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Spacecraft Crashes Into Satellite

Juha-Matti Laurio writes "A robotic NASA spacecraft designed to rendezvous with an orbiting satellite instead crashed into its target. Unbeknownst to engineers at the time, DART's main sensor mistakenly believed it was flying away from the satellite when it was actually moving 5 feet per second toward it, investigators found."

30 of 343 comments (clear)

  1. Ah. by toQDuj · · Score: 5, Funny

    So that's where the minus sign should have gone, I knew I dropped it somewhere!

    and an Obligatory Pratchett Quote:

    Hex's pen was scratching across the paper.
    Ponder glanced at the figures.
    ` ..., these figures can't be right!`
    Ridcully grinned again. `You mean either the whole world has gone wrong or your machine is wrong?`
    `Yes!`
    `Then I'd imagine the answer is pretty easy, wouldn't you?` said Ridcully.
    `Yes, it certainly is. Hex gets thoroughly tested every day` said Ponder Stibbons
    `Good point, that man,` Said Ridcully.

    B.

    --
    Every experiment which ends in a big bang is a good experiment.
    1. Re:Ah. by radtea · · Score: 2, Funny

      Every experiment which ends in a big bang is a good experiment

      Especially when it's an experiment that begins with the hypothesis, "That hot person of the complimentary sexual orientation over there will go out with me if I ask them."

      --
      Blasphemy is a human right. Blasphemophobia kills.
    2. Re:Ah. by operagost · · Score: 2, Funny

      I'll see you and raise you an Office Space:

      [Scene An ATM machine. Peter gets out a receipt that says he has
      $305,326.13]

        [Scene Peter's car. Samir and Michael have obviously seen the
      receipt.]

      SAMIR
      Shit, shit, shit, shit. Son of a bitch! Shit! This is a - fuck! Son of
      a bitch! Shit!

      MICHAEL
      What happened?

      PETER
      You tell me, Michael, it's your software!

      SAMIR
      Yes, it's your software!

      PETER
      Corporate accounting is sure as hell going to notice 305, 3 (grabs the
      receipt) 26.13!! Michael!!

      MICHAEL
      Oh shit! They, they probably won't notice it's gone for another two or
      three days.

      PETER
      Michael! Michael! You said the thing was gonna take two years!

      SAMIR
      What happened?!

      PETER
      You said the thing was supposed to work.

      MICHAEL
      Well, technically it did work.

      PETER
      No it didn't!

      SAMIR
      It did not work, Michael, ok?!

      MICHAEL
      Ok! Ok!

      SAMIR
      Ok?!

      MICHAEL
      Ok! Ok! I must have, I must have put a decimal point in the wrong place
      or something. Shit. I always do that. I always mess up some mundane
      detail.

      PETER
      Oh! What is this fairly mundane detail, Michael?!!!!!

      Your comment has too few characters per line (currently 13.9). Your comment has too few characters per line (currently 13.9). Your comment has too few characters per line (currently 13.9).

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
  2. Question answered! by LackThereof · · Score: 5, Funny

    The $110 million DART mission was meant to test whether robots can perform some of the tasks astronauts currently must do.

    Well, we answered that question. Mission accomplished!

    --
    Legalize recreational marijuana. Seriously.
    1. Re:Question answered! by m0nstr42 · · Score: 3, Funny

      The $110 million DART mission was meant to test whether robots can perform some of the tasks astronauts currently must do.

      Well, we answered that question. Mission accomplished!


      Yes, we really HIT THE MARK with that one.

  3. That's no crash... by calexontheroad66 · · Score: 5, Funny

    it's a successfull hit, now let's build that missile defense system.

  4. DART by Shifty+Jim · · Score: 3, Funny

    Well... Maybe they shouldn't have painted a giant bullseye on the side of the satellite.

    DART: 50 points
    NASA: -110 million dollars

    --
    "To surrender to ignorance and call it God has always been premature, and it remains premature today." -Isaac Asimov
  5. Let me be the first to say.... by haeger · · Score: 3, Funny
    BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

    No, but seriously, this is sad. It takes us farther away from what I'd like to see in a car, namely a self-steering one. I'd prefer one that detects an oncoming truck as oncoming and tries to get out of the way.

    .haeger

    --
    You are not entitled to your opinion. You are entitled to your informed opinion. -- Harlan Ellison
    1. Re:Let me be the first to say.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny
      what I'd like to see in a car, namely a self-steering one
      They're called Taxis. Seriously, i'll be here all week.
    2. Re:Let me be the first to say.... by IDontAgreeWithYou · · Score: 2, Funny

      i hate airbags if you couldnt tell

      Further proving my theory that there is nothing in the world that somebody on Slashdot won't be against.

      --
      Finding other idiots on /. that agree with your opinion doesn't make it any less stupid.
  6. Anti-Sat Weapon Test? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Is this a Anti-Sat Weapon Test?

    ~AC

  7. First application by RM6f9 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Not hampered by engineering degree, can tell difference between "toward" and "away from" - will work for same 6 figure salary previous position holder was receiving...

    --
    Take the 90-Day Challenge! http://rwmurker.bodybyvi.com/
  8. Google's plan to kill Dilbert by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny
  9. Kennedy Space Center DART? by dotslashdot · · Score: 5, Funny

    In a subsequent news conference, DART claimed it did not remember hitting on the target after being spaced out on AMBIEN, a method it used to help it sleep(500s) before its launch from Kennedy Space Center. DART claimed that it got several bytes to eat before drinking a cup of Java and collecting its garbage. Upon introspection DART agreed that, despite its name, hitting on the target showed little Class despite the size of its Package.

  10. In a related story... by dummyname12 · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...NASA has finally set aside a portion of its budget for the hiring of a trombone player to lighten the mood after each disasterous miscalculation with a well-timed "waaah WAAAAAAAAH."

  11. Where's that ruler? by Whiteox · · Score: 5, Funny

    Are you sure? Is that 5 feet per second or 5 metres per second?

    --
    Don't be apathetic. Procrastinate!
  12. mistaken beliefs of velocity by MisterLawyer · · Score: 2, Funny
    "...mistakenly believed it was flying away from the satellite when it was actually moving 5 feet per second toward it, investigators found."

    Same thing happened to me and the garage door when I was 14 years old backing my dad's Buick out of the driveway.

    He didn't let me drive it again until I was 18.

  13. Re:Disband NASA by AxminsterLeuven · · Score: 2, Funny
    NASA is a dinosaur and should either be put down or evolve by embrace privately funded initiatives.
    Or maybe they should just upgrade to the latest version of Microsoft Office.
  14. Should have found a way to use LAWN DART by xlation · · Score: 2, Funny

    Low-budget
    Assembly
    Without
    Navigaion...

  15. Why did the spacecraft crash into the satellite? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    a) It had a crush
    b) It shouted "stop", but sound doesnt travel in space
    c) ...?

  16. Re:They don't call it... by indifferent+children · · Score: 1, Funny

    The satellite was actually shot by a CIA agent standing on a grassy knoll.

    --
    Censorship is telling a man he can't have a steak just because a baby can't chew it. --Mark Twain
  17. Re:Oddly familiar by hplasm · · Score: 0, Funny

    Mod +1 Extreme Optimism

    --
    ...and he grinned, like a fox eating shit out of a wire brush.
  18. In a recent statement... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    NASA mission control say they now regret ordering the craft to extend its robotic arms over its sensors and turn in complete circles 3 times.

  19. This will please Scott Adams by mustafap · · Score: 1, Funny
    --
    Open Source Drum Kit, LPLC deve board - mjhdesigns.com
  20. Re:Oddly familiar by Verteiron · · Score: 2, Funny

    If anyone had bothered to tell -me- that I might have passed calculus.

    --
    End of lesson. You may press the button.
  21. Obvious answer by cgenman · · Score: 3, Funny

    They must have been using metric feet per second.

    1. Re:Obvious answer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      True story:

      A friend's girlfriend picked up a small ruler to measure some miscellaneous item. Like most rulers, it had "inches" on one edge and "metric" on the other. Unfortunately, she was measuring starting at 1 instead of at the end of the ruler, and when the result came out different from what she expected, she looked carefully at the ruler. After a moment, she said, "Ohhh, this ruler is in metric inches!"

      It's stories like these that remind my friend how he'll never get those two years back.

  22. dart? by MrWa · · Score: 1, Funny
    I am suprised at the lack of conspiracy theory comments regarding a "robotic spacecraft" that looks and acts like a missle that "accidently" destroys a defunct satellite.

    It is almost too obvious of a conclusion, which may make this the most ingenious way to hide a live fire test...

  23. Re:Oddly familiar by radtea · · Score: 4, Funny

    Just tell then it's the area under a curve, or the volume under a sheet. Even the most pretentious manager will be able to grasp that

    "It's the area under a curve, or the volume under a sheet."

    "So that's like where they've banked the road to keep cars from flying off as they go 'round the curve? That's what an integral is?"

    "Not that kind of curve!"

    "And the volume under a sheet--isn't that zero? Unless somebody's lying under it. Or two somebody's. Lemme tell you about this girl I met..."

    --
    Blasphemy is a human right. Blasphemophobia kills.
  24. Re:Why did the spacecraft crash into the satellite by Intron · · Score: 2, Funny

    c) It was older and had better insurance.

    --
    Intron: the portion of DNA which expresses nothing useful.