Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Orbiter Successfully Enters Orbit

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the hi-mars dept.

dylanduck writes "Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has slipped safely into orbit - unlike two of the last four orbiters NASA sent to Mars. Remember Mars Climate Orbiter and the mix up between metric and English units? MRO is going to send back 34 trillion bytes of data, more than all the previous missions put together." From the article: "The spacecraft will use a suite of six instruments, including the most powerful camera ever sent to another planet. This will image objects as small as 1-metre wide and should be able to snap pictures of the Spirit and Opportunity rovers. The instruments will track the planet's weather, geology and mineralogy, and even probe about a kilometre beneath its surface to hunt for water."

8 of 156 comments (clear)

  1. Late Breaking News: by Spy+der+Mann · · Score: 3, Funny
    Today a mysterious object began appearing in our sky. The population panicked after they heard rumors saying that the object came from the evil blue planet. To calm the population, K'Breel, speaker for the council of Elders, said:

    We are not to worry. Let us remember that our cloaking technology will keep
    us safe from being noticed by the inhabitants of the evil blue planet. Our scientists are studying the artificial satellite and have concluded that it is a very primitive technology. We are not to fear.

    Besides, our plan to destroy the evil blue planet have not been hindered in any way.


    When someone asked why this satellite couldn't be destroyed as the other two alien satellites that were sent by the blue planet inhabitants, K'Breel ordered the traitor's immediate execution. This was the first case of someone being executed for stripping the word "evil" from the phrase "evil blue planet", according to the new law.

    (My apologies to TripMaster Monkey)
    1. Re:Late Breaking News: by node+3 · · Score: 4, Funny

      (My apologies to TripMaster Monkey)

      Don't worry, he still owes us an apology for his sig.

  2. ONE TRILLION DOLLARS!!!! by Kittie+Rose · · Score: 5, Funny

    Man, that's a lot of data to be sending back. I just hope those funny little Green Men aren't going to be using up all the space bandwidth looking at porn from Uranus.

    --
    EpiAdv - if you like Pokey the Penguin, try this comic!
  3. Four out of five ain't bad ... by eck011219 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Well, shoot - I guess you can't hit Mars EVERY time you shoot something at it ... still, an 80% strike rate is pretty good for wartime.

    --
    It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
  4. Re:trillion? by jandrese · · Score: 4, Funny

    Hey, at least it's a real unit. They could have reported it in Libraries of Congress or some other useless unit.

    --

    I read the internet for the articles.
  5. Re:Not English by Decaff · · Score: 5, Funny

    I went to an English "Public School" and am now over 40. I only know my weight in kilogrammes. We went metric a long time ago!

    If only we had. There are miles to go yet before we have fully.....

  6. Love the title by rholliday · · Score: 4, Funny

    Orbiter enters orbit.

    In other news Voyager has gone on a voyage, Mariner has ... marinated ... okay, the joke's falling apart now.

    --
    Xbox reviews.. We think they're funny.
  7. The fallback mission. by expro · · Score: 4, Funny

    and even probe about a kilometre beneath its surface to hunt for water

    This was the fallback mission in case it deorbited by mistake.