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Japanese Mars Probe Failing

Posted by michael on from the warranty-expired dept.

Anonymous Coward writes "After months of silence and a week of hopeful half-truths, Japanese space officials have finally confirmed that their Mars-bound Nozomi probe is teetering on the brink of failure in its five-year quest to explore the Red Planet. The Nozomi orbiter is one of four spacecraft that are due to converge on Mars in the next two months. The other three probes -- the European Space Agency's Mars Express and NASA's two Mars Exploration Rovers -- are still on track and in good working order, according to the latest status reports. Mars Express is due to enter Martian orbit on Christmas Day and send a British-built Beagle 2 lander to the surface, while the NASA rovers should arrive on Jan. 3 and Jan. 24."

9 of 242 comments (clear)

  1. two in a row? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    I doubt I'm that awesome...

  2. Re:You may be right by Uber+Banker · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    No no no! WMD is just another way of saying they have oil. No way we're going to radiate all that oil. Better we use conventional force (young redneck males enrolled in the army) to further our USA-corp greed and USA-leader's power trip.

  3. OT semantics by Scrameustache · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    WMD is just another way of saying they have oil.

    Ya know, technically, the sept11 attacks used plane fuel (a derivative of crude oil) as a weapon of mass destruction. With that insane logic, Iraq did have WMD and the facilities associated with it.

    Of course, Dubbya specifically mentioned nerve gas, bio and nuclear (well, nucular, actually), so that invalidates my semantics, but still...

    --

    You can't take the sky from me...

  4. Re:I see by TRACK-YOUR-POSITION · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    HOLY POOP YOU MENTIONED AN AMERICAN FOOD WITH DISAPPROVAL NOW I HATE YOU!!!!!!! its a good thing u r anonymous coward because u do not want 2 mess with my SUPER AMERICA MILITARY powers

  5. cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    got enough to pay the rent
    you're the coolest there is in town
    pumping ipod while jogging around
    elitest snob with 40gig of sound
    spent five hundred just another dumb snook
    sold your soul to the biggest corporations on the books
    micro-soft starbucks mcdonalds list them down
    elitest snob with 40gig of sound
    drink that coffee drink it down

  6. Re:the question is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    I dont know why ive been holding this off, but here goes, I love you, zr-rifle! I love you with all my soul and heart! I want to marry you and one day, have little zr-rifle's running around, and live happily ever after! Please, dont forsake me, I promise to be good! Will you accept my offer? All I ever wanted to do was to make you happy. Please say yes, if not for yourself, then for all of humanity!

  7. Re:Still fingers crossed for Mars Express by mikerich · · Score: -1, Offtopic
    This is Slashdot - you expect explanations?

    Perhaps it's like The Bible Code? Look hard enough into the moderation patterns and you can make predictions of the future.

    Oooh look, Duke Nukem Forever!

    Best wishes,
    Mike.

  8. Re:Solar flares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    could of

    You're joking, right?

    COULD HAVE
    COULD HAVE
    COULD HAVE

    It's not like English is so hard, folks. Jesus, you may as well of just given up at the start.

  9. Re:Contamination risk would be real by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic
    look at how much of Columbia came down, including large pieces of astronauts.

    I saw the leaked pictures of those dead astronauts --- very disturbing to say the least.