So there's a page claiming that NASA are going to announce some sort of historic discovery...

[oloriel]

on October 13th, no wait, October 6th, which is tomorrow. (Linked removed due to potential phishiness.)

It's gonna "shake the entire planet", they say, but I expect we're not supposed to take that literally - as ladyelleth so aptly observed, if it were something catastrophic, they wouldn't have built a cutesy retro countdown page for it.

So! Hoax? Publicity gag? Life on other planets? A means for affordable space travel? EÄRENDIL? Come and speculate! Or we can just wait another 11 hours, of course.
I HOPE NASA ISN'T PURELY GOVERNMENT-FUNDED BECAUSE OTHERWISE, OOPS.

Yes, I know that's not a laughing matter. Excuse me, but I'm more busy weeping over the Lampedusa incident than I can be bothered to weep about pigheaded representatives of a people who'll run their country bankrupt and drag the world into Great Despression II 1/2. Pardon my German, but fickt Euch doch ins Knie.

[/political commentary in strike outs]

Comments

[nelyo-russandol.livejournal.com]

It seems like a prank to me. This site, which posts the WHOIS record, seems to confirm it's dubious:

http://intellihub.com/2013/10/03/nasa-disinformation-campaign-launched/

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm afraid of something like that, too. There's just my little forever-hopeful scifi fan that hopes there's really something official going on. >_>

[nelyo-russandol.livejournal.com]

Yes, life in Mars or something like that would be a great announcement, but they would never make it known like that. No. And I also thought about the shutdown. NASA wouldn't be active, would they?

[independence1776]

NASA isn't active; there's only about 600 employees working, generally for active missions and ISS support. Even the Astronomy Picture of the Day is down-- I had to find a mirror site for it. (That was my immediate thought about when I saw this, that it definitely wouldn't be active now if it was a legit NASA site.)

[satismagic.livejournal.com]

LOL! Someone on Tumblr suggested to use the opportunity of the funding kerfuffle to take over NASA and turn it into Starfleet.

Maybe that's it?

*grins*

I wish, though, it was not just a gag, but yeah, you know, Spock. ;-)

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Heh! That would be a new policy, rather than a new discovery, though. More's the pity! XD

[chili-das-schaf.livejournal.com]

I just got this link when I shared it on Facebook

http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/10/04/remember_the_13th_viral_marketing_silliness.html

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Well, that's certainly better than the "discredit the Alternative Media" (internet is alternative? in these days? i think not) rambling I got in the other link. I mean, as far as information goes. Other than that, it's depressing. My forever-hopeful inner teenaged sci-fi fan is so hoping for something real. Even if it's just bacteria in outer space. :P

[satismagic.livejournal.com]

Well, the url is already a big clue that it's a hoax or pr gag of some king. But yeah, one can hope?

For First Contact. And Vulcans.