The most attractive shots played by England came in the next few overs, including a fine shot from Prior, who stepped down the track to nonchalantly guide a high-velocity missile from Morne Morkel behind point for four.
Unlike a conventional spacecraft, which would be navigated on the basis of signals sent to and from ground controllers, Deep Space 1 is programmed to make its own left-right, up-down decisions on data from sensors that look at the stars to track position and guide course changes.
If First Reserve's track record is any guide, in a few years it is likely to return Abbot to the public market or sell it to another oil services company.