NASA solar satellite burns up over the Sahara desert

NASA's defunct RHESSI solar flare satellite plummeted into Earth's atmosphere and disintegrated over the Sahara desert this week, the Department of Defense confirmed.  Launched in February, 2002, the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Image (RHESSI) probe spent 16 years studying the rush of highly-energetic …

[Michael]

Proper engineering

I always appreciate it when a system is designed and budgeted to run for a fixed period of time and then massively exceeds all expectations.

I've managed this once with a system designed to work for 3 years off of two AA batteries. We shipped a lot of units. Average age for failing units was 5.9 years. Longest lasting of the original batch made it to 9 years.

If only every company would produce systems that just kept working.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Proper engineering

"If only every company would produce systems that just kept working."

The trouble is that many companies would prefer to make something that lasted less time (but still beyond normal customer expectations), cost less to produce and then failed, such that customers would come back and buy a new version, based on their "good" (but not exceptional) experience.

The company would then sell more products, make higher profits, and all would be well.

The big issue is when companies try to cut out too much cost, leading to much shorter product lifespans, reduced customer satisfaction and fewer sales.

Sadly the days of products lasting much longer than their original design lifespan are going away...(he wrote, using an old PC c/w 4-core Intel QX9650 CPU (discontinued in 2007) and a 500Gb HDD that was first commissioned in 2013 !!!!!.

[Dante Alighieri]

Re: Proper engineering

Singer had to buy up the second hand original sewing machines and smash them to replace them with more "time limited" successors.

If you like your whisky (no e) you would know that the company that made the malt milling machines, sold 1 to each distillery (honourable exceptions of similarly long lived machines) and went bust.

Too reliable. Market saturation.

DOI been on 1 (or more) too many whisky tours in Scotland. Not like I could run one. There are 3 things you need...

[Anonymous Coward]

Fly tipping?

Try dumping a trailer load of crap somewhere random.

Sahara Desert: Now accepting space junk

[Catkin]

Re: Fly tipping?

I expect you'd have difficulty identifying any sizeable portion

[xyz123]

Shame we couldn't somehow collect Rhessi for a museum.

Eventually we'll get the Mars Rovers back and they'll be a point of pride in a display somewhere.

[MattPi]

Eventually we'll get the Mars Rovers back and they'll be a point of pride in a display somewhere.

Kinda prefer they end up in place as a Planetary Historical Park.

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, but that doesn't sound very British of you.

[IglooDame]

Cheers to solid service. Pity it couldn't have been sent off in a more appropriate way, into the sun proper. But at least it went out in a blaze of glory.