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Mars Rover Upgraded

MrShaggy writes "According to a BBC article, NASA is upgrading their MARS rovers. The upgrade will allow the rovers to sift through the pictures of dust-devils, decide which is the most appropriate, send it back. 'Clouds typically occur in 8-20% of the data collected right now,' Castano said. 'If we could look for a much more extended time and select only those images with clouds then we could increase our understanding of how and when these phenomena form. Similarly with the dust devils.' The article also discusses upgrades to the Mars Odyssey. They plan to make it self-reacting to events on the planet as they are happening."

7 of 132 comments (clear)

  1. PLEASE READ! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    A few months ago, I started using Linux. When I began, I told others that I was just experimenting, and that it was just for fun. But I couldn't stop. I started using Linux every day. I stopped socializing with others, and never changed the Tux shirt that I wore constantly. I began to berate technology that wasn't Open Source. Worst of all, I began to partake in gross and neglegant homosexual behavior. I'm not sure if I was gay before I started using Linux, or if it corrupted me in some way, but that is not the point.

    One day, when at a book store checking out Gaynal Magazine, the premiere magazine about the Linux community, I was approached by a fellow Linux user. We started talking about Linux and homosexuality, and he invited me to hang out with him at this gay bathhouse known as the White Swallow. I still remember my first night. It was a Linux user's dream come true!!! The whole Slashdot crew was there giving out free blowjobs and anal grease, ESR was getting gangbanged, and Rob Malda offered his anus to me.

    I became a regular at this bathhouse, but that's how the nightmare began. I didn't know that every single one of them had AIDS, and that I had become infected. I was crushed. I stopped using Linux immediately, but that didn't help improve my health. I want to warn others about the dangers of using Linux. I don't want anyone to make the same mistake that I did. What do you recommend?

    Dying of AIDS,
    Michigan
    Dear Gentle Sir:

    Thanks for writing in. The last time I addressed Linux as a gateway to unhealthy practices such as faggotry and drug-use, I had a chance to warn my reader before it was too late. I'm sorry to see that with you, the situation is irreversible. I am glad you want to share your message, however, and to that I'll discuss your plight for others to see.

    You didn't mention what prompted your initial foray into Linux and Open Source, but I imagine it happened innocently enough at first. Perhaps you were the poor unknowing victim of a dirty zealot, such as ESR, or maybe it was just a quiet link to Slashdot that began your slide into Hell. The price of health is constant vigilance, but to the uninformed that's difficult. ESR and the Slashdot staff prey exactly upon such marks.

    The bathhouse, the "White Swallow," was more of a dream-come-true to the predators than new Linux users know. Not a single participant in the raw anal gangbangs or semenistic orgies there spoke once about their terrible secrets and with good reason. That was their chance to have your forever, and it looks like they did just that. I can't imagine the feeling that washed over you when you discovered the terrible truth. I can only pray for your peace and that others never share that emotion.

    My recommendation to you is to become an anti-Open Source zealot. Write essays and post them to Slashdot about the terrible secrets and conspiracies that the cock-lusting Open Source world harbors. Wear FreeBSD t-shirts, especially the one where the Beastie is fucking Tux up the ass (give it back to'em!). When you see a Linux "install party" happening, call the authorities immediately and tell them there's a filthy circle-jerk about to take place. Wear a mouth guard to prevent biting your pillow at night, one of the most embarassing side effects of Linux. Make sure you're running at least Windows if you can't get to a Mac. Using a proper OS is a must -- even though it's "too late" for you, you can still set an example.

    I wish you luck as you begin your lonely journey down a road few travel. Hold your head high as you proceed, refusing to let Open Source claim another victim. They may have ruined your body, but they lose -- and we win -- if your mind remains free to the end.

    Best Wishes

  2. What Upgrade? by packetmon · · Score: -1, Troll

    The more I think about the term "Upgrade", I sit and wonder... How exactly are they "Upgrading" this? It can't be a physical upgrade obviously... Windows Update Upgrade!?! ... TCP/IP over Satellite? What kind of upgrade are they actually doing? An algorithmic upgrade? Since it would have to be a "transmitted" upgrade, how much could that actually cost think about it... It's not like NASA needs to pay some ISP for bandwidth in Space... Programming upgrades? How much could they possibly cost...

  3. Re:Absolutely amazing by suv4x4 · · Score: -1, Troll

    AFAIR, it was only intended to run for a couple of months, yet it has now clocked up a couple of years

    You can all stop repeating this, by the way. We're all impressed with it, it's amazing, and I cried like a little baby when I saw the first Mars photos sent by it and its companion, but it's time to get over it. :)

    Plus, for a multi-million (billion?) piece of machinery, I'd expect it to work past my death (unless a major glitch occurs).

    I wouldn't blame them if it suddenly failed or exploded due to unknown cause, but I wouldn't congratulate them every day for years for the fact it works :).

    For me the most amazing job is that it landed in one piece and operational. Now that's it's there, let's git to work and find some one-eyed green martians.

  4. SOME FUNNY SHIT! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll
    Emad had been laying awake for about two hours. It was 10:00 AM and he had already missed two classes: Remedial Operating Systems - Linux and Diversity & Tolerance. Had Emad been totally awake he would have groaned. Today's Diversity & Tolerance class was teaching how to put condoms on erect penises, something right up Emad's alley. Well, at least the erect penis part; he knew nothing about condoms.

    Slowly, Emad lumbered out of bed. His joints ached. His head throbbed. What had happened the night before? He could feel dried feces in his pants and was pretty sure his asshole was ripped wide -- Oh! He remembered a little too suddenly as he almost tripped over a pile of spent whippits, several beer bottles, and a giant black 48" oil-filled dildo -- mounted on a chainsaw engine. He had had Zonk, Hemos, CowboyNeal and CmdrTaco over last night for a few cold ones but it seemed that, par for the course, they had all ended up sharing a few hot ones instead, that being their euphemism for homosexual encounters.

    Emad made his way to the bathroom, and moaned. It was in complete disarray. The sink was filled with congealed diarrhea, the floor was sticky with drying piss, and the bathtub looked like a long-neglected water trough on a pig farm. It would take Emad hours to clean this mess. He tried hard to ignore the stench as he sauntered toward the toilet. Didn't Taco and Sims respect anything? Emad gave so much to them and their cause.

    Upon opening the lid on his broken toilet he saw the special gift Taco had left for him: An inhumanly giant turd. It had to be at least a foot and a half in length! Taco had been planning this one, as he saw unchewed peas, corn, and peanuts that all told the story of Rob Malda's special dinner the night before. The monster turd curled around the inside of his toilet. Not wanting to let Rob Malda's magical ass-gift go to waste, Emad reached inside the toilet and gently grasped the brown meat.

    Moaning, Emad began devouring the slimy but firm stool. He tasted the honey on the peanuts; he felt the peas pop as he chewed through the delicious crap-worm. His cock immediately sprang to life as he chomped down bite after bite of the mutant ass-birth. Could life get any better? Down to the last bit of his meal, he gagged and coughed. Needing to wash it all down quickly, Emad yanked his tiny Iranian dick and aimed upward, pissing hard, catching the golden rain in his mouth.

    After what seemed like a painful eternity, his bladder was empty and urine was running down his chin in rivulets. Emad, in the midst of his ecstacy, wondered. Could life get any better?

  5. Re:Absolutely amazing by suv4x4 · · Score: 0, Troll

    Argument Ad Crumenam.

    Could you please speak in a language that's not dead yet.

    A $20 million Formula One car, for instance, has a functional halflife of about 4 hours, because it is designed that way, much of that $20 million being spent to effectively shorten it's halflife compared to a street car.

    They've sent a Formula One car over there?

    You'll probably notice an F1 car returns its investment by braking down from excessive speeds.
    Could you say the same for a Mars Rover?
    Not that I can't imagine people being entertained from videos of the rover driving 200miles/hour through the Mars craters, but come on...

  6. Re:Absolutely amazing by kfg · · Score: 0, Troll

    Could you please speak in a language that's not dead yet.

    I'm sorry, but English actually is my first language. Since I am aware that the average person these days cannot be bothered to look up things they do not understand (you'll find the phrase in any decent English language encyclopedia. Or even Wikipedia) I did, however, include an idiomatic translation into modern American. I cannot help it if the modern American mind is incapable of grasping the concept that price does not equal quality/correctness.

    Re the rest of your post:

    Joshua the savior who will come, WTF?

    KFG