
The first mistake was to read the Saturday edition of the Guardian's magazine, "Weekend". The second mistake was to watch BBC2's edition of "Wonders of the Universe"...
These two things may seem unconnected but, believe me, they're not!
I'll start from the beginning. The guardian magazine article related the tale of Paul Davies, the chair of the SETI Post-Detection Task Group. Sounds intriguing, doesn't it?! It was an article that related (in a slightly humorous way) the tale of SETI (the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) and the setting up of a committee, "just in case" that aliens are actually found..!
The article referred to Davies' book "The Eerie Silence". I have been unable to fine a link to the newspaper magazine article, so a link to the book should suffice! To cut a long story short, the gist of the article was that after 50 years of listening for Alien communication, they've heard diddly squat!! Rather intriguingly though, there is a group set up so that, in case aliens are found, they have a 'strategy' worked out so they know what to do! (Shame they didn't have that for Iraq, eh!?) The article also mentions the deep space probe, sent up in the mid seventies, called Voyager...
The second part of this puzzle relates to a BBC programme about our solar system, called "Wonders of the Universe". Normally, that would be worthy of a thread all in in itself but, well, there have been so many threads of late, they're two' a penny!
The main part of the BBC programme was about the sun, obviously, but there was a small part relating to the Voyager probe... Which brings me to the point of this thread!
The Voyager probe project was in the seventies, and the two probes Voyager 1 & 2 were intended to be Jupiter and Saturn probes. Obviously, they became much more than that, and they are still functioning now, and should still be doing so until way beyond 2025!
I was so taken by the article in the Guardian, that I looked up the Wiki page on the voyager probe. Voyager1 is the furthest out and should be heading out into the BIG beyond soon!
Edit: Voyager 1 & 2 will be the first man-made objects to go beyond the known solar system!
The thought of these little ships sailing merrily on into the cosmos is amazing!
I wish these small bastions of humanity all the best on their journey into the cosmos....
In case that you want to read more about it, here is the wiki webpage for Voyager! And here is the BBCi player page for Wonders of the Solar System. The BBCi page has a time limit, though...
But then, I made two mistakes!
The first mistake was to read the Saturday edition of the Guardian's magazine, "Weekend". The second mistake was to watch BBC2's edition of "Wonders of the Universe"...
These two things may seem unconnected but, believe me, they're not!
I'll start from the beginning. The guardian magazine article related the tale of Paul Davies, the chair of the SETI Post-Detection Task Group. Sounds intriguing, doesn't it?! It was an article that related (in a slightly humorous way) the tale of SETI (the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) and the setting up of a committee, "just in case" that aliens are actually found..!
The article referred to Davies' book "The Eerie Silence". I have been unable to fine a link to the newspaper magazine article, so a link to the book should suffice! To cut a long story short, the gist of the article was that after 50 years of listening for Alien communication, they've heard diddly squat!! Rather intriguingly though, there is a group set up so that, in case aliens are found, they have a 'strategy' worked out so they know what to do! (Shame they didn't have that for Iraq, eh!?) The article also mentions the deep space probe, sent up in the mid seventies, called Voyager...
The second part of this puzzle relates to a BBC programme about our solar system, called "Wonders of the Universe". Normally, that would be worthy of a thread all in in itself but, well, there have been so many threads of late, they're two' a penny!
The main part of the BBC programme was about the sun, obviously, but there was a small part relating to the Voyager probe... Which brings me to the point of this thread!
The Voyager probe project was in the seventies, and the two probes Voyager 1 & 2 were intended to be Jupiter and Saturn probes. Obviously, they became much more than that, and they are still functioning now, and should still be doing so until way beyond 2025!
I was so taken by the article in the Guardian, that I looked up the Wiki page on the voyager probe. Voyager1 is the furthest out and should be heading out into the BIG beyond soon!
Edit: Voyager 1 & 2 will be the first man-made objects to go beyond the known solar system!
The thought of these little ships sailing merrily on into the cosmos is amazing!
I wish these small bastions of humanity all the best on their journey into the cosmos....
In case that you want to read more about it, here is the wiki webpage for Voyager! And here is the BBCi player page for Wonders of the Solar System. The BBCi page has a time limit, though...
, then don't worry about it. 
