posted
I read about this yesterday, but it was lacking on the methodology and how the scientists came to this conclusion. The updated stories today make it look much more likely and offers some good theories and evidence.
posted
I'm really hoping to see space exploration as an important plank in the upcoming presidential election. How hard is it to get a pro-space president?
I want to see people on Mars before I die!
Posts: 3950 | Registered: Mar 2006
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I saw an article in the news the other day that the satellite that observes hurricane formations in the Atlantic was on the verge of failing and we have nothing to replace it. In other words, we're close to not having ANY warning system for hurricanes in the Atlantic. Anyone hear anything specific on this?
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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posted
Lyr, I'm not sure on exact details of which satellite may be dying without a direct replacement, but I can positively confirm that there are still govt weather satellites monitoring the east coast for severe weather. One was just launched last year (GOES N) and is in good health.
doesn't suprise me if a given constellation doesn't have a replacement ready right away (though they generally try for that) but there are multiple constellations of satellites watching that kind of thing, and even if one dies often times it is possible to shift an existing satellite to cover it's slack (if it's in a more critical area or whatnot)
Posts: 1038 | Registered: Feb 2006
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posted
yeah, I don't blame you, just wanted to make sure there wasn't a hatrack movement of mass hysteria about the Bush administration ignoring hurricanes or something Posts: 1038 | Registered: Feb 2006
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Tuesday, July 24, 2007 NorthrupGrumann is buying out ScaledComposites, which of course means goodbye to VirginGalactic. Like GM with its electric car, NorthrupGrumann will fubar SpaceshipTwo so badly that it'll set back civilian space flight for at least a decade. I'd LOVE to be proven wrong.
Friday, July 27, 2007 I said I'd love to be proven WRONG.
Posts: 8501 | Registered: Jul 2001
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posted
Compressed gas is dangerous, inert or not. Always, always, always perform regular inspection and maintainance.
Having NG run the ship might actually be a good thing. They ought to temper the cowboy culture at SC, and bring a little bit more discipline to their processes.
Posts: 157 | Registered: Apr 2005
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I sure would like to understand more about the new propulsion system they are trying with this spacecraft. One report said it was previously "only thought of in science fiction" Posts: 9538 | Registered: Aug 2003
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posted
I'm pretty sure the Dawn spacecraft uses an Ion Drive, which HAS been featured frequently on Star Trek type shows with space ships. Ion drives use a "slow and steady wins the race" idea. They speed up slowly, but the engine is constantly firing. It allows the craft to constantly have the acceleration and at the same time carry much less fuel than a conventional engine would.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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posted
It is funny that at the NASA site, they are calling that engine "The Prius of space"
quote: The engine is called NASA Solar Electric Propulsion Technology Applications Readiness. Most people in the deep space exploration business just refer to it as "ion propulsion."
Yep, sounds like it is a fascinating idea of a slow and steady electric engine that runs on solar power.
You would think, with that kind of technology available, we would be able to wean ourselves from oil here someday soon....
quote: "Hold a piece of notebook paper in your hand. The weight of that paper pushing against your hand is the same as the thrust provided by one of Dawn's ion engines -- at full throttle I might add," said Brophy. "If you had an ion engine firing here on Earth, it would not be able to push a skateboard across a sidewalk!"
I've only begun to play with it, but I did find one flaw: one galaxy will always remain coplanar after the encounters with the 2nd galaxy, even when they are at 90 degrees to each other and equal mass. While the 2nd galaxy can be sprayed out of it's plane. This is a minor bug that was probably done on purpose to reduce the amount of computation.
Posts: 6316 | Registered: Jun 2003
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posted
Hey, They left out Uranus. I know Pluto is no longer a planet, but I didn't think Uranus was even under contention.
Posts: 12591 | Registered: Jan 2000
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After a few telecommunications satelites get destroyed and we lose a some precious piece of technology that makes our lives easier, then we'll feel compelled to clamor for action. Either that or a military satelite will get hit, though I can't believe those things aren't already pretty well hardened beyond normal standards. Either way, this is typical. We think something as vast as space, like oceans or land or whatever is just too big to possibly be ruined, and we'll keep thinking that way until we can't anymore.
Maybe I'll be dead before we get to that point.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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posted
A very cool movie of how jets are formed by active quasars. The associated article in Sky and Telescope tells more info. Apparently they've discovered exactly how it is that such jets can form.
There's even a song, Superluminal Lover written by one of the astronomers in honor of the discovery.
Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
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posted
Several pages (and years) back I wondered about the number of galaxies in the universe... found this estimate over on Wikipedia's galaxy entry:
quote:There are probably more than 100 billion [10 to the 11th power] galaxies in the observable universe.
The Wikipedia entry's full of fascinating stuff:
quote:Despite the prominence of large elliptical and spiral galaxies, most galaxies in the universe appear to be dwarf galaxies. These tiny galaxies are about one hundredth the size of the Milky Way, containing only a few billion stars. Ultra-compact dwarf galaxies have recently been discovered that are only 100 parsecs across.
Many dwarf galaxies may orbit a single larger galaxy; the Milky Way has at least a dozen such satellites, with an estimated 300–500 yet to be discovered.
and
quote:The current era of star formation is expected to continue for up to one hundred billion years, and then the "stellar age" will wind down after about ten trillion to one hundred trillion years (1013–1014 years), as the smallest, longest-lived stars in our astrosphere, tiny red dwarfs, begin to fade. At the end of the stellar age, galaxies will be composed of compact objects: brown dwarfs, white dwarfs that are cooling or cold ("black dwarfs"), neutron stars, and black holes. Eventually, as a result of gravitational relaxation, all stars will either fall into central supermassive black holes or be flung into intergalactic space as a result of collisions.
The probe is going to spend two years completing the most comprehensive map yet of the lunar surface, and will be identifying locations rich in the various materials that would be useful in the manufacture and running of a lunar base.
I didn't see it in the article, but do they specify anywhere what new technology is allowin gus to see it? Or was it just a matter of knowing where to look?
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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Blayne Bradley
unregistered
posted
Whats currently the cutting edge both practical and theoretical of space propulsion for say quickly getting from Earth to Pluto in a reasonable time?
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Project Orion --Pluto in less than one year, round trip. Any less radical design would probably be impossible with current tech. Even making it to Mars is going to be really pushing the envelope.
Posts: 6316 | Registered: Jun 2003
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posted
"India marked its presence on Moon on Friday night to be only the fourth nation to scale this historic milestone after a Moon Impact Probe with the national tri-colour painted successfully landed on the lunar surface..."
Neither the probe nor the tricolors would survive a 1.683kilometres-per-second/3764miles-per-hour splat (drop in from the minimum lunar orbital velocity), let alone the more likely (due to fuel savings) 2.38kps/5324mph splatter (minimum drop in based on lunar escape velocity).
Posts: 8501 | Registered: Jul 2001
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quote:CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - As NASA prepares to double the number of astronauts living aboard the International Space Station, nothing may do more for crew bonding than a machine being launched aboard the space shuttle Endeavour on Friday.
It's a water-recycling device that will process the crew's urine for communal consumption.
"We did blind taste tests of the water," said NASA's Bob Bagdigian, the system's lead engineer. "Nobody had any strong objections. Other than a faint taste of iodine, it is just as refreshing as any other kind of water."
It's cool when you consider that this kind of technology needs some serious testing before trying it out in a life-or-death situation such as a base on the moon or a mission to Mars.
Posts: 4344 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
Lyrhawn, the exoplanet images came from Hubble, AFAIK.
Here is today's bit of interesting space news. Potentially huge, game-changing information about Mars. Giant underground glaciers that AREN'T in the polar regions.
Posts: 1099 | Registered: Apr 2005
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