Tonight 2025 08 24 at sunset

[Clark Williams]

Look to the south.  About half-way between the head of Ophiuchus and the head of Hercules. On a direct line between reflection nebula vdB111 and M13 is a tiny little dot that you couldn’t possibly see visually. But you could talk to it if you had a 70m dish somewhere nearby—which of course you do have. That dish is in the Mojave Desert at a place called Goldstone.

The little dot in whose direction you’ve been looking, at this moment, is 167AU from the Earth hurtling through space at 17 kps. It was built by humans long ago. Some of whom are now deceased. These people built this object for the sole purpose of learning more about who we are and why we are here. At that time there was no “Space Race”, no attempt at one-upmanship. All the information gathered by this object was available for free to anyone. All you had to do was ask for it.

Our little object has been traveling for more than 47 years. It takes over 23 hours to send a signal to the object and the same to get a reply. Nearly two days just to say “are you okay?” We expect that some time early in the month of November of 2026 our little human built object will pass the one light-day communication line.

That little object is Voyager I. Launched on September 5, 1977 on a Titan IIIE (aka Titan-Centaur). 1977 was also the year the Space Shuttle first took to the skies on the back of the Boeing 747 carrier craft and first flew on its on after separation from the carrier (February 18th and August 12th). The “WOW!!” Signal was recorded by The Big Ear was recorded on August 15th of 1977. Voyager II launched on August 29th.

You can keep track of both Voyager I and II on your TVA App for iOS if you like. You can also reference the NASA voyager page: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/voyager/where-are-voyager-1-and-voyager-2-now/

Note the TVA App will reflect closely the NASA page but there will be minor differences, Ithaca to do with how I calculate the position of earth and how NASA does it.The App will never be as accurate as the Goldstone data so I apologize. Still what’s 9.300,000 mi between friends?

I was as glued to the TV as I had been since NASA started broadcasting launches. For some reason Voyager I just captured my heart. I was 26 and fresh out of the military and writing operating systems for computers. I even had hair! And wore the clothes to prove it! Go outside and look to the south tonight…remember you’re a part of something we still don’t understand — but we’re trying to do so.

Each of us has a part to play in remembering our little human proof of existence and proof we were better then, than we are now.

Clark

[rays...@gmail.com]

Cool! Thanks Clark!!

 

Each of us has a part to play in remembering our little human proof of existence and proof we were better then, than we are now.

 

Clark

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[Jim Sappington]

Another “I had no idea” fascinating exposition, Clark! I am always intrigued by the Goldstone complex whenever I pass by driving 395 to a Sierra trailhead or Mammoth. Way back in my youth, I covered a lot of miles out in that area on a dirt bike. 

Thank you, Clark!

On Aug 24, 2025, at 6:00 PM, Clark Williams <cla...@s-i-g-h.com> wrote:

Look to the south.  About half-way between the head of Ophiuchus and the head of Hercules. On a direct line between reflection nebula vdB111 and M13 is a tiny little dot that you couldn’t possibly see visually. But you could talk to it if you had a 70m dish somewhere nearby—which of course you do have. That dish is in the Mojave Desert at a place called Goldstone.

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Each of us has a part to play in remembering our little human proof of existence and proof we were better then, than we are now.

Clark

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[Mark Baker]

My first foray into space science … I used to wonder if it was ever going to bring back my Juicy Fruit that helped hold it together but it’s probably stale by now!!! LOL

A marvelous example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts… plus it takes a lickin’ and keeps on tickin’!!! 

Mark Baker
951-691-0101
KN6CQR
President Emeritus, Temecula Valley Astronomers
Solar System Ambassador, NASA / JPL
Docent, CalTech Palomar Observatory
Citizen Scientist Emeritus, Planetary Defense Coordinating Office

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