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ESA Aiming for Martian Probe in 2011

Posted by Zonk on from the round-trip dept.

allanj writes "According to the BBC, the ESA is set to send a robotic probe to Mars around 2011. They apparently want to return samples of Martian soil with the probe - cool idea if it works better than Beagle 2 did..." From the article: "They still require a great deal of further detail and the agency's member states will also have to sign off the mission. Ministers will have their say when the Esa Council meets in December."

9 of 131 comments (clear)

  1. Late Breaking News: by TripMaster+Monkey · · Score: 5, Funny

    Today the Council of Elders confirmed the rumours that the sinister blue planet third from our star is planning to send yet another one of its mechanical invaders.

    K'breel, speaker for the Council, stressed that there was no cause for alarm:

    "While it is true that the blue planet is sending another invader, we are confident that we can deal with the situation. This particular invader seems to be of the same design as the one we destroyed over one standard year ago, so it should be vulnerable to the same tactics. Even failing this, it should be no problem to isolate the invader and keep it from any contact with citizens...a policy we have developed and upheld ever since the blue planet initiated hostilities."


    When questioned whether the rumours that the blue planet was almost covered in poisonous, corrosive di-hydrogen oxide, as many independent scientists have asserted, had any validity, K'breel declined comment.
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    ~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey

    1. Re:Late Breaking News: by bonch · · Score: 5, Funny

      In related news, local heretic Kal-El was arrested once more for conducting scientific experiments to determine when, as he believes, the planet will explode.

      "If we don't fix this now, I have to fire my son through space at the blue planet, and I don't want my son living in a world of Clippy and BSD-is-dying jokes."

      K'breel of the Elder Council denied rumors the planet was going to explode. "When has an Elder Council ever denied rumors of inevitable disaster, only to have it come true?" he laughed.

  2. ESA Aiming for Mars by nastyphil · · Score: 4, Funny

    Well, we're pretty sure that they know how to hit Mars!

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    Dialectician. Archology.
  3. Metric by gspr · · Score: 5, Funny

    Well, at least us Europeans won't have trouble with the metric system...

  4. Re:sharing by Orgazmus · · Score: 3, Funny

    Sir, are you or have you ever been a member of the communist party?

    --
    The system had the verbosity of HTML combined with all the readability of compiled assembly viewed as bitmap images
  5. Re:Dig in by Lord+Apathy · · Score: 3, Funny

    They proved that with the beagle 2 they are pretty good at digging in on Mars too.

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    Supporting World Peace Through Nuclear Pacification

  6. Re:Is it me, or are we as humans wasting time... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    yes, yes, indeed, why would we need search for meaning of life on mars when you can find that answer right here on earth, we just need to read the bible!!

  7. I just can't help myself. by nc_yori · · Score: 3, Funny

    So remember children, what should you do if a supernova happens in your solar system? Yes, that's right. Duck and cover.

  8. Finally by jluebke · · Score: 4, Funny

    At last we're probing the Martians for a change. I say they had it coming.