Technology Marches Backwards: Sad Satellite News

[alex_greene]

ICE/ISEE-3 to return to an Earth no longer capable of speaking to it: The Planetary Society

This is retrotech in action. There's a whole vibe coming from me, when I think of the potential for a Traveller scenario here. The Patron is a representative of the system's TL 8 equivalent of the Planetary Society, Goddard or JPL, and they desperately need the characters to go out there to reboot the ancient TL 6 satellite's systems to put it back into a stable orbit before it crashes into their planet. It's a mission that could earn the characters millions.

All the characters need to do is to go out there with their ship - the only ship in the system, I should add, because space is big - and send a signal using some of the oldest equipment the TL 10 visiting characters have ever seen.

This is space adventure for me, not that ridiculous space pirate malarchy.

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

It out-lived its use. Happens all the time with things. Probably cheaper to just send up a new one if there is more stuff to be done up there anyway.

 

[Condottiere]

Considering the nature of our story structures, I would be very paranoid about stepping onboard any derelict spaceship; at least, not without a company of Space Marines.

For the Emperor!

 

[dragoner]

So NASA removed the transmitter hardware, huh.

 

[Hopeless]

If I read right they didn't just discard and dismantle anything that could have contacted that satellite they also burnt any of the notes on the encryption involved so even if they got outside help they couldn't do anything because some dumbwit didn't think it was important!

Now what if that satellite was going to hit somewhere inland?

What would people think of NASA if that satellite actually causes further problems whether it actually survives re-entry or just blows apart adding to the debris in earth orbit and later they trace an accident back to it that they could have avoided... you know like redirecting it to crash on the moon for instance.

I know there's more to it than that, but seriously didn't it occur to them to keep track of what they have up there and keep something that could do something about it until they know it won't be a problem?

Hmm what if someone disables all orbiting communication systems save for those that are so old they aren't effected because they're so out of date that the latest viruses can't even touch their pre-80's software?

Now that would be an interesting idea, the world is in peril but everything in space has been left inoperational except for some obsolete piece of junk that turns out to still be operational and is the world's only hope... :wink:

 

[lastbesthope]

Hmm, is anyone else worried about a possible V'Ger incident?

LBH

 

[Condottiere]

Facehuggers and jeans-stealers.

 

[dragoner]

Hmm, is anyone else worried about a possible V'Ger incident?

LBH

V-GINY even.

http://futurama.wikia.com/wiki/V-GINY

 

[alex_greene]

The last word on this goes to Randall Monroe and XKCD:-

Alt text: HACK THE STARS