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Space: The Final Frontier

A

AstroNut325

Member
Hootie said:
NASA budget will be cut 20%; Mars deal with Europe axed

EFpbg.jpg


WHY
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I really hope this is false. If it's true... I know a lot of people will be unemployed because of it! It's sad to see the nations best and brightest part of the government getting this kind of treatment!
 
H

Hootie

Member
A27 Tawpgun said:
The James Webb primarily, in addition to the economy.

That's no excuse for not being able to find funding somewhere else or to cut from other programs to add to NASA.

Shave off 1% of the Defense Budget and NASA will be loaded.
Click to expand...

Lets make NASA's budget equal to the current defense budget, and vice versa.

Once upon a time, in a better place...

Damnit, humans.
 
M

McNei1y

Member
That pillars article is so awesome. When I think of the concept of looking into space it blows my mind everytime. We're actually looking into the past when in the present it can be totally different! It's kind of scary at the same time.
 
T

Teknoman

Member
McNei1y said:
That pillars article is so awesome. When I think of the concept of looking into space it blows my mind everytime. We're actually looking into the past when in the present it can be totally different! It's kind of scary at the same time.
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Yup, space is pretty much the definition of the word mind-blowing.


Not sure if its been posted yet, but night time Earth passover video by the space station:

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/02/earth-at-night-videos/?pid=3122

Several different clips showing different sections of the planet.
 
wolfmat

wolfmat

Confirmed Asshole
McNei1y said:
That pillars article is so awesome. When I think of the concept of looking into space it blows my mind everytime. We're actually looking into the past when in the present it can be totally different! It's kind of scary at the same time.
Click to expand...

Everything you experience has already happened. There is no exception!
 
N

Noirulus

Member
Was watching Wonders of the Universe presented by Brian Cox. Amazing and incredibly beautiful visuals but I can't help but feel that Prof. Cox doesn't delve very deep into the physics aspect.

Great eye candy though.
 
Z

Zoibie

Member
Noirulus said:
Was watching Wonders of the Universe presented by Brian Cox. Amazing and incredibly beautiful visuals but I can't help but feel that Prof. Cox doesn't delve very deep into the physics aspect.

Great eye candy though.
Click to expand...

I thought he did a good job explaining stuff like entropy and heat death, but yeah, these shows are always tailored towards the layman.

Also, my first time in this thread. Don't know why I never noticed this place before.
 
E

Escape Goat

Member
The Swiss want to clean up all the space junk and are actually doing something about it.


GENEVA (AP) — The tidy Swiss want to clean up space.

Swiss scientists said Wednesday they plan to launch a "janitor satellite" specially designed to get rid of orbiting debris known as space junk.

The 10-million-franc ($11-million) satellite called CleanSpace One — the prototype for a family of such satellites — is being built by the Swiss Space Center at the Swiss Federal Institute for Technology in Lausanne, or EPFL.

EPFL said Wednesday its launch would come within three to five years and its first tasks are to grab two Swiss satellites launched in 2009 and 2010.

The U.S. space agency NASA says over 500,000 pieces of spent rocket stages, broken satellites and other debris are being tracked as they orbit Earth.

The debris travels at speeds approaching 17,500 miles per hour (28,000 kilometers per hour), fast enough to destroy or inflict costly and time-draining damage on a satellite or spacecraft. Collisions, in turn, generate more fragments floating in space.

"It has become essential to be aware of the existence of this debris and the risks that are run by its proliferation," said Claude Nicollier, an astronaut and EPFL professor.

Building the satellite means developing new technology to address three big problems, scientists say.

The first hurdle has to do with trajectory: The satellite has to be able to adjust its path to match that of its target. EPFL said its labs are looking into a new ultra-compact motor that can do this.

Next, the satellite has to be grab hold of and stabilize the debris at high speeds. Scientists are studying how plants and animals grip things as a model for what would be used.

And, finally, CleanSpace One has to be able to take the debris, or unwanted satellites, back into Earth's atmosphere, where they will burn on re-entry.

Swiss Space Center's director, Volker Gass, said it hopes to someday "offer and sell a whole family of ready-made systems, designed as sustainably as possible, that are able to de-orbit several different kinds of satellites."
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C

Clevinger

Member
The debris travels at speeds approaching 17,500 miles per hour (28,000 kilometers per hour), fast enough to destroy or inflict costly and time-draining damage on a satellite or spacecraft. Collisions, in turn, generate more fragments floating in space.
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holy shit
 
C

ced

Member
Noirulus said:
Was watching Wonders of the Universe presented by Brian Cox. Amazing and incredibly beautiful visuals but I can't help but feel that Prof. Cox doesn't delve very deep into the physics aspect.

Great eye candy though.
Click to expand...

I think they dig deep enough, any deeper and a lot of people would not be interested.

Both that series and the solar system one are great.
 
N

noah111

Still Alive
Maklershed said:
I thought this was pretty cool. It's the possible view of the sun from the surface of Pluto:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUehz_x5MwM&feature=player_embedded
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I've never really pictured it, but this got me thinking of how weird it would be, being so distant from the sun.

I don't know, I feel like I would go insane or something, there really is something about the sun that gives you this feeling of connection to something, like being anchored.

Being on pluto is the definition of depression.
 
Z

zerodayPopbot

Member
Sentry said:
I've never really pictured it, but this got me thinking of how weird it would be, being so distant from the sun.

I don't know, I feel like I would go insane or something, there really is something about the sun that gives you this feeling of connection to something, like being anchored.

Being on pluto is the definition of depression.
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Spare a thought for Sedna, which has the longest orbital period of any known large object in the Solar System.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/90377_Sedna
Web_print-1-.jpg
 
N

NaM

Does not have twelve inches...
F

fallout

Member
Machado said:
can you recomend me a better one in a sub $200 range? (and sold from amazon pls)
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If you're only looking at sub $200, then I'd say that's probably not a bad telescope. It certainly appears to be better than the standard department store telescopes.
 
W

WeAreStarStuff

Member
I went to an event at NASA's D.C. HQ earlier this week, in which astronaut Ron Garan spoke, did a Q&A, and presented a lovely video of our little blue marble.

Something that I found interesting was that most of the water on ISS is recycled....from urine and sweat. He also described the smell of space as a burnt metal - I've heard something similar to this before but not sure where.

Some grainy cell images:
IMAG0310.jpg


IMAG0319.jpg
 
L

Log4Girlz

Member
One day, when we have robots design and build everything from scratch, space travel will be dirt cheap. Travel on holiday to Saturn (well, to an orbit of Saturn) for pocket change! Sigh.
 
W

Woorloog

Banned
Log4Girlz said:
One day, when we have robots design and build everything from scratch, space travel will be dirt cheap. Travel on holiday to Saturn (well, to an orbit of Saturn) for pocket change! Sigh.
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I really doubt it will be dirt cheap. Even with Space Elevators, cheap fusion... Oh it will be far cheaper than currently, some sort space tourism won't be impossible even for average people (though you still probably have to save a few years for that trip).
But you forget travel times. IIRC, Mars can be reached in 3 months if you go straight there though that costs a lot, requiring a lot of delta V. 3 months is a pretty long for a vacation. Return trip is also 3 months of course. The cost is probably prohibitive for tourists...
Using cheaper Hohmann transfer orbit, it takes 18 months (again, IIRC, correct me if i'm wrong). Oh and you can only start the journey on certain launch window...
Journey to Saturn takes even longer.

Cryo hibernation might make such journeys tolerable (do you think you could spend months or years in a ship you cannot exit, with same (probably small number) people, in tight quarters, with only weak connection to Earth (light speed lag...)) but whether humans can be hibernated is unknown. And for long times...
You probably won't be going to Saturn unless you are going to live there or work there.

Torchships, ie spacecraft that acclerate constantly at 1g (9.81m/s^2) until midpoint and then flip around and start braking make the travel times pretty nice, some three weeks from Earth to Pluto if i recall the excerpt i read today from Robert A. Heinlein's book correctly (Heinlein was pretty accurate on this sort of stuff) and that's the extreme.
Of course torchships might not be possible, 1g for 3 weeks or even shorter times requires enormous amounts of energy, fuel and reaction mass.
Even if such ships are possible to build, we won't be making such for hundreds of years.

And, yeah, i know, i'm a dreamcrusher. Don't read about realistic space travel or your dreams will be crushed... Ah, well, reading about rocketry and such is intersting.

Oh and couple of questions.
First, is there some easy to use and free 3d modelling program? I'd like to make a few 3d models of warcraft i've envisioned for a PnPRPG. Easy to use as i don't have experience with modelling software. And i cannot draw well enough to draw them... though that is worth a try.
Alternatives would be making the model from Legos which isn't currently exactly possible, and using GalCiv2's ship builder though it is far from ideal.
And secondly, should i ask a few questions about weapons in space (again, regarding my PnPRPG) in this thread, make another thread for it or does someone know a good forum where people talk about stuff like that? (Stardestroyer.net comes to mind but are there others?).
 
Gorgon

Gorgon

Member
Clevinger said:
Oh man, if only that thing was on the rover that just launched. :eek:
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Unfortunately, NASA seems to be afraid of getting inconclusive results again like the ones from the Viking mission. They run the risk that someone else goes there (Europe/Russia/China) and finds life first and become known as the discoverers of life outside of Earth if NASA keeps going around the question. I understand they want to make sure that they have enough data to make the search in the best candidate places possible, but that will never happen. You'll just have to go and look for it at some point.
 
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