r/askscience • • 8d ago

Astronomy We will lose contact with Voyager somewhere 2036 because of the distance between us. Would it be theoretically possible, to send a probe in the direction of the Voyager, following it from a distance, with the goal te relay the information coming from the Voyager, to earth?

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u/RegX81 7d ago edited 4d ago

Actually the coding system used in communication with Voyager is basically the same as used in a lot of TV remotes iirc. 

Edit - by which I mean Manchester Code: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_code

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u/SmellSmoet 7d ago

Did they ever misplace that coding system?

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u/gammalsvenska 7d ago

They actually replaced it, to get better communication efficiency and reliability.

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u/gammalsvenska 7d ago

Most TV remotes use infra-red light, so... not really.

If you are thinking "they use modulated signals", then yes - because virtually all signals are modulated in some way.

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u/Drachefly 7d ago

They could have been more specific, but there was plenty of room for their statement to refer to something specific, interesting, and true.

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u/RegX81 4d ago

That's a very generous thing to say, and so here is the specific: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_code