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Spirit 'Will Be Perfect Again'
G. Holst writes "NASA technicians are preparing to wipe Spirit's flash memory clean of science and engineering files that have stymied its software. The fix, likely to be made Friday, could completely restore Spirit. "I think it will be perfect again," says the Mission Manager. Chalk this one up for earth!" There are numerous stories about Spirit and Mars: one describes being careful with rm -rf. Reader Tablizer sends in an interesting site: "I discovered Bill Momsen's website where he describes his experiences working on the first successful photographic mission to another planet: Mariner IV to Mars."
I'm reminded of the unforgettable Queen song:
Flash, a-ha, saviour of the universe
Flash, a-ha, he'll save everyone of us.....
".. I think it will be perfect again.." meaning that it was perfect the first time...?
-- Give us your technology and we'll give you all the cow lips you want.
Woo-hoo!
Glad to hear Spirit will be feeling herself again.
(AP) "Attemps to wipe the flash memory clean on the Spirit rover failed today, when it was found out that someone flipped those tiny plastic switches to "protect" on the SD memory cards that are serving the unit.
A press conference is expected tomorrow to announce sending someone to Mars to set the SD cards to allow erasing."
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
"It's the only way to be sure."
So long, michael. Don't let the door hit you...
NASA technicians are preparing to wipe Spirit's flash memory clean of science and engineering files that have stymied its software.
Obviously, this is an attempt to suppress the discovery of alien life on Mars. After a "severe communications fault," NASA is destroying the "scientific" data collected by Spirit. Coincidence? I think not.
I postulate that Echelon (yes, that Echelon) intercepted a message being transmitted by the alien race. Yes, our government subsequently disabled the probe to prevent successful reception!
Do you like German cars?
that sounds a little too similar to what i did with my fancy TI graphing calculator last week...
How come we're not awash with "Spirit was willing, but flash was weak" jokes?
Actually, Spirit's problems began when one of the NASA engineers created a file named "-rf" in his home directory.
Who do you get to be an expert to tell you something's not obvious? The least insightful person you can find? -J Roberts
"We're going to have to blow ROM".
"Dave, stop ... Stop, will you? Stop, Dave ... Will you stop, Dave ... Stop, Dave. I'm afraid ... I'm afraid ... I'm afraid, Dave ... Dave ... my mind is going ... I can feel it ... I can feel it ... My mind is going ... There is no question about it. I can feel it ... I can feel it ... I can feel it ... I'm a ... fraid ... "
They're saying mad-scientist-esque things like "I think it will be perfect again" and calling rocks "Cake."
They've officially lost it.
-n-
Should have deleted all the porn from the flash memory before it launched.
Some people claim that it also helps keeping their spirit up.
awk. it's too sed i can't fork.
Spirit won't go along with the agenda of "the man", so they're taking away it's individuality, man. They just want to make it their robot, taking their photographs and doing their experiments. But will they invite it over for dinner? Will they let it date their daughter? Did they even give it a round-trip ticket? No, no and no, man.
there's yer problem.
Everyone knows that hardware support in any unix sucks monkey dongs. Hell, these cheap bastards probably installed lunix based on all those 10 year old HOWTOs floating around the web.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
Depending on what it is they are consuming and in what quantities, their spirits may be coming up quicker than they expect...
I heard the headline that "Opportunity has plunged into the atmosphere of Mars," and I couldn't help adding to this in my head, "as well as Spirit, Motivation, Job Prospects, and Hope."
"Teleporting Rodents with D-Cell Battery Displacement" theory -- IgnoramusMaximus (692000)
Their ISP received a subpoena from the RIAA. NASA is now wiping the memory in hopes that lawyers will not find kazaa and the 1,000 mp3s that are on Spirit.
A chemist, an engineer and a computer scientist are passing through a vast desert in a car when suddenly the car breaks down.
"Goddamnit! There must have been some sudden increase of enthalpy in the cylinder!" the chemist yells, gnashing his teeth, banging on the steering wheel.
"Maybe the fan belt broke or the battery is dead or the wheels came off.." the engineer mumbles.
After thinking a while the computer scientist shrieks in a shrill, frantic voice:
"Let's just try getting out of the car and getting back in!!!@!"
p
Yes, that's what I always say when I fix a bug.
256 MB of Flash ROM?
Should have sprung for the iPod mini instead...
Badum-dum-ching!
To restart your Mars Rover, simply insert your NASA Emergency Restore Disc into the CD drive bay located at the side of the Rover. If Autoplay is enabled, the reinstallation software will start automatically. To start the reinstallation process manually, please see the Service Manual included with your Mars Rover OEM package...
They had testing but someone decided to install porn on the lander. :(
"... The we have done file deletes on the spacecraft before, so we've shown that does work. The file directories have all different names and you can convince yourself that you are actually deleting the right thing."
I am rather glad they gave all the directories different names. If they had managed to do otherwise, I would not go so far any more as to call the thing they have a "filesystem".
Might even be a future news: "NASA integrates first non-deterministic filesystem into space probe 'Hope'".
awk. it's too sed i can't fork.
My old man, who works at JPL, says that the current phrase going around campus is:
"Spirit is willing, but the Flash is weak."
And people wonder why NASA's budget keeps getting cut.
Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachtani?
www.fogbound.net
it's true... I had the opportunity to keep keep my spirit up for so long that I have memory flashes all the time.
Spirit just needs a good jump start. Anyone got some really long jumper cables?
The manager says: "First, we have to appoint a committee to investigate the problem and recommend a solution. Then, we must write a project plan, and review the specifications before we can start design and implementation. I estimate it will require about 3 months."
The engineer says: "I have some tools in my briefcase. I can rebuild the master brake cylinder in an hour or so, and we'll be on our way."
The programmer says: "No, no, no! First, we have to push the car up to the top of the hill and see if the brakes fail again!"
...and I have this terrible pain in all the diodes down my left side!
Flash update you say? I wont enjoy it.
With great numbers come great responsibility!
It's porn. Someone wanted to be the first guy to get Venus to Mars.
Intelligent Design: because MATH is HARD.
NASA technicians are preparing to wipe Spirit's flash memory clean of science and engineering files that have stymied its software.
...and put games and pr0n on it, which will make the software work as intended.
From the example of C-3po in a new hope we can clearly see that whiping things memorys does NOT make them perfect! He was never mean to R2D2 until AFTER his memory was wiped, do they want to start a fight between the two rovers? Better procede with caution!
Hell, it should have been identified before lunch.