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Mission Could Seek Out Spock's Home Planet
An anonymous reader wrote with a link to the official Planet Quest site. Planet Quest has the goal of exploring the galaxy via sophisticated instrumentation for another habitable planet. NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab is working to plan out missions for the project, and researchers are now theorizing that the instruments may be able to explore the system of 40 Eridani. Hardcore Trek fans may know 40 Eridani as the star associated with the planet Vulcan. "The SIM PlanetQuest instrument will be so accurate, it could measure the thickness of a nickel at a distance from Earth to the moon. Using a set of mathematical models based on Newton's Laws, Tanner was able to conclude that SIM would be able to definitively determine whether there is an Earth-mass planet orbiting in the habitable zone around 40 Eridani A, and could also determine its orbit. This is quite an exciting prospect, since NASA's Terrestrial Planet Finder mission, planned for launch after SIM, would not only be able to take a rudimentary 'picture' of the planet, but also could search for signatures of life such as methane and ozone."
I'm a Star Trek fan (although not so much of the original series, I have to admit), but I'm totally confused by this constant recent desire to tie every space mission to popular sci-fi. In a mainstream news article, I can understand it. But here on Slashdot? Do we really need Vulcans to be involved before we get excited about a *mission to explore another solar system*? That's incredibly cool on its own. By hyping it up as somehow Star Trek-related, you really minimize the plain awesomeness there is in space exploration.
I yearn for you tragically. A. T. Tappman, Chaplain, U.S. Army.
Oh no, insane Star Trek nerdity nitpicking engaged. Setting nitpickiness to stun. Engage the nitpick drive.
GP's phrase was used by another Vulcan in the actual Star Trek series. Both are valid.
There are two kinds of fool One says 'This is old therefore good' Another says 'This is new therefore better'- Dean Ing
"Star Trek nerds, lol. Your hobby is the cause of your virginity."
Yeah, I can easily imagine somebody anonymously flaming Star Trek nerds on a Friday night beatin the hotties off with a stick.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
Open their Razr phones like communicators, not tricorders. Instead they hold up their iPods and and do the "whirmrmrmr" sound while they "scan" the backside of some hottie on the subway, and say "Fascinating" with an upraised eyebrow.
Also dawns on me that only people 35+ years old would have any association between a flip-phone and Star Trek's original communicators. Defines the generation that designed these phones as well as (apparently) Slashdot's demographic.
Is it just me, or is it getting OLD in here??