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Earth Departure Movie From MESSENGER Spacecraft

A reader writes:"The Mercury-bound MESSENGER spacecraft took 358 images during a gravity assist swingby of Earth on Aug. 2, 2005. Those images were sequenced into an MPEG movie showing the view from MESSENGER as it departed Earth."

14 of 193 comments (clear)

  1. Slashdotted already? by nystagman · · Score: 5, Funny

    I count a grand total of one reply in this thread, and already the site seems to be slashdotted. I guess this just proves that the existence of the silent majority of ./ readers who actually try to RTFA before they post. My faith in humanity is restored!

    --
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  2. In other news... by mwvdlee · · Score: 4, Funny

    "The MESSENGER MPEG-hosting server took 358 images during a slashdot assist launch off of Earth on Sep. 5, 2005. Those images were sequenced into an MPEG movie showing the view from the MESSENGER MPEG-hosting server as it departed Earth."

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  3. Ob. DNA - How to Leave the Planet by Haydn+Fenton · · Score: 4, Funny

    1. Phone NASA. Their phone number is (713) 483-3111. Explain that it's very important that you get away as soon as possible.
    2. If they do not cooperate, phone any friend you may have in the White House -- (202) 456-1414 -- to have a word on your behalf with the guys at NASA.
    3. If you don't have any friends in the White House, phone the Kremlin (ask the overseas operator for 0107-095-295-9051). They don't have any friends there either (at least, none to speak of), but they do seem to have a little influence, so you may as well try.
    4. If that also fails, phone the Pope for guidance. His telephone number is 011-39-6-6982, and I gather his switchboard is infallible.
    5. If all these attemps fail, flag down a passing flying saucer and explain that it's vitally important you get away before your phone bill arrives.

  4. I'd love to oblige by vikstar · · Score: 2, Funny

    I think slashdot news posters must *love* to get people posting comments about their links getting slashdotted. So, here is another rant... "ah, slashdotted already".

    Either that or they have a running king-of-the-hill contest on who can slashdot a site the fastest.

    --
    The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than the question of whether a submarine can swim.
  5. No sound?!? by jemnery · · Score: 5, Funny

    I don't get it - where is the audio on this thing? In the background there must have been either:

    1. A swooshy spaceship noice

    or

    2. The opening bars of the Star Trek: TNG theme tune

    1. Re:No sound?!? by DigiShaman · · Score: 4, Funny

      If it was from an alien spaceship, I would imagine something translated into...

      "Are we there yet?

      no

      Are we there yet?

      no ...

      Are we there yet

      NO!

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
  6. Re:BitTorrent! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Do you want to add any more file extensions there?

  7. Re:collision 27th frame from end by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Holy mother of god, if you zoom in on the earth at the flash point 27 frames from the end of the footage, you can just about make out (through the compression artifacts) the image of a Klingon battle cruiser breaking orbit and jumping to warp.

  8. Re:Impressive! by BACPro · · Score: 2, Funny

    Pretty static weather as well.
    They forgot to make the clouds move.

  9. Re:Reverse It by glass_window · · Score: 2, Funny

    Open the file in text editor and take all the characters from the end and put them one-by-one at the beginning until you've turned the entire file around.

  10. occlusion by dankelley · · Score: 2, Funny

    It's almost as if posting to /. increases the traffic on a site, making that site useless for a while. I wonder if anyone has invented a name for this effect?

  11. Slashdot Slashdot. by TheManifold · · Score: 1, Funny

    Meh. How come Slashdot is never slashdotted?

  12. OMG this is fake! by aztektum · · Score: 3, Funny

    Look there are no stars in the background! It's the same as with the moon landing videos! Space is filled with billions of stars! Where are they? I demand an investigation into what NASA is really spending our money on!!!

    --
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    No sig for you!!
  13. In other news... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    ICQ takes 359 images of Mars to even the score