back to article Cassini to make third Enceladus flyby

NASA has announced plans to send the Cassini spacecraft back for a closer look at Enceladus, the Saturnian moon with famously leaky tiger stripes. As part of its freshly declared budget clampdown, the agency says it wants to improve the value of space exploration by getting more science out of existing missions. Sending Cassini …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. Nano nano

    Update

    Couldn't we have had a different image of Enceladus from the last time ?

  2. Webster Phreaky

    Cessna Makes Flyby for Enchiladas at TacoBell!!

    I mean who f*cking cares???!!

    Does these stupid expenditures for useless science cure - Cancers, Cerebral Palsy, SIDs, AIDs, Rheumatic Arthritis, Alzheimer, etc. etc.??? HUNGER around the world? Will it find Duct Tape strong enough for that f*cking Idiot Al Gore's mouth and his bullshit Global Warming claims?

    Come ... on! Spend money on something that saves people lives! And find that Duct Tape fast!

  3. Henry Wertz

    What?

    What the hell Webster Freaky? This probe is already launched and out there.. the main costs are already sunk. Firing some guys that run the probe and retreive the results, that is not going to affect AIDS, alzheimers etc. or feeding people one bit -- the guys that get fired aren't in the medical field and are not going to research AIDS etc. instead, and the cash would probably get wasted on the military or something if it wasn't going to NASA.

    Also, global warming is not bullshit. I think some exaggerate how fast it's going to happen but it's not something that can just be dismissed.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Nasa...

    "Will it find Duct Tape strong enough for that f*cking Idiot Al Gore's mouth and his bullshit Global Warming claims?"

    Anyone who still thinks that global warming is not happening probably thinks that inventing the wheel was also a waste of time and resources. I don't want to start a debate about why it's happening but the fact is that we have a climate problem here and now regardless of the cause. I don't care if it's a natural or man made process if I get flooded out of my house or have to face food shortage. One solution is to understand the climate system of our and other planets and try to come up with a terraforming system that can be used here on Earth too to restore the atmosphere. Appaprently is NASA working on exactly this when they aren't sending drunken astronutts into space.

    ps: Taping someone's mouth when he discovers something isn't a good way to survive for a long time...

  5. Snag

    Webster, go back to your cave

    Yeahhh, what's with all this science crap? I'm sure you'd figure that gazing at the stars with a telescope is a big waste of time too. Except, doing so allowed modern navigation by using the moons of Jupiter as a universal clock which also allowed for accurate map making.

    Einstein's thought experiments wouldn't have happened if he didn't have a couple centuries worth of cosmological observations to draw on which provided basic understanding of electromagnetism and a basic idea of nuclear forces tthough observations of stars and the universe at large. And an understanding of gravity. Without that, no theory of relativity, no modern electronics, and no computer for you to be reading this on. Without his insights we wouldn't have modern chemistry or modern medicines. Or the biological understanding to provide the possibility of curing or understanding the diseases you list above or of overcoming world hunger. All of which you take for granted as being possible in the first place.

    And what about that waste of time going to the moon? Where did you think the MRI and CAT scan equipment used to treat so many of maladies you complain about came from? They were developed because NASA needed to map the moon prior to making a lunar landing. There was no need for them before that. Or some of the miniaturization of computer components that allowed for modern PCs that were needed for the Apollo program? That might have made an impact on your life, ya think? Companies like Nike or Adidas wouldn't be around generating the millions of dollars or euro's or whatever they generate if not for NASA; athletic footware arose from the research done to produce moon boots for lunar space suits. None of that might have occurred to their founders without it.

    Just because you can't see a direct connection between basic science and later technologies that make your life more comfortable doesn't mean they doesn't exist. There are often many degrees of separation from one field of science to another.

    Perhaps if you were bothered to make the connections between what you think of as stupid expenditures and the modern world you live it you'd realize that things aren't as obvious as you think. Perhaps you should educate yourself a little about a subject before spouting off on it.

  6. Pascal Monett Silver badge

    Spend money on something that saves people lives

    Saving people's lives. You mean, like being able to evacuate the planet if ever a large asteroid is on a collision course ?

    I'm sure that the funding of a certain Christopher Columbus probably got the same kind of reaction. Spend money on something that will save our country, like agriculture ! Stop wasting money on useless explorations projects that will bring nothing !

    With that mentality, the USA would never have seen the light of day. Then again, that just might have been a good thing, who knows ?

  7. Nano nano

    Amendment

    That Webster Phreaky wouldn't fare well in the US - I hear they have a commitment to freedom of speech and tolerance over there.

  8. CoZmo

    Oh yeah...

    Webster... I care, dickhead. But then I've always been one of those fools who like to take the long view of things. Besides, rerouting a space probe or not is not the hinging factor in finding a cure for anything. Take your head out of your ass, maybe you'll be able to see better.

  9. CoZmo

    HAH!

    Commitment to freedom of speech and tolerance...what a joke. Before the world changed, sure. Now, freedom of speech that doesn't offend anyone or make them think, tolerance of everything that is safe and familiar.

  10. Webster Phreaky

    When all you morons are dying of Colon Cancer or HIV AIDs .....

    ... enjoy the news that they found nothing on Europa, Titan, or Alpha Centuri as you die in agony because there is no cure. Morons like CoZmo and Snag will dully deserve Colon Cancer because you truely have your heads up your asses if you don't already have AIDs.

    Name just ONE life that was saved in all the BILLIONS of dollars that have been wasted on Space exploration ... no, instead NASA KILLED 17 Astronauts. (Apollo 1 and 2 Shuttle missions for you morons that know shit.)

This topic is closed for new posts.