Space stuff (NASA, UKSA, CSA, ESA, etc)

strawman

strawman

Space news that doesn't need its own thread.

"Take a right at saturn and aim for the pale blue dot..."
Cassini takes pictures of Earth from 900 million miles away:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/whycassini/cassini20130722.html


You are the brightest blue dot in the center-right of the image. This is the actual size image the spacecraft took, so while there are higher resolutions available on the above linked webpage, they are blown up.
 
evilmike

evilmike

A picture from the Hubble


I can' t help but think that we'll need to use the explosion created from overloading the impulse engines of a Constitution class starship to stop this thing.
 
strawman

strawman

Voyager 1, a spacecraft we launched in 1977, has traveled over 12 billion miles and NASA is officially stating that it has left our solar system, the heliosphere, and is now officially traveling between the stars.

CNN Video: http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/v...lla-nasa-voyager-1-left-solar-system.cnn.html

It's only using a 22watt radio, so how do we know where it is, when even our most powerful visual telescopes can't see that far? Nasa uses many radio telescopes throughout the world as though they were a single huge telescope, and it shows up quite brightly compared to the quasars and other radio signals we search for in space:

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/pale...al-interstellar-space-photographed-8C11167660

Note that most amateur radios that transmit at 20 watts can't go more than a few hundred miles on a good day, and under exceptional circumstances (and within the right frequency) they might travel around the world. But when you task a bunch of antennas around the world together to focus on the same signal, you effectively build an antenna as big as the earth itself, and it's the effective antenna size that makes it possible.
 
strawman

strawman

So apparently with little fanfare here in the US, at least, china has landed an unmanned ship on the moon, and launched a robotic rover. While the rover appears to be experiencing technical problems, this is no small feat.

I'd like to have hope his will spur us to increase our space exploration efforts, but I doubt it will move the politicians currently in control of the purse strings.
 
ThatNickGuy

ThatNickGuy

stienman said:
So apparently with little fanfare here in the US, at least, china has landed an unmanned ship on the moon, and launched a robotic rover. While the rover appears to be experiencing technical problems, this is no small feat.

I'd like to have hope his will spur us to increase our space exploration efforts, but I doubt it will move the politicians currently in control of the purse strings.
Click to expand...
"Is there oil on the moon? No? Fuck it. Not interested."
 
Bubble181

Bubble181

stienman said:
So apparently with little fanfare here in the US, at least, china has landed an unmanned ship on the moon, and launched a robotic rover. While the rover appears to be experiencing technical problems, this is no small feat.

I'd like to have hope his will spur us to increase our space exploration efforts, but I doubt it will move the politicians currently in control of the purse strings.
Click to expand...
...Unless I'm mistaken, this happened in december. Are you seriously saying the US just didn't pay any attention at all? That's surprising.
 
evilmike

evilmike

Bubble181 said:
...Unless I'm mistaken, this happened in december. Are you seriously saying the US just didn't pay any attention at all? That's surprising.
Click to expand...
I remember seeing coverage as it happened.

Heck, it even made the Daily Show, with Patrick Stewart providing a dramatic portrayal of the rover:
 
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