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Could Distributed.Net Help the Mars Polar Lander?

Posted by Roblimo on from the food-for-thought dept.

Anonymous Coward writes "This official JPL press release describes the current attempt to listen for faint signals from the Mars Lander. They get three windows a day, and it takes 18 hours to process data because the signal is so weak (if it's really there). Too bad they don't have a deal with distributed.net." Interesting thought. Is anyone at distributed.net or JPL interested in pursuing it?

2 of 141 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Polar lander....don't give up on it yet by friedo · · Score: 5
    I'm sorry, you are about to be the victim of a rant.

    <rant>

    It pisses me off to the extreme when the United States media, the government, and people like you state with some sort of authority that NASA has some sort of bad "track record." Let's look at what's going on here. NASA launched over a dozen missions last year. How many failed? I can think of two. But the prevailing attitude towards the pursuit of science in this country is one of apathy. New discoveries? Blah. New planets found? don't waste my time. Cure for cancer? Good for them. Multi-million dollar space missions fails? Now that is news! Because of this attitude exhibited by the likes of people like you, the media has made NASA look like a bunch of fools. Do you have any idea what goes into sending something to Mars? How could you possibly think these missions would be 100% successful? They can't be. What this leads to is a general malaise concerning NASA when it comes to the American public. So we end up with less funding for them and more funding for useless liberal fedbloat. I pray for the day when the Average Joe will be aware of the technical sophistication and sheer American Ingenuity(tm) that goes into NASA projects, and exactly how beneficial these have been to the United States, nay, the World as a whole. You are a victim of the media; or your own foolishness; or both.

    </rant>

  2. Re:Polar lander....don't give up on it yet by konstant · · Score: 5

    So we end up with less funding for them and more funding for useless liberal fedbloat. I pray for the day when the Average Joe will be aware of the technical sophistication and sheer American Ingenuity(tm) that goes into NASA projects, and exactly how beneficial these have been to the United States, nay, the World as a whole. You are a victim of the media; or your own foolishness; or both

    I smiled when I read this. Naturally many grandiose arguments can be made about the relative importance of discovering new planets circling distant suns (that is to say, confirming something we all more of less knew anyway) versus keeping, for example, several million impoverished families in warm clothes, food, and medicine for a year (that would be the 'useless liberal fedbloat' I suppose).

    The fact is, that neither of these projects can go begging in a society that has long term hopes for itself. I'd agree with your general sentiments that these projects are important and deserve funding, but that's relative to our lifestyles. Personally I'm guessing my priorities might shift a little if my own physical survival were on the budget table for negotiation. The vague hope that someday humans will set foot upon the soil of a foreign planet seems rather unimportant when the insane guy in the next cardbox box keeps trying to steal your blanket.

    Was it Dostoevsky who said "Boots are better than novels"? I always liked that quote.

    -konstant
    Yes! We are all individuals! I'm not!

    --
    -konstant
    Yes! We are all individuals! I'm not!