NASA still maintains some of the Voyager spacecraft code from the 70s era
NASA continues to operate the Voyager spacecraft using software written in a 1970s-era programming language. While the popular narrative suggests that only a handful of engineers in their 80s maintain the code, the current team includes younger engineers as well. The spacecraft's onboard systems have limited memory and rely on outdated technology, but the mission has adapted over decades despite challenges in documentation and personnel transitions.
- ▪NASA operates the Voyager spacecraft using assembly language written for specialized processors from the 1970s.
- ▪The total memory of the Voyager computer systems is roughly 64 to 70 kilobytes, significantly less than modern standards.
- ▪Much of the original documentation for the Voyager mission has been lost or fragmented over the years.
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Constellations NASA still maintains some of the Voyager spacecraft code in a 1970s-era programming language that almost nobody on Earth fully understands anymore, and the handful of engineers who do are now in their 80s The popular version of this story has hardened into a fixed shape. NASA still runs the Voyagers on software written in a programming language nobody alive can read, kept going by a handful of engineers all in their eighties, with no one queued up to replace them. By Space Daily Editorial Team · Editorial process Published May 16, 2026 The popular version of this story has hardened into a fixed shape.
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