Latest news with #ToddBarber
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Zombie Voyager 1 Spacecraft Resurrects Its "Dead" Thrusters Over 15 Billion Miles Away
NASA's Voyager 1, the furthest spacecraft from Earth, simply refuses to die. In a recent update, the space agency revealed that the little probe that could has once again sputtered back to life thanks to some remote magic done on its thrusters from 15 billion miles away. Launched nearly 50 years ago, just after its twin craft Voyager 2, the probe has been plummeting through interstellar space for decades at speeds of more than 38,000 miles per hour. Along with discovering new moons and rings on Saturn and Jupiter, Voyager 1 has also been slowly going mad and dying — but NASA is not letting it go down without a fight. The spacecraft's mission team decided to see if they could fix its thrusters, which have been "deemed unusable" since 2004 and have been relatively dormant ever since. Notably, the craft does have a second pair of thrusters that were revived in 2018 and 2019, but they're unable to induce the roll motion that "rotates [Voyager 1's] antenna like a vinyl record to keep each Voyager pointed at a guide star it uses to orient itself," per NASA. When those primary roll thrusters first began to peter out, it wasn't seen as the end of the world. "I think at that time, the team was OK with accepting that the primary roll thrusters didn't work, because they had a perfectly good backup," explained Kareem Badaruddin, the Voyager mission manager at NASA, in the agency's update. "And, frankly, they probably didn't think the Voyagers were going to keep going for another 20 years." As the years went by and it became clear that the thrusters could be fixed, NASA began to investigate the issue and found that those primary thrusters could be fired with the help of some very sensitive instructional programming from Earth. It took nearly a full day for NASA to send its instructions to the probe, so the mission team was mostly left in the dark, so to speak, trying to figure out whether it had worked. Despite the communication blackout, the Earth-bound Voyager team saw within 20 minutes that the probe's thruster temperature had risen just enough to have been successful — an indication that the gambit paid off. "It was such a glorious moment," enthused Voyager propulsion lead Todd Barber. "Team morale was very high that day." "These thrusters were considered dead. And that was a legitimate conclusion," he continued. "It's just that one of our engineers had this insight that maybe there was this other possible cause and it was fixable." "It was," Barber said, "yet another miracle save for Voyager." More on unlikely space: Scientists Just Moved Up the Death Date of the Universe
Forbes
15-05-2025
- Science
- Forbes
NASA Revives Voyager 1's Dead Thrusters After 21 Years — Here's How
NASA's twin Voyager spacecraft, launched in 1977, are now traveling through interstellar space at ... More around 35,000 mph (56,000 kph). This artist's concept depicts one of the probes speeding away. NASA engineers have put backup thrusters not used since 2004 back into service on its aging Voyager 1 spacecraft — from almost 16 billion miles away. The farthest human-made object, Voyager 1, was launched in 1977 and travels at 35,000 mph (56,000 kph). It uses thrusters to keep itself oriented, pivoting so its antenna is pointed at Earth for communications to be sent and received. However, on its nearly five-decade-long journey through space, hardware has degraded to the extent that the entire mission hinges on engineers being creative. This is just the latest example of NASA trying to extend the lifetime of arguably the most famous spacecraft humanity has ever built — but can it reach its 50th birthday in 2027? According to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the spacecraft's primary roll thrusters, which control the spacecraft's rotation, haven't been used since 2004 when their internal heaters failed. For the last 21 years, backup roll thrusters have been used. However, these are now degrading. So engineers went back to failed internal heaters and, just in case, attempted to revive a power switch that may been at fault 21 years ago. Despite the radio signal taking over 23 hours to travel from Earth to the spacecraft, the fix — a sequence of commands — worked from 16 billion miles away. 'It was such a glorious moment,' said Todd Barber, the mission's propulsion lead at JPL. 'These thrusters were considered dead. It was yet another miracle save for Voyager.' The thruster swap had to be performed in double-quick time because, on May 4, 2025, the only facility powerful enough to send commands to Voyager 1 went down for maintenance. The 230-foot-wide (70-meter-wide) antenna Deep Space Station 43 antenna in Canberra, Australia — part of NASA's Deep Space Network — will be out of action through February 2026. The restoration of its primary roll thrusters means Voyager 1 can transmit data back to Earth while DSS-43 is down. The Deep Space Network is how engineers communicate with and receive data from the space agency's 30+ robotic probes in the solar system and beyond. There are three complexes in the network, in California, Madrid in Spain and Canberra in Australia — each placed 120° from each other. California's antenna at the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex in the Mojave Desert near Barstow, California, was upgraded in 2020 to enable it to handle ultra-fast 'space broadband.' Antenna upgrades are essential for, among other things, NASA's plans to land astronauts on the moon and beyond. Voyager 1 is now in interstellar space in the constellation Ophiuchus, in the southern sky beneath the Summer Triangle stars, as seen from the Northern Hemisphere. Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Indian Trail councilmember censured over ties to controversial Facebook page
Indian Trail Town Council voted, 3-1, to censure a fellow council member over his alleged involvement with a Facebook page. PAST COVERAGE: Indian Trail Town Council weighing censure over member's ties to controversial Facebook page In April, Channel 9 reported that the town hired an outside attorney to investigate Councilman Todd Barber's connection to the Facebook page, 'The Weasel Report.' The investigation made several connections to Barber and found he misled the public. Barber denied his involvement with the page and shared his reasons to council on Tuesday night. He provided a signed affidavit by his wife, Lisa Barber, who claims she is the administrator of the page, and the owner of the animal pictured in many of the posts. Barber said the animal is not a weasel. It's a ferret. The council voted to approve a resolution of censure saying that Barber violated the code of ethics. This is Barber's second time being censured. In 2023, councilmembers voted to censure Barber over an alleged false post he made on social media regarding another town employee. VIDEO: Indian Trail Town Council weighing censure over member's ties to controversial Facebook page
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Indian Trail censures Town Council member again for ‘weasel' Facebook page
INDIAN TRAIL, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Indian Trail Town Councilman Todd Barber was censured Tuesday night for the second time in three years. Barber has been accused of running a controversial Facebook page called 'The Indian Trail Weasel Report' that shares town criticism and gossip. He's maintained he doesn't the page, but it was allegedly used for his campaign under a different name. His colleagues on the dais say it's been a source of 'embarrassment' for the town. The Council approved the official admonishment 3-1, with Barber abstaining and Tom Amburgey giving the lone vote of support. Weddington mayor breaks tie to deny 62-home development near eagle habitat 'By the time we started this investigation, it was not my page,' Barber said following the accusations. 'No, the investigation references not a single post on 'The Indian Trail Weasel Report' or violates town policy or is untrue, as the attorney never talked to me.' Town residents were fed up with the page's contents. 'Same crap over and over,' one speaker said. 'So you make a change or we make change in this come November.' 'I call on you today to acknowledge your involvement with the 'Weasel Report' and cease any further publications,' said another. 'Close the page now or resign.' Other than Barber's rebuttal, he didn't answer any other questions on the subject. The town did not present what further consequences the censure may bring. Barber was previously censured in September 2023 after comments made about the town planning director. 'It is an embarrassment,' Mayor David Cohn said Tuesday. 'This town is being embarrassed over and over and over again because of the 'Weasel Report.' And there's only one person on this council that writes on the 'Weasel Report.'' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Indian Trail leaders to hold hearing for councilman after claims he violated town policy
INDIAN TRAIL, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Indian Trail Town Council members will hold a hearing next month to decide whether or not to censure one of their own. The action comes amid claims Councilman Todd Barber is involved in a gossip page on Facebook, The Indian Trail Weasel Report. Other members have claimed Barber may have violated town policy. They hired an outside attorney to conduct an investigation into whether Barber's alleged involvement in the gossip page online violates the town's policy. It states, 'board members shall strive to be truthful and provide information in a factual and objective manner, as to not mislead the public.' At Tuesday night's meeting, leaders read the report, which said Barber has a digital link to the page and is partially responsible for what's on it. 'Quit making an embarrassment, this isn't Jerry Springer Show,' said one man during the public comment period. 'These are people. Everyone in this room works hard every day and that entire page is designed to attack people.' People living in Indian Trail tell Queen City News they are fed up. 'You are an embarrassment to yourself, this council and to the entire town,' said a woman during the public comment period. 'You should resign sooner, better than later.' They're calling for Councilman Barber to resign amid concerns he's behind the Indian Trail Weasel Report, which Barber claims his wife runs. An investigation revealed that before the page had its current name, it was first created under the name 'Todd Barber Indian Trail Town Council.' 'We just need to end this,' said Mayor David Cohn. 'I've been up here for 14 years. I've never seen anything like it. Never seen anybody try to tear a town down to make themselves look better.' While his fellow councilmembers were frustrated, Barber didn't have much to say. 'If y'all want to move forward with my opportunity to have a hearing and present my evidence and present the rebuttal, I would ask that hearing be scheduled in four months,' he said. The council decided to hold that hearing on May 13. Barber will present his side, and council members will vote on whether or not to censure him. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
