posted
Sadly, it seems that Pioneer 10 has finally run out of fuel and stopped sending signals back to Earth. It seems that's the next anyone will hear of it, since I doubt anyone will realize that it was blown apart by one lone Klingon Bird-of-Prey.
Just two months shy of thirty years, too... But at least the first man-made object to leave the solar system (that we know of, anyway) had a great run. Maybe someone nice will actually find it -- and wonder what the heck we were thinking with that silly plaque.
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
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Da_bang80
A few sectors short of an Empire
Member # 528
posted
Hmm. I thought it was one of the Voyager probes that had the Plaque. hmm. well. "The Man" - 1, Da_bang80 - 0.
In Battlefield Earth, it was the Gold plaque that brought the Psychlo's to earth loking for more. Damn that was a good book. Damn the movie for killing it though.
-------------------- Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. The courage to change the things I cannot accept. And the wisdom to hide the bodies of all the people I had to kill today because they pissed me off.
posted
Yes, both the Pioneer and Voyager probes had fancy gold plaques -- but Pioneer 10's is the most famous, and the one that's displayed in the ST Encyclopedia (for example). I'm pretty sure that they had a slightly different style of plaque for the Voyager probes, which were launched a few years later.
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
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posted
It isn't the case that the power shut off, however. The signal is simply too weak now to be distinguished from background noise. A much larger reciever on Earth (or, more likely, in orbit somewhere nearby) would pick it up again, and, if I recall correctly, the probe has enough power to run for a few more decades, for certain values of "run."
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
The Pioneer plaques were just that - plaques. They showed what (caucasian) humans looked like, what the solar system looks like, where our star is in relation to its neighbors, and what planet the probe was launched from.
The Voyager DISK had all that stuff, PLUS a repository of images, music, and movies, and instructions on how to play it. Unlike the Pioneer plaque, the disk was made out of gold-plated copper.
Shouldn't be too hard to find descriptions of both online somewhere...
Cartman
just made by the Presbyterian Church
Member # 256
posted
"They showed what (caucasian) humans looked like, what the solar system looks like, where our star is in relation to its neighbors, and what planet the probe was launched from."
Or: chapter one of the in-depth strategy guide on how to conquer the human race.
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted
But, the white guy's hand is raised in peace! There's no way anyone would attack a planet where people pose like that! Naked, no less. It's like attacking Canada!
posted
I last changed my sig only two days ago, but I've GOT to use that one now!
Also, looking at that plaque... I wonder if any aliens will get confused when they only find EIGHT planets in our solar system? Pluto's not really a planet, after all...
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
Registered: Nov 2000
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quote: And there's now the "tenth planet", Quaoar (or something).
I think they should narrow the definition of planet somewhat, as it stands anything that orbits the sun and is of "significant" size is automatically a planet. Perhaps it should be more specific like "any object greater than 1000km in diameter", ,I think that'll include Pluto and leave Quaoar as an overgrown snowball.
quote:Originally posted by Mark Nguyen: Naked, no less.
The aliens will probably have a good laugh at the dumb Earthlings who can't even make clothes...
-------------------- "I am an almost extinct breed, an old-fashioned gentleman, which means I can be a cast-iron son-of-a-bitch when it suits me." --Jubal Harshaw
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