Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Spacecraft Crashes Into Satellite

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the coming-or-going dept.

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."

8 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.
  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.
  3. That's no crash... by calexontheroad66 · · Score: 5, Funny

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

  4. 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/
  5. 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.

  6. 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."

  7. 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!
  8. 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.