Space Tugboat to Refuel Satellites

Faeton sent in this article about a proposed space tugboat to refuel aging satellites. Looks like they're just going to bolt on some extra thrusters with a new fuel supply, guidance system, etc.

Comments

Offtopic? Remember Mir? Try +1 Funny....

[mkldev]

I'm out of mod points this week, so I can't mod the parent up, but I thought I'd explain why this joke is funny and on-topic. Maybe somebody with mod points left can bump it up.

Back about a year ago, Taco Bell offered to give free tacos for a day if the Mir space station (then decomissioned) hit a particular target (floating in the ocean... Pacific Ocean, I think, but maybe Indian Ocean) when it fell out of space.

The joke was that if they strap boosters onto satellites, then one would assume that no satellites will fall, thus there's no chance for free tacos in the future. Of course, this really doesn't affect satellites that are decomissioned for other reasons, like obsolescence, nor was the Mir a satellite. Regardless, though, it's funny, if a bit inaccurate. :-)