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Software Glitch Means Loss of NASA's Deep Impact Comet Probe
Taco Cowboy writes "'NASA is calling off attempts to find its Deep Impact comet probe after a suspected software glitch shut down radio communications in August, officials said on Friday.' Last month, engineers lost contact with Deep Impact and unsuccessfully tried to regain communications. The cause of the failure was unknown, but NASA suspects the spacecraft lost control, causing its antenna and solar panels to be pointed in the wrong direction. NASA had hoped Deep Impact would play a key role in observations of the approaching Comet ISON, a suspected first-time visitor to the inner solar system that was discovered in September 2012 by two Russian astronomers. The comet is heading toward a close encounter with the sun in November, a brush that it may not survive." Deep Impact has had a pretty good run, though: from its original mission to launch a copper slug at a comet (hence the name), to looking for Earth-sized planets.
So it seems they found something and decided to just "forget" about it instead....
ALIENS...
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Go away filter I'll use as many caps as I like; I'm trying to yell.
I'm no rocket engineer, but maybe critical systems like "antenna point toward brightest star" should be analog hardware based.
Can't find water, can't find methane, can't find their DICP - no wonder they have a hard time finding funding :)
Nm
It's a feature of course. So that NASA will need to have another probe built, thus will need to pay more money.
That is, any spacecraft involved in the search for exoplanets appears to not have the shelf life of those spacecraft that are not. I'm not saying it is or was aliens. I just find it interesting.
I really want to find an earth sized planet in the habitable zone. It doesn't need to have any signs of life for me to dream, but every announcement of a possible planet in the habitable zone either turns out not to actually be in the habitable zone or hostile to life in some other way like too immense, too gaseous, etc.
Fuck.
it went black (ie it's now a black project)
you actually thought your tax payer money was going to benefit *you* ? HAHA
It is possible that the spacecraft is going through layers of falesafes, until it finally just points its solar panels at the Sun, points its radio antenna at Earth, and cries for help. Remember the mission to Eros: http://klabs.org/richcontent/Reports/Failure_Reports/NEAR_Rendezvous_Burn.pdf
Lemme take another look.
i was wondering what happened to the deep impact probe after its encounter with Temple 1. Too bad the probe isn't sending any more scientific data back to earth. Pity. Too bad NASA can't send a robot or space shuttle to fix it like they did with the Hubble Space Telescope.
Your sig is a lie. Unless there's a preceding or trailing space, it's 33 chars. Apologies on the pedantism.
In fact, it needs equipment that can take extreme radiation and hits from dust particles travelling at 10000 km/h and faster. The parts you would use on earth wouldn't last a year in space, probably more like a week. The initial design called for a way shorter life time than they got out of it, so parts failure to sensors or other electronics due to impact or radiation is a likely cause. Try running a car without maintenance for 5 years. You may get lucky and still be driving, but chances are extremely small. This mission was similar to that.
I was promised a flying car. Where is my flying car?
What about the CR?
This time I think you hacked a bridge too far.
Given all the conspiracy theories about the NSA lately, at very least these incidents have me dreaming up a new sci-fi novel, if not full out wondering if it was just a coverup for something way more diabolical.
slashdot troll = you make a compelling argument I do not like the implications of.
Why is it that bad of an idea to open source space related technology that is funded by tax payers? These kinds of problem could potentially be repaired / prevented with open source. :/
I’m stepping through the door
And I’m floating in a most peculiar way
And the stars look very different today
For here
am I floating round my tin can
Far above the world
Planet Earth is blue
And there’s nothing I can do
Though I’m past one hundred thousand miles
I’m feeling very still
And I think my spaceship knows which way to go
Tell my wife I love her very much (she knows!)
Ground Control to Deep Impact
Your circuit’s dead, there’s something wrong
Can you hear me, Deep Impact?
Can you hear me, Deep Impact?
Can you hear me, Deep Impact?
Can you hear....
“am I sitting in a tin can
Far above the Moon
Planet Earth is blue
And there’s nothing I can do."
Apologies on the pedantism.
You mean pedantry.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
We thought V'ger was a threat, just wait for D'p Imp'ct to return to Earth. It will destroy us all with copper slugs from the heavens. Unless we can find someone to talk it down...
Terminating NUL is a character too, you insensitive clod!
I'm wondering if a simple taxpayer who funded this project against my will could have at least looked over the code, before this. There is a whole community out there willing to help...
I suppose EA wrote the program. Then used the same programming for simcity.
Wuddooeyeno? IITYWYBMAD? Like nuts? eclecticallyincorrect.com
Have gnu, will travel.
Unless he means he has 34 distinct personalities.
"Lack of speed can be overcome. In the worst case by patience." --Znork
This probe finished its primary mission and performed an extended observation mission it was not specifically designed to perform and did a very good job... and then en route to a second extended mission it suffered an unrecoverable error...
While it is too bad that the probe has been lost, it did far better than the original design required, and a lot of observations were made long after its primary mission was completed. I say give it a nice memorial and call it above and beyond the call of duty. Great work DICP! RIP.