Archive What If? Blag Store About A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language. XKCD updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Hack |< < Prev Random Next > >| |< < Prev Random Next > >| Permanent link to this comic: http://xkcd.com/1337/ Image URL (for hotlinking/embedding): http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/hack.png [[A white-on-black drawing of the ISEE-3 ICE probe.]] The ISEE-3 ICE probe was launched in 1978. Its mission ended in 1997 and it was sent a shutdown signal. [[Back to black-on-white text.]] In 2008, we learned--to our surprise--that the probe didn't shut down. It's still running and it has plenty of fuel. ...and in 2014, its orbit brings it near Earth. [[Two figures talking.]] Figure 1: We could sent it on a new mission... except we no longer have the equipment to send commands to it. Figure 2: Can't we- [[Camera frame closes in slightly on t...