"Houston, we have a problem..."

SyntaxVorlon · Post by **SyntaxVorlon** » 2004-01-22 06:03pm

I'd prefer to get my hands on one of those mantis/scorpiod hover destroyers.
A few of those and I WILL TAKE NORTH AMERICA.
Muahahahahaha
MUAhahahahhaa
MUAHAHAHAHAHA

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2004-01-22 06:06pm

I want Xenomorphs.

El Moose Monstero · Post by **El Moose Monstero** » 2004-01-22 06:06pm

Everyone's got to have a fetish I suppose...

SyntaxVorlon · Post by **SyntaxVorlon** » 2004-01-22 06:07pm

The_Lumberjack wrote:Everyone's got to have a fetish I suppose...

HEY!
Aylee's hot:
www.sluggy.com

Patrick Degan · Post by **Patrick Degan** » 2004-01-23 05:27am

Obviously, the Mysterons have struck again.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2004-01-23 06:14am

Patrick Degan wrote:Obviously, the Mysterons have struck again.

Shit, Capt. Black is part of the gov't anti-benefit fraud unit, I mean, have you seen their latest ads?

His Divine Shadow · Post by **His Divine Shadow** » 2004-01-23 06:33am

Admiral Valdemar wrote:If it is dead then chalk off another to the God of War.

Crown · Post by **Crown** » 2004-01-23 06:35am

Did you actually put that together, or has some other smart ass already gotten around to it?

His Divine Shadow · Post by **His Divine Shadow** » 2004-01-23 06:40am

Crown wrote:

Did you actually put that together, or has some other smart ass already gotten around to it?

'twas all me

Chardok · Post by **Chardok** » 2004-01-23 08:07am

I've honestly not been this upset in a long while. This is...Devastating to me, for some reason. I was positively CAPTIVATED by Spirit, it almost seemed like something that was alive for some reason. Maybe it was just all the press it got that personified it in my head. WHAT AN ACHIEVEMENT she was! I mean...*sigh* I really hope NASA gets her bak up and talking again.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2004-01-23 09:53am

Sounds like Spirit may be back according to NASA.

Chardok · Post by **Chardok** » 2004-01-23 10:06am

www.space.com wrote:Silent Night: Spirit Fails to Respond to Mission Control
By Leonard David
Senior Space Writer
posted: 11:40 pm ET
22 January 2004

PASADENA, Calif. -- Ground controllers here at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) continue to troubleshoot what has happened onboard the Spirit Mars Exploration Rover sitting in Gusev Crater.

A communications relay session using NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor at 10:10 p.m. EST today resulted in no contact with Spirit.

The robot has suffered a still unidentified problem, preventing it from transmitting any data since early Wednesday. Engineers continue to underscore hope of recovering the robot, returning it to full-time operation. However, they also caution that the situation remains serious.

A signal was sent from Earth to Mars early this morning, with Spirit responding by radioing back a simple tone. That boosted hope that the robotic craft is still in overall good health, but has put itself into safe mode.

Engineers here have suggested two irksome prospects that have crippled Spirit: Corruption of flight software or corruption of computer memory.

Either of those glitches could leave Spirit's power supply healthy and allow adequate time for recovering control of the rover.

Another spacecraft circling the red planet, NASA’s Mars Odyssey will perform a communications relay session with Spirit later tonight, slated for 1:35 a.m. EST.

Efforts to resume direct communications between Spirit and antennas of NASA's Deep Space Network will resume after the rover's expected wake-up at about 3 a.m. PST Friday.

Earlier today, JPL Director, Charles Elachi, advised that everyone "stay calm, thoughtful and careful" and avoid making hasty decisions. "Sometimes you can do more harm than good by reacting too quickly," Elachi said.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2004-01-23 11:58am

We're now getting data from Spirit.

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2004-01-23 12:07pm

It's back! Woohoo!

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2004-01-23 12:10pm

Now let's unpack those M134s and lock 'n' load!

Damned little green men aren't stopping us this time!

Chardok · Post by **Chardok** » 2004-01-23 12:42pm

Rock Grinder my ass. That thing Is a martian margarita maker.

Seriously, though. The basic communication tone means only that spirit is saying "I hear you" But she is still basically saying "Fuck you" to mission control with respect to pics and scientific data. I suppose we should have expected it, though. The martians were sure to have EMP weapons, good thing we shielded the delicate electronics.

Then again, it could be a massive conspiracy to cover up the actual photos/reltime video being sent back by spirit. My bet is she's surrently Razing a martian village, and her lens is covered with green martian blood. Additionally, I would venture to guess that there are several dismembered martian arms and legs flailing about on her solar panels, blocking reciept of precious light from the sun during the daytime. Thank god for the Po fusion power generator, allowing spirit to draw elements from the martian atmosphere and fire superheated globs of radioactive plasma to level buildings. After all, can't be proving right the conspiracy theorists who have postulated about martian life for nigh onto a century. The real payoff comes when spirit finishes construction on a teleportation device using stolen Venusian electronics/matter transferrence rays and we open up the first combination martian embassy/Mariott. We're going to clean up on tourism.

[/tinfoil hat off]

Comosicus · Post by **Comosicus** » 2004-01-23 02:43pm

Maybe they (the martians) used this delay to reprogram the rover and assimilate it.

Resistance is futile

Son of the Suns · Post by **Son of the Suns** » 2004-01-23 03:09pm

Mars is a waste of money at the moment, I'd prefer that they spend money developing a reliable, economical system for delivering objects to space before they worry about what we are going to do in space. Mars isn't going anywhere.

GrandMasterTerwynn · Post by **GrandMasterTerwynn** » 2004-01-23 04:53pm

Currently, it looks like Spirit is having a problem powering down correctly at night. As a result, it seems to be pissing away its battery power and generally has to start up each day on solar arrays alone. NASA is currently trying to figure out why this is.

Story

This is expected to take many days.