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NASA's LCROSS Spacecraft Discovers Life On Earth

Posted by timothy on from the that-was-the-control-group dept.

Matt_dk writes "On Saturday, Aug. 1, 2009, the LCROSS spacecraft successfully completed its first Earth-look calibration of its science payload. 'The Earth-look was very successful' said Tony Colaprete, LCROSS project scientist. 'The instruments are all healthy and the science teams was able to collect additional data that will help refine our calibrations of the instruments.' During the Earth observations, the spacecraft's spectrometers were able to detect the signatures of the Earth's water, ozone, methane, oxygen, carbon dioxide and possibly vegetation."

29 of 171 comments (clear)

  1. An early false-negative had them worried by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Turns out they were just over Detroit.

    1. Re:An early false-negative had them worried by Bacon+Bits · · Score: 3, Funny

      I'm offended! If you'd ever actually been to or lived in Detroit you'd know that it's full of rats and cockroaches.

      --
      The road to tyranny has always been paved with claims of necessity.
  2. What gets me.... by mark-t · · Score: 4, Funny
    "possibly vegetation"

    I almost fell out of my chair when I read this

    --
    File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
    1. Re:What gets me.... by tenco · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Well, I don't know what they actually do, but i would look for a dip in the spectrum of the planet's albedo were the spectrum of the nearest star has a maximum.

    2. Re:What gets me.... by ae1294 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      They just got a license to use this technology...

      Last summer the West Virginia State Police allowed ORINCON to test the ability of hyperspectral optical technology to locate crops of marijuana. Given the success of that test, ORINCON has been invited to participate in this summer's interdiction effort to further validate the technology and demonstrate a more advanced detection unit.

      http://cannabisnews.com/news/5/thread5978.shtml

    3. Re:What gets me.... by cgenman · · Score: 3, Funny

      We still have vegitation down here? Someone better tell Captain McCrea.

      --
      The ______ Agenda
    4. Re:What gets me.... by andy_t_roo · · Score: 4, Informative

      i believe it detected spectral anomalies which are a necessary but not sufficient condition for chlorophyll based vegetation.
      ie, it is a definite detection of something matches what vegetation is expected to be like, but without more detailed info other sources of this anomaly cannot be conclusively ruled out. (unlike the spectral signature of methane, which is a much more binary choice once the SRN on your spectrometer is good enough - if you detect the absorption lines, methane is there in significant amounts, if you don't it isn't.)

  3. Colonization by Usually+Unlucky+ · · Score: 5, Funny

    We should mount a robotic mission to this place right away.

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    -
    1. Re:Colonization by forkazoo · · Score: 4, Funny

      Forget robots, it's high time we put a MAN on the Earth!

      During the 1960's and 1970's, we sent several men from the Moon to the Earth. Tragically, all were stranded, and none ever returned to the Moon.

  4. Meanwhile, SETI... by DrYak · · Score: 3, Funny

    At the same time, we're still waiting from the SETI's calibration and observation to discover any trace of *Intelligence* on earth.

    --
    "Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
  5. Re:But is it intelligent? by JuzzFunky · · Score: 3, Funny

    If intelligent life forms do exist on earth then why haven't they contacted me?

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    Unexpect the expected!
  6. NASA' LCROSS Spacecraft Discovers Life On Earth by MrKaos · · Score: 4, Funny

    The search for intelligent life continues...

    --
    My ism, it's full of beliefs.
  7. Sadly, by Hawthorne01 · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... none of it was intelligent.

    --
    "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
  8. It's life, Jim by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    It's life, Jim, just as we know it, just as we know it, Jim.

    Beam me sideways, Scotty, nobody on this planet knows which way is up.

  9. Pre-empting the obvious by rufty_tufty · · Score: 4, Insightful

    2 predictions:
    * Lots of slashdot users trying to post something witty about why this is a new story
    * trolls saying how this is everything we should expect and therefore should ignore.

    to all those who disengaged their brain I ask, what would you do in their position? Hope your instruments work as designed without testing them? Either way, please devise a better test for life as we know it than life as we know it.

    --
    "The weirdest thing about a mind, is that every answer that you find, is the basis of a brand new cliche" -
    1. Re:Pre-empting the obvious by Dragonslicer · · Score: 3, Funny

      2 predictions: * Lots of slashdot users trying to post something witty about why this is a new story * trolls saying how this is everything we should expect and therefore should ignore.

      Um, this is Slashdot. That's like betting that a coin toss will be either heads or tails.

    2. Re:Pre-empting the obvious by rufty_tufty · · Score: 3, Insightful

      >While we're at it, shouldn't we be spending this money on feeding the starving

      No, because there'll always be starving. I wish humanity/life was otherwise I really do, but I don't see a long term solution where resources are finite and the exponential function is applicable.

      --
      "The weirdest thing about a mind, is that every answer that you find, is the basis of a brand new cliche" -
  10. Calibrating with Earth by Tangamandapiano · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Doesn't it suffer from a serious risk of overfitting?

    1. Re:Calibrating with Earth by MaskedSlacker · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yes. Know of any other data samples we can use?

  11. NASA is trying to say.. by anonymousNR · · Score: 5, Insightful

    .. that if our machine can identify life on Earth all by itself, then we can possibly send it somewhere and it might be able to detect another planet or moon which has Earth-like life.

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    -- It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. -- Aristotle
  12. Incorrect Title by solarium_rider · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It should be: NASA' LCROSS Spacecraft Discovers Earth-Like Life On Earth

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    -- How many sigs are as useless as this one?
  13. Re:Beam me up Scotty!! by Shakrai · · Score: 4, Funny

    Theres no intelligent live down here!!

    Oh, the irony..... ;)

    --
    I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
    We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
  14. In other news by euxneks · · Score: 4, Insightful

    NASA discovers light from the sun, and no atmosphere on the moon.

    Could the summary be any more vacuous? It could have been a bit more explanatory about the nature of the satellite. (i.e. to find water on the moon - source: http://lcross.arc.nasa.gov/mission.htm)

    --
    in girum imus nocte et consumimur igni
  15. Re:But is it intelligent? by MaskedSlacker · · Score: 4, Funny

    They're outside of the faraday cage basement you're living in.

  16. been done before by jschen · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The spacecraft Galileo, on its way to Jupiter, performed a related experiment back in 1990. Details were published in Nature

  17. Re:Beam me up Scotty!! by treeves · · Score: 4, Funny

    I think it's a quote from Star Wars.

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    ...the future crusty old bastards are already drinking the Kool-Aid.
  18. Re:Beam me up Scotty!! by voidphoenix · · Score: 3, Informative

    It's a misquote.

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    Excuse me, wtf r u doin?
  19. Oil? by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 4, Funny

    detect the signatures of the Earth's water, ozone, methane, oxygen, carbon dioxide and possibly vegetation

    What? No oil detector? This thing is useless!

  20. Re:Beam me up Scotty!! by Mithyx · · Score: 5, Funny

    No. Women visiting slashdot is still a theory.