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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."

5 of 207 comments (clear)

  1. R.E.S.P.E.C.T. ! by selderrr · · Score: 4, Insightful

    if anyone at nasa is dumb enough to read slashdot : you guys rock !

    Seriously : most people would give up, blaming someone else. It takes a true fighting spirit to try and recover from what someone else has fucked up.

    --
    When will I end this grieving ? When will my future begin ?
    1. Re:R.E.S.P.E.C.T. ! by selderrr · · Score: 5, Insightful

      oh puhlease... Must everyone always turn everything into a debate ? Okay, so what. congrats to ESA as well. My post was not about Nasa or esa or Uso or wtf... It's about people being persistent and believing in a solution and an outcome, no matter how big the problem may seem, and no matter how big the fuckup to work around.

      if it eases your xenophobia : I'm european as well.

      --
      When will I end this grieving ? When will my future begin ?
    2. Re:R.E.S.P.E.C.T. ! by i41Overlord · · Score: 5, Insightful

      How come when Europe does something, people claim that's it's a great European accomplishment and everyone salutes them.

      However when the USA does something and people claim it's a great American accomplishment, people get offended and feel the need to knock NASA?

      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?

  2. is it plugged in and turned on? by jacksonai · · Score: 4, Insightful

    that's the first diagnostic question I always ask when fixing something.

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  3. Re:Eh? by worst_name_ever · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The receiver on the Cassini spacecraft didn't get turned on, but some very smart chaps here on Planet Earth listened very hard using some very expensive equipment and managed to hear the faint transmissions from Huygens anyway. Does that make more sense?

    --

    In Soviet Rush, today's Tom Sawyer gets high on you.