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Huygens Wind Experiment Salvaged

Posted by timothy on from the savaged-comes-later dept.

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."

6 of 207 comments (clear)

  1. Horizontal rate of descent by DemiKnute · · Score: 3, Funny

    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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  2. I bet they just taped... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...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!"

  3. Re:Things like that just amaze me... by LucidBeast · · Score: 5, Funny

    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* ...".

  4. Re:Things like that just amaze me... by EpsCylonB · · Score: 4, Funny

    "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 ?

  5. Re:Things like that just amaze me... by david+duncan+scott · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yeah, it's a perfectly cromulent technique -- I used to do that back home to bulls-eye whomp rats in my T-16.

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    This next song is very sad. Please clap along. -- Robin Zander

  6. Re:Things like that just amaze me... by Rei · · Score: 4, Funny

    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!"

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    Dear Lord: One of your creatures may be hurt tonight. Please let it be the other creature.