On 11/22/11, Josephine Grahn <bsi@xmission.com> wrote:
Okay... I give, What's the joke? Clearly I am out of more than one loop :)
Jo, this is the state we have have descended to because men of approximately my age up to well past Larry's have given up whittling on the front porch in favor of the on-line social experience. Provided we can see the screen. (As an aside, I can't see the screen on my smart phone from hell. I need to wait until I can post from my 24" Acer.) For the record, I got it immediately. I guess that speaks volumes for the apropos placement of myself in the afforementioned demographic. Alas, there are no barbershops of old anymore. And I did chuckle, Larry, good one. ;o) But I think, despite Erik's sense of foreboding, it's not an omen. For it to be, the saying would have to be something like "The cat killed curiosity". I'm also betting that good old American know-how trumps Russian techno-propaganda every time. "Phobos-Grunt" Oh, come on. Just the name alone utterly damned that refurbished hot-water heater. And a Chinese probe on-board? Did Harbor Freight get the contract to build it? Doomed mission, just doomed. (We may get an incredible light show when this bucket re-enters. Stay tuned...) Keep trying, comrades. The more you spend keeping rocket scientists busy on crap hardware for wet-dream, old-world, keeping-up-with-the-Americans Mars missions, the less you have to spend on targeting our missle defense initiatives. If you really wanted Phobos samples, you'd contact JPL. They'd put you in touch with real space contractors.