Posted by
CmdrTaco
on from the congrats-from-the-news-nerds-to-the-nasa-nerds dept.
tvh2k writes "CNN reports that both the Mars Rovers Spirit and Opportunity are now both fully functional. Working on opposite sides of the red planet, they have begun analyzing rock and soil samples."
I would have hated to have been the tech support guy on that call:
Me: "So the machine is spontaneously rebooting every hour or so?" JPL: "Yeah, it looks like it's having a problem reloading the flash filesystem" Me: "Can we do an "ls" on that directory to see what's in it?" JPL: "Hold on..."
... 45 minutes later...
JPL: "ls came back with an error... no such file or directory" Me: "Hm, did you type the command correctly" JPL: "Yeah we typed 'lf' and that's the error we got." Me: "L... F.... no no no..."
Re:Great -
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 5, Funny
They were GOING to, but the touchy-feely tree-huggers scared enough people into believing that if the launch went sour, there would be a nuclear explosion killing millions of people..
Yet another example of the left thinking only of their agenda...
So, how long 'til they meet?
by
cellocgw
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· Score: 5, Funny
The two Rovers are on opposite sides of Mars? How long will it take them to reach a common arena, at which point... "Battlebots: Martian Showdown"
--You will rephrase your request for me to go to hell. Goto statements are not acceptable programming constructs
stateside however
by
way2trivial
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· Score: 3, Funny
freedom and privacy have both died.
-- every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
Without Spirit and Oppourtinuty functioning
by
KarmaOverDogma
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· Score: 2, Funny
The world would be a pretty ho-hum and stagnant place.
please don't punnish me for this.
.
-- uR iGn0ranc3, Their Power
Check for root kits
by
Westech
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· Score: 2, Funny
I think they'd better run chkrootkit just in case...
American Ingenuity
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 5, Funny
Of course.
You're talking about the nation that invented the telephone, the airplane, radio, television, the atomic bomb, the hydrogen bomb, landed a man on the moon, has sent probes to every planet in the solar system, the modern computer, the internet, and WMD in iraq.
Do you think two pissant little rovers on mars are a problem? We did this already almost 30 years ago.
People. Hello. This is the US of A. Everybody else talks a good game, but we kick ass.
Joke
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 2, Funny
Why did the US invade Iraq?
Where else can you fake a Mars landing?
Re:Congrats to NASA - robust programming
by
Sinus0idal
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· Score: 2, Funny
Remember they had three redudant rovers (Spirit, Opportunity and Beagle 2). In the big scheme of things Beagle 2 took one for the team, stiff upper lip and all that. However, I can reveal that despite Beagle 2's problems contact was recently reestablished as follows:
Jodrell Bank: I command you, as King of the Britons, to move! Beagle 2: I move for no man. Jodrell Bank: Report damage! Beagle 2: 'Tis but a scratch. Jodrell Bank: A scratch? Your wheels are off! Beagle 2: No, they're not Jodrell Bank: Well, what's that pile of molten slag? Beagle 2: I've had worse. Jodrell Bank: Eh. You are indeed brave, Sir Beagle, but you are no longer operational Beagle 2: Oh, had enough, eh? Jodrell Bank: Look, you stupid bastard. You impacted the surface of Mars at high speed, your camera's broken and you've got no wheels Beagle 2: Yes I have. Jodrell Bank: Look! Beagle 2: Just a flesh wound.
-- "...today consumers have been conditioned to think of beer when they see a bullfrog..."
Re:Name gripe
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 2, Funny
I must admit, I am disappointed that NASA didn't use the name submitted by Ms. Henderson's 4th grade class at Remedial Elementary.
This is Houston. We're ready to roll Stinky Ga-Ga onto the Martian surface.
Anonymous Kev Proudly posting as AC since 1997
Re:Very good news
by
amightywind
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· Score: 4, Funny
..if your launch failed or the spacecraft blew up (Mars Observer, anyone?) there was a complete second set of spacecraft hardware available.
This also vindicates a longstanding principle of government procurement: why buy one when you can buy two at twice the price!
-- an ill wind that blows no good
Robot Wars
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 2, Funny
After Spririt and Opportunity complete their missions....assuming they have enough juice in their batteries left over, I think Nasa should have the two robots meet each other and duke it out. If they are each at opposite ends of Mars, how fast can the rovers move?
NASA discovers Martian New-Age gift shop!
by
AndroidCat
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· Score: 3, Funny
For those wondering what hematite looks like, you can drift over to your
local New Age shoppe to take a look at the hematite
jewelry as well as find out its alleged properties.
Hematite is a good stone for those born during the Moon of Renewal - (22
Dec- 19 Jan.) Its grounding and soothing energies can help you relax and
unwind both physically and mentally. Hematite's renewing qualities also
make this stone an excellent match for those born during this time of the
year, but everyone can benefit from this stone.
Hematite is a good choice for those born under the zodiac sign of Virgo.
Opportunity's landing and "birth" on Mars are a bit late for Jan 19th, but
close enough. Renewing properties might help the flash memory and
batteries, and if there's one thing a Mars rover can always use, it's
grounding!
(Be warned: Valentine's Day is coming up, and you can never go wrong with
cutesy jewelery, but remember that some hematite is magnetic.)
-- One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
Re:So, how long 'til they meet?
by
pokeyburro
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· Score: 5, Funny
What the hell are they gonna do? Take samples of each other?
"Spirit just detected iron in Opportunity's left solar panel! Advantage Spirit!! Oh wait, here comes Beagle... DEATH FROM ABOVE!!!" *wham*
-- Lately democracy seems to be based on the skybox, the Happy Meal box, the X-box, and the idiot box.
Re:Congrats to NASA - robust programming
by
TedCheshireAcad
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· Score: 5, Funny
I think you're giving a little too much credit here. This is not exactly rocket science.
Oh..wait...
Interesting rock formation
by
polyp2000
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· Score: 3, Funny
I just noticed this rather interesting rock formation on one of the latest mars pictures..
I get the impression someone got there first;)
nick...
-- Electronic Music Made Using Linux http://soundcloud.com/polyp
Slashdot Mirror
Spirit keeps responding with "JOHNNY 5 IS ALIVE!!!"
Imagine the latency on your SSH session while fixing Spirit. I thought 300ms was bad!
Battlebots, Mars Edition, here we come.
They were GOING to, but the touchy-feely tree-huggers scared enough people into believing that if the launch went sour, there would be a nuclear explosion killing millions of people..
Yet another example of the left thinking only of their agenda...
The two Rovers are on opposite sides of Mars? How long will it take them to reach a common arena, at which point...
"Battlebots: Martian Showdown"
https://app.box.com/WitthoftResume Code: https://github.com/cellocgw
Okay, it's fully functional, but is it programmed with multiple techniques?
--You will rephrase your request for me to go to hell. Goto statements are not acceptable programming constructs
freedom and privacy have both died.
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The world would be a pretty ho-hum and stagnant place.
please don't punnish me for this.
.
uR iGn0ranc3, Their Power
I think they'd better run chkrootkit just in case...
Of course.
You're talking about the nation that invented the telephone, the airplane, radio, television, the atomic bomb, the hydrogen bomb, landed a man on the moon, has sent probes to every planet in the solar system, the modern computer, the internet, and WMD in iraq.
Do you think two pissant little rovers on mars are a problem? We did this already almost 30 years ago.
People. Hello. This is the US of A. Everybody else talks a good game, but we kick ass.
Why did the US invade Iraq?
Where else can you fake a Mars landing?
I'll get my coat... taxiiii
Remember they had three redudant rovers (Spirit, Opportunity and Beagle 2). In the big scheme of things Beagle 2 took one for the team, stiff upper lip and all that. However, I can reveal that despite Beagle 2's problems contact was recently reestablished as follows:
Jodrell Bank: I command you, as King of the Britons, to move!
Beagle 2: I move for no man.
Jodrell Bank: Report damage!
Beagle 2: 'Tis but a scratch.
Jodrell Bank: A scratch? Your wheels are off!
Beagle 2: No, they're not
Jodrell Bank: Well, what's that pile of molten slag?
Beagle 2: I've had worse.
Jodrell Bank: Eh. You are indeed brave, Sir Beagle, but you are no longer operational
Beagle 2: Oh, had enough, eh?
Jodrell Bank: Look, you stupid bastard. You impacted the surface of Mars at high speed, your camera's broken and you've got no wheels
Beagle 2: Yes I have.
Jodrell Bank: Look!
Beagle 2: Just a flesh wound.
John.
people who don't seem to have read anything by George Orwell?
This is my Sig, this is my Gun. One is for Slashdot and one is for Fun.
Bill Nye?
"...today consumers have been conditioned to think of beer when they see a bullfrog..."
This is Houston. We're ready to roll Stinky Ga-Ga onto the Martian surface.
Anonymous Kev
Proudly posting as AC since 1997
This also vindicates a longstanding principle of government procurement: why buy one when you can buy two at twice the price!
an ill wind that blows no good
After Spririt and Opportunity complete their missions....assuming they have enough juice in their batteries left over, I think Nasa should have the two robots meet each other and duke it out. If they are each at opposite ends of Mars, how fast can the rovers move?
(Be warned: Valentine's Day is coming up, and you can never go wrong with cutesy jewelery, but remember that some hematite is magnetic.)
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
What the hell are they gonna do? Take samples of each other?
"Spirit just detected iron in Opportunity's left solar panel! Advantage Spirit!! Oh wait, here comes Beagle... DEATH FROM ABOVE!!!" *wham*
Lately democracy seems to be based on the skybox, the Happy Meal box, the X-box, and the idiot box.
I think you're giving a little too much credit here. This is not exactly rocket science.
Oh..wait...
I just noticed this rather interesting rock formation on one of the latest mars pictures..
;)
...
I get the impression someone got there first
nick
Electronic Music Made Using Linux http://soundcloud.com/polyp
I'm sure that there were some great names amongst those submitted.
You sly dog: you got me monologuing! - Syndrome
The other major life-limiting feature on Spirit and Opportunity are the batteries. They can't be cycled indefinitely.
What, no $99 battery replacement plan?
I don't understand why they couldn't just push the reset button....isn't that what the robotic arm is for? oh wait...
When I think about space projects, I think they should be named after great scientists...not names generated by 4th graders as part of a contest.
Beavis and Butthead?
Christina and Britney?
Frodo and Samwise?
Mod Karma -1: I sed bad wurds. If I cep my mouf shut, I wud be at riyses.
really doubt the two rovers would be interfering with one another if they were in the same area,
Mine? Mine! Mine.....mine!mine!mine! mine!mine!mine!mine!MINE!mine!
... until our replicators wipe out the Asgards.
Poor little guys.
-Malakai
A Dragon Lives in my Garage
'Spirit is willing but the flash is weak' over and over again...
-WolfWithoutAClause
"Gravity is only a theory, not a fact!"Man, THAT'S what we need -- a mini-robot piggy-backed on the rover who's sole function is to hit the reset button!
Woe be to the guy that said, "woah, I dropped the Rover..."
Uh oh.
This is my sig.
the Europeans "invented" America.
So there!