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Send your name to Pluto
hatredman writes "NASA is preparing to send the New Horizons probe to Pluto. It will be the first earth device to get intimate with the icy planet. And you can be there too - or, at least, your name. NASA is asking everyone to send them their names, which will be attached in the space device. The New Horizons probe will be launched in January 2006 to explore Pluto and the Kuiper belt, in the outskirts of the Solar System. It is expected that the probe will return to earth in approximately 50 thousand years."
I entered Pluto Nium as my name, but when I check the site to make sure they've got me on the list it isn't there.
For some reason they don't want us to know Pluto Nium is on-board.
--
You didn't know.
Plutonian #1: Hey look, it's some kind of crashed probe.
Plutonian #2: I'll get the can opener!
*fooom*
P1: It's full of names, here is one, "Ivana Tinkle."
P2: I told you to go before we left the glarflog.
I'll strart getting junk mail from Pluto!
Now that's a death ray!
That it is going to take us 50,000 years to send a probe to pluto and back? Wow. So much for the dreams of a child going into space :(
I mod down so you can mod up. Your welcome.
Great space spam
if NASA would put "I'm with Uranus" next to an arrow.
seriously? what is the point? its a cute idea because 'HEY! LOOK! ITS THIS 50,000 YEAR OLD SATELLITE!!' but thats a long ass time for lots of things to go wrong. also a long ass time for people to forget 'hmm... NASA. what the hell is that??' sorry to sound trollish, but i would like to think that in 50,000 years, we could travel to pluto just fine. either that, or we will just be dead.
wont the CDs degrade by then?
Everyone who puts their name on the list gets vaporized when the residents of Pluto come looking for whoever bombed their pseudo-planet?
I'm game.
Slashdot publishes duplicates, but will NASA? How many CDs full of "John Smith" will they send?
For some reason NASA hired a bunch of outside consultants from the United States Postal Service to help plan this mission.
I'm sure Goofy can, but Pluto? He can't even talk.
If you post it, they will read.
Dear Mr. jmartens:
I am Plutonia Pluton, widow of the late Plutonian Head of State, Gen. Plutonius Pluton...
I just wanted to add my name to the list, but then some timetraveller from 50.000 years in the future appeared and advised me not to do it.
I'm slightly confused, will the probe be orbiting around the Kuiper belt for a while and eventually make its way back to earth or will it return on its own power?
All I need is for some alien from another solar system to decipher my name and come to Earth only to use its nukes on all of my descendents for littering on their lawn.
Or could that alien be from al-queda?...
actualy nothing. 50,000 years, more than likely you wont have anyone around that knows you. might as well jump off a building now.
Greetings Pluto!
I am barrister JOSEPH ZOOMANEENE from Earth. 2 Years ago a space probe crashed on Jupiter, killing my rich uncle....
that you wouldn't want to get intimate with an icy planet
however, it's either that or get intimate with uranus
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Um, am I the only one wondering what the point of sending a CD is? Apart from the "prestiege" for the people on said CD, if any intelligent life picks it up, they're not exactly going to be able to read it are they?
I have trouble enough making sure my Windows using friends don't send me documents in PowerPoint format, let alone intelligent life understanding our alphabet, then working out ASCII code, then working out binary.
It's a standards nightmare to make Tim Berners-Lee cry.
Disney already owns me.
Great. Now I've got to worry about interstellar hooligans stealing my identity! And, how long until I'm getting credit card offers from First Pluto Bank?
Pluto the last planet? I don't think so!
If there's anything I've learned from my years on the internet, it is:
1. Pluto is not a planet.
2. Nibiru (or Planet X) is the last planet
3. Planet X actually pulled Pluto into it's own orbit - it was originally a moon
4. Aliens will attack us anytime now.
5. George Bush is a reptilian.
By signing up with the site, the NWO/Zeta Reticuli/Chewbacca will gather a database of the gullible who actually believe Pluto is the tenth planet.
Your lives will be doomed!
Or so, all the "conspiracy" sites believe...
Not that I believe that shit.
Seriously. I don't.
- Jack
P.S. - Did I mention that Jesus will return tomorrow. The "BIG ONE" will hit California next week. UFOs are awaiting a mass invasion!!!!!! WE'RE ALL DOOMED!!! DOOOOMED!!! PEAK OIL! CLIMATE! KYOTO! BUSH!
Now that my name will be on Pluto, will Charon Ozbourne notice how much I hate her?
Wake me up when they will send my name to a real planet :)
Mike Oxbig is now on his way to Pluto, godspeed Mike.
Home of the midwest loser - www.say-10.net
All hail Futurama.
If you didn't come to party don't bother knocking on my door. Prince '1999'
good thinking. they better write my name using some damn good calculus equations or trig equations.
SpaceSpam(tm)?
quidquid latine dictum sit altum videtur.
Nothing. It's just a ruse to get the hard-of-thinking interested in space exploration.
Stick Men
50,000 years? I need projects with that kind of deadline!
to send their name up as "Cha"
Monstar L
By the time we reach Pluto, it probably wont be a planet any more. Why can't we send our probes to some big name sattelite with staying power, and not just some 42,000,000-minutes-of-fame flash in the pan.
This is almost as bad as that 'timeshare on Phobos' idea a while back...
___
It's the end of my comment as I know it and I feel fine.
Great! This way historians 50,000 years from now will know that the most common names 50,000 years ago were "Bart Simpson" and "Mike Hunt".
-Peter
I participated in the Mars thing in 2004 (?) I even got a certificate for doing it, and the probe never go to Mars.... My feelings are hurt!
-Palal
At the earliest, current 1st graders will see New Horizons arrive at Pluto during the summer before 12th grade!
I'm getting old....
They better use a self extracting zip in case plutonians don't have win zip.
TODO create witty sig.
Their server will be back shortly thereafter.
<ahem>
KHAAAAAAAAN!
blarg.
== Pluto Phishing. I wonder what I have signed up for ...
Infuriate left and right
made it to Mars...this time, she's going straight for the Kuiper Belt!
Carousel is a lie!
Done and Done baby!
The beatings will continue until Morale Improves!
Radd, Norrin Radd.
Say hello to my little sig.
It'll be back just in time for Windows Vista!
From:Mbebmu Abacha, Lagos-Nigeria.
.I will greatly appreciate if you accept my
Dear Pluto,
Following the sudden death of my husband General Sani
Abacha the late former head of state of Nigeria in
june 1998, I have been thrown into a state of utter
confusion, frustration and hopelessness by the present
civilian administration, I have been subjected to
physical and psychological torture by the security
agents in the country. My son was just released from
detention few months ago by the Nigerian Government
for an offence he did not commit. As a widow that is
so traumatized, I have lost confidence with anybody
within the country.
You must have heard over the media reports and the
internet on the recovery of various huge sums of money
deposited by my husband in different security firms
abroad, some companies willingly give up their secrets
and disclosed our money confidently lodged there or
many outright blackmail. In fact the total sum
discovered by the Government so far is in the tune of
$700. Million dollars. And they are not relenting to
make me poor for life. I got your contacts through my
personal research, and out of desperation decided to
reach you through this medium.I will give you more
information as to this regard as soon as you reply.
I repose great confidence in you hence my approach to
you due to security network placed on my day to day
affairs I cannot afford to visit the embassy so that
is why I decided to contact you and I hope you will
not betray my confidence in you. I have deposited the
sum of 30.000.000 million dollars with a security firm
abroad whose name is witheld for now until we open
communication.I shall be grateful if you could receive
this fund into your account for safe keeping. This
arrangement is known to you and my son Ahmed alone, so
my son will deal directly with you as security is up
my whole being.I am seriously considering to settle
down abroad in a friendly atmosphere like yours as
soon as this fund get into your account so that I can
start all over again if only you wish, but if it is
impossible,just help me in diverting this fund into
your account which will accrue you 30% of this fund.
Please honesty is the watch word in this transaction.I
will require your telephone and fax numbers so that we
can commence communication immediately and I will give
you a more detailed picture of things. In case you
dont accept please do not let me out to the security
as I am giving you this information in total trust and
confidence
proposal in good faith. Please expedite action by
sending your reply to my son email address below.
Sincerely Yours,
MBUMBE ABACHA.
Perhaps "Free Waterfall Jr" might be a good choice, what with the penguin preserve on pluto and all.
Let's Conservate!
50,000 years, that's some time capsule. what will the primitive ape men in the future think of us?
imagine us getting a 50,000 year old capsule _today_ from some ancient (but far more advanced than us) civilization.
music - http://www.subatomicglue.com
Nonono, you tried to translate "post" into german, forgetting that it isn't even a proper english word in this context ("Pfosten" is literally the "post" from a fence, for example), but a shortening of "posting", which would be most adequately translated as "Buchung", thus "erste Buchung", though that is not in spirit with the "first post", because "posting" only refers to fora since the internet-age (you could have gone for "erste Plakatierung" as with wanted-posters, bulletin-boards (called "black boards" in german... This is where it get's confusing :-P ), etc.), and german hasn't undergone the same choice here. Most indeed prefer the english capitalized and gender-neutral "erstes Posting", or, for german-only audiences "erste Nachricht" -> "first message". :-P
Thanks for your time
From the post...
"...It is expected that the probe will return to earth in approximately 50 thousand years..."
It'll be VGER all over again! Alert Paramount!!
Bruce Lane, KC7GR,
Blue Feather Technologies
Uh, surly Pluto (even if you want to class it as a planet) isn't the last planet at all? What about the 10th planet (Xena, havn't they called it?)
--
Not only is Pluto not a planet - in fact, it's smaller and has fewer planetary characteristics than a couple of other bodies orbiting the sun which aren't planets - it's also less likely to be visited than, say, Haley's Comet.
.... and just about as useful.
Now, if you wanted to send the latest Nintendo DS version of Nintendogs to Pluto - that might be interesting
Me, I'm sticking with my Chinese land grant on the Moon - more likely to be useful when I become a space farmer, before the rise of the Emperor Karl.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
...at least this one doesn't call Pluto the planet with the 9th-fastest-growing population, or have Erik Estrada offering said share "for very, very little money!"
You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.
So, is this the same mission as the long longed for Kuiper Express?
By the time it gets there humans will have already established colonies and been living there for a long time. Faster space travel will have already been invented so we should wait till it is before we try something stupid like this. At least that way there will be someone there to receive it when it gets there.
This will open you up to the attention of the Glactive Overlord Xenu and his army of psychiatrists. I don't know about you, but I will keep my name restricted to the safe Scientology newsletters..... all kinds of wierdos out in space.
Why did it take so long to reach slashdot, or is it a dupe?
Note: I'm not new here, but these things should be on slashdot a bit quicker, although it might have been an internal NASA thing for a while
Robbie Woodbridge is SO 1337!
I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read,
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed,
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look upon my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
-Percy Bysshe Shelley
1792-1822
50,000 earth years?
Welcome to GNN, Google News Network. The date is January 16 52005. Top Headlines:
The Ministry of Truth wants to remind all citizens that ignorance is strength.
Also, an unknown projectile, on a trajectory from Pluto, has destroyed outgoing intergalactic crawler Discovery MXVI. In a press meeting today the intergalactic defense council of Earth declared a state of defensive war against the federation of Pluto. The Ministry of Peace said this about the incident, "We have always been at war with the federation of Pluto."
Look at all these John Smiths - it must be a clone army!
The Raven
If I am alive in June of 2015 I can look up at the stars and ponder the overall insignificance of a small number of bytes directly connected to me being close to Pluto rather than the overall insignificance of a (relatively) small number of molecules sitting on this planet and thinking about the bytes flying past Pluto.
:)
And if humanity implodes I guess at least my name survives until the probe crashes somewhere or is destroyed by vacuum ablation
And maybe, just maybe, in 50.000 years I'll be a small part of making somebody wonder what the hell was going on back on Earth 50.000 years ago XD
this comment is provided "as is" and without any express or implied legibility or congruity [...]
Um, am I the only one wondering what the point of sending a CD is? Apart from the "prestiege" for the people on said CD, if any intelligent life picks it up, they're not exactly going to be able to read it are they?
...
Good point - as recordable media, CDs are notorious for flaking and losing data when exposed to sunlight and temperature extremes.
Now, the sunlight won't be a problem on Pluto, but how the heck are they going to pack a temperature-controlled space heater along for the ride - not to mention have it work for 50,000 years?
Drawing big pictures makes a lot more sense.
I can see it now, it's been 20,000 years and someone actually intercepts it, decodes it, and due to all the errors introduced the message comes out "We the following hostile lifeforms wish to destroy your race: [list of names] All Your Base Are Belong to US.A."
Either that or it says "the following people have signed up to become Soylent Green: [list of names]"
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Another Certificate to add to my c.v.
Sorry, i don't get out much
My 4-year-old will think it's neat. (The 8-month old might not really understand.) It gets them to think about science, and costs a few grams added to the probe. Why not?
"Seven Deadly Sins? I thought it was a to-do list!"
This post is directed to everyone saying that a 50,000 year mission is [stupid | pointless | depressing].
h tml
This is not a 50,000 year mission. This is a ~14 year mission. Look at the bloody timeline (and map!):
http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/mission/mission_timeline.
The encounter with Pluto happens in 2015, if all goes according to plan (i.e. Jupiter gravity assist). After Pluto, another 5 years of checking out Kuiper Belt objects.
But look at the trajectory, it's nearly a straight line to Pluto (as opposed to an arc bringing the craft back this way). The point of this mission is NOT to bring the spacecraft back to this planet, but it JUST SO happens that in 50,000 years or so, gravity will have pulled the thing back this direction.
See? Reading is fun! I just think it's funny that someone will take the time to make an uninformed post but won't take the time to try and learn anything.
According to this , the database is quite open to abuse. I hope they clean it up, unless the NASA experiment involves spamming other planets and civilizations.
- Otaku no naka no otaku, otaking da!!!
echo "Joe Smith" > /dev/null
ok, that was the joke. proceed with modding it down.
I'm sorry. The number you have reached is imaginary. Please rotate your phone 90 degrees and try again.
awesome, my girl keeps asking me to go on vacation. I just got tickets to this thing, printed out my confirmation and everything. Damn, I thought space travel wasn't going to happen for a while.
Vistede sForm.php
http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/ecard/scripts/addSignatur
Flash file on the web page is topping my CPU silly flash file.
Was about to place my name on this web-site, but they only want my firstname and surname ?? damn i know of a least one person with the same name as me in England, what a silly idea.
Should we just send some footage of are world-wars to give the aliens half a chance to turn around.
Now I realize that things won't degrade the same in space as they do on Earth but... CD's generally don't last more than 7-10 years here. Would one really last 50,000 years in space?
Mike Hunt
OMFG! They're sending that NYT Firefox Ad in space, so they can grow their userbase!
gtkaml.org
NEW HORIZONS MISSION
Shedding Light on Frontier Worlds
Participation Certificate
Presented to
KissMy FatAss
On August 29, 2005
Thank you for joining the first mission to the last planet! A compact disc bearing your name will be included on the New Horizons spacecraft, set for the first voyage to a new class of planets on the solar system's farthest frontier.
Come with us as we complete the reconnaissance of the solar system and unlock the secrets of Pluto, its moon, Charon, and the Kuiper Belt.
My Blog
your mamma in space
They'll be joined by my good friends Mike Oxbig, Oliver Closoff, Harry Weiner, and Ima Ho. ... oh man... this brings me back... like... a week...
Best. Webhost. Ever. Dreamhost.
Who's Alysen Regiec and why is she driving?
http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/ecard/certificate/reprint. php?insertedIDreprint=93063
/. based on the date): http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/ecard/certificate/reprint. php?insertedIDreprint=249564
Wonder how many of these they are going to filter?
M Vick of the Falcons also appears to have been to th site (probably read about it on
Mickey Mouse has quite a few entries as well.
"Look Lois, the two symbols of the Republican Party: an elephant, and a fat white guy who is threatened by change."
You and your family can treasure that certificate for the next 50,000 years.
My CAPCHA is nebula. No joking. Should've been planetoid.
The next day, an unsterilized probe enters the atmosphere...
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
You did know all those alien abductions are opt-in, right?
To opt-out, send your name to headquarters in Alpha Centuri. Sorry for any delay in processing.
Perhaps this has been suggested, but isn't NASA missing out on a funding opportunity? Send along names laser-etched into thin, ultra-light sheets of some highly-durable composite for $10-$20 a pop. Plenty of people would go for it, and if it worked the first time, it would be something that could be done on any and all subsequent missions --- at higher prices each time, depending on how popular it would be.
brwski
"Because without beer, things do not seem to go as well''
I guess Adolf Hitler was pretty enthusiastic about this, as he submitted his name 8 times...
Haha... That's a good one. Earth still around in 50,000 years.
Yeah, i know it is boring, but due to the basic GET use, here is the first person to be signed up to go to pluto:
Link
I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by. - Douglas Adams
This probe is likely to fall into the hands of alien's looking for a new home planet. They will come to Earth and eradicate all human life, except those of us who's names have been inscribed on the "metal can of divine guidance" (as they will call it) and they will behold us as gods and shower us with phlegm incrusted snot-balls (a great complement where they come from).
You want your name on that list!
it's full of names...
// todo: implement sig
Well, I've entered my name and my kids, but guess what? Our certificates look ridiculous as they have escaping slashes on the apostrophes in our surnames, so instead of O'Connor, it's O///'Connor (yes, not one, not two, but three slashes!)
Man... you'd think this wouldn't be a problem anymore!
I'm sending my name to Mickey and Goofy! Pluto's a dog, he can't even read!
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
I'm just glad good ol' Jack Mehoffer, Matt Sturbator, and Bob Ondaschaft are going to be immortalized.
I doubt the average person will be able to read the list of names when the probe comes back. The Latin alphabet has only existed for 2,700 years, and the probe is coming back in 50,000. In 50,000 years, it's almost inevitable that either humanity will be communicating without written words, we'll be using an entirely different alphabet, or humanity will be extinct.
So what's the point of putting the names on the satellite? Is it the Gen-Xer's version of Voyager 1?
my blog
I hope they filter the results before it's sent...
Like the elections here... there's four george Bush's and no kerry's... damn ballots!
... with just slightly better information density.
Geeze, no image verification, no e-mail verification...it's like they don't even care. Oh yea they don't. I wonder how many Seemore Butts or Ipee Freely will be included on that DVD that include on the craft.
So does this mean the probe will somehow connect with the borg and turn into a living being that returns to earth 50,000 years later like one of the worst Sci-Fi movies out of a certain series I won't mention?
More or the same that you gained from posting that here :)
The AACS key is NOT 0xF606EEFD628B1CA427BEA93A9CA9773F
Ah c'mon NASA - where do I put my gmail address? How are those nice plutonians and future terrans supposed to contact me otherwise? (btw: could somebody calculate how much space i'll have in my inbox until then? spam not included...)
PS: The A.C. validation word for today is... "adultery". Amazing...
Used to be able to put a message on the CD. I guess they changed it after people spammed it with various obscenities.
503 Sig Unavailable
The Signature could not be accessed. Please try again later or contact the administrator
Pluuto Planeto Power! Make Up! (spoken in japanese accent)
As science struggles on to try to explain.
Oxytoxins flowing ever in to my brain.
NASA has previously sent data into space for others to find. The one I remember hearing about is the data disc stored on the Voyager probes. Obligatory wiki link.
Everyone, including NASA, knows that the odds of anything receiving this disc in the future are slim (but not none) -- but that doesn't mean you don't try! Besides, what's the worst that could happen? If we tick-off some aliens with an image that somehow translates across time and space to be something abhorently insulting, and in turn, they find and vaporize Earth, well, that's just plain bad luck. =)
If there can only be one per planet, then I'm Biggus Dickus
http://fishpluschips.com/b3ta/
Just imagine: Some day an extraterrestrials (or us after 50k years) pick up the probe. Found a CD. Learned how to read it. And what they've got? Completely useless list of words.
this makes about as much sense as that laserdisc they shot into space in the 70s or 80s containing some music and some general information about human race and earth. anyway, a nice thought, that my name travels out into space on some storage media.
free 880 megs file hosting - www.FTPZ.US - best
Years from now, Anthropologists will have heated debates over the sudden rise of the space-pioneering Jablome dynasty.
I browsed at +1 and couldn't really find anybody posting why NASA is doing it. It's obvious, really - so obvious that there's not really any reason for me to post it. But here we go...
The point of NASA doing this is not to send your name to aliens, and it's not to send your name to archaeologists 50,000 years in the future. They're doing it to make you feel like a part of you is on that probe, that a part of you is being launched into the depths of the solar system, exploring, etc. It's a discovery thing. It's also a marketing thing, and for what you get (a whole bunch of kids saying, cool), it's pretty cheap.
Since it's unlikely that it'll be picked up by aliens or archaeologists, it doesn't really matter what form the names take. Of course, the weight of the probe is finely tuned, so something light is preferable. Kids understand what a CD is, so that's a good choice.
NASA did a similar thing for the Deep Impact probe - collected names and included them on the impactor. Definitely no chance of that being picked up by aliens, but there's something cool about having your name on a big chunk of metal that will smash into a comet on the 4th of July (more marketing there).
I don't know where the original poster got the 50,000 years figure, but it is probably incorrect. I searched around on the New Horizons NASA website, and couldn't find a mention of that number.
The New Horizons spacecraft is using a gravity assist maneuver around Jupiter to put it on a trajectory that will allow it to Rendezvous with Pluto later. As a result, it will have a different perihelion and aphelion than it had when it was launched from Earth. Though it is still likely to be bound to the Sun on a closed orbit, it is quite unlikely that it will ever "return to Earth" in the sense that it will rendezvous with our planet. The probability is not zero, admittedly, but it is very low. If anyone knows where the original 50,000 year figure came from, I'd be interested to hear it.
Just thought I'd mention this, since so many people have been basing their posts around the idea that the spacecraft would return in 50,000 years.
If we can't go out and pick it up in 50000 years time, then something is wrong....
Using the search feature, I found:
Heywood Jablome 103982 2005-08-09 21:04:33
Hugh G. Rection 241557 2005-08-29 17:34:56
Mike Hunt 77369 2005-06-29 23:41:56
Homer Sexual 38139 2005-04-24 06:31:23
But not one Phil McCracken!
I object to that article, and to the next reply.
Finally...Sgt. Bigdookie will get the recognition he deserves among the outer solar system.
~ slashdot.org - Where some of the world's greatest minds come together to scrutinize grammar.
My favorite for substitute teachers. :)
You're right. I was totally thinking "Planet X" when I wrote "Pluto is the tenth planet"
;)
Haha. It's what happens when you try too hard on a post
OH NOES! CHEWBACCA FOUND ME!!!
I guess when New Horizons return in 50000yrs. we will have Q's technology already. or we are long extinct and our bones are excavated by intelligent cockroaches for their archeological studies.
i would hope that in 50,000 years we will be able to get to pluto a little quicker -- who gave monkeys thumbs?
"It is expected that the probe will return to earth in approximately 50 thousand years."
unlikely. the probe will be picked up by one of our own spacecraft long before then. it will sit in a museum for a while, and in 50'000 years it will be long returned to dust and forgotten by whatever we've evolved/mutated into by then.
if i'm a grammar nazi, you're an illiteracy nazi.
HI, I am y'OUKOUNDO J'THELATAR, dissident from mars. My father, EYEGEE J'THELATAR, left a substantial amount of 150 BILLION dollars ......... etc
you get the point..
Which one of you jokers thought it'd be funny to put "Your Mum" before I even got to the article?
I'm completely out of two word insults so now my genius will not be appreciated after the world ends. Ho hum.
Today's Sesame Street was brought to you by the number e.
In 1997 I was senior at the University of Michigan and we completed an entire RFP that JPL (I think, or perhaps NASA in general) had out on this mission.
Being the only EE in the class, it fell to me to design the complete communications system for it.
I wish I had an electronic document of the whole thing, it makes for fascinating reading. I just pulled it out of my closet to compare notes after reading about the mission. Our RFP weighs in at 175+ pages.
Our proposal is very close on several key design elements. We proposed a 452kg spacecraft - damn close to the final weight. I see that the actual mission calls for a 2.1m dish, which is close the 2m dish I proposed using a total of 82W DC (including transponders, SSPA, etc). We designed the mission using a Delta rocket to lower the cost and achieve a decent altitude.
We figured a total of 200MB of compressed science data would need to be transmitted back to complete the objectives at the time. They don't seem to have changed much, so that means a minimum data rate of 514bps is required to transmit the data to one DSN over 6 months. Using two 34 dishes of the DSN gets an average rate of about 900bps.
In other words, I'm thrilled our original design has held up. We actually proposed a NSTAR ion engine rather than LTG's, but it's great NASA went with the LTG. You get a shitload more power, and that's awesome. Especially considering they missed the launch window for an ion engine.
----- obSig
That's how long it's going to take NASA to filter through all the fake names. I mean, why would someone say "First Post"? Sure, it is kind of a joke that we will really be able to understand it in 50000 years, but 500 doesn't sound that far fetched. We still have books that old, and can read them, so why is it hard to believe that in 500 years when they retrieve the thing that they will not make a huge plaque with a list of the names (humans have always, it seems, been obsessed with their own past).
Anyway, the point is, thanks for wasting a whole bunch of American (yay for being Canadian) tax dollars to pay some college english major to sift through millions of multi-language names. You rock!
*Side note* It's interesting that registered users don't have to preview their own posts. I'm glad to see that if you are willing to take the time to register, then they think you don't have to proofread your mindless drivel.
How long does a compact disc lasts again?... or do they not degrade when in zero-g? :P
Why not inscribe it using something else that lasts longer?
I like how the number of Seymour Butts going to pluto increases 10 fold the day of the /. link...
I posted the following on the Adult Swim Forums: "Unfortunately, as I am a SwimNewbie I cannot start new threads so all you people must learn of this buried in a thread. Since this one is so popular, Im hoping this will get noticed. I really dont want to have to wait 2 days to let you all know!! I recently learned of this website: http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/ecard/scripts/addSignature sForm.php
For those of you unwilling or yet unable to click the link, the site is a portal in which anyone can enter their full name which will be entered into a database and physically stored in a space probe headed to Pluto, the little rock on the outskirts of our solar system. The launch date is set for sometime this year and the name database will close on September 16th.
At the time I read an article about this site, I was watching ATHF when Frylock met the Plutonians Oglethorpe and Emory. This gave me an idea! I ventured to the site and after submitting my name of course, I entered the names of all the characters on Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Futurama and even a couple from Harvey Birdman. I also included the names of the voice talent for those shows. I managed to enter the entire list of minor characters in ATHF from the wikipedia site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minor_characters_from _Aqua_Teen_Hunger_Force
If you go to the name database site you can search the names. Try it! Type in the name of any ATHF character and there you will see it. Displayed in all its glory before being blasted into space, on to Pluto and should it survive - return to earth in 50 thousand years.
Since the database requires two name fields to be entered - one for first name one for last name - I had to split the names of certain characters who had no known last name. Frylock for example was made "Fry" "Lock." Assistant Steve became "Steve" "The Assistant." As well as Dr. Weird became "Doctor" "Weird." Futurama characters posed no problem as most of them had first and last names.
So perhaps in 50 thousand years when when the apes have control of the earth, Dr. Zaius will know once and for all that humans did indeed rule Pluto with an iron fist from their megathrones on Earth. You animals! You blew it up!
Pass this on!!!!
-C"
Welcome to the world of tomorrooow!
You say they would moderate those names on Pluto? Whoa...
That's funny.
I got that.
Off to hang myself...
Love,
Science
Are you happy now?
Does this mean that NASA will have to keep a box ina cupboard for 50000 years. Wouldn't that be much like us opening a door and finding a neanderthal's rock behind it.
I can see the ebay entry now -
Control system for Pluto explorer - returns in 52005 - be the one to guide it to land in your enemy's garden..... (cash transfer via western union to china only, deposit required)
He got modded down, so I guess I was right anyway ;)
The AACS key is NOT 0xF606EEFD628B1CA427BEA93A9CA9773F
Suppose an ET gets hold of the device, we then can expect to get interstellar spam about refinancing our mortgages while increasing our penis sizes using blackhole quatum gravity inducing dark-matter.
Or at the very least invited to check out the latest video of Biengs Gone Wild.
I am Bennett Haselton! I am Bennett Haselton!
Mike Hunt was already taken.
Many times.
Feh.
Are we going to have a "Return of Nancy" as well.?
Hell, that could be a decent horror movie...
Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.
- W. Wriston, former Citibank CEO
When can I send my name to Rupert?
Bring on the asteroid
Theres no way a CD will last 50 000 years without decaying. And even if it did last... how would they possibly read the data off this cd? The technology would be so advanced 50 000 years from now that there would be no device left that reads ancient technology of CDs.
Someone already put in Douglas Adams.
Perhaps you should change your name to "I Fuckingfailit"