posted
The thing I found really interesting about this discover is the background on how the technology and process for observing exoplanets has really advanced just in the last ten years. The article I read said that they never would have been able to do this in the nineties or early aughts.
I'll bet the Kepler folks are pretty jealous. They found this sucker with the Keck I. Bested by a planet-side telescope!
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Lyrhawn: The thing I found really interesting about this discover is the background on how the technology and process for observing exoplanets has really advanced just in the last ten years. The article I read said that they never would have been able to do this in the nineties or early aughts.
I'll bet the Kepler folks are pretty jealous. They found this sucker with the Keck I. Bested by a planet-side telescope!
It's not like Kepler hasn't found anything yet.
Posts: 1757 | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
I'm surprised that no one here has commented on this Supernova.
I've been looking for it in my telescope the last two nights, and although I haven't picked out the pinwheel nebula, (surface brightness is way too low, and too much light pollution) I'm sure I'm looking in the right place. So I can say that I probably saw the supernova, even though I couldn't say which star it was.
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It's not about space, per se, but if Congress kills the James Webb, we'll be seeing a lot less of it.
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posted
I actually don't have a problem with this, though, I don't really see the point. My only quibble would be that there needs to be international standards on subjects that have global ramifications. If they're going to do this, everyone needs to approve.
It's one thing if they want to mine and pollute themselves to death (though, that has global ramifications too), it's another to push an asteroid towards earth where it could wipe out a country, or more.
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quote:Originally posted by Lyrhawn: If they're going to do this, everyone needs to approve.
Meh.
With the pace of space-related development, I'm not very eager for countries sitting on their butts to vote against ambitious projects out of sour grapes.
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posted
In response to that bit of pithiness, Mucus, I'll reply that perhaps much of the world isn't too eager to have the country that can't keep lead out of the blood of their children be the one pulling potentially dangerous objects into orbit around the planet we're all on.
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posted
If "everyone need[ed] to approve" Russia's first man into space or America's first man to the moon, I'm sure we'd still be here twiddling our thumbs on Earth.
If the US has concerns and wants to help out by sharing technology or information about spaceflight and/or asteroid mining, all the power to them. But in the meantime, I'm happy that the emerging economies like China, India, etc. have ambitious space programmes and aren't likely to ask for permission.
posted
Oh, I'm not necessarily of the opinion that everyone should have to approve first either, but rejecting that call as sour grapes seems strange to me. The Chinese reputation for quality control and transparency is, shall we say, spotty, and given the potential dangerousness of bringing an asteroid into Earth orbit, concerns don't seem very strange to me.
But as for if/when this would ever be done, I expect/hope that in the near two generations between now and then the prospect will be much less daunting and fraught with risk anyway.
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posted
There are also potential dangers to sitting on our butts and not having any experience on how to deal with asteroids. There are risks either way.
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posted
I'm not sure if you're just word-gamin' with me here, Mucus. Sure, there are risks and consequences to every action and inaction. That's a given. Just like there are risks for any group deciding to do this with an asteroid as a starting point, risks which grow or shrink depending on that group's reliability. It's far from surprising that some would be worried about China's industrial reliability and trustworthiness when it comes to safety and quality control is all I'm saying.
There would be substantial concerns if anyone were to try this sort of thing, of course, as no industry is perfect. And I'm hardly suggesting that China is alone in having a problem with safe, trustworthy industry-we've got our own problems too. Worse than they ought to be!
It's just, y'know, there are risks for anyone and risks for *everyone* and when the anyone affecting everyone has the kind of reputation China does for safety and, concern is more than sour grapes. That's all.
Posts: 17164 | Registered: Jun 2001
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posted
I guess I should have said, everyone gets a say, rather than everyone needs to approve, and I stand firm on that. There are several UN treaties regarding space behavior, from the neutrality of the moon, to guards against weaponizing space, etc. If we're going to start throwing asteroids around, there needs to be internationally agreed upon safeguards. Whether that means the United Nations does it, or all the big space faring nations get together to come to an agreement, I don't know.
China sending a man to the moon, and India pressing forward with space based solar panels that beam energy back to the earth are commendable and I wish them the best. Moving asteroids into our orbit is a whole different ball of wax.
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posted
Also, I can't find a link off the top of my head, but there were a bunch of stories recently about how private companies are putting up BILLIONS of dollars to work on private asteroid mining.
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Having sampled other articles, reporters are apparently hired for lack of curiosity, low attention span, and utter disinterest in anything that might resemble learning.
posted
Curiosity has its own Twitter feed, thus humanized enough to make me sad. If it crashes, I am going be heartbroken.
On the other hand, if this landing procedure works, do you think the Vulcans will be impressed enough to make first contact?
Posts: 8473 | Registered: Apr 2003
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posted
It was really quite exhilarating to watch the live JPL feed and simulator this morning during the final 45 min or so.
Honestly, I didn't see how the mouse trap of Martian landings could possibly have everything go right, but they pulled it off. It was quite a show.
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quote:Originally posted by Raymond Arnold: What's the best way to watch footage from the landing now?
This is some of the feed leading up to the landing. You can decide which parts you want to watch depending on how much of the pre-landing chatter you want to hear.
quote:After completing a difficult landing on the Martian surface last week, NASA’s car-sized rover Curiosity has begun deploying its highly advanced cameras and instruments, which will provide the most thorough data on the Red Planet yet. Here are several of its early discoveries:
posted
It does make me wonder... if life from another planet that WASN'T Mars landed ON Mars before they came to Earth, and they found our assorted rovers just... sitting there, what kind of impression would that leave?
Posts: 1591 | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
[b]Tinros<b>: It does make me wonder... if life from another planet that WASN'T Mars landed ON Mars before they came to Earth, and they found our assorted rovers just... sitting there, what kind of impression would that leave?
That Earthlings are a buncha litterbugs; and a scan of Earth orbit would lead them to conclude that Earthlings are a buncha incurable litterbugs.
Posts: 8501 | Registered: Jul 2001
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posted
... And the NASA budget cuts mean that half of planetary scientists may have to leave the field permanently in the next two years. It's not getting a lot of press.
posted
Congress and the sequester, mostly. I don't know if it's possible to villianize them any more.
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