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Mirror Jams on Venus Express Spacecraft

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the only-one-man-would-dare-give-me-the-raspberry dept.

tsarina writes "The European Space Agency is trying to fix a stuck instrument on its Venus Express spacecraft. A mirror in front of its interferometer is not pointing in the right direction, making it useless until it is moved. Managers hope to fix the Planetary Fourier Spectrometer this week. An identical instrument on the Mars Express probe has also acted up, but it is currently working properly.""

6 of 31 comments (clear)

  1. You could... by AlexanderDitto · · Score: 5, Funny

    Try jiggling it back and forth, sometimes that helps.

    Alternatively, run it under some hot water for a few seconds.

    If all else fails, give it a good swift kick.

    --
    No, Mr. Green. Communism is just a red herring.
    1. Re:You could... by corngrower · · Score: 2, Funny

      Damn those power mirrors. They always start sticking after the warranty is up.

  2. The CSA could help here by Mindwarp · · Score: 4, Funny

    I believe the CSA have been developing the CanadFinger for just this purpose. Any time something like this sticks you can robotically prod it from the safety of your nice warm Mission Control.



    Note - The above post is humorous in content, and does not intend to violate patents past or present on the "Design and Implementation of Remote Digit Activation Devices"

    --
    The gift of death metal does not smile on the good looking.
  3. Should take a trick from NASA's playbook by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    The ESA should have learned from NASA, and gone with the strategy that has brought such success to the Space Shuttle program: Keep all spacecraft and instruments on the ground on earth, where if something bad happens like a mirror getting out of place, a technician can easily fix it.

    1. Re:Should take a trick from NASA's playbook by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 2, Funny

      You got it backwards. Ground the manned space program to keep everyone safe from large shuttle parts raining down from the sky, cancelled the science space program to save money to get the manned space program off the ground in the next century, and let the politicians spend all the money on freeways to nowhere. :P

    2. Re: Should take a trick from NASA's playbook by Black+Parrot · · Score: 5, Funny

      > The ESA should have learned from NASA, and gone with the strategy that has brought such success to the Space Shuttle program: Keep all spacecraft and instruments on the ground on earth, where if something bad happens like a mirror getting out of place, a technician can easily fix it.

      Yes, the moon missions would never have been possible if they hadn't kept everything on the ground in Arizona.

      --
      Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade