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Ulysses Spacecraft Not Dead Yet
iminplaya sends in the good news that reports of the death of the Ulysses mission are premature. (We've discussed the impending shutdown of the 17-year-old mission a couple of times this year.) Ulysses is a joint NASA / ESA mission to study the sun from an orbit inclined almost 90 degrees from the ecliptic. From the Planetary Society blog post: "Ulysses is not dead yet. ESA issued a statement in February saying that, as Ulysses' radioisotope thermoelectric generators were running out of power, the spacecraft would likely die some time this year. The actual death blow to the spacecraft was likely to be the freezing of hydrazine fuel in a cold spot in a fuel line. Mission controllers found creative ways to prevent the freezing, but the solution was not a long-term one, and ESA had a ceremonial send-off and wrap-up of the mission in mid-June, announcing that the spacecraft would be shut down on July 1. However, it now appears that announcement was premature. ESA issued a statement on July 3 titled 'Ulysses hanging on valiantly.' And on Wednesday, the [Ulysses mission operations manager indicated] that Ulysses' voyage could actually continue for some time."
It'll probably return after twenty years or so, Poseidon be damned!
"He who can destroy a thing, controls a thing." --Paul Atreides, Dune
I'll tell you what's wrong with it, my lad. 'E's dead, that's what's wrong with it!
No, no, 'e's uh,...he's resting.
Look, matey, I know a dead spacecraft when I see one, and I'm looking at one right now.
No no he's not dead, he's, he's restin'! Remarkable ship, the Ulysses, idn'it, ay? Beautiful solar collectors!
The solar collectors don't enter into it. It's stone dead.
Nononono, no, no! 'E's resting!
All right then, if he's restin', I'll wake him up! (shouting at the cage) 'Ello, Mister Ulysses! I've got a lovely fresh battery for you if you show...(owner hits the retros)
There, he moved!
No, he didn't, that was you hitting the retros!
I never!!
Yes, you did!
I never, never did anything...
(yelling) 'ELLO ULYSSES!!!!! Testing! Testing! Testing! Testing! This is your nine o'clock alarm call!
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
Thank you for telling people their idea is stupid. Sometimes they need it, the uneducated louts.
Now, I think NASA is overlooking a completely obvious and fooldproof solution. Problem: they have frozen pipes. They're also near the Sun. A quick flyby of the sun for some warmth, and they're good to go! However, if I remember my science classes correctly, they have to keep the pass under a certain speed, or they run into problems with humpback whales.