A Zombie Spacecraft, a Zombie McDonald’s, a Zombie Radio

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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I found this to be really cool and just had to share.

Here is Zombie Mission Control.

[spoiler]
For 17 years, it has been drifting on a lonely course through space. Launched during the disco era and shuttered by NASA in 1997, the spacecraft is now returning to the civilization that abandoned it.

It seemed destined to pass without fanfare, except for a slight chance of slamming into the moon, and then loop aimlessly through the inner solar system.

But now, a shoestring group of civilians headquartered in a decommissioned McDonald’s have reached out and made contact with it — a long-distance handshake that was the first step toward snaring it back into Earth’s orbit.

The zombie spaceship is coming home.[/spoiler]The rest of the story…
Calling Back a Zombie Ship From the Graveyard of Space

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Are they going to tell the probe what to do with itself? Or did it come back to just talk to whales?

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Carbon unit infestation!

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I left one more Trek reference for whoever wants to go back that far.

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At the end of the article, it mentions that one of the scientists involved wants to send the craft to another comet but the guy in charge of the private company behind this thinks that would be too expensive. By “too expensive”, I’m assuming they mean some cost under a million bucks. Given that the spacecraft is already out there, it’s not too expensive but instead is a huge bargain.

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That is indeed really cool and many thanks for sharing it.