The answer, as the flight team for the Voyager Interstellar Mission recently demonstrated, is to plan ahead and keep top-notch engineers available.

Last month, the team cautiously activated a backup position-sensing system, including a Sun sensor and star tracker, on Voyager 1. The spacecraft had been carrying those components and other spare parts since it was launched in 1977 on what was then slated as a four-year mission.

"After sitting on the shelf for 25 years, it's like new equipment," said Ed Massey, Voyager project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

Related Links Voyager 1 SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express SPACE TRAVEL NASA's Fuse Satellite Lit Again Greenbelt - Mar 6, 2002 Like spacewalking astronauts performing open-heart surgery on NASA's Hubble Space Telescope this week, an ingenious team of engineers re-awakened another orbiting observatory earlier this month -- without ever leaving the ground. --------------------------------------------------------- New from Telescopes.com! It's new. And it's downright terrific! Celestron's CPC Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope is the scope you've been waiting for! It offers new alignment technology, advanced engineering, and bold new design at a new, low price! In fact, Celestron's Professional Computerized (CPC) scope with revolutionary SkyAlign Alignment Technology redefines everything that amateur astronomers are looking for. It offers quick and simple alignment, GPS technology, unsurpassed optical quality, ease of use, advanced ergonomics, enhanced computerization and, most important, affordability. Want to view M-31 tonight? One button takes you there! Shop for telescopes online at Telescopes.com! today! ------------------------------------------------------------     Add to Delicious

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