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Philae's Lost Seven Months Were Completely Unnecessary

Posted by samzenpus on from the didn't-have-to-go-down-like-this dept.

StartsWithABang writes: This past weekend, the Philae lander reawakened after seven dormant months, the best outcome that mission scientists could've hoped for with the way the mission unfolded. But the first probe to softly land on a comet ever would never have needed to hibernate at all if we had simply built it with the nuclear power capabilities it should've had. The seven months of lost data were completely unnecessary, and resulted solely from the world's nuclear fears.

7 of 419 comments (clear)

  1. But how would it hug the comet... by Rinikusu · · Score: 5, Funny

    With nuclear arms?

    --
    If you were me, you'd be good lookin'. - six string samurai
    1. Re:But how would it hug the comet... by Nidi62 · · Score: 4, Funny

      With nuclear arms?

      That warm soft glow isn't radiation, it's love!

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    2. Re:But how would it hug the comet... by CreatureComfort · · Score: 4, Funny

      With nuclear arms?

      That warm soft glow isn't radiation, it's love!

      If it was an ice comet it wouldn't glow, it would melt. Defeating the purpose of sending a probe there.

      How many probes does it take to get to the center of a 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko?

      --
      "Unheard of means only it's undreamed of yet,
      Impossible means not yet done." ~~ Julia Ecklar
    3. Re:But how would it hug the comet... by zeugma-amp · · Score: 4, Funny

      How many probes does it take to get to the center of a 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko?

      The world will never know.

      --
      This is an ex-parrot!
  2. Re:Wind is the answer! by disposable60 · · Score: 5, Funny

    SOLAR Wind turbines!

    --
    You're looking for quotes? See my journal.
  3. Re:This is an Opinion/Editorial piece by GNious · · Score: 4, Funny

    You can't just "slap an RTG" on a probe and hope for the best. There are engineering, cost, and benefits considerations to make.

    I've tested this extensively in KSP - you can, in fact, just "slap an RTG" on probes quite trivially!

  4. Re:Obligatory reading by x0ra · · Score: 4, Funny

    Easy, just avoid going in the contaminated zone, and everything will be fine.