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Astronaut Tim Peake Calls the Wrong Number From Space (independent.co.uk)
An anonymous reader writes: British astronaut Tim Peake was trying to call his parents to wish them a Merry Christmas from the International Space Station, but he dialed the wrong number, giving a retired teacher one of the best pub stories ever. According to the Independent: "The pensioner who Tim Peake accidently called from space said she thought the British astronaut 'had been out down the pub.' Betty Barker, a 79-year-old retired teacher, told the Daily Mirror: 'He said, "Hello, is that planet Earth?" So I said "no"'. 'I thought it was someone who had been out down the pub who was having me on. Then because it was quiet with no giggling or noise from a pub I thought it was someone looking to go to a nightclub called Planet Earth.' Mrs Barker said she put the phone down because she didn't want to 'take any more notice of it.'"
First time that "Is this planet earth" is a legitimate question and it is answered incorrectly.
Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. Polar Scope Align for iOS
same old nitrogenous waste line https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPlMmwOq7U8
Is there another planet, space body, orbital object that has phone collection? Unless there is it is not a legitimate question :)
Is there another planet, space body, orbital object that has phone collection? Unless there is it is not a legitimate question :)
The caller?
American website Slashdot was desperately trying to stay relevant on December 29th. Kinda pathetic that the greatest space news of 2015 is a phone call... Whoopee, who gives a shit? A test pilot punched the wrong number into a keypad.
Are you sure the ISS has a single phone line?
this is a fictional PR story. madcat!
Why is 'Climatedot' running this non-story? Why is this relevant in any way? Why is this story more important than all the other stories that are happening today?
I didn't realize that ISS could dial phone numbers? I always assumed that if they wanted to call someone they would have to route the call through Mission control. They have the internet (hopefully physically isolated from the stations control systems) so I suppose they could hook up Vonage or some other IP phone.
"Are you sure the ISS has a single phone line?"
The ISS doesn't have a phone 'line'
I used to do the same thing in the 90s. I would pick a cheap country to ring and then would ring them totally out of the kindness of my heart at a reasonably late hour. I would then explain that I was calling from another time zone. With most of them in foreign countries they thought I was calling from another TIME. So they took great joy in speaking to a time traveller.
And I didn't have the heart to correct them. Very funny conversations were had.
"Hello, OnStar? I'm looking for nearby Chinese take out. Can you let me know the nearest restaurant, thanks!"
John
Is there another planet, space body, orbital object that has phone collection?
I can't definitively answer that in the negative. Can you?
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
First time that "Is this planet earth" is a legitimate question and it is answered incorrectly.
Aliens: "Excuse me, is this planet Earth?"
Old Lady: "You again! Bugger off!" *CLICK*
Aliens: "Hang up on me, will you? Power up the demolition beam!"
Left MS Windows for Linux Mint and never looked back!
Vote for Bernie in 2016!
2070: "High, I'm calling from Uranus..."
*CLICK*
Table-ized A.I.
From the summary:
'...I thought it was someone looking to go to a nightclub called Planet Earth.' Mrs Barker
The article doesn't actually say where she is but there is a nightclub called Planet Earth in Edinburgh, UK.
Oops, should be "Hi". They may think you are high.
Table-ized A.I.
She probably didn't know any of the telltale signs that the call is coming from the ISS:
- Caller begins the conversation by saying they're calling from the ISS
- Relatively poor signal quality
- Several seconds of delay on all responses
- The distant hum of the C.O.L.B.E.R.T. may be heard during pauses in conversation
- Someone is playing/singing I'm Gonna Be (500 miles) or Major Tom in the background
- Always.
The Chinese have an orbiting habitat. Not quite a space station, but it might be routable for phone conversations.
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I'm not sure I understand why the astronaut had to ask if he reached Planet Earth.
What other planet was he expecting to reach?
All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain... time... to... die...
Nobody ever called me from the ISS. Not even scammers or telemarketers call me. I'd love to get a computer scammer calling me. I don't have Windows (or a Mac) but I'll happily follow any directions they give me - in a VM.