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Communication Lost With Indian Moon Satellite
stoolpigeon writes "All communication links with the only Indian satellite orbiting the Moon have been lost, India's space agency says. Radio contact with the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft was lost abruptly early on Saturday, said India's Bangalore-based Space Research Organization (ISRO)."
... Are they sure that was a moon?
#fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
They must have asked it something that wasn't on the script!
Space game using normal deck of cards: http://BattleCards.org
shortly before contact was lost the system was upgraded to be rfc1149 compliant
They will at least find out what happened. The more efficient space agencies we have exploring, the better overall for the planet.
Makes the game more fun.
[http://it-tastes-so-good.blogspot.com] Are you hungry?
Hey India, maned mission next time around, show us some drama.
Before this thread fills up completely with cynical wisecracking Americans, let me be the first to say, as a cynical wisecracking American, go India!
Seriously. You guys have a very solid set of rockets, a good broad focus (China's too focused on manned missions), and the technical skills to make it happen.
See you at Jupiter someday!
OPERATOR: Hello, my name is Prakesh Vijay Chandrashekar Subrayaman, but please call me "Bob." What seems to be the problem today?
MISSION CONTROL: We've lost communications with our lunar satellite.
"BOB": I see. Well, have you tried rebooting the system?
MC: There is no system to reboot. It's a satellite, not a PC!
"BOB": I see. Well, have you checked to see if the power cord is plugged into the device?
MC: Are you not listening? There is no power cord, it's a *satellite*.
"BOB": I see. Well, sir, I'll need you to find the original CD-ROM that came with the satellite and put it into the CD-ROM drive, the turn the power off, then turn it back on again.
MC: OK, this is getting ridiculous, "Bob". I thought this was the satellite technical support line. Do you know anything about *satellites*?
"BOB": I see. Well, let me see what I can do. Can I place you on hold for four or five hours?
MC: -- click --
In the end they will lay their freedom at our feet and say to us, Make us your slaves, but feed us. - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Could it be that the last few seconds of data shows no sign of altitude loss and rapid deceleration?
Maybe it ran into a rather large, mostly colorless, and smooth monolith.
LoB
"Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
Have they tried turning it off and on again?
2009 was the year the Indian lunar satellite went out of control.
.sig withheld by request
I suppose they could have a mobile base that continually moves so as to always stay on the dark side, but wouldn't it make more sense to just put it on the far side and leave it there?
Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
Blessed Ganesha, it's full of cows!
--
"Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
If the needful had been done, this would not have happened.
A more detailed discussion - from the Indian viewpoint. http://forums.bharat-rakshak.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=4395&start=1440
Orbiting the moon is a lot harder than orbiting the earth. The moon's gravitational field is exceptionally lumpy because of concentrations of mass beneath the surface. If not actively corrected for, these mass concentrations will make a satellite's orbit go through increasingly violent gyrations until it eventually intersects with the surface.
I wonder if this is what happened to the Indian probe.
I've met a number of Indian 'tech' people, programmers and tech support included, and I've come to the conclusion that India doesn't actually suck at tech. In fact, they are quite good at it. The bad rep comes from the fact that they are pushing so much of their populace into tech-related fields that they've been forced to draft in people who aren't actually good at it.
I've met a number of 'tech' people, programmers and tech support included, and I've come to the conclusion that people don't actually suck at tech. In fact, some are quite good at it. The bad rep comes from the fact that society is pushing so much of the populace into tech-related fields that they've been forced to draft in people who aren't actually good at it.
I wish that ppl would stop trying to assign DOLLAR figures to China, Indian, or any other country that ties their money to a certain money. Saying that it cost 75 million is plain wrong (most estimates in India show it to be in the $90-95 million). Right now, the Rupee is FORCED by India to trade at 48 rupee to a dollar. According to most economist, it should be around half of that, or possibly less (more difficult to pin this down, than say the Chinese games with Yuans). As such, the missions is around $150-200 million. But, that is STILL not the full truth. The majority of expensive instruments on the sat are from different countries. Basically, the LAUNCH is what costs about $100-150 million, with the sat being less than $50 million. And at a 100 million per launch, they are on par with America, Russia, and EU.
I am not trying to belittle their efforts. In fact, far from it. I applaud them and hope that we will bring them into the ISS down the road. BUT, I still prefer that ppl are honest about what is going on.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Enjoyed reading post, A++++ slashdotter, would read again.
I barely remember as a kid, folks used to make fun of Japanese made stuff.
Yeah, and after mastering the art of kaizen (and retooling after the war), nobody was laughing at "Made in Japan" any more.
India has refused to cripple themselves with c(r)ap and trade.
I know of at least two folks I mentored at work in the mid 1980s who are now university professors. I'm following my job to India, and I'll take up the role I've always taken up and be tutoring as many people as I can. I already have a "conspiracy" set up with a (very) bright programmer in Bangalore to tutor as many coworkers as we can.
India will not always be considered backwards and disrespected. I think that's a good thing. Competition Is Good.
Seriously BBC... wtf is up with that? India is a trillion dollar economy and this was 75 million usd project. Can I say chump change? For some context, India recently announced a really stupid 30 billion usd national id scheme. While reporting that, you did not care to mention India's millions that lack basic services. Why do you hate India and real scientific progress so much?
Some critics regard BBC as a waste of resources in a country where millions lack basic services.
India may be lying in the gutter, but at least they are looking up, and working hard on getting out.
god n. : the Supreme Being, indistinguishable from a good random number generator.
Imho, "some critics" is pretty weak. You will always find "some critics" to criticize almost anything. When reporters chooses to put them in the report, they are betraying their own opinions and biases or at least saying that the criticism is legit.
Blessed Ganesha, it's full of cows!
Nicely done (and in good taste too :)). Pity you're all alone in a sea of mediocre pseudo-wits :(.
I'm not offended as an Indian (by the over-abused and lame tech support jokes that litter the desolate landscape of this thread); I'm offended as a connoisseur of good comedy . Seriously dudes (who-probably-lost-their-jobs-to-outsourcing-and-are-surprisingly-hard-to-feel-sympathy-for-at-this-particular-moment), that meme is about as funny as the one about Soviet Russia or even *shudder* sharks with lasers. It is scary that Fark is so much better at meme-based humor than the supposedly godlike nerds that inhabit this realm.
What an achievement for a country where you can't use your credit card in most places, and where Banks don't even have reliable phone service. Reminds of the time I enfielded from Delhi to Gaya and in the middle of a tea stop a white-robed local came up to me shouting angrily in Hindi and broken English, "India is Great! India is Great!" I responded by buying him a cup, and that seemed to calm him down after I halfheartedly agreed with him, but now I wish now I had the stats on Chandrayaan-1 and perhaps some print outs of the photos sent back. Congrats to the Bangalore team!
I think therefore I can't be ~TTNH