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[abstract alien]

The only thing better to conceptualize than infinity is nothing. Seriously. Once your realize that latter isn't possible, it makes the former so much more vast.

Yep. I always think it has to fold back in on itself at some point, because my mind can't quite handle the concept of infinity. As in, actually visualizing it. It's like you can never think enough to understand it because whatever you are imagining...it's infinitely bigger(and smaller) :^l

 

[Drazgul]

But isn't the moon unintresting beside a dock point for a travel to mars?

If they ever figure out nuclear fusion, those Helium-3 deposits at least will start to look mighty tempting.

 

[The Librarian]

I thought July 21st was the date that man first walked on the moon? Or was July 21st when Armstrong said his famous line?

 

[Woorloog]

I thought July 21st was the date that man first walked on the moon? Or was July 21st when Armstrong said his famous line?

The journey took some time. I assume the actual lunar landing happened on 21st, launch was on 20th then, i guess?

 

[dabig2]

I thought July 21st was the date that man first walked on the moon? Or was July 21st when Armstrong said his famous line?

According to Wikipedia:

Apollo 11 was the spaceflight which landed the first humans, Americans Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, on the Moon on July 20, 1969, at 20:18 UTC. Armstrong became the first to step onto the lunar surface 6 hours later on July 21 at 02:56 UTC.

So they touched down on the moon at 20:18 UTC on July 20 which translates to 3:18 pm EST on July 20. And then he actually walked on the moon 6 hours later. So I guess it depends on the timezone you live in; but for Americans, all the action on the moon happened today.

The journey took some time. I assume the actual lunar landing happened on 21st, launch was on 20th then, i guess?

Launch actually happened on July 16th. It was about a 4 day journey to the moon back then.

 

[Woorloog]

Launch actually happened on July 16th. It was about a 4 day journey to the moon back then.

Of course, silly me. I was thinking of that Tintin comic, to get to Moon in one day, one would have to acclerate at 1g constantly or something like that, fast anyway.

 

[SniperHunter]

That's a pretty damn massive explosion if it could wipe out life (as we know it) in a 10 light year radius. Boggles the mind to think about the scale of it.

indeed.

 

[Tesseract]

~ subscribed

 

[Ovid]

If they ever figure out nuclear fusion, those Helium-3 deposits at least will start to look mighty tempting.

You're right about that.

That's when things will really take off. Competition for that energy source will finally make space exploration profitable thus causing businesses to seek entry into it.

 

[hirokazu]

Wow, I didn't know it was six hours after landing before they actually stepped outside.

I remember being shown documentaries of Apollo 11 and other space missions and also the space buzz around the Shoemaker-Levy comet hitting Jupiter in Year 4. That shit blew my mind.

When I think back about it, some of my teachers probably grew up with the original moon landings and having that blow their mind, hence their enthusiasm with showing us all those old space missions.

I only hope that the kids these days will continue to grow up learning about the wonders of space that I grew up with in school.

 

[evlcookie]

I'm get the feeling this may have been posted, Hopefully not though!

http://vimeo.com/45878034 - View from the ISS at Night

Every frame in this video is a photograph taken from the International Space Station. All credit goes to the crews on board the ISS.
I removed noise and edited some shots in photoshop. Compiled and arranged in Sony Vegas.

It's fucking beautiful.

 

[Dead Man]

I'm get the feeling this may have been posted, Hopefully not though!

http://vimeo.com/45878034 - View from the ISS at Night



It's fucking beautiful.

Jesus that is beautiful. Thanks for posting.

 

[AndersTheSwede]

Getting close...

 

[Chittagong]

Well guys it's July 20th which means 43 years ago today men landed on the Moon for the first time ever!

"The world waited; curious, wondering, aware, like...a sleeper wakened in the night by a faraway sound..."

It still gives me goose bumps to think of this guy, flown in this tiny tin can into a different world, sitting there looking at barren moonscape, going for a stroll and then flying back to Earth. Such a crazy engineering feat.

 

[Agnostic]

I noticed a few people talking about Curiosity and want to inform people that Curiosity has a Twitter account if you would like to follow.

https://twitter.com/MarsCuriosity

 

[Leeroy3101]

It's a shame that we don't remember/honor the moon landing. Probably one of the biggest achievements in human history.

 

[Log4Girlz]

It's a shame that we don't remember/honor the moon landing. Probably one of the biggest achievements in human history.

Its amazing what they did in that film studio with 60's technology. They fucking threw a ton of cash on the special effects.

 

[BruiserBear]

It's a shame that we don't remember/honor the moon landing. Probably one of the biggest achievements in human history.

Agreed. It's still pretty amazing to me. Even more amazing when you realize that we haven't done it since the 70's. It's clearly not easy, because if it was we'd just go back again soon. I really hope we do it again before the decade is over. I know it's so unlikely due to a variety of reasons, but I think that would do some good for the world to have an international team land and walk on the moon again.

In fact, I'd love to see one of the presidential candidates here in the U.S propose an international idea to send a group to the moon. Maybe even propose something wild, like asking the leaders of troubled nations to join the team. A sign of world unity. An Iranian, an American, a Chinese, a Brazilian, etc.

I think that would be a wonderful idea, and would show a real perspective on world relations and science being used to bring people together.

Its amazing what they did in that film studio with 60's technology. They fucking threw a ton of cash on the special effects.

lol

 

[Log4Girlz]

F that noise. I want humanity's first moon landing to be orchestrated by a private entity.

 

[BruiserBear]

F that noise. I want humanity's first moon landing to be orchestrated by a private entity.

Wait, you were for real when you said the first landings were filmed on a Hollywood lot?

 

[Epicus Failus]

Its amazing what they did in that film studio with 60's technology. They fucking threw a ton of cash on the special effects.

I'll give you a 2 out of 10 on that one, mate. It's just way too easy.

 

[Log4Girlz]

Wait, you were for real when you said the first landings were filmed on a Hollywood lot?

Of course not, I'm not a lunatic.

 

[Dead Man]

Of course not, I'm not a lunatic.

Well played.

 

[abstract alien]

Theoretically, can temperature have an effect on light? As in, can it get so cold that light particles travel slightly slower for example, or do they operate completely outside of such parameters?

 

[fallout]

Theoretically, can temperature have an effect on light? As in, can it get so cold that light particles travel slightly slower for example, or do they operate completely outside of such parameters?

There are ways to slow light down, but I don't know that temperature can have an effect on it. Photons travel through empty space, which is pretty close to absolute zero and the speed of light in a vacuum is as fast as you can go.

 

[C.Dark.DN]

Indirectly. If that mass it travels through is changed by temperature.

 

[Kyaw]

Have you guys seen this Keynote Speech by Neil DeGrasse Tyson at the 28th National Space Symposium?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zt4h8_N4OA4&feature=player_embedded

It was a very good watch. He hit all the points on head, such an inspiring man.

 

[Ovid]

I just heard Sally Ride died (the first American woman in space). She was young too...only 61

R.I.P.

 

[Hootie]

whoa....the first american woman in space, Sally Ride, died at age 61. RIP


Edit: whoops beaten. Still terrible news.

 

[maquiladora]

Sunspot AR1520 on the farside of the sun was responsible today for an extremely fast moving coronal mass ejection.

NASA estimated it's speed at 6.5 million mph (2930 km/s), which classifies it as a rare CME, just 70 km/s shy of being classified as an extremely rare CME.

In fact, I think it is one of the fastest CMEs ever recorded. Generally the faster it moves, the more 'punch' it has when it impacts.

Since the sunspot is on the farside of the sun, the CME is not heading for earth, but if it had have happened just a few days earlier, while facing earth, we probably would have seen the biggest geomagnetic storm in decades, maybe even in modern times!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tkKKvlP0as

 

[Woorloog]

Since the sunspot is on the farside of the sun, the CME is not heading for earth, but if it had have happened just a few days earlier, while facing earth, we probably would have seen the biggest geomagnetic storm in decades, maybe even in modern times!

And if it had hit Earth, we'd be seeing very nice aurorae very likely, no?

Guess we got lucky though, if it would have been a big geomagnetic storm, it could have caused a lot of issues, no?

 

[ThaneKrios]

Scientists Discover The Oldest, Largest Body Of Water In Existence--In Space

 

[Woorloog]

Scientists Discover The Oldest, Largest Body Of Water In Existence--In Space

Hell, many asteroids have a lot of water... and now this. Why do "scifi" "writers" insist on making aliens invade Earth for water and other resources?

 

[maquiladora]

And if it had hit Earth, we'd be seeing very nice aurorae very likely, no?

Guess we got lucky though, if it would have been a big geomagnetic storm, it could have caused a lot of issues, no?

Well it's faster than the estimated speed of the CME from the infamous 1859 Carrington Flare. So yeah, it would have certainly had the potential to be a major storm if it had have been directed at us, though speed isn't the only factor with these things.

 

[Erigu]

Scientists Discover The Oldest, Largest Body Of Water In Existence--In Space

The new cloud of water is enough to supply 28 galaxies with water.

Holy crap.

 

[Gorgon]

Scientists Discover The Oldest, Largest Body Of Water In Existence--In Space

That's old news. I also think it has been posted already.

Hell, many asteroids have a lot of water... and now this. Why do "scifi" "writers" insist on making aliens invade Earth for water and other resources?

Because most sci-fi writers suck balls and don't know shit, unfortunately. It's the reason why I keep re-reading my favourite stuff and very little new stuff ends up with a permanent space on my shelf.

 

[maquiladora]

NASA have re-classified yesterday's Coronal Mass Ejection from Rare to Extremely Rare.

Considering its arrival time, the initial speed of CME could be around 3400 km/s.

http://swc.gsfc.nasa.gov/main/20120723-AL-005

Amazing! Statistically, we probably won't see a CME as fast as that again for at least another decade, maybe a lot longer. And it could have been earth directed if it had happened just a few days earlier.

 

[WeAreStarStuff]

Have you guys seen this Keynote Speech by Neil DeGrasse Tyson at the 28th National Space Symposium?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zt4h8_N4OA4&feature=player_embedded

It was a very good watch. He hit all the points on head, such an inspiring man.

Thanks for this. Videos like this should have millions of views.............

 

[BruiserBear]

Anyone else wondering if that CME could have damaged the Mars probe that's supposed to land in a couple weeks?

Mars was right in the path of it.

 

[Hootie]

Anyone else wondering if that CME could have damaged the Mars probe that's supposed to land in a couple weeks?

Mars was right in the path of it.

Not according to the map.gif that a few posts up. According to that, the red square represents "Stereo A" which was directly in its path while the red circle, Mars, was on the other sides of the sun

 

[BruiserBear]

Not according to the map.gif that a few posts up. According to that, the red square represents "Stereo A" which was directly in its path while the red circle, Mars, was on the other sides of the sun

Oh damn. I didn't notice there were several red items on that map.

 

[Insane Metal]

Holy shit, that CME stuff is amazing. Thanks for posting. The sun is angry guys.

 

[WeAreStarStuff]

Holy shit, that CME stuff is amazing. Thanks for posting. The sun is angry guys.

 

[XMonkey]

Hell, many asteroids have a lot of water... and now this. Why do "scifi" "writers" insist on making aliens invade Earth for water and other resources?

Because that's what humans have loved to do all throughout our history (and still do). The bad sci-fi writers can't think outside of that paradigm because it's kind of a lazy way to make your story relatable to an average reader I guess.

 

[Log4Girlz]

Hell, many asteroids have a lot of water... and now this. Why do "scifi" "writers" insist on making aliens invade Earth for water and other resources?

A truly realistic sci-fi movie would be boring. If you can travel the cosmos, there is no reason to invade another species other than for shits and giggles.

 

[Woorloog]

A truly realistic sci-fi movie would be boring. If you can travel the cosmos, there is no reason to invade another species other than for shits and giggles.

Isn't there?
Any other species is competition. Any other species is a potential threat. Alien minds may be similar to human's (as commonly depicted in scifi) or they might be truly alien. I wouldn't be surprised if there existed a species that will ruthlessy crush any potential threats, to be absolutely sure they will survive.
Exterminating (or at least decimating their industrial capacity) another species is not that hard, just accelerate a bunch of asteroids to their planets. For added effect, give them relativistic speeds. For making asteroid shields less effective, split the asteroid to smaller pieces during approach. (I have devious mind, no?)

Also, creating realistic scifi movie depicting invasion or space combat without being boring can be done. It is challenging and requires good director and writing, etc. The problem is that it would be hard and it's been repeatedly proven that there's no point in making intelligent films when brainless action makes a lot of money for Hollywood. (Pardon the hyperbole)

EDIT also, my question about the scifi movies was largely rhetorical.

 

[derFeef]

I found District 9 believable to some degree. At least the scenario itself could be realistic.

 

[Forsete]

The problem is that it would be hard and it's been repeatedly proven that there's no point in making intelligent films when brainless action makes a lot of money for Hollywood. (Pardon the hyperbole)

Which makes me very sad. :/

 

[Gorgon]

Because that's what humans have loved to do all throughout our history (and still do). The bad sci-fi writers can't think outside of that paradigm because it's kind of a lazy way to make your story relatable to an average reader I guess.

Even more amazing is how people like Stephen Hawkings also think SETI is a bad idea because aliens may invade earth to steal our resources, lol. The guy is still living in the 50s. Guess he hasn't been keeping up with solar systems/comets/asteroid research for decades.

 

[Mengy]

A truly realistic sci-fi movie would be boring. If you can travel the cosmos, there is no reason to invade another species other than for shits and giggles.

There is one very important resource here on Earth, one reason to invade us, one thing that is probably rare and unique in the universe: us. Humans.


We would probably make great slave labor or pets for some advanced alien race, unique pets, with personality and humorous behavior. You know, like how we make fish and birds our own pets. Pretty much everything else is most likely easily found all over the cosmos for a species who can travel about it freely.