Hello World! Comet-Chasing Space Probe Wakes From Hibernation, Sends Signal Back To Earth

[Purveyor]

Source: Associated Press

BERLIN — A comet-chasing space probe that has been in hibernation for almost three years has woken up and sent its first signal back to Earth.

The European Space Agency received the all-clear message "Hello World!" from its Rosetta spacecraft some 800 million kilometers (500 million miles) away shortly after 7 p.m. (1800 GMT; 1 p.m. EST).

Rosetta was put into hibernation in 2011 to conserve energy for its long journey to meet with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

If all goes as planned the probe will rendezvous with the comet in the coming months and drop a lander onto its icy surface in November.

Read more: http://www.startribune.com/world/241131891.html

[malthaussen]

1. Followed shortly by "Where's my damned coffee?" n/t

[think4yourself]

2. Good one! nt

[Ian_rd]

3. Hehe - "Oh man I can't believe I hooked up with

that telecomm satellite last night. I was so wasted."

[LiberalArkie]

4. Interesting. "Hello World" is usually the response that everyones

first program returns when they are learning just about any programming language.

[malthaussen]

7. When I was learning programming, it was "yes, Master."

Which I actually didn't much like, so I altered it to "What is your desire, O grand master of the Universe?"

-- Mal

[ErikJ]

5. Good graphic

And much more with videos etc . http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2542542/Wake-Rosetta-Comet-chasing-spacecraft-comes-three-year-hibernation-10am.html

[Ikonoklast]

6. March 18, 2015. The ESA has found some troubling news about the Rosetta cometary spacecraft.

It has been discovered that Rosetta dropped the probe a little too hard on 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenkom, moves its trajectory .000001%.



We are all doomed.

[bitchkitty]

8. I have chills! n/t