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“Now, Voyager” quotes

“Don't ask for the moon. We have the stars.” Bette Davis - Charlotte Vale

“Dr. Jaquith says that tyranny is sometimes expression of the maternal instinct. If that's a mother's love, I want no part of it.” Bette Davis - Charlotte Vale

“I didn't want to be born. You didn't want me to be born. It's been a calamity on both sides.” Bette Davis - Charlotte Vale

“- Charlotte Vale: So many, many thanks to you. - Jerry Durrance: For what? - Charlotte Vale: For walking my legs off sight-seeing, and for lunch and for shopping and for a few moments today when I actually felt alive.” Bette Davis - Charlotte Vale Paul Henreid - Jerry Durrance

“You're behaving like a romantic girl of eighteen.” Gladys Cooper - Mrs. Henry Vale

“I want to believe that there's a chance for such happiness to be carried on somehow somewhere.” Paul Henreid - Jerry Durrance

“- Dr. Jaquith: I thought you came up here to have a nervous breakdown . - Charlotte Vale: I've decided not to have one, if it's all the same to you.” Claude Rains - Dr. Jaquith Bette Davis - Charlotte Vale

“Having fun together, getting a kick out of simple little things, out of beauty like this. Sharing confidences we wouldn't share with anybody else in all the world. Won't you be honest and tell me if you are happy too? Since the night on the boat when you told me about your illness, I can't get you out of my mind - or out of my heart either.” Paul Henreid - Jerry Durrance

“If I were free, there would be only one thing I'd want to do - prove you're not immune to happiness.” Paul Henreid - Jerry Durrance

“- Dr. Jaquith: If you had deliberately and maliciously planned to destroy your daughter's life, you couldn't have done it more completely. - Mrs. Henry Vale: How? By having exercised a mother's rights? - Dr. Jaquith: A child has rights, a person has rights, to discover her own mistakes , to make her own way, to grow and blossom in her own...” (continue) (continue reading) Claude Rains - Dr. Jaquith Gladys Cooper - Mrs. Henry Vale

“I'm my mother's well-loved daughter. I'm her companion . I am my mother's servant.” Bette Davis - Charlotte Vale

“- Charlotte Vale: How does it feel to be the Lord? - Dr. Jaquith: Not so very wonderful, since the Free Will Bill was passed. Too little power .” Bette Davis - Charlotte Vale Claude Rains - Dr. Jaquith

“I've been living my own life, making my own decisions for a long while now. It's impossible to go back to being treated like a child again. I don't think I'll do anything of importance that will displease you, but Mother, from now on, you must give me complete freedom.” Bette Davis - Charlotte Vale

“Some women just aren't the marrying kind.” Bette Davis - Charlotte Vale

“When she was young, foolish , I made decisions for her, always the right decisions. One would think a child would wish to repay her mother's love and kindness.” Gladys Cooper - Mrs. Henry Vale

“- Jerry Durrance: Are you afraid of getting burnt if you get too close to happiness? - Charlotte Vale: No. I'm immune to happiness and therefore to burns.” Paul Henreid - Jerry Durrance Bette Davis - Charlotte Vale

“I don't put much faith in scientific terms. I leave that to the fakers and the writers of books.” Claude Rains - Dr. Jaquith

“You've never done anything to make your mother proud , or to make yourself proud either.” Gladys Cooper - Mrs. Henry Vale

- Mrs. Henry Vale: The very word "psychiatry", doesn't it fill you with shame, my daughter, a member of our family? - Dr. Jaquith: There's nothing shameful or frightening about it. It's simple, what I do. People come to a fork in the road . They don't know which way to go. I put up a signpost: "Not that way. This way". Gladys Cooper - Mrs. Henry Vale Claude Rains - Dr. Jaquith

• determination
• falling in love
• companionship
• nervousness

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The Untold Want

Add to anthology.

The untold want by life and land ne’er granted, Now voyager sail thou forth to seek and find.

This poem is in the public domain.

More by this poet

When lilacs last in the door-yard bloom’d.

When lilacs last in the door-yard bloom’d, And the great star early droop’d in the western sky in the night, I mourn’d—and yet shall mourn with ever-returning spring. O ever-returning spring! trinity sure to me you bring; Lilac blooming perennial, and drooping star in the west, And thought of him I love.  

O Captain! My Captain!

O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done, The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won, The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting, While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;        But O heart! heart! heart!          O the bleeding drops of red,

Song of Myself, V

I believe in you my soul, the other I am must not abase itself to you, And you must not be abased to the other.

Loafe with me on the grass,  loose the stop from your throat, Not words, not music or rhyme I want, not custom or lecture, not even the best, Only the lull I like, the hum of your valvèd voice.

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Now, Voyager

Now, Voyager Quotes

Full production credits:

Last updated: 2018-12-13

Characters in ‘Now, Voyager’

• Charlotte Vale

• Charlotte's bemoaning of her entirely-aborted life: "What man would ever look at me and say, 'I want you.'? I'm fat. My mother doesn't approve of dieting. Look at my shoes. My mother approves of sensible shoes. Look at the books on my shelves. My mother approves of good solid books. I'm my mother's well-loved daughter. I'm her companion. I am my mother's servant. My mother says! My mother. My mother! MY MOTHER!"
• after running from the living room with a nervous breakdown, Charlotte was invited to attend Jaquith's Vermont sanitarium known as Cascade; before returning home, Jaquith sent his recuperated patient forth on a long ocean voyage, urged by Lisa's suggestion and a typed up Walt Whitman poem: 'Untold Want, By Life and Land Ne'er Granted, Now, Voyager, Sail Thou Forth to Seek and Find'
• the first major transformation of Charlotte, seen on an ocean cruise, from a dowdy, 30-ish aging female to a vibrant beauty
• during a shore trip, her introduction to handsome and suave European, Jeremiah 'Jerry' D. Durrance (Paul Henreid); while dining together on an outdoor patio, in the first of many cigarette lightings in the film, Charlotte was impressed that he graciously lit her cigarette that she held to her mouth
• the sequence in Rio when Jerry and Charlotte hired a car and driver for sightseeing, but their vehicle ran off a windy, mountainous road, and the stranded couple were forced to seek overnight shelter in an abandoned cabin during a rainstorm (they kissed and presumably had sex after the fade-out); afterwards, as they began to fall in love, seen in a travelogue montage, they spent five amorous days together in Rio - sight-seeing, eating in restaurants, and dancing
• the balcony scene in Rio when Jerry for the first time lit two cigarettes simultaneously and gave one to Charlotte, who confessed: "I'm immune to happiness," but then shed tears of gratitude (she admitted: "I'm such a fool, such an old fool. These are only tears of gratitude - an old maid's gratitude for the crumbs offered...")
• their goodbye scene in South America at the airport - the two believed that they might never see each other again (Charlotte: "I hate goodbyes") - knowing that Jerry was lovelessly married to a dependent Isabel and wouldn't leave her; in the scene, Jerry lit two more cigarettes and passed one to Charlotte and then told her: "Would it help you to know I'll miss you every moment?" - she replied: "So will I, Jerry, so will I" before a few parting kisses
• the sequence of Charlotte's return to Boston for a dramatic confrontation with her waiting, tight-lipped, tyranically-hostile, disdainful mother, who wished to reestablish control over her daughter; although changed, Charlotte was still ridiculed and victimized, but this time, she asserted her independence: "I've come home to live with you again here in the same house. But it can't be in the same way. I've been living my own life, making my own decisions for a long while now. It's impossible to go back to being treated like a child again. I don't think I'll do anything of importance that will displease you, but Mother, from now on, you must give me complete freedom, including deciding what I wear, where I sleep, what I read"
• once she again encountered Jerry in Boston, Charlotte realized that she was still in love with him, although she had another suitor, attractive widower and eminent, wealthy Bostonian Elliot Livingston (John Loder) and they were engaged; however, she remained uncertain, indecisive and uncommitted to Elliot
• in a sensitive scene, she met with Jerry at the Back Bay Station as he prepared to board a train, and honestly confessed: "I thought I was getting over you, Jerry"; shortly later, she broke off the engagement with Elliot, realizing that she could only be happy with someone she was passionately in love with ("You ought to marry someone who would enjoy what you enjoy. Let's not linger over it, Elliot. (Elliot: "Well, I-I suppose you'll meet somebody sometime.") No, I don't think I'll ever marry. Some women just aren't the marrying kind. But you'll meet someone. Thank you for thinking it was me. I have that on my record anyway"); after she courteously said goodbye to him, to her inner self, in voice-over, she lamented the loss of a marriage prospect as she climbed her stairs: "It's like the time when my father died. His breathing just stopped. All over. Finished. Ended forever. You fool, oh you fool! Now you'll never have a home of your own, or a man of your own, or a child of your own"
• the scene of a bitter quarrel with her mother after informing her of the breakup with Elliot; her mother was cruelly incensed: "You've never done anything to make your mother proud, or to make yourself proud either. Why, I should think you'd be ashamed to be born and live all your life as Charlotte Vale. Miss Charlotte Vale"; when Charlotte disowned her mother ( If that's a mother's love, I want no part of it") - her independent actions contributed to her mother's fatal stroke and heart attack in her chair while Charlotte was on the other side of the room; afterwards, Charlotte blamed herself and suffered from deep feelings of guilt and insecurity - and experienced a relapse
• at the sanitarium, Charlotte met and befriended Jerry's twelve year-old daughter Christine ("Tina") (Janis Wilson), a shy, braces-wearing, paranoid, depressed and withdrawn young girl who had been at the sanitarium for almost two weeks - a kindred spirit; Charlotte restored her own condition by identifying with and growing close to Tina, becoming her adoptive mother and therapeutic counselor
• although Charlotte knew that Jerry would never leave his legal wife, Charlotte had found something far happier and more enduring in their present platonic arrangement - with his 12 year-old daughter Tina as "their" newly-restored, changed child
• the final famous tearjerking scene between them, including his cool question: "Shall we just have a cigarette on it?" - symbolizing his assent that Tina would be in Charlotte's charge; again, Jerry lit two cigarettes, as Charlotte delivered the final closing line; she gratefully looked up at the night sky while Max Steiner's score swelled, realizing that she would be happy taking care of Tina - "Oh, Jerry, don't let's ask for the moon...we have the stars"

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Gladys Cooper (as Mrs. Henry Vale)

Bette davis (as charlotte vale), paul henreid (as jerry durrance), claude rains (as dr. jaquith).

Now, Voyager

Now, Voyager is a 1942 film about a Boston spinster who blossoms under therapy and finds impossible romance.

• 1 Charlotte Vale
• 2 Mrs. Henry Windle Vale
• 6 External links

Charlotte Vale [ edit ]

• My mother didn't think that Leslie was suitable for a Vale of Boston. What man is suitable, Doctor? She's never found one. What man would ever look at me and say, "I want you"? I'm fat. My mother doesn't approve of dieting. Look at my shoes. My mother approves of sensible shoes. Look at the books on my shelves. My mother approves of good, solid books. I'm my mother's well-loved daughter. I'm her companion. I'm my mother's servant. My mother says. My mother! My mother! My mother!

Mrs. Henry Windle Vale [ edit ]

• Charlotte was a late child. There were three boys, then after a long time, this girl. "A child of my old age," I've always called her. I was well into my forties, and her father passed on soon after she was born. My ugly duckling. Of course it's true that all late children are marked. Often such children aren't wanted. That can mark them. I've kept her close by me always. When she was young, foolish, I made decisions for her. Always the right decisions.
• Could we try to remember that we're hardly commercial travelers? It's bad enough to have to associate with these tourists on board without having to go ashore with them.

Dialogue [ edit ]

• Note: bolded line is ranked #46 in the American Film Institute's list of the top 100 movie quotations in American cinema .

Taglines [ edit ]

• IN THE Arms OF ANOTHER WOMAN'S MAN...SHE FINDS Her MAN!
• Today Her Greatest! For a woman there's always an excuse . . .
• I'm the maiden aunt. Every family has one you know.

Cast [ edit ]

• Bette Davis - Charlotte Vale
• Claude Rains - Dr. Jaquith
• Paul Henreid - Jeremiah 'Jerry' Duvaux Durrance
• Gladys Cooper - Mrs. Windle Vale
• Ilka Chase - Lisa Vale
• Bonita Granville - June Vale
• John Loder - Elliot Livingston
• Lee Patrick - Deb McIntyre
• James Rennie - Frank McIntyre
• Mary Wickes - Nurse Dora Pickford
• Franklin Pangborn - Mr. Thompson

External links [ edit ]

• Now, Voyager quotes at the Internet Movie Database
• Now, Voyager at Filmsite.org

• American films
• Films based on novels
• Romantic drama films
• United States National Film Registry films

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Now, Voyager

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Film Details

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Brief Synopsis

Cast & crew, irving rapper, bette davis, paul henreid, claude rains, gladys cooper, bonita granville, photos & videos, technical specs.

Dowdy, thirtyish Charlotte Vale lives with her dictatorial, aristocratic mother in a Boston mansion. Fearing that Charlotte is on the verge of a nervous breakdown, her sister-in-law Lisa brings psychiatrist Dr. Jaquith to the Vale home to examine her unobtrusively. Jaquith's observations and conversation with Charlotte convince him that she is, in fact, very ill, and he recommends that she visit his sanitarium, Cascade. Away from her domineering mother, Charlotte recovers quickly, but does not feel ready to return home and accepts Lisa's proposal of a long cruise as an alternative. On board the ship, a newly chic Charlotte is introduced to Jerry Durrance, who is also traveling alone. The two spend a day sight-seeing together, during which time the married Jerry asks Charlotte to help him choose gifts for his two daughters. Charlotte is touched when Jerry thanks her with a small bottle of perfume. Subsequently, Charlotte tells Jerry about her family and her breakdown and learns from his good friends, Deb and Frank McIntyre, that Jerry is unhappily married but will never leave his family. After the ship docks in Rio de Janeiro, Jerry and Charlotte become stranded on Sugarloaf Mountain and spend the night together. Having missed her boat, Charlotte stays with Jerry in Rio for five days before flying to Buenos Aires to rejoin the cruise. Although they have fallen in love, they promise not to see each other again. Back in Boston, Charlotte's family is stunned by her transformation. Her mother, however, is determined to regain control over her daughter. Charlotte's resolve to remain independent is strengthened by the timely arrival of some camellias. Although there is no card, Charlotte knows the flowers are from Jerry because he had called her by the nickname "Camille," and, reminded of his love, she is able to forge a new relationship with her mother. Charlotte eventually becomes engaged to eligible widower Elliot Livingston. One night, at a party, Charlotte encounters Jerry, who is now working as an architect, a profession he had renounced years before in deference to his wife's wishes. His youngest daughter Tina is now seeing Dr. Jaquith for her own emotional problems. Charlotte asks Jerry not to blame himself for their affair as she gained much from knowing that he loved her. This chance encounter forces Charlotte to realize that she does not love Elliot passionately, and they break their engagement, so angering Mrs. Vale that during an argument with Charlotte, she has a heart attack and dies. Guilty and distraught, Charlotte returns to Cascade, where she meets Tina. Seeing herself in the girl, Charlotte takes charge of her, with Jaquith's tentative approval. When Tina improves enough, Charlotte takes her home to Boston. Later, Jerry and Jaquith visit the Vale home, and Jerry is delighted by the change in Tina. Charlotte warns him, however, that she is only able to keep Tina with her on condition that she and Jerry end their affair. Jerry believes that he is responsible for her decision not to marry Elliot, but Charlotte reassures him otherwise, saying that Tina is his gift to her and her way of being close to him. Jerry then asks if Charlotte is happy and she responds, "Well, Jerry, don't let's ask for the moon; we have the stars."

Lee Patrick

Franklin Pangborn

Katherine Alexander

James Rennie

Mary Wickes

Michael ames.

Charles Drake

David clyde.

Frank Puglia

Janis wilson, claire du brey.

Don Douglas

Charlotte wynters, lester matthews, sheila hayward, bill edwards, isabel withers, yola d'avril, georges renavent, bill kennedy, reed hadley, elspeth dudgeon, george lessey.

Constance Purdy

Corbet morris, hilda plowright, tempe pigott, dorothy vaughan, martha acker, al alleborn, eddie allen, george becker, edward blatt, meta carpenter, phyllis clark, joseph cramer, emmett emerson, frank evans, leo f. forbstein, hugh friedhofer, robert haas, robert b. lee, rydo loshak, fred m. maclean, scotty more, harold noyes, charles o'bannon, casey robinson, marguerite royce, sherry shourds, gilbert souto, max steiner, willard van enger, perc westmore, photo collections.

Hosted Intro

Award Nominations

Best actress, best supporting actress, the essentials - now, voyager.

Pop Culture 101 - Now, Voyager

Trivia - now, voyager - trivia & fun facts about now, voyager, trivia - now, voyager - trivia & fun facts about now, voyager, the big idea - now, voyager, behind the camera - now, voyager, critics' corner - now, voyager, critics' corner - now, voyager.

No member of the Vale family has ever had a nervous breakdown. - Mrs. Henry Windle Vale

Well there's one having one now. - Dr. Jasquith

Oh Jerry, don't let's ask for the moon. We have the stars. - Charlotte Vale

Remember what it says in the Bible, "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away." - Dr. Jasquith

How does it feel to be the Lord? - Charlotte Vale

Not so very wonderful, since the Free Will Bill was passed. Too little power. - Dr. Jasquith

I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid, mother. I'm not afraid. - Charlotte Vale

A maiden aunt is an ideal person to select presents for young girls. - Charlotte

Producer Hal B. Wallis originally wanted Irene Dunne for the lead role, but Bette Davis convinced him otherwise.

The Walt Whitman poem Bette Davis reads (just before leaving Cascades) is "The Untold Want" from Songs of Parting (just 2 lines): "The untold want by life and land ne'er granted / Now voyager sail thou forth to seek and find."

Bette Davis complained about 'Max Steiner' 's Academy Award-winning musical score, saying that it was too intrusive on her performance.

The film is remembered for the scene in which Paul Henreid places two cigarettes in his mouth, lights them, and then passes one to Bette Davis, but it wasn't an original idea - a similar exchange occurred ten years earlier between Davis and 'George Brent' in _Rich Are Always With Us, The (1932)_ .

The title of Olive Higgins Prouty's novel was taken from Walt Whitman's poem "The Untold Want." In a letter to literary agent Harold Ober included in the Warner Bros. Collection at the USC Cinema-Television Library, Prouty made the following suggestions about the novel's adaptation: "...In my novel I tell my story by the method of frequent flashbacks....It has occurred to me, however, that by employing the silent picture for the flashbacks, in combination with the talking picture, similar results can be accomplished, and with much interest to an audience because of the novelty of the technique....I am one of those who believe the silent picture had artistic potentialities which the talking picture lacks. The acting, facial expressions, every move and gesture is more significant....Of course the silent picture has 'gone out' now, but I believe it has a place, for depicting what goes on in the mind of a character...."        Various contemporary sources add the following information about the production: Mary Astor was first signed as the second female lead and Norma Shearer and Irene Dunne were approached to play the role of "Charlotte." Producer Hal Wallis sent Ginger Rogers a copy of Olive Higgins Prouty's novel, hoping to interest her in the film. Juanita Quigley tested for the role of "Tina." Director Edmund Goulding wrote a treatment for the film and, at that time, was scheduled to direct; later Michael Curtiz was assigned to direct the film. Some scenes were filmed on location in Laguna Beach, CA and the Cascade scenes were filmed at Lake Arrowhead, CA. Although Frank Puglia's character is called "Giovanni" in the film, contemporary reviews, the screenplay and the CBCS list it as "Manoel."        According to modern sources, Prouty had written an elaborate cigarette-lighting ceremony for her characters, which proved too awkward to complete on film. In its place, Henreid invented a romantic gesture which has since become famous. He lit two cigarettes at the same time and handed one of the cigarettes to "Charlotte." Modern feminist critics have described Now Voyager as an "initiation" or "coming of age" film in which a psychologically immature woman becomes a self-determining adult and comment favorably on the accurate depiction of the mother-daughter relationship. Although contemporary critics derided the film as contrived and melodramatic, it was Warner Bros. fourth-highest grossing film in 1942 and has enjoyed an enduring popularity. Max Steiner won an Oscar for Best Score, and both Gladys Cooper and Bette Davis were nominated for Academy Awards. The film was adapted for radio and, starring Bette Davis and Gregory Peck, was broadcast on The Lux Radio Theatre on February 11, 1946 and May 24, 1955.

Miscellaneous Notes

Released in United States 1942

Released in United States on Video April 5, 1988

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• Cast & crew
• User reviews

Now, Voyager

A frumpy spinster blossoms under therapy and becomes an elegant, independent woman. A frumpy spinster blossoms under therapy and becomes an elegant, independent woman. A frumpy spinster blossoms under therapy and becomes an elegant, independent woman.

• Irving Rapper
• Casey Robinson
• Olive Higgins Prouty
• Bette Davis
• Paul Henreid
• Claude Rains
• 193 User reviews
• 54 Critic reviews
• 70 Metascore
• 3 wins & 2 nominations total

• Charlotte Vale

• Jeremiah (Jerry) Durrance

• Dr. Jaquith

• Mrs. Henry Vale

• Elliot Livingston

• 'Deb' McIntyre

• Mr. Thompson

• (as Katherine Alexander)

• Frank McIntyre

• Dora Pickford

• Dr. Dan Regan
• (uncredited)

• Party Guest

• Drugstore Soda Jerk
• Concert Audience Member

• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Did you know

• Trivia The biggest box office hit of Bette Davis 's career.
• Goofs When Charlotte confronts Jerry in front of the fireplace about "The most conventional, pretentious, pious speech...", a crew member is visible in the mirror of the fireplace and quickly backs out of view.

[last lines]

Charlotte Vale : Oh, Jerry, don't let's ask for the moon. We have the stars.

• Connections Featured in Summer of '42 (1971)
• Soundtracks Night and Day (1932) (uncredited) Written by Cole Porter Played offscreen on piano at the pre-concert party

User reviews 193

• Lechuguilla
• May 22, 2006
• How long is Now, Voyager? Powered by Alexa
• What is 'Now, Voyager' about?
• Is 'Now, Voyager' based on a book?
• What were those terrible things that Charlotte's mother found hidden in Charlotte's bookshelves?
• October 31, 1942 (United States)
• United States
• Na raskršću
• Big Bear Lake, Big Bear Valley, San Bernardino National Forest, California, USA
• Warner Bros.
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 57 minutes
• Black and White

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We finally know why NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft stopped communicating — scientists are working on a fix

N ASA engineers have discovered the cause of a communications breakdown between Earth and the interstellar explorer Voyager 1. It would appear that a small portion of corrupted memory exists in one of the spacecraft's computers. 

The glitch caused Voyager 1 to send unreadable data back to Earth, and is found in the NASA spacecraft's flight data subsystem (FDS). That's the system responsible for packaging the probe's science and engineering data before the telemetry modulation unit (TMU) and radio transmitter send it back to mission control. 

The source of the issue began to reveal itself when Voyager 1 operators sent the spacecraft a "poke" on March 3, 2024. This was intended to prompt FDS to send a full memory readout back to Earth.

The readout confirmed to the NASA team that about 3% of the FDS memory had been corrupted, and that this was preventing the computer from carrying out its normal operations.

Related: NASA finds clue while solving Voyager 1's communication breakdown case

Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 became the first human-made object to leave the solar system and enter interstellar space in 2012. Voyager 2 followed its spacecraft sibling out of the solar system in 2018, and is still operational and communicating well with  Earth.

After 11 years of interstellar exploration, in Nov. 2023, Voyager 1's binary code — the computer language it uses to communicate with Earth — stopped making sense. Its 0's and 1's didn't mean anything anymore.

"Effectively, the call between the spacecraft and the Earth was still connected, but Voyager's 'voice' was replaced with a monotonous dial tone," Voyager 1's engineering team previously  told Space.com .

The team strongly suspects this glitch is the result of a single chip that's responsible for storing part of the affected portion of the FDS memory ceasing to work.

Currently, however, NASA can’t say for sure what exactly caused that particular issue. The chip could have been struck by a high-speed energetic particle from space or, after 46 years serving Voyager 1, it may simply have worn out.

Voyager 1 currently sits around 15 billion miles (24 billion kilometers) from Earth, which means it takes 22.5 hours to receive a radio signal from it — and another 22.5 hours for the spacecraft to receive a response via the Deep Space Network's antennas. Solving this communication issue is thus no mean feat.

Yet, NASA scientists and engineers are optimistic they can find a way to help FDS operate normally, even without the unusable memory hardware.

Solving this issue could take weeks or even months, according to NASA — but if it is resolved, Voyager 1 should be able to resume returning science data about what lies outside the solar system.

Engineers attempt to fix a computer glitch on Voyager 1

Voyager 1's system that sends data home is malfunctioning, preventing the computer from operating as it should.

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Last November, the Voyager 1 spacecraft began sending gibberish radio signals back to Earth. Engineers have now identified the problem, but trying to repair a 46-year-old device on a craft 24 billion kilometres from Earth is not easy.

Voyager 1 and its twin Voyager 2 were both launched in 1977 on a reconnaissance mission to Jupiter and Saturn. They were designed to fly past the giant planets to obtain closeup images of those distant worlds and their myriad of moons.

Both spacecraft performed beyond expectations, discovering many new moons — some covered in ice , one with active volcanoes , another with a thick atmosphere and closeup details of Saturn's rings .  

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Voyager 2, however, was aimed toward Uranus and Neptune, which were conveniently positioned in a rare alignment with Jupiter and Saturn making it the only spacecraft to visit those distant worlds.

Following the grand tour of the outer solar system, Voyager 2 was also tossed out toward interstellar space in 2018 when its mission was extended and where it continues on its journey today. 

• After a 42-year journey, Voyager 2 goes interstellar
• Voyager 1 picks up the 'hum' of interstellar space

While their primary missions were over, both spacecraft were still in good health, thanks largely to their nuclear power sources or Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTG). These containers hold small amounts of plutonium which provide heat that is turned directly into electricity with no moving parts. They have an expected lifetime of around 50 years and have kept the Voyagers' instruments running.

Now, as both spacecraft continue their journey through the space between the stars, they are showing signs of their age.

For Voyager 1, the problem seems to be in the flight data subsystem (FDS) that packages data from the scientific instruments for transmission to Earth. The scientists don't know if the faulty module was corrupted by cosmic rays or just worn out, but they say they're optimistic they may be able to work around the problem, although it will take some time.

Engineers have confirmed that corrupted memory aboard my twin <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Voyager1?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Voyager1</a> has been causing it to send unreadable data to Earth. It may take months, but our team is optimistic they can find a way for the FDS to operate normally again: <a href="https://t.co/qe5iQUu4Oj">https://t.co/qe5iQUu4Oj</a> <a href="https://t.co/AGFBZFz53v">https://t.co/AGFBZFz53v</a> &mdash; @NASAVoyager

The challenge is that the computers were built in the 1970s using old code and send data very slowly by today's standards.

In addition, these computers are so deep in space, it takes 22.5 hours for a radio signal from Voyager 1 to reach Earth. That means the controllers on the ground have to wait 45 hours for each two-way communication with the spacecraft.

Given how very, very far they are from home, if something goes wrong with them, it's up to engineers on the ground to fix it by sending radio signals since reaching them for repair missions isn't possible. We're a long way from the fictional warp drive and sub-space communication that made life so easy on the Starship Enterprise of Star Trek fame. 

The twin Voyagers are now the most distant objects ever sent from Earth; a demonstration of how vast space is and how slow our spacecraft are. In 1977, I attended the launch of Voyager 2 when my hair was black and skin was smooth. This one mission with Voyager 1 and 2 has occupied a good chunk of my lifetime.

In another few years, the RTGs on both Voyagers are expected to run down to the point where the spacecraft will no longer be able to communicate with Earth. They will just continue to drift in silence among the stars of the Milky Way for billions of years. 

However, there is one item on both Voyagers that will continue to function, the Golden Record, which carries a message from Earth to anyone out there who may find the spacecraft in the future.

The chances of them being found are astronomically small, but they will become the longest running experiment in human history.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bob McDonald is the host of CBC Radio's award-winning weekly science program, Quirks & Quarks. He is also a science commentator for CBC News Network and CBC TV's The National. He has received 12 honorary degrees and is an Officer of the Order of Canada.

• Quirks & Quarks
• Bob McDonald's recent columns

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Now, Voyager 1942

Mrs. Henry Windle Vale: Could we try to remember that we're hardly commercial travelers? It's bad enough to have to associate with these tourists on board without having to go ashore with them.

Submitted by wikidude on July 19, 2022

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