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Huygens Wind Experiment Salvaged
SeaDour writes "Earlier, it was reported that the data from a critical wind speed experiment onboard the Huygens probe to Titan was completely lost due to someone forgetting to turn on one of Cassini's communications channels. However, it now appears that ground-based radio telescopes from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory were able to record the transmission's many subtle doppler shifts and reconstruct that lost wind data. The winds altered the probe's horizontal rate of descent, thereby producing a change in the frequency of the signal received on Earth. Additionally, the resolution of the radio telescopes was good enough to track Huygen's position to within one kilometer, allowing for the creation of a three-dimensional model of Huygen's descent."
How can you have a horizontal rate of descent? Was this thing was falling sideways?
What a strange and fantastic world this Titan must be.
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...the scientist who forgot to switch the experiment on, making "wooshing" sounds into a mike. "We got the data back, nothing to be embarassed about here, no sirree!"
Looks like +1 Karma bonus modifier saved someone from a tough time!
Score:-1, Zoom, right over moderator's head.
One of the backups, in this case, is the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope. I imagine that the telescope is located on Robert C. Byrd Highway, down the road from the Robert C. Byrd FBI Fingerprinting facility and just around the corner from the Robert C. Byrd Memorial High School.
Man, the Esteemed Senior Senator from West Virginia sure does a fine job of delivering the bacon...
It's one of those moments when you realize that you are living in a Star Trek episode. You know when something goes wrong and then one of the guys (I forget the names) goes like "Captain, I can compensate using *strange word* to modulate *strange word* ...".
"Captain, I can compensate using *strange word* to modulate *strange word* ...".
Whats strange about using a neutrino generator to modulate a tachyon field to create a holographic reconstruction ?
Yeah, it's a perfectly cromulent technique -- I used to do that back home to bulls-eye whomp rats in my T-16.
This next song is very sad. Please clap along. -- Robin Zander
earning karma in heaven right now....
Sorry, I had eaten a lot of beans that day and I'm afraid you'll have to recalulate. Lord knows what else I screwed up.
talk about geek status points. The guy who figured that out must be strutting around like a fricken' god or something, or one of those guys in the movies who does the tap-tap-tap-we're in routine.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
Three people have responded to the original poster's question so far. The two who had a nickname attempted to answer his question while the anonymous coward was content to just be a smart-a$$.
Anyway, the article was, of course, referring to the horizontal *component* of the descent.
Don't take it personally DemiKnute...a couple of days ago I got hammered by a lot of AC's just for asking how you could take a picture of something 20K light-years away.
This is probably why "The Sims Online" failed as well.
A goal is a dream with a deadline
It's almost as if the political climate on this forum supports the recognition of someone's feats only if they're considered an underdog?
This is a site of linux zealots afterall....
I am disrespectful to dirt! Can you see that I am serious?!
Back in middle school, my first "word" program was a qbasic "Random Star Trek Episode Generator" that worked exactly like that ;) It normally tried to insert realistic sounding star trek technobabble - of course, I added in a few "funny" options it.
Worf: "Captain, we're experiencing a cheap plot device in Sector 6. It seems to be the work of underpaid script writers."
Or occasionally it would insert a:
Picard: "Quick, we need an engineer on the bridge!"
Bones: "Dammit, Jim, I'm a doctor, not an engineer."
Picard: "Dammit, Bones, I'm not Jim!"
Dear Lord: One of your creatures may be hurt tonight. Please let it be the other creature.
Man that deflector array...what couldn't that thing do..
Whats strange about using a neutrino generator to modulate a tachyon field to create a holographic reconstruction ?
You forgot to reverse the polarity. Dummy.
Our intelligent designer has never created an animal that we couldn't improve by strapping a bomb to it.
It really blows.