Slashdot Mirror
Satellite Back From The Dead
Papa Legba writes "Just ran across this amazing story about an amateur satellite that has returned from the dead. AMSAT-OSCAR 7 was launched in 1974 for radio hobbyists to use. In 1981 the onboard batteries died and the satellite went silent. Then on June 21st 2002, 20 years later, a hobbyist testing some new equipment made an amazing discovery. AMSAT-OSCAR 7 is live once more, both broadcasting and accepting signals. The theory expounded is that the dead battery short that took the satellite offline has cleared and it is now only running on its solar cells. While this does restrict it to daytime use, it is amazing that it works at all. " This was in the science section before - but worth the front page.
to see if it came back attached to a planet-sized ship like in STTMP?
That's my purse! I don't know you! -- Bobby Hill
both broadcasting and accepting signals.
We don't want the first extraterrestrial slashdotting.
Never confuse volume with power.
Just don't talk to this thing for too long. It might not be quite the same as it was before.
Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
They don't know we are using their own satellite to relay strategic information to our rogue agents.
Invasion date set to July 1st.
P.S. Make sure mothership is upgraded with latest security patch, we don't want some nerd with an apple laptop to hack our shield system again.
Je t'aime Stéphanie
And all this time I thought those herbal treatments they advertised were stupid scams!
Did the guy who contacted it chance upon the satelitte coming online or was he sending messages to it for 20 years and only now realized that it was offline?
"The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away" -Tom Waits
Everybody knows that aliens fixed it. Sheesh...
we just slashdotted them TWICE in 2 days. jesus christ. have some fucking compassion
sig - .
LOL. I guess the SETI project may actually turn up something after all.
Everyone muster their best Dr. Frankenstein voices and shout together....
_ __ __
It's Alive!!
It's Alive!!
_______________________________________________
ACK
..if that were the case, turning it off and on every day like that might actually make it work [i]better[/i].
Do daemons dream of electric sleep()?
So, a 25+ year old satellite wakes from the dead, drifting out in the cold darkness of space.
I find it amazing that a hunk of metal orbiting our planet for longer than I have been alive still functions, yet a modern webserver with possibly more advanced components succombs to slashdotting in minutes.
Solution: Build webservers out of 1974 satellite components. (Although that large gap of 20 years downtime may pose a problem.)
It probably went something like this:
Radio technician: Sir! We're getting a signal from a satellite that's...
Commander: That's what, soldier?
Radio technician: *gulp* Well, sir, there's those stories about ghost satellites... I mean, we always thought they were just, you know, made up...
Commander: What the hell are you talking about, son? Spit it out!
Radio technician: I better just play the transmission for you, sir.
Satellite: BRRAIIINNNSSSS....
Radio technician: It's... it's a zombie satellite, sir. Undead.
Commander: (quietly) God help us all. (to technician) Get me the Pentagon!
Radio technician: Uh... sir... the phone lines are dead! (suddenly the power goes out)
Commander: Oh. My. God. (satellite bursts out of a closet and eats the commander)
"Destroy science and religion. Science would re-emerge exactly the same; but not religion." - Penn Jillette, paraphrased
If memory serves, isn't there a satellite that is, although dead, still orbiting Mars? Wouldn't it be funny if it decided to start chattering all of the sudden to get the SETI folks all hot 'n bothered? :)
Captain: What happen ? ....
Mechanic: Somebody set up us the bomb.
Operator: We get signal.
Captain: What !
Operator: Main screen turn on.
Captain: It's You !!
Satellite: How are you gentlemen !!
Satellite: All your base are belong to us.
Satellite: You are on the way to destruction.
Captain: What you say !!
Satellite: You have no chance to survive make your time.
Satellite: HA HA HA HA
Captain: Take off every 'zig' !!
Captain: You know what you doing.
Captain: Move 'zig'.
Captain: For great justice.
1974... Then on June 21st 2002, 20 years later
Subtraction.
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- - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
...after 20 years, a lifeless entity coasting through the cold vacuum of space suddenly sputters to life.
There's hope for my marriage, after all.
This is my post. There are many others like it. If you don't like what you read here, go try one of the others.