• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Space: The Final Frontier

M

Memphis Reigns

Member
Honestly it doesn't even look like a ghost image. It will be debunked soon enough unfortunately but its a cool thought to think about the possibility of a starship hiding behind Mercury all this time while observing and studying Earth/Humans
 
3

3phemeral

Member
Memphis Reigns said:
Honestly it doesn't even look like a ghost image. It will be debunked soon enough unfortunately but its a cool thought to think about the possibility of a starship hiding behind Mercury all this time while observing and studying Earth/Humans
Click to expand...
It's already been debunked:


MSNBC

"When (this averaging process) is done between the previous day and the current day and there is a feature like a planet, this introduces dark (negative) artifacts in the background where the planet was on the previous day, which then show up as bright areas in the enhanced image,"

He noted that the bright spot disappears when the CME footage is reprocessed using pixel values from a different day — the day after the CME, for example — to remove background light, instead of pixel values from the previous day.

Those in favor of the bright spot being a cloaked UFO mothership rather than a data-processing artifact will surely point out that the spot in question is not round like the ghost of a planet, but rather sharp-edged like the Starship Enterprise.

And they have a point: A high-resolution image of the spot shows that it is composed of two roughly parallel lines. "The pixels which form the two parallel lines are where the circle from the planet and the bleeding pixels (cross-like features) overlap as it progresses across the field," Rich wrote. In other words, because Mercury moves over the course of each day, and because saturated pixels bleed light into adjacent pixels, an averaged image of Mercury from the previous day looks like two streaks, rather than an orb.
Click to expand...
 
A

Allard

Member
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/...-rover-opportunity-gypsum-life-space-science/

NASA's Mars rover Opportunity has found "bulletproof" evidence that liquid water—and potentially habitable conditions—once existed on the red planet's surface, scientists say.

The find is a vein of gypsum—a mineral that forms in the presence of liquid water—that's been nicknamed Homestake.

The mineral vein is "about as wide as your thumb and a few tens of centimeters long," Cornell University geologist Steve Squyres said yesterday at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.

Opportunity has found water-related minerals on Mars before, but those discoveries were in sandstones. Before consolidating into rock, the stones' grains might have blown many miles from their sources, obscuring the history of the minerals.

(Related: "Mars Has Liquid Water Close to Surface, Study Hints.")

By contrast, the Homestake vein lies in bedrock, which means "this stuff formed right here," said Squyres, who is the principle investigator for the rover mission.

In Mars's ancient past "there was a fracture in the rock. Water flowed through it. Gypsum precipitated. There is no ambiguity about this," he explained.

"This is the single most powerful piece of evidence for liquid water on Mars that has been found by the Opportunity rover," Squyres added.

"Here, both the mineralogy and the [form of the outcrop] scream water."

Crater "Like a New Landing Site"

The gypsum vein was found on a rise, informally known as Cape York, on the rim of the 14-mile-wide (23-kilometer-wide) Endeavour Crater, which Opportunity reached a few months ago.

The team had been driving toward the crater for years, knowing that the rocks there would be older and hopefully different from what Opportunity had been previously exploring during its eight-year sojourn.

"These rocks are very ancient," Squyres said, adding that "as soon as we got to Cape York, it felt like the mission started over again. It was like a new landing site."

(Related: "Mars Water Discovered, 'Tasted' by Lander—A First.")

Gypsum bands like the one in Homestake aren't the only signs of water along Endeavor's rim.

Orbiting instruments have seen the chemical signatures of smectite, a form of clay, which is another mineral associated with water, said rover team member Ray Arvidson of Washington University in St. Louis.

What's more, the water-related minerals previously found by the rover had suggested a harsh, high-acid environment.

(See "Early Mars Water Was Salty, Toxic Stew.")

But gypsum can form under much more neutral conditions that could have been friendly to life, Cornell's Squyres said. And if clays exist, they also tend to form under much more neutral conditions.

Mars Rover Nearing Winter Base

Further exploration, however, will have to wait until the next Martian spring.

The solar-powered Opportunity is currently preparing to hunker down in a winter base where it can receive enough sunlight to maintain observations through the oncoming Martian winter.

A suitable site has already been picked, sloped at the ideal angle to keep the rover's solar panels pointed at the sun.

In addition to reduced sunlight, "this is the dustiest part of the year for the solar panels," said team member Bruce Banerdt of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

In the past, windstorms have cleared dust from the panels, but it's been a while since the last such "cleaning event," he said.

The combination of dust and the lowering angle of the sun have cut the rover's electrical power to 40 percent of maximum. But that's not enough to threaten the rover in the same way as a winter power drain ended operations for Opportunity's twin rover Spirit.

(Related: "Mars Rover to Roam No More—It's Official.")

"This is a very different situation than Spirit was experiencing [before it died]," he said. "We're not talking about surviving. We're talking about getting enough energy on the panels so we can stay active.

"As of this morning [December 7], she's in excellent health," Banerdt said of Opportunity. "Really, she hasn't changed much in the last year."

And considering that the long-lived rover was intended to complete just a 90-day mission, Washington University's Arvidson added: "Are we out of warranty on this vehicle? You betcha. But we're not done yet."
Click to expand...
 
M

Memphis Reigns

Member
Awesome findings. Anyone who knows anything about space is certain Mars once had water. At this point it doesn't even need to be confirmed, Mars once being wet happened. That much is clear by now. But supporting life? I'm waiting for that confirmation.
 
E

Emwitus

Member
Hypothetically, If a meteor was gonna hit earth in less than 3 years and we couldnt stop no matter what we did. Do you guys think we could migrate to mars? Or at that points its just roll over and die.
 
A

Allard

Member
Emwitus said:
Hypothetically, If a meteor was gonna hit earth in less than 3 years and we couldnt stop no matter what we did. Do you guys think we could migrate to mars? Or at that points its just roll over and die.
Click to expand...

If its 3 years we do what deep impact did. Cultivate a habitat to survive extreme conditions. Unless its an atmosphere destroying meteor, life should still be able to exist, its just the conditions would be so extreme 'most' life would die from it over time. Lets put it this way, a nuclear winter/heat wave from a meteor impact would still more survivable then mars is currently, and that doesn't add in how hard it would be to simply transport supplies to mars compared to construction on this world.
 
N

noah111

Still Alive
I wish we could make a giant x-ray machine and find any and all fossils that may lie below the martian surface. Or, you know, send fucking Dr. Alan Grant to do some digging.
 
M

Maklershed

Member
Sentry said:
I wish we could make a giant x-ray machine and find any and all fossils that may lie below the martian surface. Or, you know, send fucking Dr. Alan Grant to do some digging.
Click to expand...

Or get one of the rovers to snap a picture of a single bone sticking out of the ground. The race to a put a science team on Mars would begin in no time.
 
wolfmat

wolfmat

Confirmed Asshole
Emwitus said:
Hypothetically, If a meteor was gonna hit earth in less than 3 years and we couldnt stop no matter what we did. Do you guys think we could migrate to mars? Or at that points its just roll over and die.
Click to expand...

It's pretty clear what would happen. Either the meteor wouldn't be impactful enough to kill us all, or it would be. If it would be, we'd all be dead in three years. Mars or no Mars.

Of course we could pull our shit together and get a manned mission to Mars going in three years. But it would be a suicide mission. Oxygen would be limited, crew would be extremely limited, means to get a base going would be nonexistent. Certain death awaits.

Edit: And just to be clear: Currently, there is no such thing as terraforming, surviving in open space, generational ships, nothing. Leaving Earth means to die.
 
S

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
wolfmat said:
It's pretty clear what would happen. Either the meteor wouldn't be impactful enough to kill us all, or it would be. If it would be, we'd all be dead in three years. Mars or no Mars.

Of course we could pull our shit together and get a manned mission to Mars going in three years. But it would be a suicide mission. Oxygen would be limited, crew would be extremely limited, means to get a base going would be nonexistent. Certain death awaits.

Edit: And just to be clear: Currently, there is no such thing as terraforming, surviving in open space, generational ships, nothing. Leaving Earth means to die.
Click to expand...

Dun worry they are building a secret identical transdimensional spacecraft off the coast of Hokkaido.
 
Insane Metal

Insane Metal

Member
That is absolutely awesome.

Imagine if one day we find evidence that 1 billion years ago or something, Mars was actually a living, healthy planet, and for some reason it simply "died". Maybe it got hit by another planet, got taken out of its original orbit, its atmosphere was blown away, whatever... and what we see now is just dust that has been going around in the planet since then... 1 billion years is quite a long time...

Of course, it's just my imagination =P
 
M

Memphis Reigns

Member
Insane Metal said:
That is absolutely awesome.

Imagine if one day we find evidence that 1 billion years ago or something, Mars was actually a living, healthy planet, and for some reason it simply "died". Maybe it got hit by another planet, got taken out of its original orbit, its atmosphere was blown away, whatever... and what we see now is just dust that has been going around in the planet since then... 1 billion years is quite a long time...

Of course, it's just my imagination =P
Click to expand...

Funny, this weekend I watch a film called Melancholia. Followed the perspective of a girl and her sister's family waiting for a planet to supposedly narrowly pass by Earth.
The planet ends up hitting Earth, depressing ending
. Pretty good movie actually.
 
A

a176

Banned
Insane Metal said:
That is absolutely awesome.

Imagine if one day we find evidence that 1 billion years ago or something, Mars was actually a living, healthy planet, and for some reason it simply "died". Maybe it got hit by another planet, got taken out of its original orbit, its atmosphere was blown away, whatever... and what we see now is just dust that has been going around in the planet since then... 1 billion years is quite a long time...

Of course, it's just my imagination =P
Click to expand...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hesperian_Period
 
Mengy

Mengy

wishes it were bannable to say mean things about Marvel
Tonight is the Geminid meteor showers. The moon will unfortunately be high in the sky and bright, but you should still be able to see some all night long as long as you have clear skies. They will be out tomorrow night too, but tonight is the best viewing time, especially in America.
 
3

3phemeral

Member
Insane Metal said:
That is absolutely awesome.

Imagine if one day we find evidence that 1 billion years ago or something, Mars was actually a living, healthy planet, and for some reason it simply "died". Maybe it got hit by another planet, got taken out of its original orbit, its atmosphere was blown away, whatever... and what we see now is just dust that has been going around in the planet since then... 1 billion years is quite a long time...

Of course, it's just my imagination =P
Click to expand...
Earth flew by and knocked it off of it's orbit, stealing the ingredients of life and dooming it for all eternity. Long hail Earth!
 
W

Windu

never heard about the cat, apparently
New Paul Allen backed space venture
The company is pursuring an air-launch system, but on a scale never before attempted: a modified Falcon rocket, built by SpaceX, launched from a six-engine dual-fuselage aircraft that the company says “will be the largest aircraft ever flown.” The aircraft will be built by Scaled Composites, with Dynetics providing a “state-of-the-art mating and integration system”. The system will focus initially on launching satellites, but doesn’t rule out human missions as well.
Click to expand...
more http://www.newspacejournal.com/2011/12/13/paul-allen-to-unveil-stratolaunch-systems-today/
 
X

XMonkey

lacks enthusiasm.
For Low Earth Orbit stuff it was basically the only logical conclusion.

You'll probably never see private space stuff for long-distance missions, or probes. That's what NASA and the other government space agencies will focus on. It's a good move, in my opinion. Private companies are the only hope I have for one day going into space.
 
C

Clevinger

Member
Izayoi said:
Seems like private/corporate interest is going to be the only hope for the future of spaceflight.

Kind of depressing, really. :(
Click to expand...

I wish people wouldn't say this. It relies on both private and public. There's no incentive for the private sector to explore when there's little chance for profit and monumentally high risks. That's what public money is for.

Without NASA and other public space exploration agencies, SpaceX and other private companies would only be doing LEO stuff (launching satellites, "space" tourism) for the foreseeable future. Maybe if they figured out a way to mine the moon, bring its resources back to Earth, and actually still be profitable, they'd extend there. But why would they go to Mars, or any other planet?

I know you're not saying this, but it pisses me off to no end when people act like SpaceX is this super amazing company who will solve all our space problems. Or the people who shit on NASA while propping up SpaceX, as if SpaceX didn't build itself up on the shoulders of NASA with not only NASA's money, but the decades of NASA's amazingly expensive and extensive research and development. Grrrrr.
For the record, I do like SpaceX and other private space companies and appreciate their role.
 
O

Orayn

Member
Clevinger said:
I wish people wouldn't say this. It relies on both private and public. There's no incentive for the private sector to explore when there's little chance for profit and monumentally high risks. That's what public money is for.

Without NASA and other public space exploration agencies, SpaceX and other private companies would only be doing LEO stuff (launching satellites, "space" tourism) for the foreseeable future. Maybe if they figured out a way to mine the moon, bring its resources back to Earth, and actually still be profitable, they'd extend there. But why would they go to Mars, or any other planet?

I know you're not saying this, but it pisses me off to no end when people act like SpaceX is this super amazing company who will solve all our space problems. Or the people who shit on NASA while propping up SpaceX, as if SpaceX didn't build itself up on the shoulders of NASA with not only NASA's money, but the decades of NASA's amazingly expensive and extensive research and development. Grrrrr.
For the record, I do like SpaceX and other private space companies and appreciate their role.
Click to expand...
The obvious solution is to get the world's richest individuals really, really interested in space vacations and space mansions. There's your private funding!
 
R

RyanardoDaVinci

Member
Insane Metal said:
That is absolutely awesome.

Imagine if one day we find evidence that 1 billion years ago or something, Mars was actually a living, healthy planet, and for some reason it simply "died". Maybe it got hit by another planet, got taken out of its original orbit, its atmosphere was blown away, whatever... and what we see now is just dust that has been going around in the planet since then... 1 billion years is quite a long time...

Of course, it's just my imagination =P
Click to expand...

As a kid I always looked at the huge rift/valley on Mars as an unnatural development. To me, it looked like the impact of a huge, planet destroying weapon that just grazed the surface but was still enough to kill the planet's life sustaining properties.

I also thought insects/arachnids came from Mars; anything with more than 2 eyes, 4 limbs, and an endoskeleton wasn't of this earth. :p
 
A

AlimNassor

Banned
RankoSD said:
A gas cloud with several times the mass of the Earth is approaching the centre of our Milky Way where a supermassive black hole is.

http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1151/

Animation of how it should look like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5pc0rSSJhY

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


So in the next few years we should see a black hole in its "eating" process, nice.
Click to expand...

is it possible said Gas Cloud is actually alive and is committing suicide via blackhole?
 
L

LogicStep

Member
It makes me so sad that I won't live to see a future like in the Mass Effect games, if we will ever get that far...

Would be awesome to see more of a push for space exploration or anything that has to do with space.
 
P

Prez

Member
RankoSD said:
A gas cloud with several times the mass of the Earth is approaching the centre of our Milky Way where a supermassive black hole is.

http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1151/

Animation of how it should look like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5pc0rSSJhY

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


So in the next few years we should see a black hole in its "eating" process, nice.
Click to expand...

The center of the Milky Way is 27,200 light years away from the sun, so that gas cloud has been gone before human civilization even began :)

It's nice that we finally get to see it.
 
wolfmat

wolfmat

Confirmed Asshole
Hootie said:
NASA Planning for Europa Landing?

yes please.
Click to expand...
Obligatory:
csEe2.jpg
 
T

Tawpgun

Member
Lets say hypothetically Mars once supported a luscious, green planet full of plant and animal life....

That means when it died off, there is a good chance of their being MASSIVE reserves of Oil underneath the surface.

There's your private funding. Convince the oil tycoons of the world that if they can get a settlement on Mars going, they have an entire planet for an oil field.

And by the time this happens we will have moved on to a better fuel source. So jokes on them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Starfield Shattered Space |OT| Is that the Great Serpent or are you just happy to see me?
2 3 4 5 6
257
11K
dmaul1114 replied
DF - Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth: PS5 Pro vs PS5 - A Vast Improvement At 60FPS
9 10 11 12 13
649
28K
PaintTinJr replied
Destiny 2: The Final Shape | Review Thread
Analysis Review 2
58
3K
Warnen replied
Sonic Frontiers Final Previews
48
3K
Whitecrow replied
  • Poll
(Somewhat) How Not To Retrospective: The Nintendo 64 Chronicles (Sakhura Baguette)
Opinion Analysis Retro
23
2K
Katajx replied
Top Bottom