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Life's Secrets From A Comet's Tail

An anonymous reader wrote to mention a Guardian report on the return trip of the Stardust mission, which has snatched material from the tail of a passing comet. From the article: "Scientists are particularly interested in comets because they believe they are rubble left over from making the solar system, which later played a profound role in the development of Earth. They probably delivered most of the water for Earth's oceans and bombarded our planet with complex organic compounds that could have been crucial to the evolution of life here. For these reasons, researchers have sought a source of comet molecules and designed Stardust to provide it." Wow, this thing has been out there a long time. When I Googled to make sure this wasn't a dupe, I ran across CmdrTaco's post about the Stardust probe entering the comet's tail - almost exactly two years ago.

62 comments

  1. Boo! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Least entertaining article ever to contain the words "Snatch" and "Tail" in the first sentence...

    1. Re:Boo! by TubeSteak · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Snatch
      An American Tail

      btw- yes I searched google for snatch+tail and no, none of the first 10 results were porn-related.

      Thought I'd get that out of the way

      --
      [Fuck Beta]
      o0t!
  2. OMG DUPE! by killeena · · Score: 2, Funny

    OMG OMG! This is a du-...... Errr, nevermind.

    --
    Freedom would be not to choose between black and white but to abjure such prescribed choices. -Theodor Adorno
  3. No! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Don't link to Slashdot, or you'll, oh, never mind.

    1. Re:No! by FinestLittleSpace · · Score: 1

      DON'T CROSS THE STREAMS

  4. what ever happened... by Adult+film+producer · · Score: 1

    to that space dust collecting module that sort of crashed into the ground (parachutes failed to open) last year? I guess it was supposed to be caught by a helicopter but the damn chute screwed up. Wasn't that supposed to have collected some of this magic dust?

    1. Re:what ever happened... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hmm... doesn't this probe use the exact same accelerometers that were used in Genesis (and that happened to be installed backwards)? Murphy's Law (the correct version) states that if there are two ways to perform a task and one will result in disaster, that the wrong way will invariably be selected. Seems to me that we might be in for another desert hard landing.

    2. Re:what ever happened... by jacksonj04 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Almost. The Genesis probe was to collect solar wind particles, and had no actual chute failure. What had happened was that accelerometers designed to trigger the chutes once the unit had reached the appropriate speed were installed backwards.

      As is to be expected in this situation, the probe wasn't flying backwards when it needed to trigger the chutes and subsequently it hit the desert with a rather satisfying thud.

      This mission to the comet's tail is very, very similar with an almost identical 'landing' planned. Lets hope the same guy didn't fit components on both.

      --
      How many people can read hex if only you and dead people can read hex?
    3. Re:what ever happened... by lubricated · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      That's not exactly correct.
      The genesis project was a program designed to grant life where there is none.
      It was doomed by the use of unstable protomatter.

      --
      It has been statistically shown that helmets increase the risk of head injury.
    4. Re:what ever happened... by gowen · · Score: 0, Troll

      No, no, no. The Genesis Probe was a device inserted up Phil Collins' arsehole in an attempt to determine why they bothered to continue to make records after Peter Gabriel left.

      --
      Athletic Scholarships to universities make as much sense as academic scholarships to sports teams.
  5. Re:Hand of God or Comet Dust? by FinestLittleSpace · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Are you for real? You are just PRECIOUS!

  6. Zonk's New Year's Resolution.. by Stalyn · · Score: 5, Funny

    Was it...

    a. No more dupes.

    b. Use Google more.

    c. More commentary in story submissions.

    no, sorry the answer was CowboyNeal.

    --
    The best education consists in immunizing people against systematic attempts at education. - Paul Feyerabend
    1. Re:Zonk's New Year's Resolution.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      You forgot :

      d. No more dupes.

    2. Re: Zonk's New Year's Resolution.. by Black+Parrot · · Score: 2, Funny

      > a. No more dupes.

      "Dupes" is such an ugly word. Try to think of them as "stories about stories carried on Slashdot".

      --
      Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
  7. Comet dust by lostngone · · Score: 0

    Great, I can see it now NASA scientists are going to be selling hits of comet dust on the black market. Thats all we need a bunch scientists high on comet dust, keep them away from the Mars Rover controls!1!!

    1. Re:Comet dust by The+Ilia · · Score: 0

      Hey, NASA is a government agency. The DEA will be all over that portcullis.

      --
      All of the brightest boys, To play with the biggest toys - More than they bargained for...
  8. Offtopic: Damn slashdotters by ViceVirtue · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Why is it that so often the discussion of a story is about some silly technical detail, the fact that the story is a duplicate, or some side issue?

    1. Re:Offtopic: Damn slashdotters by homebrewmike · · Score: 1

      It's funny that your message was moderated as insightful. While I certainly agree with you - it seems /. is filled with spiteful 15 year olds (or 26 year olds posing at spiteful 15 year olds), if the moderators were on top of things, it really should have been moderated off topic. (And, of course, THIS reply.)

      However, what the moderators seem to miss completely, is all the "Ooooh! Ooooh! I'm obsessive enough and anal enough to point out that a message is a dupe!" Not sure why - maybe it's some sort of wanting to praise the good, and not punish the bad. Dunno. But I do know that it ain't happening.

      Regardless, here's an obligatory url that we might all want to re-read: http://shirky.com/writings/group_enemy.html

      So, seeing that more and more trolls are taking up residence in /., who's going to build the next cool thing that the in-crowd can migrate to?

  9. Re:Duping by pnewhook · · Score: 3, Informative

    This article isn't a dupe; its a followup.

    --
    Tesla was a genius. Edison however was a overrated hack who liked to torture puppies.
  10. Give it time. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    PS: I'm aware this article isn't duped.
    Yet.

  11. Use /. to Search for Dupes, not Google by Somegeek · · Score: 5, Funny
    Dear Editors,

    Slashdot actually has a search function built-in! There is a little search box down in the lower left of the webpage that anyone can use. It is especially usefull when searching for dupes. Check out this example:

    http://science.slashdot.org/search.pl?query=stardu st

    You can see that this very story was posted twice already on the 22nd, not to mention all of the older references.

    --
    And as you tread the halls of sanity, You feel so glad to be, Unable to go beyond. I have a message, From another time..
    1. Re:Use /. to Search for Dupes, not Google by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually slashdot's own search feature sucks goat's ass really bad.

    2. Re:Use /. to Search for Dupes, not Google by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      couple things, a. both those were posted to 'science.slahsdot.org' this article was posted to the main page. b. there is usually almost a week between an article being 'accepted' and becoming part of the page. (part of the reason for that is searching out dupes) now why wasn't the original stardust submission recategorized to include the main page? I dunno... maybe they didn't seem 'catchy' enough like ohh 'life's secrets explained!!!11!!!1!1one!!"

      keep in mind, this was zonk posting this, and likely with a christmas eve hangover from too much eggnog ;) not new years, we don't get to see what zonk approved with his newyears hangover for another week...

    3. Re:Use /. to Search for Dupes, not Google by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh, I didn't see that, because I dont read slashdot.org anymore, for it is ugly. I read AlterSlash, for it is much prettier, elegant, and simple.

      Once you go AlterSlash, you never go back.

  12. Re:Hand of God or Comet Dust? by misanthrope101 · · Score: 2, Funny

    You are one of those rare individuals who make satire superfluous. I thank you, for you make the world a more joyous place in which to live.

  13. Dupe? (from Dec 22) by JohnnyDoesLinux · · Score: 1

    Didn't this qualify?

    Stardust to Return January 15

    Ooops, I already violated my New Year Resolution not to be a total bastard!!

    Sorry.

  14. Stardust sample brought Google addiction? by BadassJesus · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    "When I Googled to make sure.."

    I am amazed how much even some .org people still hype Google. It's no longer business honeymoon It's like some prick on CSS... head-shot, head-shot, "Killing Spree", head-shot, head-shot, head-shot "Unstoppable", head-shot, head-shot, head-shot, "Godlike". Altavista.com, Hotbot.com anybody anymore ?

    1. Re:Stardust sample brought Google addiction? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wha... What does he smoke?

  15. Re:Hand of God or Comet Dust? by IAAP · · Score: 2, Interesting
    But there are a lot of awesome reasons that you should learn about God

    Isn't that what science is all about: regardless of your religious beliefs? See Newton and other scientists who considered their quest for knowledge as learning about God. Which in my case, has a lot more meaning than the myth in the Bible and other scriptures.

  16. w00t! by Elitist_Phoenix · · Score: 2, Funny

    Screw the secrets of the universe. Someone checked to make sure it wasn't a dupe!

    --
    "I'm going to f***ing bury that guy, I have done it before, and I will do it again. I'm going to f***ing kill Google"
  17. Wrong date? by Tim+C · · Score: 4, Funny

    When I Googled to make sure this wasn't a dupe

    Zonk, it's January the first, not April! Guess someone's still under the influence from last night's celebrations...

    1. Re:Wrong date? by Breakfast+Pants · · Score: 1

      It was his New Years Resolution, and don't worry, like all New Year's Resolutions this won't last long.

      --

      --

      WHO ATE MY BREAKFAST PANTS?
  18. Re:Duping by 1u3hr · · Score: 1
    PS: I'm aware this article isn't duped.

    Stardust to Return January 15 On December 23rd, 2005 with 143 comments
    accessdeniednsp writes "Seven years ago, the Stardust probe was sent to intercept Comet Wild 2, gather dust particles, and return to Earth. Stardust is...

    Dust Samples Returning to Earth at 28,860 mph On December 22nd, 2005 with 48 comments
    DjBenBen writes "After a 2.88 billion mile round-trip journey, NASA's Stardust mission is nearing Earth with comet and interstellar dust particles that could...

  19. Organic, eh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Like oil? Why can't some/most oil come from the original stuff the solar system was made from?

    1. Re:Organic, eh? by Urusai · · Score: 1

      Shh, don't let the W find out, or we'll be invading the Kuiper Belt. Talk about a long deployment!

  20. A long time? by NotWallaceStevens · · Score: 3, Funny

    Voyager has been out there a long time. Pioneer has been out there a long time. This spacecraft has 128MB of memory on board. In my day, we made probes with 64K of memory, and we liked it.

    1. Re:A long time? by ImaLamer · · Score: 1

      I don't see any reason probes will ever need more than 256MB of memory...

  21. Re:Hand of God or Comet Dust? by oztiks · · Score: 1

    Dood, no disrespect (not caring that i'll be rated offtopic) but I believe in allot of things and i'm not saying what you claim is false but one thing i've also learned in my own experiences its sometimes best just to keep your mouth shut and let the world go by, that way you seem to be liked a whole lot more by everyone else around you and you never have to worry about being reported to your local psychiatric facility for a brain scan to make sure your not certifiable.

    Okay yeah it sounds nasty but then again, the development for the inner self should just stay with the inner self ...

  22. Re: Hand of God or Comet Dust? by Black+Parrot · · Score: 4, Funny

    > I have intense religious experiences on a frequent occurance

    Dude, that's your hand, not God's.

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
  23. News flash........ by slashname3 · · Score: 0, Redundant

    /. editor reports searching for duplicate story before posting article. The reports are sketchy but many at the scene report large amounts of alcohol may have been involved as well as a badly timed joke to make Zonk think it was April 1st instead of January 1st. Reports have also come in showing that /. editors have been using an etch-a-sketch to run duplicate searches. This may answer once and for all why so many duplicate stories get posted!

    In other news speculation continues that /. editors are nothing more than a 1000 monkey's beating on computer keyboards accounting for the large number of duplicate stories being posted.

    1. Re:News flash........ by Caspian · · Score: 1
      Christ, if you're going to make fun of people, at least learn how to write.

      In other news speculation continues that /. editors are nothing more than a 1000 monkey's beating on computer keyboards accounting for the large number of duplicate stories being posted.
      --
      With spending like this, exactly what are "conservatives" conserving?
    2. Re:News flash........ by slashname3 · · Score: 1

      It's not like the editors would notice the difference. :)

      And since when did writing skill have anything to do with /.? :D

  24. Check out the site by McBainLives · · Score: 3, Informative

    http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/photo/comet3d.html -

    Stardust's mission has gone relatively smoothly- I've been checking in every few months because I can't help but be impressed by scale of this experiment. And this time, they ever thought to put a parachute in the return capsule, unlike that other probe which captured solar wind particles, then smashed into the desert floor when the stunt 'copters didn't make the catch. (The sun must've been in their eyes...) The comet pass-through two years ago might have been overshadowed by the Mars Rover(s) story- one of 'em landed just around the same time as Stardust's Wild 2 encounter.

    --
    I came, I saw, I left. It looked better in the brochure.
  25. Fix Slashdot's search engine by Brad+Lucier · · Score: 1
    When I Googled to make sure this wasn't a dupe, ...
    So, even the editors recognize that Slashdot's seach engine is useless.
  26. problem with cometary orign of earth's water by iggymanz · · Score: 2, Interesting

    comets appear to contain much more deuterium than the concentration we find in earth's water (even allowing for half-life of deuterium). See: Blake, G. A., Qi, C., Hogerheijde, M.R., Gurwell, M. A., and Muhleman, D. O. "Sublimation from Icy Jets as a Probe of the Interstellar Volatile Content of Comets," Nature, 398, 213 (1999).

    1. Re:problem with cometary orign of earth's water by potpie · · Score: 1

      I was under the impression that Earth's water came from the outgassing of volcanoes. Thus it is not that Earth got water while the other terrestrial planets didn't, but that Earth simply retained it.

      --
      Esoteric reference.
    2. Re:problem with cometary orign of earth's water by Mostly+Monkey · · Score: 1

      "retained it."

      "Do I look fat in this crust?" -Earth

      --
      Chika Chik-ah... do-e ow ow.
  27. Re:Hand of God or Comet Dust? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Great, next you'll be telling us that the Holy Trinity isn't represented by Geddy, Neil, and Big Al.

  28. Re:Duping by Schraegstrichpunkt · · Score: 1

    My guess is that because the editors see a *ton* of submissions, they often forget which ones they actually posted. Think about it: Do you remember every post you've modded up or down?

  29. How many dupes do you want? by thesnarky1 · · Score: 1
    Nice, he used Google (gotta get that name out there) to find one dupe from two years ago. Yet using his OWN search here he could have found out that this was reported TWICE just two and a half weeks ago. Also MULTIPLE times two years ago. The 1st, 2nd and 21st of January, 2004. And there's more back there, I just felt like only using the first 15 results.

    All snarky (provided for my new years resolution to stop grammar nazis. Yes I realize that just begs for more flaming) comments aside I thought this was a cool idea then, and still think so. That thing's been up there for so long, and still working. NASA gets a lot of press (and I makea ton of jokes) about bad comversions and other matters that make their studies fail, but if this is pulled off, with a good landing, it'll be an amazing feat! I hope lots of good studies are done of the material we bring back, and that no Andromana Strains emerge.

  30. I dunno... there has to be some joy in watching... by leonbrooks · · Score: 1
    ...scientists trying to explain how bone-dry and dusty comets got to deliver water anywhere.

    There are a lot of things about comets which it's fun watching armchair philosophers and myopic my-theory-fits-everything scientists trying to explain.

    For a few interesting examples:
    • Why was Hubble able to see a flash from the Shoemaker-Levy components from below the horizon and before they were due to impact Jupiter?
    • Why was tiny little Hyakutake able to throw a "dusty" tail over half a billion kilometers to where it could wash over Ulysses?
    • Why do comets throw material asymmetrically from multiple jets instead of gentle clouds, evenly distributed?
    • Why are at least some comets offset from the head of their plume?
    • Why did Deep Space 1 see two separate flashes as its impactor hit Tempel 1?
    • Why was the resulting explosion much larger than expected?
    • Why are there no comets at all with hyperbolic orbits?
    --
    Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
  31. This comment, or the article? by leonbrooks · · Score: 1

    If the comment, it's a pre-emptive dupe. (-:

    --
    Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
  32. Re:Hand of God or Comet Dust? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    From your description, I'm having trouble spotting the difference between God and an ecstasy tablet. To paraphrase James: you can bash the bible all you want, but you will be judged on how you treated those around you. Born again "Chistainity" is completely screwed up in that it falsely claims that you can do anything you want, as long as you have "faith".

  33. And here are your answers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Answers to your questions:
    • Why was Hubble able to see a flash from the Shoemaker-Levy components from below the horizon and before they were due to impact Jupiter?
      Because.
    • Why was tiny little Hyakutake able to throw a "dusty" tail over half a billion kilometers to where it could wash over Ulysses?
      Because.
    • Why do comets throw material asymmetrically from multiple jets instead of gentle clouds, evenly distributed?
      Because.
    • Why are at least some comets offset from the head of their plume?
      Because.
    • Why did Deep Space 1 see two separate flashes as its impactor hit Tempel 1?
      Because.
    • Why was the resulting explosion much larger than expected?
      Because.
    • Why are there no comets at all with hyperbolic orbits?
      Because.
    I hope this has been of some help.
  34. Not often that I reply to an AC, but... by leonbrooks · · Score: 1

    ...was there any specific point to your post beyond the (obvious) emphasis of the lack of concrete answers? I'm left with a very I'm-being-blonde feeling that I missed something.

    --
    Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing