Comet Probes Given New Duties

iamlucky13 writes "In January of 2004, the NASA's Stardust mission made a flyby of comet Wild-2, taking images and collecting samples from its tail that have since been returned to earth in a detachable capsule. On July 4, 2005, Deep Impact smashed a 350 kg projectile traveling 37,000 km/h into comet Tempel 1 as part of its studies of that object. With both craft in good shape at the end of their missions, NASA has been considering additional tasks for the probes. These plans have now been confirmed with a variety of tasks costing an estimated 15% what a new mission would. Among the new duties will be a revisit of Tempel 1, a flyby of comet Boethin, and transit studies of known extra-solar planets."

Comments

Re:The new duties include

[Anonymous Coward]

Nasa: "You will now target Tempel 1 and Boethin, and search the rim of the system."

Comet probes: "But you said you would let us go when we were done with our missions!"

Nasa: "I have altered our agreement. Pray I do not alter it further."

Re:Three cheers for NASA

[Wavicle]

Back in my day, we didn't have 'extended science missions' or 'new duties.' Our spacecraft impacted other planets at high velocity and smashed into a billion tiny fragments, AND WE LIKED IT!

Re:Three cheers for NASA

[Paradise Pete]

The NASA folks have done absolute wonders with UNMANED missions

Yup. On the others all that neck hair kept getting in the way.

Re:good

[Anonymous Coward]

Sometimes you just have to put a guy up on top of a missile to see if it won't blow up. NASA would never do that today, and that is why we have not yet gone back to the moon or to mars.

It's that, they are all a bunch of pussies now, as are most American engineers.

Oh, I see we have a brave volunteer here, ... step up in the limelight, man! Grateful humanity cheers You!