Slashdot Mirror
Europe Heads for the Moon in July
Orlando writes "The BBC are reporting that Arianespace are all set for sending Smart1 to the Moon in July. The mission's primary objectives are testing planetary exploration technologies. This is particularly good news after the recent Arianne rocket explosion." China's also planning a moon mission. The U.S. is planning to sit around and watch.
"The U.S. is planning to sit around and watch. "
Do you ever just sit here and read slashdot and think, "Man, that's a little too easy to troll."
Hey, America's already Been There, Done That.
Here's what we discovered.
they won't think its so cool when they go up there and find the terrible secret of space!
-You're wasting your time. Alfador only likes me.
With all those veiled Internet trolls to whom Art Bell &c. give a voice.
I hope they figure out who owns what before it touches down, too, or we'll end up with frivolous lawsuits aplenty over lunar property rights.
We recently had heard in the office over one of the Yellow Machine that's made by Anthology Solutions.
With everyone going to the moon these days, maybe I should get there first and sell moonland to the new guys. Instant profit! :-)
Wonder if Europe and China will start a "king of the hill" by knocking over the U.S. flag and posting their own when they get there.
We'll probably be bombing people at that time. We wouldn't want to divide our brilliant minds between science and bombing, would we?
We have a firm commitment to NATO, we are a part of NATO. We have a firm commitment to Europe. We are a part of Europe.
--Dan Quayle
humankind won't be able to progress if it's destroyed or held hostage by criminally insane dictators with WMDs.
So when is the next US federal election anyway?
Fascism should more properly be called corporatism, since it is the merger of state and corporate power.
the editor's comments did the trolling for you.
Nope, the US is planning sabotage. We can't have all those euro-socialist scumbags find out that we didn't really go there in the 60's. Of course not!
I hear they're planning to send Buzz Aldrin by himself to Europe to personally pummel the ESA's people.
And I hope they get it on tape again!
/^[A-Z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z]{2,4}$/i
Which is important because after a long day of working in the mines, nothing is better than a nice cold beverage, preferably scotch on the rocks. We need that ice!!!
When you can make your own craters in Iraq?
Now if there was oil on the Moon...
it would imply life
or a leaky spaceship
or astronauts frying food...
What is the inverse of the Matrix?
we are planning just to do the staged moon landing thing and save a few bucks.
Our alternative plan is to secretly sew our flag inside another countries flag (with the outer flag being UV sensitive).
Wonder what they are doing in Soviet Russia?
Damn, they never told me continental drift was that bad.
Apparently, the Chinese are going up there to mine - they don't have enough dirt in their country. As if that weren't bad enough, here's a not-so-subtle dig at us:
"I should point out that some powers in the world are on the way to militarizing outer space, not peacefully exploring outer resources," Huang Huikang, an official from China's foreign ministry, told the China Daily.
Umm, yeah. I think Huang's been watching too many Austin Powers films. I'm surprised he didn't mention the "reckless" and "provocative" Alan Parsons Project, which threatens the peace of the whole world. They may be disappointed when they reach the moon only to find that we haven't turned it into a "Death Star" (finger quotes) and that there is no secret moon base, just a big pile of space dirt.
Meanwhile, western Europe's got to try to prove to themselves that they still matter to the world by getting in on the action. Whatever they need for their own sense of self esteem, I guess. When's Canada going to the moon?
Go ahead, moderate as flamebait... my karma can stand it.
apparently, the bang comes from both parts when you put them together.
It was me, I did it, I moved your cheese
Well if Europe goes to the moon then that will help the US get the full support of the Security Council .... won't it?
"She's a West Texas girl, just like me" - G.W Bush Iraqis
Wow. This might be the first new land they've set foot on without surrendering!
Oh, you're not stuck, you're just unable to let go of the onion rings.
"In all honesty, a manned mission to the moon by another country would be great. It would finally shut up all of these conspiracy theories about how the manned missions to the moon by the U.S. were elaborate hoaxes."
What do you mean by "another country"? You're making that up. There are no other countries, and any "moon" missions that they accomplish are as made up as they are.
"those darned Chinese"? There you go again...
144l. ph34r my 133t l3g4l 5k1lz!
nuff said!
Fredrik
doubt they'll let europe and china use the same movieset to plant their flags...
PjotrP
We all know the French cheese reserve will be empty in 2017. They've got to find a replacement source before.
...when I saw this was to wonder why ESA was sending an automobile to the moon.
No, the US is planning to create its own lunar surface in the Middle East
Since America is the greatest nation in the world, we must have built the first computer. And won the space race. And be the very symbol of all that is honest and good. There you see what a great nation we are!
...are they coming back, and will they bring us anything cool? ;D
"they won't think its so cool when they go up there and find the terrible secret of space!"
Could be worse: They could find the Prince of Space.