# NASA goes "Ooooh! Shiny!" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 9, 2012, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-goes-ooooh-shiny/637239 "2012-10-09T18:12:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-goes-ooooh-shiny/637239/1 "2012-10-09T18:12:08Z")
The Mars probe came to a screeching halt when NASA officials noticed a reflective object in the Martian soil. > **[Curiosity Rover Scoops 1st Mars Sample, Finds 'Bright Object'](https://news.yahoo.com/curiosity-rover-scoops-1st-mars-sample-finds-bright-155911794.html)** > > NASA's Mars rover Curiosity scooped up its first sample of the Martian surface  this week, only to hit a snag when the robot spotted an odd, bright object on the ground, mission managers say. > **[Mars Curiosity rover stops sampling to check out shiny object seen on surface](https://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/mars-curiosity-rover-stops-sampling-check-shiny-object-143428660.html)** > > The Curiosity rover is stopping its sampling of soil from the surface of Mars because of a shiny object noticed on the ground. A photo released by NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of Curiosity's first scoop of Martian soil also revealed a... In their defense, they think it’s probably a piece off of the rover itself, and they want to make sure it doesn’t contaminate their soil samples, or damage their instruments. But, the thought of a multi-million dollar, high-tech space probe going “Oooh! Shiny!” is still pretty funny. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-goes-ooooh-shiny/637239/2 "2012-10-09T22:18:50Z")
All of the parts falling off this rover are of the very finest American manufacture. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-goes-ooooh-shiny/637239/3 "2012-10-09T22:22:14Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > All of the parts falling off this rover are of the very finest American manufacture. Has it happened before? I don’t remember Curiosity tweeting any other parts falling off. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-goes-ooooh-shiny/637239/4 "2012-10-09T22:46:39Z")
The only other things that have fallen off were supposed to. So far as they know… ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-goes-ooooh-shiny/637239/5 "2012-10-10T00:45:36Z")
I suspect it is an aluminum beer can pull tab…circa 1976. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-goes-ooooh-shiny/637239/6 "2012-10-10T00:48:31Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > I suspect it is an aluminum beer can pull tab…circa 1976. You maniacs! You blew it up! Damn you! Damn you all to hell! ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-goes-ooooh-shiny/637239/7 "2012-10-10T01:11:38Z")
🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jamicat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c67d28/32.png) [@Jamicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamicat)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-goes-ooooh-shiny/637239/8 "2012-10-10T02:47:17Z")
I zoomed in… It looks a like lil martian geico lizard asking if the rover wants to save muny on auto insurance? 😕 > **[Mars Curiosity rover stops sampling to check out shiny object seen on surface](https://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/mars-curiosity-rover-stops-sampling-check-shiny-object-143428660.html)** > > The Curiosity rover is stopping its sampling of soil from the surface of Mars because of a shiny object noticed on the ground. A photo released by NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of Curiosity's first scoop of Martian soil also revealed a... ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-goes-ooooh-shiny/637239/9 "2012-10-10T04:43:07Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Has it happened before? I don’t remember Curiosity tweeting any other parts falling off. There was the Soviet Venera 14 probe to Venus. After landing, the lens caps popped off the cameras. And there was a spring-loaded arm that was supposed to swing down and measure the compressibility of the soil. When the arm was let loose, it came down right on the lens cap. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-goes-ooooh-shiny/637239/10 "2012-10-10T04:51:41Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > There was the Soviet Venera 14 probe to Venus. After landing, the lens caps popped off the cameras. And there was a spring-loaded arm that was supposed to swing down and measure the compressibility of the soil. When the arm was let loose, it came down right on the lens cap. Maybe they were just trying to spread the load…yeah, that’s the ticket. (Actually, what I really wanted to do is somehow make a joke referencing Robot Arms responding to me, a Soviet Lander and this [Futurama Clip](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEwzbHJNkwg), but I couldn’t find a way to make it all come together in a nice clever way without having the joke getting lost and it just being an insult… Come to think of it, IIRC, Futurama is where RA got his user name from. ) ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-goes-ooooh-shiny/637239/11 "2012-10-10T05:17:43Z")
It may be my keys. I always find them in the strangest places. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-goes-ooooh-shiny/637239/12 "2012-10-10T05:27:57Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Come to think of it, IIRC, Futurama is where RA got his user name from. Nope; predates _Futurama_, in fact. It actually traces back to Robert Heinlein. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-goes-ooooh-shiny/637239/13 "2012-10-10T09:02:02Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Nope; predates _Futurama_, in fact. It actually traces back to Robert Heinlein. Does this mean I just found Waldo? > [@billfish678](#): > > I suspect it is an aluminum beer can pull tab…circa 1976. “God damn it, Billy!” — President Carter ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-goes-ooooh-shiny/637239/14 "2012-10-10T09:08:01Z")
I unno, I’d think ‘oh, hey, something shiny! Wonder what it is…’ would be a perfectly valid reaction for someone exploring an alien environment. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-goes-ooooh-shiny/637239/15 "2012-10-10T09:09:18Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Does this mean I just found Waldo? :smack: The sad thing? I wouldn’t have gotten that joke two days ago. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-goes-ooooh-shiny/637239/16 "2012-10-10T11:59:27Z")
Looks like the top of a fish hook, which of course would prove that there once _was_ water on Mars. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-goes-ooooh-shiny/637239/17 "2012-10-10T14:27:08Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Does this mean I just found Waldo? If I cut you some slack on the spelling, yes. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-goes-ooooh-shiny/637239/18 "2012-10-10T15:10:37Z")
How far has the rover traveled since touch down? ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-goes-ooooh-shiny/637239/19 "2012-10-10T15:13:00Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > All of the parts falling off this rover are of the very finest American manufacture. I am surprised there hasn’t been any apparent concern expressed by NASA that bits have flaked off the rover. Is this the first time the scoop has been used? Did the scoop scratch itself, causing a small bit to flake off? ---
**Author:** ![Curiosity\_Kills\_Her](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Curiosity\_Kills\_Her](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Curiosity_Kills_Her)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-goes-ooooh-shiny/637239/20 "2012-10-10T15:14:50Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > If I cut you some slack on the spelling, yes. Well played. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-goes-ooooh-shiny/637239.md?page=2)