Surprise! Or, How I Learned to Love Magnetic Foam...

The Voyager robotic spacecraft are still doing great science work, some 34 years after they were launched.  Scientists interpreting the data from the energetic particle and flow instruments have deduced that the two spacecraft are traveling through a “foamy” (i.e., filled with bubbles) magnetic field environment – a most unexpected finding.

You've heard me rant about this many times before, but one more time can't hurt: these robotic space explorers return far more scientific bang for the buck than our manned space program has ever dreamed about doing.  I'd love to see us dramatically reform our government-paid space program.  I'd be an enthusiastic proponent of something like this: cut NASA's budget by 80%, immediately abandon all manned space programs and anything related to them, and focus exclusively on robotic space exploration with specific scientific objectives.  Manned space exploration should be left to the commercial interests, if there are any...