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Whisper Heard From Pioneer 10

Irishman writes "NASA has heard from the Pioneer 10 spacecraft for the first time since March. Unfortunately, it is too faint to get scientific data from the craft. CNN has the story here. Considering that the craft is twice the distance from the Sun as Pluto is and that it has spent 30 years subjected to space, this is amazing! Now if only computer manufacturers could make equipment even remotely this sturdy."

42 of 569 comments (clear)

  1. What it said: by Aggrazel · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Khaaaaaaaan!"

    sorry, I'll quit now.

    1. Re:What it said: by utahjazz · · Score: 2, Funny

      I'll bet it said: Pneer

    2. Re:What it said: by Picass0 · · Score: 4, Funny

      In space, it is cold enough to overclock....

    3. Re:What it said: by bryane · · Score: 3, Funny
      No, no, no. it's ...

      ... can you hear me now? good!

      ... can you hear me now? ... uh... hello?

      Uh oh.

  2. I heard it say. by Undaar · · Score: 4, Funny

    The Pioneer 10 spacecraft was heard to whisper, "I can see my house!"

    --
    ~ "When I'm of that age I'm just going to live up a tree."
  3. Too bad by Apathy+costs+bills · · Score: 4, Funny

    Too bad they couldn't decode the message:

    "Hey guys, Veeger's here, and she's pissed."

    --
    Kill Trolls Dead. Here's
  4. The message: by writermike · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Rosebud."

    What could it mean? WHAT COULD IT MEAN?!

    --
    If Nalgene water bottles are outlawed, only outlaws will have Nalgene water bottles.
    1. Re:The message: by Bob+McCown · · Score: 2, Funny

      Means you get some free cash in The Sims...

  5. Psssstttt by sharkey · · Score: 1, Funny

    Mame sent me!

    --

    --
    "Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
  6. Remotely Sturdy by Rand+Race · · Score: 5, Funny

    I've got a working C-64 that's been through a dozen moves, an infinite number of Jumpman inspired rages, and two boys' adolescensce. Space? Hah!

    --
    Insanity is the last line of defence for the master diplomat. But you have to lay the groundwork early.
    1. Re:Remotely Sturdy by Tenebrious1 · · Score: 4, Funny

      I've got a working C-64 that's been through a dozen moves, an infinite number of Jumpman inspired rages, and two boys' adolescensce. Space? Hah!

      Yeah, the 64 may be sturdy, but how many joysticks have you burned through?

      --
      -- If god wanted me to have a sig, he'd have given me a sense of humor.
  7. This thing is older than most of you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...and still being productive. What is your excuse?

    1. Re:This thing is older than most of you by lynx_user_abroad · · Score: 4, Funny
      ...and still being productive. What is your excuse?

      And if you'd get out of my face and leave me alone like you've done with Pioneer 10, I'd be able to get some work done, too!

      --

      The thing about things we don't know is we often don't know we don't know them.

    2. Re:This thing is older than most of you by Tablizer · · Score: 2, Funny

      ...and still being productive. What is your excuse?

      Unlike Pioneer, I didn't survive the asteroid belt. Just look at my complexion.

  8. Can't help but join in... by Hubert_Shrump · · Score: 1, Funny

    I'm scared, Dave.

    Or, if you watch Firefly:

    Well, here I am.

    --
    Keep your packets off my GNU/Girlfriend!
  9. Re:They can by Ralph+Wiggam · · Score: 5, Funny

    Just this week I looked all over CompUSA for a power supply that could withstand the radiation of deep space for 30 years. The one I found was $635,000. I think I'll wait until after Christmas. Maybe it will go on sale.

    -B

  10. poor nasa by greechneb · · Score: 5, Funny

    You raise a child, send them off, and they don't even call home that often, and when they do, they can't even understand them...

  11. What it said. by iplayfast · · Score: 5, Funny
    I'm Not DEAD YET!

    1. Re:What it said. by daeley · · Score: 5, Funny

      NASA: 'You're not fooling anyone!'

      --
      I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
    2. Re:What it said. by Codifex+Maximus · · Score: 3, Funny

      Space Probe: I want to go for a walk... I feel happy! I feel happy!

      Meteorite hits it.

      NASA: 9 pence.

      --
      Codifex Maximus ~ In search of... a shorter sig.
  12. My wife said... by craenor · · Score: 5, Funny

    It must be a man, it waited this long to ask for directions...and then it had to whisper.

    1. Re:My wife said... by CodeShark · · Score: 5, Funny

      --as me pulls on the ole fireproof jumpsuit--

      Nah, it must be a woman because it never asked for directions. It just started talking, expected the whole world to stop, listen, and understand even if what it said was unintellible to even those who cared. ;-)

      --
      ...Open Source isn't the only answer -- but it's almost always a better value than the alternatives...
  13. Re:use repeaters ... ? by Jace+of+Fuse! · · Score: 5, Funny

    Actually, that would be a great idea. Launch a series of repeaters every few years.... one right behind another...

    Eventually we'll have this long trail of little probes, each sending very weak signals to the next in line. One day, the one in the front will get to some alien planet and it's message of peace will be delivered.

    Then, all they have to do is follow the trail of junk back to earth and wipe us out.

    Okay, no, seriously. This IS a good idea. It would allow us to listen to a probe no matter how far away it traveled, as long as the probes all stayed aligned, and nothing broke. They wouldn't even really have to be that "close" for it to work, either.

    --

    "Everything you know is wrong. (And stupid.)"

    Moderation Totals: Wrong=2, Stupid=3, Total=5.
  14. I'm sure it whispered... by muyuubyou · · Score: 1, Funny

    "First post from outside the Solar System!!"

  15. What we should do by yngv · · Score: 5, Funny

    send out another multi-million dollar spacecraft out toward Pioneer 10 that will send a signal yelling "WHAT????"

  16. Real Message... by Niles_Stonne · · Score: 5, Funny


    "Can you hear me now?"

    --
    Sticks and Stones may break my bones, but copyright will always protect me.
  17. Re:Where is it going? by AKnightCowboy · · Score: 2, Funny
    A probe that wanders away isn't really very useful, unless perhaps somebody picks it up and sends it home or comes to visit.

    This happened in the fictional NASA documentary entitled "Star Trek: The Motion Picture". It was a telltale look at the future of interstellar space travel and the consequences of blindly sending out probes without any hope of ever getting them back. Eventually NASA fears that one day a powerful alien civilization will come along and destroy us.

  18. Re:They can by freeweed · · Score: 5, Funny

    I dunno, the Commodore Pet I have has been working steadily since 1977, that's not much newer than Pioneer 10, and cost under $5,000 at the time (cost me $25 last year :).

    --
    Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
  19. Re:They can by bill^2 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Still got some fully functioning Wang's here...


    A rarity indeed among geek culture... ;-)

  20. My God, it's full of stars by Filly-O-Fish · · Score: 3, Funny

    C'mon, it's been out there for 30 years;

    It must have bumped into the big black wall with starts painted on it by now.

  21. Cue the jokes for the article by bonch · · Score: 5, Funny

    I sense a disturbance in the force...millions of Slashdot "comedians" all crying out with bad jokes and ill puns and then silenced.

  22. Re:Signal strenght? by .@. · · Score: 3, Funny

    The Pioneer 10 signal is 4 watts. It's 7.5 BILLION miles away. Intentional attempts at interstellar communication are almost certainly going to use something stronger than a mouse fart.

    --
    .@.
  23. Pioneer 10 all alone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    "It's cold outside, there's no kind of atmospher, I'm all alone. More or less."

    "Let me fly, far away from here! Fun Fun Fun ... in the Sun Sun Sun..."

  24. Re:They can by z0ot · · Score: 5, Funny

    Still got some fully functioning Wang's here...

    File this one under "Phrases you never want to hear at a nursing home".

  25. No, no, no by rcs1000 · · Score: 2, Funny

    "Just finding it is useful information. From this, physicists can map its path and start to make observations of what space is actually like out there. They have used the some sparse readings in the past to investigate everything from cosmic rays to gravitational mechanics. "

    You obviously didn't study quantum mechanics. We can either know where it is, or where it's going. We can't know both.

    Indeed, even by discovering where it is, we have changed where it's going. It might even now be headed on a collision course for earth, and every measurement of its position just sends it faster and faster in the direction of Slashdot's servers...

    --
    --- My dad's political betting
  26. Unlike Cher by bogie · · Score: 3, Funny

    Ba-dump-pish

    --
    If you wanna get rich, you know that payback is a bitch
  27. Re:Offical NASA announcement by tincho_uy · · Score: 3, Funny

    Boy...with those ping times, the message surely was


    Damn lag!!!!
  28. Re:Where is it going? by BobNET · · Score: 2, Funny
    Where exactly is the Pioneer headed to?

    Obviously, it'll get blown to bits by a Klingon Bird-of-Prey around the year 2287.

  29. Re:Signal strenght? by BanSiesta · · Score: 2, Funny

    Because no one can figure out how to get them to work when the door is open!

  30. Re:They can by radish · · Score: 4, Funny

    Hey, if you never use it it's unlikely to break ;)

    --

    ---- Den ene knappen er powerknapp, den andre er Bender voice knapp "Bite My Shiny Metal Ass"

  31. If only.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    A pringles can was attached to the antenna.

  32. Unfortunately the signal was saying... by GreggBert · · Score: 2, Funny

    "If you'd like to make a call, please hang up and dial again..."

    --


    If you don't understand anything I post, please accept that I ate paste as a small boy...