What will people think when they encounter the Pioneer 10 probe in two million years?

  • Thread starter Huckleberry
  • Start date
In summary: I be a criminal?!). I will try to get back on a more regular schedule soon.I've been trying to keep an eye out for your posts and I'm glad to see you're doing well.
  • #1
Huckleberry
491
7
Seems a lot has changed in the last year. Directory says only 7 users and Evo are online. I remember there being more than that online at any given time. Here it is a weekend afternoon too. Has the closing of the TKT and Stupid Question threads chased out all the regulars? Where'd everyone go?

I missed my chance to congratulate Yomamma on killing the TKT thread. Congrats Yomamma. I had a pretty good intuition that you would receive that honor.

Sorry for being gone so long. It seems to be a pattern in my life that I take the time to get to know and trust some really great people and then I disappear. I still haven't figured out why I do that, but for anyone who cares, you should know that it isn't because I have forgotten.

I hope all is well in PF land
 
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Likes gracy
Physics news on Phys.org
  • #2
Wolrams new bike
 
  • #3
PADDLEFOOT!

You're back!

I was beginning to think you were gone forever. Are you going to be able to be online for awhile?
 
  • #4
Gollum,

I can be here all day. Did I miss that much? I may need some sweet fishies to gnaw on or perhaps a juicy rabbit if that's the case.

Gollum
 
  • #5
Huckleberry said:
Gollum,

I can be here all day. Did I miss that much? I may need some sweet fishies to gnaw on or perhaps a juicy rabbit if that's the case.

Gollum

Now who's the Gollum? :confused: :biggrin:
 
  • #6
radou is new to GD and fits right in. Moonbear, MIH, Danger should be along shortly. Franz pops in now and then. Brewnog is here. Was zooby missing when you were here?
 
  • #7
Welcome back!
 
  • #8
My PF withdrawal created false memories. While the PF community may not have seen me about, I have been speaking to all of you in my own imaginary PF from the moment I left. That's what the man in the television told me anyway when I met him in the park and he showed me the time machine. I've felt much better since that time, but have developed a habit of speaking to myself, even when asked a question by another. Everything in my world turns internally. I'm trying to be polite and include everyone else in it.

So you see, for me it is safe to speak through the voice of a fictional character that also often speaks to himself, Gollum. In this case the analogy is multiply appropriate because I too have wide feetses that make flapping sounds when I walk. Fishes are nice too.

That should clear up any confusion.
 
  • #9
radou is new to GD and fits right in. Moonbear, MIH, Danger should be along shortly. Franz pops in now and then. Brewnog is here. Was zooby missing when you were here?

I'll be glad to see all my old friends. Zooby was here last I knew. HAs he gone missing too? Is he in mourning over the Stupid Quetion Thread? I know I was a bit upset by that harsh news.

Hi radou. Nice to meet you.
Hello again Lisa. HEY GIRL!
 
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Zooby's still here, have you seen his artwork?
 
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Hey, Huck. Good to see you're still alive and well. :approve:

Zoob has done a wonderful portrait of MIH!

We did have some sad news recently that selfAdjoint, one of our mentors, had died last December while on vacation with family. Then we learned of BoulderHead's death. Rather sad period that was.
 
  • #12
That is a beautiful picture. Just kinda jumps right out at ya. Very lifelike. I'm a bit curious what he was doing with the hair on the sides. It feels different from the rest of the picture. Zoob is a talented guy.

I read about SelfAdjoint. That is sad news. I didn't know him very well myself, but like Danger said, you miss someone when they aren't in your surroundings anymore. I hadn't heard about BoulderHead though.

I read about Danger's loss too. It has been a hard year for a lot of good people.

Hey AStronuc, good to see you. I seem to remember posting to a comment of yours a few months ago. Something about a traditional samurai haircut being ideal for wearing underneath ones motorcycle helmet. I'm guessing you, wisely, didn't take my advice. Your photo still looks the same and how could someone not show off a traditional samurai haircut?
 
  • #13
Welcome back!
 
  • #14
Huck, welcome back. PM's on its way.
 
  • #15
Yes, welcome back. I haven't been on as much the past few weeks as I usually am...sort of swamped with work and life stuff at the moment. I have a LOT to get done before July so I can properly enjoy the PF gathering in Chicago without being distracted by work stuff, and getting called in for jury duty every time I have what looks like a day free of teaching or meetings to get things accomplished is not helping (why, oh why can't they call me in on the days I have boring meetings I don't want to attend? :cry:). Of course that gets more frustrating since they never actually put a scientist on a jury anyway, so I have to sit around answering all their questions, and then they don't choose me anyway (we wouldn't want a justice system that involved someone actually being able to understand the facts in a case, that might interfere with the lawyers' ability to distort the facts and win their case :rolleyes:). They should just have a checkbox under the list of valid reasons to be excused from jury duty if you're a scientist.
 
  • #16
Hi Danger, Hi mattmns. Thanks for the warm welcome.
 
  • #17
Hi Moony.

You know, you could just send the courts a list of all the PF members so you could all be permabanned from jury duty.

I got a summons for jury duty only once. It was odd because I had just come home from terminal leave from the navy and the letter had arrived at my parents house in MAssachussetts. I don't understand why they would send it there because I had a Virginia driver's liscence and enlisted, and was paying taxes to, the state of Arizona. Anyway, I didn't want to go because I was about to embark on my first solo cross country road trip and was only stopping by to see the folks. So I returned the summons with and explanation that I was on active duty, which technically was true. My active duty date expired at the end of my 2 month terminal leave.

Seems like you have been staying busy. I'm sure it can be tiresome at times, but it's a good thing. It's good to see you again.
 
  • #18
Huckleberry said:
I got a summons for jury duty only once. It was odd because I had just come home from terminal leave from the navy and the letter had arrived at my parents house in MAssachussetts. I don't understand why they would send it there because I had a Virginia driver's liscence and enlisted, and was paying taxes to, the state of Arizona. Anyway, I didn't want to go because I was about to embark on my first solo cross country road trip and was only stopping by to see the folks. So I returned the summons with and explanation that I was on active duty, which technically was true. My active duty date expired at the end of my 2 month terminal leave.
Actually, you could've just told them you were an AZ resident if the summons was sent to your parents in MA. Sometimes they're just slow updating the records. But, whatever works. The one I'm on now is for the county, so everyone has to be a county resident. I think sometimes students get called up who aren't officially residents of this county, so they get excused for that.

Seems like you have been staying busy. I'm sure it can be tiresome at times, but it's a good thing. It's good to see you again.
Yes, at least being busy means being gainfully employed. There's always something to be said for that.

So, are you still up in the Pacific Northwest somewhere? I know you were headed for OR, but don't know if that's were you finally landed.
 
  • #19
Yup, I'm right outside Beaverton OR. Got a job bonding wires on hybrid semiconductors. It was interesting for a few months, but has already gotten to the point of minutia. I haven't furnished my aprament completely yet. I'm not sure that I care to. I got a bed and a desk and a dresser the first week I moved in. I picked up a couch from someone that was moving out and wanted to throw it away. I got the cooking stuff I know how to use, which isn't much. I brought a little portable television with me and recently bought a dvd/vcr player for it. We have an unofficial movie/cd exchange program at work. That's about all I have a need for.

My best friend of over 20 years lives just a few miles away, but I don't see him very much. I work my preferred graveyard shift and he is married with 2 young children. It doesn't leave a lot of time to hang out and I find that I don't really know how how to hang out with a guy that's married. So I've been spending most of my time alone and I'm pretty bored and lonely and unmotivated.

Oh, and still smoking. :frown:
 
  • #20
Huckleberry said:
My best friend of over 20 years lives just a few miles away, but I don't see him very much. I work my preferred graveyard shift and he is married with 2 young children. It doesn't leave a lot of time to hang out and I find that I don't really know how how to hang out with a guy that's married. So I've been spending most of my time alone and I'm pretty bored and lonely and unmotivated.
Time to write a best-selling novel. :biggrin:
 
  • #21
That would be a productive use of my time. I've been sitting on a few ideas for a while now.

Think I could do it? My professors have enjoyed my writing in class, but I'm not sure it is up to the level of writing a novel. That is an intimidating endeavor and I'm not at all certain I have that kind of talent. I think I got a short story or two kicking around here somewhere. Maybe I'll put it up sometime. Not sure a physics forum is an appropriate place for it though.

Besides that, I just feel no motivation to write anything. Somethings missing and I can't figure out what it is.
 
  • #22
Huckleberry said:
Besides that, I just feel no motivation to write anything. Somethings missing and I can't figure out what it is.
Tragedy? :rofl: I hope not.

Maybe a significant other?

Or you could get a cat or dog?


I was reading about Aldebaran this morning (I just happened to be reading about a http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2006/03/full/ with at least 14 red supergiants, which lead me to red giants/supergiants) and found a rather interesting comment - "The Pioneer 10 probe is heading roughly in the direction of Aldebaran and is projected to pass the star remotely in about 2 million years." http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/A/Aldebaran.html

I thought to myself - what will people (or Earth or elsewhere) think if they encounter this little object from Earth - in two million years time. I thought of Kurt Vonnegut and his story - Breakfast of Champions.

Just some thoughts.
 

1. What is the Pioneer 10 probe and why is it significant?

The Pioneer 10 probe was a spacecraft launched by NASA in 1972 with the mission of studying Jupiter and its moons. It was the first spacecraft to reach the outer solar system and provided valuable data and images of Jupiter. Its significance lies in being one of the earliest human-made objects to venture into deep space.

2. Will the Pioneer 10 probe still be intact in two million years?

It is highly unlikely that the Pioneer 10 probe will still be intact in two million years. The probe is currently estimated to be about 11 billion miles away from Earth and is traveling at a speed of about 38,000 miles per hour. It will continue to encounter various space debris and radiation, which will eventually cause it to break down and disintegrate.

3. What information will the Pioneer 10 probe provide to future beings in two million years?

The Pioneer 10 probe carries a plaque with symbols and information about humanity, as well as a gold-anodized aluminum plaque with a pictorial message. However, it is uncertain whether these messages will be decipherable by future beings in two million years. The probe itself will also provide information on its trajectory and velocity, which can give insights into the conditions of our solar system at the time it was launched.

4. Could the Pioneer 10 probe potentially encounter alien life in two million years?

It is highly unlikely that the Pioneer 10 probe will encounter alien life in two million years. The probe is not equipped with any technology to detect or communicate with extraterrestrial beings. Furthermore, the vastness of space makes the chances of a chance encounter with another intelligent species highly improbable.

5. What does the future hold for the Pioneer 10 probe?

The Pioneer 10 probe is currently on a trajectory towards the red star Aldebaran in the constellation Taurus. However, it will take approximately 2 million years for it to reach that destination. It is highly unlikely that the probe will still be functioning at that time, and even if it is, it will be too far away for us to receive any data or signals from it. The probe will continue to drift through space, serving as a silent relic of human exploration.

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