Ulysses Space Mission Finally Coming To an End 45
Dusty writes "After several false alarms, the Ulysses Mission is finally ending. According to the Spacecraft Operations Manager's latest status report, the last track will be on 30th June 2009 from 15:25 until 20:20 UTC. 'We've tried to bolster our dwindling tracking allocation with some success
by grabbing antenna time released on short notice (mostly by the Spitzer Project). However, weekly data return figures are now typically 10% or less. And soon, even 512 bps from 70m antennas will be a thing of the past.'
Further details about Ulysses' 18-year mission are available from NASA and the ESA. We discussed the failing spacecraft last summer when it looked like its fuel was going to freeze, but through clever engineering, experts managed to squeeze out another year.
Ulysses (Score:1, Funny)
Between you and me I never really understood what it was all about anyway...
Not satisfied with polluting Earth (Score:4, Funny)
Seems like they're going to abandon the space craft as garbage, contributing yet again to intergalactic pollution. If you love this universe you should keep it clean.
The Romans have to rewrite everything (Score:2, Funny)
Eighteen years? What's with that? I thought Odysseus' journey was only 10 years.
Are they still mad about that whole Trojan Horse thing? Get over it! Sheesh, you ended up with a city and an empire after all...
Re:Ulysses (Score:2, Funny)
Maybe it was a mistake naming a probe something that resembles "Useless".
Re:Not satisfied with polluting Earth (Score:4, Funny)
Don't worry, future cockroaches will put it in a museum.
Re:Not satisfied with polluting Earth (Score:4, Funny)
I take it when you're visiting people's houses, you don't leave behind any flakes of your skin, or any molecules or crumbs of any part of you behind? Hypocrite.
I'll have you know that I molt once a year in the privacy of my bathroom. No hypocrisy here.
Re:Ulysses (Score:3, Funny)
Uncyclopedia has a brilliant summary of Finnegan's Wake [wikia.com]: