NASA Prefers Old Space Droids Over New Space Droids

Keith’s note: The Twin Voyagers are amazing envoys. 46 years after leaving Earth with rudimentary electronics that are mostly dead they are still sending data back to Earth from Interstellar space – albeit a tiny amount since that is all that they can do. Still, it is well worth the effort to keep listening since they are traversing unexplored territory. The Voyagers left when Star Wars was first screening and people played Pong in bars while listening to Disco music. Flash forward to today: NASA has the New Horizons spacecraft transiting through the Kuiper Belt. It is fully functional with vastly greater capabilities undreamt of when the Voyagers were built. But NASA has decided that they can save a few dollars by disbanding the New Horizons team, rearrange the deck chairs, and drop in some heliophysics guys to check in on the spacecraft once in a while. Given the billion dollars spent thus far on the mission – and having a fully functional modern explorer truly going where no droid has gone before armed to the teeth with sensors – ought to be an opportunity NASA milks for all it is worth. What a bargain. Meanwhile India lands a droid on the Moon for less than the cost of a blockbuster SciFi movie. There is a petition on change.org you can sign if you want to send a message to NASA et al about this sad situation – go here and add your name. More info at Hijacking New Horizons and Space Leaders Sign Letter Protesting Changes In New Horizons’ Mission.