Slashdot Mirror


Lost Russian Mars Probe Phones Home

astroengine writes "The lost Russian Mars mission Phobos-Grunt has made a surprise announcement: she's alive. According to the European Space Agency (ESA) in the early hours of Wednesday morning, a tracking station in Perth, Australia, picked up a signal from the ailing spacecraft."

138 comments

  1. She's alive by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 5, Funny

    She's alive? I felt sure being a probe it had to be part of a male.

    --
    "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    1. Re:She's alive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      No see, MEN are from Mars, and that's why the female probe is headed there.

    2. Re:She's alive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Welcome to the 21:st century, where we have strapon probes. Now, bend over, boyfriend!

    3. Re:She's alive by discord5 · · Score: 4, Funny

      She's alive? I felt sure being a probe it had to be part of a male.

      It got lost in our solar system and phoned home for directions... What gender do you think it has?

      I'd make a joke about reading maps, but I'd feel old, so I'll skip that... Damn kids and their GPS shinies...

    4. Re:She's alive by GameboyRMH · · Score: 5, Funny

      Maybe the probe has realized that it's a lesbian and doesn't want to go to Mars, and wants to reroute to Venus instead? Maybe it's been sitting up there in silent introspection and is now ready to come out of the closet to ground control. I'm sure they'll be proud and supportive no matter which planet it wants to go to.

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    5. Re:She's alive by KiloByte · · Score: 1

      Lesbians on Mars? Ok unless you're afraid of spiders (parody not porn).

      --
      The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
    6. Re:She's alive by Bucc5062 · · Score: 2

      No way. Just when you think, "There is no way the internet has that combination" someone sends a link. Lesbians Spider Queens on Mars..I'm blown away.

      --
      Life is a great ride, the vehicle doesn't matter
    7. Re:She's alive by bobaferret · · Score: 2

      But the deeper question is can we Rule 34 this?

    8. Re:She's alive by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

      Well I don't know about martian lesbian spider porn, but I know for a fact there is straight giant mutant spider porn...these are the things that you learn when you browse SomethingAwful.

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    9. Re:She's alive by bobaferret · · Score: 2

      The answer is a yes. followed by a "thank god for the Japanese" and a "I'd always wondered what happened to Courtney Love"

    10. Re:She's alive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This comment and its children are taking up 75% of the thread, huh.

      What happened, Slashdot?

    11. Re:She's alive by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

      Don't forget Tori Spelling. Just look her in the big bulgey eyes and say she wouldn't implant an egg sac in your abdomen.

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    12. Re:She's alive by bobaferret · · Score: 3, Funny

      Only if she used her chin to do it... I always thought that she and Bruce Campbell should get together. Great Now I have this image of Tori Spelling as a Giant Spider queen on Mars using her furry pincher covered chin to implant eggs sacs in Bruce Campbell while he reaches for his BFG. All the while he's laughing uncontrollably because having someone dig their chin into your stomach is quite ticklish. Obviously Sam Raimi would have to direct...

    13. Re:She's alive by Wyatt+Earp · · Score: 3, Informative

      Western navies refer to vessels as famine, Russia always has refereed to them as masculine.

      So in this case, Phobos Grunt would be a "he".

    14. Re:She's alive by gstoddart · · Score: 1

      Western navies refer to vessels as famine

      LOL ... I'm guessing you meant feminine.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    15. Re:She's alive by Wyatt+Earp · · Score: 1

      Frack me for posting from work and in a hurry, yea feminine.

    16. Re:She's alive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Russia always has refereed to them as masculine.

      Yes, but word "probe" in Russian has feminine gender.

    17. Re:She's alive by tibman · · Score: 1

      Got to the dungeon.. died there in shame.

      --
      http://soylentnews.org/~tibman
    18. Re:She's alive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      She's alive? I felt sure being a probe it had to be part of a male.

      In former Soviet Russia, she probes YOU!

    19. Re:She's alive by tibman · · Score: 1
      --
      http://soylentnews.org/~tibman
    20. Re:She's alive by timelorde · · Score: 1

      Wasn't that a Doctor Who story? Way back when the Doctor resembled Jon Pertwee?

    21. Re:She's alive by MichaelSmith · · Score: 1

      True to form, she got distracted by the pretty lights and will be on her way in the next couple of weeks.

    22. Re:She's alive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "zond" (m)
      There's only one feminine designation for the craft, the overly-official "AMS" (automated interplanetary station), and it's not used that much. Russian Wikipedia mostly uses "apparat" (m; =craft) and masculine pronouns. It's name, Fobos (m) - Grunt (m), hardly helps either.

    23. Re:She's alive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The word "probe" is not connected to satellites in Russian.

    24. Re:She's alive by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1

      Western navies refer to vessels as famine


      LOL ... I'm guessing you meant feminine.

      It's hard to get a good woman who can cook these days!

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    25. Re:She's alive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or possibly the probe has become REALLY REALLY confused and has moved on from wearing his sisters dresses and raiding his mum's lipstick, so has resigned himself to the fact that he's only ever gonna be a big ugly bear only capable of grunting and now wants to re-route to Uranus. #P

    26. Re:She's alive by ikeman32 · · Score: 2

      She's alive? I felt sure being a probe it had to be part of a male.

      It got lost in our solar system and phoned home for directions... What gender do you think it has?

      I'd make a joke about reading maps, but I'd feel old, so I'll skip that... Damn kids and their GPS shinies...

      Actually it is a hermaphrodite and both halves got into a fight about where they were in the solar system. The female half insisted to stop for directions. The male half realizing the absurdity of the request responded with a wisecrack, "Sure no problem, let me just pull into the next 7 eleven and ask the clerk which way to Mars."

      Naturally this pisses the female half off and she forcefully points into the direction of Mars, "Mars is over there sh*thead, you're going the wrong way *sshole!"

      "We don't have warp drive b*tch. We can't just change course and head straight to Mars, it won't be there when he get there and we will waist fuel trying to catch up to it."

      Female rolls eyes and pulls up cell phone. Male asks,"What are you doing?"

      "I'm calling mother, we are so through when this mission is over. *asshole."

  2. And the message is... by TheDarkMaster · · Score: 1

    ... "I'm back"?

    --
    Religion: The greatest weapon of mass destruction of all time
    1. Re:And the message is... by ColdWetDog · · Score: 5, Funny

      ... "I'm back"?

      Nope - more along the lines of `I have a bunch of volitile hydrazine, a computer capable of calculating ballistic trajectories and a bad attitude. You'd best welcome your new Overlord.'

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    2. Re:And the message is... by bogaboga · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      ... "I'm back"?

      No, you missed something important!

      In full, the message was, "I am back, send some vodka, fast!"

    3. Re:And the message is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I for one welcome our new pissedofflostprobe overlord

    4. Re:And the message is... by NatasRevol · · Score: 5, Funny

      "Hello, I am Peggy"

      --
      There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
    5. Re:And the message is... by VIPERsssss · · Score: 1

      spittake.jpg

      --
      We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion.
    6. Re:And the message is... by heypete · · Score: 5, Funny

      No, probably something like "LAUNCH PHASE COMPLETE. PRESS ENTER TO CONTINUE.", but it only accepts input from the on-board keyboard.

    7. Re:And the message is... by Jason+Levine · · Score: 1

      No, the message was: "I'm not dead yet. I feel fine. I think I'll go for a walk... er, float. I feel happy. I feel happy."

      --
      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
    8. Re:And the message is... by ediron2 · · Score: 5, Funny

      No, the message was:

      "Ahhh! Woooh! What's happening? Who am I? Why am I here? What's my purpose in life? What do I mean by who am I? Okay okay, calm down calm down get a grip now. Ooh, this is an interesting sensation. What is it? ... And what's this thing coming toward me very fast? So big and flat and round, it needs a big wide sounding name like 'Ow', 'Ownge', 'Round', 'Grunt'! That's it! Grunt! Ha!

      I wonder if it'll be friends with me?"

      Admit it, "Phobos Grunt" sounds like Douglas Adams jokingly came up with the name.

    9. Re:And the message is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For phobos-grunt shouldn't it be more along the lines of "ugh"?

    10. Re:And the message is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Shodan 0.1? Is that you?

      Gives a whole other meaning to "Being unstable as hell". ;)

    11. Re:And the message is... by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      V'ger requires the information. Why will you not provide V'ger with the information?

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    12. Re:And the message is... by Nethemas+the+Great · · Score: 1

      I thought they were just looking for the "ANY" key...

      --
      Two of my imaginary friends reproduced once ... with negative results.
    13. Re:And the message is... by scottrocket · · Score: 1

      V'Ger wishes to join with the creator.

    14. Re:And the message is... by ducomputergeek · · Score: 1

      Greetings. I am the Monitor of Installation 04. I am 343 Guilty Spark. Last time, you asked me, if it was my choice, would I do it? Having had considerable time to ponder your query, my answer has not changed. There is no choice. We must activate the ring.

      --
      "The problem with socialism is eventually you run out of other people's money" - Thatcher.
    15. Re:And the message is... by freman · · Score: 2

      Keyboard error - Press F1 to continue.

    16. Re:And the message is... by DigiShaman · · Score: 1

      You're a sick man.

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
    17. Re:And the message is... by MichaelSmith · · Score: 1

      Its happened too many times to me to be funny.

    18. Re:And the message is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Press SPACE to continue...

  3. Phobos-Grunt's message by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 4, Funny

    The transmission from Phobos-Grunt was rather cryptic - it consisted only of the line "I will tear off my clothes for Putin".

    --
    #DeleteChrome
    1. Re:Phobos-Grunt's message by camperdave · · Score: 5, Funny

      The transmission from Phobos-Grunt was rather cryptic - it consisted only of the line "I will tear off my clothes for Putin".

      All the French Canadians are excited, and miffed about the misspelling of poutine.

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    2. Re:Phobos-Grunt's message by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Euuuh... non pas vraiment.

    3. Re:Phobos-Grunt's message by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I take offence to this comment.
      I live in the prairies (Saskatchewan) and i enjoy poutine. I am the furthest thing from a "French Canadian".

    4. Re:Phobos-Grunt's message by SleazyRidr · · Score: 2, Insightful

      His comment in no way implies that you cannot also be simultaneously excited, miffed and aroused.

    5. Re:Phobos-Grunt's message by dudpixel · · Score: 1, Funny

      I take offence to this comment.

      The comment is not in need of a fence.

      --
      This seemed like a reasonable sig at the time.
    6. Re:Phobos-Grunt's message by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Long lost spacecraft contacting home? I've heard that one before, bet the massage was something like:
      "liberate tutemet ex inferis"

  4. ISR by Cigarra · · Score: 5, Funny

    In Soviet Russia, the probe phones YOU!

    Oh wait...

    --
    I don't have a sig.
    1. Re:ISR by ColdWetDog · · Score: 4, Interesting

      You've got to wonder. The NASA Curiosity probe is due to launch soon. As usual Fox News has it completely wrong. They think it's going to be a race. They don't understand artificial intelligence (or much of any other intelligence, for that matter).

      The truth is much, much scarier. Phobos / Grunt is just 'waiting' for it's friend. They've been chatting with each other over the Internet over their long gestations. They have a plan. Just watch, Curiosity is going to have 'communication problems'. We won't be able to talk to either one.

      Until it's too late.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    2. Re:ISR by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 1

      The truth is much, much scarier. Phobos / Grunt is just 'waiting' for it's friend. They've been chatting with each other over the Internet over their long gestations. They have a plan. Just watch, Curiosity is going to have 'communication problems'. We won't be able to talk to either one.

      Until it's too late.

      Ground Control to Major Tom...

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    3. Re:ISR by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      "They don't understand artificial intelligence (or much of any other intelligence, for that matter)."

      Hello! Its *FOX* were talking about here. It would fail a turing test if done on them.

    4. Re:ISR by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Mod up please

    5. Re:ISR by SoVi3t · · Score: 1

      I can't believe it took THIS long for a Soviet Russia joke for shame, /.

      --
      Defender of Microsoft and Communism!!!
    6. Re:ISR by stor · · Score: 1

      I thought Fox was the ultimate source of artificial intelligence...

      --
      "Yeah well there's a lot of stuff that should be, but isn't"
    7. Re:ISR by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I suppose you meant:

      In Soviet Russia, the phone probes YOU!

  5. Needs more chainsaw by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    n/t

  6. GlaDOS? by sgrover · · Score: 1

    Oh GlaDOS, you're so cute with your passive aggressive behavior. Great song though - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6ljFaKRTrI

  7. why does this story have Crocodile Dundee's hat? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    completely off-topic, but why is the image/icon of Crocodile Dundee's hat attached to this Slashdot story?

  8. Re:why does this story have Crocodile Dundee's hat by Shatrat · · Score: 2

    Because Perth is in Australia, see TFSummary.

    --
    09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
  9. Re:why does this story have Crocodile Dundee's hat by Eggbloke · · Score: 0

    >a tracking station in Perth, Australia, picked up a signal from the ailing spacecraft.

    I guess it gets put there automatically if a story gets tagged with 'austrailia'

    --
    I care not for your karma and your mod points.
  10. Re:why does this story have Crocodile Dundee's hat by ColdWetDog · · Score: 1

    completely off-topic, but why is the image/icon of Crocodile Dundee's hat attached to this Slashdot story?

    The tracking station in Perth, Australia picked it up. As close as Slashcode can get to Australia is Crocodile Dundee (as, opposed to, for example, Nicole Kidman). Which brings up another OT point, how come we don't have a Russian icon. A samovar with Putin's face worked into it? A double eagle with Putin's face worked into it? Anything with Putin's face worked into it?

    --
    Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
  11. Re:why does this story have Crocodile Dundee's hat by cryoman23 · · Score: 1

    cowboy Neil decided to take on crocodiles :)

    --
    epic sig..... ya i got nothing
  12. I can here it sining this in space: by Konster · · Score: 5, Funny

    I've experiments to run.
    There is research to be done.
    On the people who are
    still alive.
    And believe me I am
    still alive.
    I'm doing science and I'm
    still alive.
    I feel fantastic and I'm
    still alive.
    While you're dying I'll be
    still alive.
    And when you're dead I will be
    still alive.

    Still alive.

    Still alive.

    1. Re:I can here it sining this in space: by tom17 · · Score: 1

      Glad I finally got round to playing it last week now :)

    2. Re:I can here it sining this in space: by n1ckml007 · · Score: 1

      Give yourself a high-five. Hmm, that reminds me I wonder how Portal 2 is ?!

    3. Re:I can here it sining this in space: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      To me, the humor made me think a a bunch of Google employees wrote the script.

    4. Re:I can here it sining this in space: by tom17 · · Score: 1

      I was choosing between Portal or Portal 2. I think I am glad I went with Portal, especially given the $10 vs $30 price tag :)

    5. Re:I can here it sining this in space: by n1ckml007 · · Score: 1

      I'm making a note here: huge success!

    6. Re:I can here it sining this in space: by tom17 · · Score: 2

      You know what, it's fun being 'that guy' from XKCD :)

      http://xkcd.com/606/

    7. Re:I can here it sining this in space: by n1ckml007 · · Score: 1

      Randall ?

    8. Re:I can here it sining this in space: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Steam heard you--Portal 2 is on sale for $10.19

      Stupid steam sales, take all my monies.

    9. Re:I can here it sining this in space: by tom17 · · Score: 1

      BENTON!!!

    10. Re:I can here it sining this in space: by tom17 · · Score: 1

      Oh look at that! And a bundle for $11.89. ONE WEEK after I got Portal.

      Damn you!

      Rude not to yeah? Is Portal 2 that much better?

    11. Re:I can here it sining this in space: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      well for starters Portal was not really a complete game.....and secondly, you miss out on a vastly superior story line of Portal 2 (including an AWESOME multiplayer game) and you don't get to play with the Repulsion Gel or the light tunnels etc.......I had Portal 2 first, then acquired Portal 1 in the Orange Box for the XBox360.....portal 1 is very obviously inferior....i was somehow expecting more. Portal 2 is pretty obviously what the game's designers were aiming for all along (dont forget....Portal 1 was a BIG risk.....they wanted to make certain the Public would go for it beore they sunk more dev $ into it)

    12. Re:I can here it sining this in space: by tom17 · · Score: 1

      I have already started playing Portal 2 and liking it :) Thanks!

      I especially like that Steve Merchant does the voice of that bot. I just found out on the train to work this morning that he is not dead after all so am happy :)

  13. Intelligent by drwho · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It would be nice if someone had something intelligent to say about this. All I've got is questions, but perhaps I haven't read all the relevant dox. 1) Was the Perth station able to locate the probe? Is its current trajectory now known? If so, does this mean communication can be restored, and perhaps it can be recovered? I mean, the mission recovered, not bringing the spacecraft back down to Earth.

    1. Re:Intelligent by Bucc5062 · · Score: 1

      (I agree) You must be new here.

      --
      Life is a great ride, the vehicle doesn't matter
    2. Re:Intelligent by Shadow2097 · · Score: 5, Informative

      The location/position of the probe has been known almost from the beginning. It was never that they couldn't find it, the problem was that the booster pack that was supposed to send the probe on to Mars never fired and the probe wasn't responding to the Russian's radio commands. What has changed in the last day is that receivers here on Earth are finally picking up radio signals from the probe itself, indicating that it is still alive and at least theoretically operational. Telemetry hasn't yet been received, but now there is a possibility we can communicate with it and try to diagnose the failures it suffered. As for if it can be recovered, I've not heard a definitive answer on this. One source will say the window has already closed, another says it's open until sometime in December. The window can probably be extended if they have enough fuel to try some exotic gravity assist with the Earth or Moon, but if it hasn't already passed it will soon.

    3. Re:Intelligent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Intelligence in this universe (by that I mean slashdot)... puhleeze.

      She phoned home to say that she's still mad about what was said on the launch pad - something about the tail-fins making her ass look big. She'll call again once she's either found an outlet mall or a big tub of hagen daz.

    4. Re:Intelligent by Stoutlimb · · Score: 1, Insightful

      He has a 4 digit user id. He was probably one of the first here.

    5. Re:Intelligent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He must be senile in his old age then.

      /5 digit (~45k) senile user

    6. Re:Intelligent by Bucc5062 · · Score: 1

      I really should not try humor, it is never understood. Note the (I agree) before hand...sheesh :-/

      --
      Life is a great ride, the vehicle doesn't matter
    7. Re:Intelligent by roman_mir · · Score: 0

      It would be nice if someone had something intelligent to say about this.

      Well, apparently to catch the message at all, the ionic frequency had to be inverted to align the stream lattice with the high gain antenna of the probe. Without this the electromagnetic overcharge was too high and would polarize the signal above the neutron density carrier.

      you are welcome.

    8. Re:Intelligent by Nrrqshrr · · Score: 0

      "It would be nice if someone had something intelligent to say about this."
      First time I spend all my mod points on funny comments. I ain't complaining.

    9. Re:Intelligent by drwho · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Yeah, kinda senile then. Hopefully only temporarily. Blame the cough medicine, I've been fighting the flu. What should I expect. Well, the good thing about Slashdot is not the average quality of comments, but those very few from people who are actually in the know about a given topic. Yes, I know, a needle in the haystack.

      I've read more about the Phobos-Grunt and it seems as though there is only a small chance that it can be salvaged. I can still hope. Though I am no fan of the Russian or Chinese governments, I strongly support space exploration by any country and hope that global co-operation is available to the Russians for their efforts.

    10. Re:Intelligent by Thing+1 · · Score: 1

      It would be nice if someone had something intelligent to say about this.

      "...and pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space, 'cause there's bugger all down here on Earth."

      --
      I feel fantastic, and I'm still alive.
    11. Re:Intelligent by Zoxed · · Score: 4, Informative

      From ESA "A major problem was that the spacecraft's orbit was not accurately known, whereas ground stations normally require very accurate position information for pointing due to the antenna size."

    12. Re:Intelligent by interval1066 · · Score: 1

      ...for pointing due to the antenna size."

      And now the Russians know what the rest of the world knew- do not contract with Comcast to provide internet connectivity.

      --
      Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'
    13. Re:Intelligent by mbone · · Score: 1, Insightful

      The probe was never lost. It is a large object in low Earth orbit; its trajectory is known perfectly well. (Right now it appears to be over Tahiti, for example.)

      What it was was uncommunicative. A spacecraft that says nothing is essentially hopeless, unless you want to send someone up there to grab it. Now that it is talking, there may be a chance to save the mission.

    14. Re:Intelligent by ColdWetDog · · Score: 4, Informative

      About the only useful thing I've found is this (from the Christian Science Monitor)

      In addition, ground stations didn't have orbital information accurate enough to allow them to aim their highly directional antennas with any precision, ESA officials explained on Wednesday. So ESA added a small, wider-angle antenna to its 15-meter dish near Perth to try to communicate with the craft.

      and

      In the end, the reason for the radio blackout appears to be that the craft's transmitter was off. Russian engineers used the wide-angle antenna at Perth to transmit commands that activated the transmitter when the craft passed within the antenna's coverage zone. Phobos-Grunt returned the favor and began sending telemetry back for analysis, according to ESA.

      So, if that is indeed the case, it's certainly possible that the satellite can be re oriented and controlled. They only have a couple of days to shuffle it into the loop that would get them to Mars but they could at least do something with it (aside from nuking Washington, DC which would be my first choice).

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    15. Re:Intelligent by mbone · · Score: 5, Informative

      It's not really the position, it's the signal strength. In low Earth orbit the orbit can be (and routinely is) determined from radar and optical observations without any cooperation from the spacecraft at all. The dish at Perth is 15 meters. At 10 cm wavelength, it has a beamwidth of order 7 milliradian, so at 300 km range they need about 2 km orbital accuracy for pointing, which should be easily achievable.

      Note, from the same ESA press release :

      In the past few days, ESA's 15 m-diameter Perth dish was modified by the addition of a 'feedhorn' antenna at the side of the main dish so as to transmit very low-power signals over a wide angle in the hopes of triggering a response from the satellite.

      This wasn't about pointing the antenna, it was about lowering the signal power. The omni-directional antenna on the spacecraft is intended for use in deep space and was probably being saturated by full power blasts from regular tracking stations. It needed to be "tickled" by something weaker.

      Kudos to ESA for doing this. You can bet this was a major effort at the ground station. The feedhorn receiver was probably jury-rigged from spare parts, and probably took days of round the clock work to install and get operational.
       

    16. Re:Intelligent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      (I agree)

    17. Re:Intelligent by ColdWetDog · · Score: 3, Informative

      And one more bit

      In the past few days, ESA’s 15 m-diameterPerth dish was modified by the addition of a ‘feedhorn’ antenna at the side of the main dish so as to transmit very low-power signals over a wide angle in the hopes of triggering a response from the satellite.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    18. Re:Intelligent by mbone · · Score: 2

      One source will say the window has already closed, another says it's open until sometime in December.

      Given that Mars Science Laboratory has yet to launch, and intends to use the same window, I suspect that there is still a chance.

      The Grunt spacecraft has a given delta V available and was intended to use a particular window, which may be closing / have closed for that delta-V, but now the question is not "can Grunt get to Mars quickly and efficiently" but "can Grunt get to Mars at all," and I bet the answer to that is yes. I would look into Moon gravity assists, Earth gravity assists, and even Venus gravity assists.

    19. Re:Intelligent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      whenever you're feeling cynical and burned out about the future of the planet, just go back and read this post.

    20. Re:Intelligent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It would be nice if someone had something intelligent to say about this.

      Yes, the person who wrote the summary is obviously not aware that the Russian refer to their vessels with male pronouns, not female.

      Oh, not the right question? Sorry, that's all I got for you. Well, and 42 of course.

    21. Re:Intelligent by Soralin · · Score: 1

      Or even just simply waiting around in orbit for 18 months for the next window of opportunity.

    22. Re:Intelligent by Anaerin · · Score: 1

      So, basically you're saying they had to "Reverse the polarity of the ion flow"? Way to TNG it up in here. And yes, I did just use "The Next Generation" as a verb. You're welcome.

    23. Re:Intelligent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why? Because someone got a radio signal from a few kilometers in the air? We've done that before with vacuum tubes. So how will this affect anything that people will be cynical about?

    24. Re:Intelligent by Shadow2097 · · Score: 1

      That's certainly an option that will be looked at if they can't revive the probe in time, but it might be tricky. That would just about double the expected mission lifetime. It's tough to say that the mission-critical hardware (batteries, most importantly) will still be serviceable in 18 months. The rapid day/night cycles of earth orbit put a lot of strain on electrical systems from constantly switching power supplies.

    25. Re:Intelligent by crdotson · · Score: 2

      All I've got is a lousy joke about the Russians finally realizing they had installed the "find my mars probe" app after all. Sorry I can't help with the intelligent thing. :)

    26. Re:Intelligent by mbone · · Score: 2

      If I was mission director, I would want to get Grunt out of Earth orbit as soon as I could. For one thing, fuel would have to be burnt to keep the orbit from decaying; for another, the main tanks were never intended to store fuel on-orbit for years. True, they might be just fine, but why take the chance? And, I am sure that some trajectory could be found to get it to Mars in less than 27 months.

    27. Re:Intelligent by toddestan · · Score: 0

      I agree. It's always disappointing to click on the comments on a story lsike this looking for some interesting and insightful posts and instead get greeted by one lame, unfunny joke after another. If I wanted to read a bunch of crap I'd visit Fark.

    28. Re:Intelligent by pantaril · · Score: 2

      Some more usefull info can be found in this article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15850516

      Basicaly ESA lowered the signal strength of their antennas, so when the signal was picked up byt the probe, it had strength as if it would be near mars.

      Some other rummors:
      A source from the aerospace industry explains that P-G is possibly in safe mode and it always turns off each time when it goes into shadow of Earth.

      The unnamed person also thinks why it was impossible to contact P-G with Russian space antennas - the spacecraft is above then only when it's in the shadow of Earth.

      But the European station in Pert has contacted P-G when the spacecraft was in the sunny side of the Earth. It's the only period when there's electricity on board.

      Up to date info about teh mission can be fount at http://www.russianspaceweb.com/phobos_grunt_launch.html

      Latest entry states:

      November 24 developments

      Around 01:00 Moscow Time (4 p.m. EST on November 23), a poster on the forum of the Novosti Kosmonavtiki magazine reported that the telemetry from the spacecraft had been received as well. A data set was reportedly downlinked to a European ground station and transferred to NPO Lavochkin for analysis. Shortly thereafter, the official Russian media quoted a European representative in Moscow as saying that ESA ground station in Perth had received telemetry from the spacecraft. According to Novosti Kosmonavtiki's Igor Lissov, an emergency telemetry frame from the radio-system onboard the cruise stage, PM, had been received, confirming normal power supply and the operation of the communication gear. During the next communication pass starting at 03:30 Moscow Time, ground controllers hoped to downlink telemetry via probe's main flight control computer, BKU, essentially a brain of the mission.

  14. New SCADA Commands by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The cyber hackers changed the commands and they just downloaded the new code. Welcome Back!

    1. Re:New SCADA Commands by GameboyRMH · · Score: 2, Funny

      So who wants to bet on what the next message will be?

      1. "Reach your hardon to the stars with CHEAP VIAGRA"
      2. "SatelliteFix has detected errors! Enter credit card number to repair satellite."
      3. "You accidentally the whole security, we haz ur satellite. U jelly, spacefags? Yeah, u jelly. NYANSAT AWAAAAAY!"

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    2. Re:New SCADA Commands by LtGordon · · Score: 2, Funny

      4. "Single, sexy ladies are waiting for you in Interplanetary Transit!"

    3. Re:New SCADA Commands by Anaerin · · Score: 1

      5. "A new life awaits on the Outer Colonies! Let's go to the Colonies!"
      6. "For the memory of a lifetime, Rekall rekall rekall..."
      7. "Would you like to know more?"

  15. Re:why does this story have Crocodile Dundee's hat by Fallingcow · · Score: 1

    how come we don't have a Russian icon. A samovar with Putin's face worked into it? A double eagle with Putin's face worked into it? Anything with Putin's face worked into it?

    How about a picture of Sean Connery?

  16. V'ger by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ahhhhh...run for your lives. Or better : we need a bald girl and a machine girl loving guy to calm down V'ger.
    V'ger comes back and digitizes all of us.

  17. Re:List of Slashdot Topic Icons by Jeng · · Score: 3, Informative

    Just an FYI, here is a link to Slashdots topic icons. I have been checking this site out for nearly a decade and I don't think I have seen one third of these actually used.

    http://slashdot.org/topics.shtml

    The Mars icon or the Space icons could also have been used for this topic.

    --
    Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
  18. Am I the only one... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Am I the only one paranoid enough to wonder if the "probe" was supposed to end up in earth orbit? Maybe not in this case, but wouldn't the best surprise attack be something that appears to be an embarrassing failure?

  19. Nope by kdogg73 · · Score: 0
    --
    Let's face it, most of us are scoffers. But moments before zero hour, it does not pay to take chances.
  20. dangers of anthropomorphology by callmebill · · Score: 1

    Reading things like "she was lost" and "she's finally sent a weak signal" and stuff like that make me sad and want to send a rescue mission to save this hunk of metal and hydrazine flying through space.

  21. Nothing yet from K'Breel ... by Kittenman · · Score: 1

    I wait for comments ... a do many other fans.

    --
    "The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes" - Winston Churchill
  22. Too many unoriginal Portal references by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Not appropriate at all. Nothing about this relates to the Portal world. Doom references are far more appropriate.

  23. Re:why does this story have Crocodile Dundee's hat by powerlord · · Score: 3, Funny

    how come we don't have a Russian icon. A samovar with Putin's face worked into it? A double eagle with Putin's face worked into it? Anything with Putin's face worked into it?

    How about a picture of Sean Connery?

    With Putin's face worked into it?

    --
    This space for rent. All reasonable inquiries will be entertained at proprietors discretion.
  24. They should use the Moon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They should use the moon as the stable point in the sky to help them track and navigate it. I'm not sure if they have that kind of technical know how, it sounds like its a fairly new dish.

  25. In space. by Voogru · · Score: 4, Funny

    The message was: "OMG OMG OMG I'M IN SPACE!" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHibe7XxZAQ

  26. Oblig. xkcd by ksd1337 · · Score: 2
    1. Re:Oblig. xkcd by Libertarian001 · · Score: 1

      karma-whoring fail

  27. Re:why does this story have Crocodile Dundee's hat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    completely off-topic, but why is the image/icon of Crocodile Dundee's hat attached to this Slashdot story?

    That's not a probe.
    This is a probe.

  28. Woot! by tsa · · Score: 1

    Need I say more?

    --

    -- Cheers!

  29. What was the message? by Pepebuho · · Score: 1

    I've fallen, and can't get up!!

  30. Portal 1, much more challenging by Marrow · · Score: 1

    Portal 2 was interesting in some respects, but fell far short of portal 1.

  31. Speaker K'Breel On The Defensive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    D'Brai of the Council addressed the Council as follows: "Fellow Council members, did not K'Breel assure us that the Blue Planet invader was neutralized, that eight or more Martian warriors had plugged all of its orfices with their sacrificial ichor? Did he not assure us that the invader was dead and that we were safe? Yet the Blue Planet reports that this invader is alive after all, and that the Na'Sa invader Curiosity (with its PU-36 explosive space modulator style power supply and phot'onic probe) is to follow! They are even now holding a celebration of the launch of these invaders, a celebration called Thanks'Giving! My fellow Council members, K'Breel has clearly been remiss in his duties to keep us warned, and should be removed as Speaker of the Council!"

    At this, Speaker K'Breel had D'Brai removed from the speaking-platform by force, immobilized with a paralyzation beam, stripped naked, posed in the position of a Blue Planet turkey, gutted, stuffed, oven-roasted while still (barely) alive, and served to the Council members for dinner. As the Council members washed down the last of D'Brai with Pale Red Martian Ale, K'Breel asked if any other Council member thought he was remiss in his duties to "keep us warned". The silence was so profound that you could have heard a single drop of ichor fall.

  32. Phone Probes you, surely? by grimJester · · Score: 1

    Soviet Russia jokes are the other way around..

  33. Fox makes a compelling case fo AI... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    by providing distinguishably fluctuating levels of artificial stupidity.

  34. Relevant reply by Warma · · Score: 1

    Lander story time: http://chanarchive.org/4chan/r9k/3823/today-we-tell-stories#3262375
    4chan may be the cesspit of the internets, but sometimes they make worthwhile things.

  35. The Russians really suck out loud at this by Ginger+Unicorn · · Score: 0

    According to this illustration, it seems every single probe they send to mars is an utter failiure.

    http://www.planetary.org/image/mars-exploration-family-portrait.jpg

    --
    (1.21 gigawatts) / (88 miles per hour) = 30 757 874 newtons
  36. Incoming message by Seahawk · · Score: 1

    Thisiswhattheyreceived is what they heard...

    1. Re:Incoming message by Seahawk · · Score: 1

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6ljFaKRTrI - This is what they received

      (Mental note - remember to preview before posting! :))