Philatelists Push Petition For Pluto Probe Postage 79
Hugh Pickens writes "Space.com reports that an online petition directed at the USPS and its Citizen Stamp Advisory Committee (CSAC) hopes to collect 100,000 signatures or more by March 13, the 82nd anniversary of the announcement of Pluto's discovery as the New Horizons robotic spacecraft gets closer to flyby Pluto and its moons in 2015. 'This is a chance for us all to celebrate what American space exploration can achieve though hard work, technical excellence, the spirit of scientific inquiry, and the uniquely human drive to explore,' reads the petition. Whether or not the New Horizons team is successful in getting the USPS to honor their spacecraft's mission, the probe will have delivered a stamp to Pluto. New Horizons includes nine stowaways including one of the 1991 'Not Yet Explored' Pluto stamps together with other mementos including a Florida quarter, a small container with an ounce of the ashes of Clyde Tombaugh, discoverer of Pluto, and a small segment of 2004 Ansari X Prize winner SpaceShipOne, the first privately-funded crewed spacecraft. 'Why nine mementos? I bet you can guess,' says Dr. Alan Stern, New Horizons' Principal Investigator adding why he wanted to send one of the Pluto stamps on the mission. 'Pluto may not have been explored when that stamp set came out, but we were going to conquer that,' says Stern. 'I wanted to fly it as a sort of 'in your face' thing.'"
What a waste... (Score:5, Funny)
Why would anyone replace the perfectly good "pertaining" with "for" in that subject?
Re:What a waste... (Score:4, Funny)
To avoid be showered with accusations of having a P fetish.
SATELLITES, NOT MOONS... (Score:1)
Hugh Pickens,
gets closer to flyby Pluto and its moons in 2015
As Pluto isn't even considered a planet anymore, you have no excuse to call Pluto's satellites moons. They are truly just satellites.
And on a more pedantic note, while I'm at it, flyby is not a verb. Editors, HELLO???
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And on a more pedantic note, while I'm at it, flyby is not a verb. Editors, HELLO???
He's right; you can't just verb "flyby" like that.
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and on the internet?
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I think the more relevant question is : Why are you looking for 12-year-olds on the internet?
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Philatelists Push Petition Pfhor Pluto Probe Postage
(I'm guessing that reference will fly right over the heads of quite a few...)
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Re:What a waste... (Score:5, Funny)
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Pluto is a Planet (Score:2)
Regards
Slashdotgirl
Re:Pluto is a Planet (Score:5, Insightful)
Planet or planetesimal, it's just tremendously sad that
'This is a chance for us all to celebrate what American space exploration can achieve though hard work, technical excellence, the spirit of scientific inquiry and the uniquely human drive to explore ...'
The "chance" happens to be a frigging stamp.
Somehow, I had hoped for a bit more.
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Instead of a strong space program pushing our species into space to fulfill that hope-filled drive to explore, we're going to give you a stamp.
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The spacecraft is the example of what can be achieved by "hard work, technical excellence, the spirit of scientific inquiry and the uniquely human drive to explore ..." If it were easy, someone else would have done it, or even attempted it. The stamp is just a stamp. Get a clue.
There's a lot of 'Hurf durf, the space program is no more. Our technical edge is gone. Oh, woe!' on Slashdot, and it really ticks me off. Hey, why don't you read a bit what NASA's been up to lately, rather than griping about how
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Always will be...
I dont think phrase that means what you think it means, as Pluto has no longer been a planet (according to our definition of 'planet') since a few years ago.
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Once a planet, always a planet.
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whom do you mean by "our". I don't have to follow some organisation's (IAU) definition of a planet which is disputed by plenty of reputable scientists. nor yours.
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What people don't realize is that in a short time, the new definition of the Solar System will contain 16 planets, not 8. Pluto will be "reinstated" by the few who incorrectly "demoted" it, actually they will be TOLD this and they will accept it or lose their funding, or be relegated to a future not in astronomy, as well as adding Eris, 2005 FY9, 2003 EL61, Sedna, Orcus, Quaoar, and Varuna. Proper names will be given to 2005 FY9 and 2003 EL61 of course. The rest of the Kuiper Belt will be designated from
With apologies to Monty Python... (Score:4, Funny)
Don't practice your alliteration on me!
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If only we had some kind of missile!
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Let me guess, you're a lifetime member of the American Association for the Abatement of Alliteration?
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At least I'm not a member of the AA-AAA...
An organization for drunks who drive...
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Don't practice your alliteration on me!
Alliteration poorly practiced pursuiant to pluto pissoff preview.
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Good grief... (Score:4, Funny)
Philatelists Push Petition For Pluto...
I'm not sure what oral sex has to do with Pluto...
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Why? (Score:5, Insightful)
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And by this you meant Pluto, the planet. We get it.
Re:Why? (Score:5, Funny)
You know how the new saying goes
There are eight planets, unless of course you still count Pluto in which case there are nine million planets.
Pluto is still Pluto, same as it ever was. (Score:1)
A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
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Been-there-done-that syndrome
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MESSENGER surely did get a stamp -
http://www.universetoday.com/85391/alan-shepard-and-messenger-stamps-unveiled-at-kennedy-space-center-ceremony/ [universetoday.com]
Culture (Score:4, Interesting)
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His USA Today was paper. A consolation prize will be USA Today on an iPad.
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My plans for death (though I have yet to find a good legal way to have them fulfilled) are to have all recyclable parts (joint replacements, etc.) removed and reused/recycled, all acceptable organs donated, and the remainder of my body being donated to research and/or education, with the exception of my head (sans eyeballs and/or whatever was donated), which will be involved in its own ritual.
I intend that a significant portion of my fortune (you know, once I have a fortune) will go to whomever can bring ab
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No, no. Don't go. Whatever will we do without you?
Mothers against Maudlin Mutterings
AAAAAA (Score:3)
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The American Association Against Abusively Applied Acronyms has a problem with the title of this submission.
AAAAAA . . . Fat Albert is that you?
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I wonder if they answer their toll free number with "Hello, you've reach the sextuple A! How may we help you?"
I would sure love to hear the hilarious confusion that should ensue...
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Refer them to the Department of Recursion Department because they broke their own rules
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This advanced application of alliteration is almost accepted to ask for an avalanche of aspirin.
Make it 2015? (Score:3)
Something to replace commemorative stamps? (Score:4, Interesting)
My personal use of stamps is down about 50%, as more of my bills are paid electronically. As more and more data replaces first class letters, postage stamps will soon be a relic. So what can replace them as a way to publicly commemorate an event? I recognize the Post Office will not vanish entirely, since we still need to deliver physical items sometimes, but those rarely use regular stamps.
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Don't worry... (Score:3)
The post office kept making stamps for the silliest things and so the hobby died due to over-saturation. Perhaps we need to realize that not -everything- needs to be commemorated in coin or stamp format and keep it for the big things that happen.
Re:Don't worry... (Score:5, Insightful)
Just stop with the madness of commemorative stamps/coins.
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The market for stamp (or coin) collecting isn't ruined. All this simply means collectors will ignore the "for-the-collectors" issues and only collect normal stamps. Just because those commemorative stamps and coins have no collectors value, doesn't many ALL new coins and stamps issued have zero value.
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Re:Something to replace commemorative stamps? (Score:4, Funny)
So what can replace them as a way to publicly commemorate an event?
Google's custom logos.
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I don't think I have used a stamp since the 90s and I could get by just fine if the USPS just made a monthly visit to my house, instead of daily. All they do is bring me crap I have to pay to dispose of (and it all DOES go into the trash on my way back from the mail box).
snail mail (Score:1)
Rats, my snail mail is slow enough already (three weeks for a package from NJ to MD, by way of side trips to Florida and Virginia--maybe they got a slingshot gravity boost down there?). If my mail has to go to Pluto, I'll have to get relativistic to live long enough for my snail mail to get to me.
Thread titles with so many "P"s (Score:3)
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Keep it down with the "P"s, willya? My shirt is soaked, I had to wipe my face, and I had to disinfect my keyboard.
Wow, talk about missing the rim by not keeping it down! That is some spectacularly bad aim sir!
Uniquely Human? (Score:2, Funny)
Is the "drive to explore" uniquely human?
I don't know.
My chickens are pretty inquisitive.
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Is the "drive to explore" uniquely human?
I don't know.
My chickens are pretty inquisitive.
parent++
We humans tend to think we're very special, and we are - we are more intelligent, we are more empathic, etc... but we cannot claim that we are the only ones possessing intelligence or inquisitiveness or even homosexuality.
Murphy's Stamp (Score:1)
What if something goes wrong? Stamp will be egg on face.
What a waste! (Score:2)
The Post Office is losing money, do we really want to do this? I have a radical proposal. How about the Post Office printing just one stamp for each denomination. Once a stamp design is decided, NEVER change it. This printing up new stamps to satisfy stamp collectors is lunacy. If the stamp collectors want new stamps to collect why don't they hire a printing company to issue stamps just for their personal hobby. Yes, they will tell you that their hobby adds to the revenue of the Post Office. Does the
Uniquely? (Score:1)