NASA Successfully Complete Computer Simulation

NASA Celebrates Successful Completion Of Computer Simulation

There were whoops of delight at NASA's mission control centre in Houston
today as scientists and video technicians successfully completed a simulation
of one of the most complex and expensive missions they have ever dreamt up.

The 3D, state-of-the-art animation depicts a probe that NASA hope to launch
to Io, a moon of Jupiter, some time in the future.

The mission, named Project Io, will culminate in the deployment of ten robots
onto Io's surface which will gather mineral samples, analyze them, beam the
results back to Earth, join together to form one, huge robot and stand on the
moon's surface in a 'victory' stance, a permanent symbol of mankind's supreme
technological triumph.

"It is by far the most complex and coolest thing we have ever thought of," said
chief flight engineer Doug Lyman.

This was the third attempt at simulating the mission, which has so far cost 170
million dollars.

The first attempt failed spectacularly when someone forgot to include the satellite
in the animation. Stunned NASA engineers could only watch in despair as the
videotape depicting an empty star field played out before their eyes.

The second try was aborted when a programmer accidentally included a clip from
a 'Lord of the Rings' trailer in the simulation, resulting in the multi-billion dollar
probe disappearing behind Christopher Lee's left leg.

But it was third time lucky for the scientists: "It really went like a dream," Lyman
said. "In fact, it went so well we played it again almost straight away."