Cassini Geyser-Tasting a Bust

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday March 14, 2008 @05:54AM from the techno-ageusia dept.

Maggie McKee writes "The Cassini spacecraft flew into the icy geysers erupting from Saturn's moon Enceladus on Wednesday in an attempt to figure out what they were made of, but a glitch prevented the probe from actually 'tasting' the plumes. An 'unexplained software hiccup' put the Cosmic Dust Analyzer (CDA) out of commission. Ironically, new software designed to improve the ability of the CDA to count particle hits may be to blame. Mission managers may try to re-attempt the plume fly-through later this year."

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Hmm by dreamchaser · 2008-03-14 06:01 · Score: 0, Redundant

Ironically, new software designed to improve the ability of the CDA to count particle hits may be to blame.

Wouldn't it have been better to get a less accurate count than no count at all? I wonder if they did sufficient regression testing or if they rushed the patch out the door. It almost sounds like they were getting greedy.

No, of course I haven't RTFA yet! I'm eating lunch and trying to work! I'll get to it.