Search forums

Forums

Export thread

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

Limit: 500

Jul 23, 2013#1

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.

Jul 23, 2013#2

Chad Sexington

Man...

Man.

It just blows my mind. All of it.

Jul 23, 2013#3

Gusto

That's a GREAT photo.

Jul 23, 2013#4

Espy

Oh WOW.

Jul 23, 2013#5

Cheesy1

Duuuuuuude . . .

Jul 23, 2013#6

sixpackshaker

That literally made my head explode.

Jul 23, 2013#7

Just Me

I'm always awed by stuff like that. Really!

But nonetheless I can't resist: damn you NASA and your shiny new remakes ruining my childhood memories!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pale_Blue_Dot

Jul 23, 2013#8

Ravenpoe

NASA, always with the selfies.

Jul 23, 2013#9

David

At least they're not making a duck face.

Jul 23, 2013#10

Ravenpoe

David said:
At least they're not making a duck face.

They still got the high angle vanity shot, though.

Jul 23, 2013#11

DarkAudit

Dammit, my eyes were closed!

Jul 23, 2013#12

bhamv3

sixpackshaker said:
That literally made my head explode.

Jul 25, 2013#13

FnordBear

David said:
At least they're not making a duck face.

Jul 25, 2013#14

Just Me

David said:
At least they're not making a duck face.

Not the NASA guys, no!

Jul 25, 2013#15

Chad Sexington

Just Me said:
Not the NASA guys, no!

I love that fact, but I think I love that fact presented by meme slightly more. What does that mean... Hm.

Jul 31, 2013#16

evilmike

Another picture from Cassini:
Two Moons Passing in the Night

Jul 31, 2013#17

sixpackshaker

That's no moon.

Aug 30, 2013#18

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.

Aug 30, 2013#19

PatrThom

evilmike said:
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.

Heh. I can hear the Irwin Allen-esque music.

--Patrick

Aug 30, 2013#20

Emrys

evilmike said:
Another picture from Cassini:
Two Moons Passing in the Night

That's no moon! That's a space station.

Sep 17, 2013#21

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.

Sep 19, 2013#22

Shakey

Oct 18, 2013#23

Frank

I'm sure this is also from Cassini, made from a composite of photos taken above Saturn.

Just cause.

Oct 18, 2013#24

Charlie Don't Surf

space FUCKING owns.

Oct 23, 2013#25

evilmike

(via nasa.gov)

Nov 23, 2013#26

drifter

This is pretty neat: receive text alerts when the ISS is about to be overhead.

Dec 19, 2013#27

strawman

http://www.sheldoncomics.com/archive/131218.html

Jan 24, 2014#28

strawman

A few days ago Rosetta woke up, having been lunched 10 years ago. It will now approach a comet, map it, then land an instrument on it in November.

:eek:

Jan 24, 2014#29

Chad Sexington

stienman said:
A few days ago Rosetta woke up, having been lunched 10 years ago. It will now approach a comet, map it, then land an instrument on it in November.

I love this so much.

Jan 24, 2014#30

Frank

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/s...-explosion-spotted-in-galaxy-m82-9083909.html

So, over the next couple of weeks, you should be able to, with binoculars, see a super nova happening in a neighboring galaxy.

Feb 26, 2014#31

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.

Feb 26, 2014#32

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.

"Is there oil on the moon? No? Fuck it. Not interested."

Feb 26, 2014#33

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.

...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.

Feb 26, 2014#34

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.

I remember seeing coverage as it happened.

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

Feb 26, 2014#35

Shakey

Here is a pretty interesting article about NASA's assessment of what it would have taken to save Columbia had they known something was wrong.

Mar 10, 2014#36

strawman

The moon is a LADEE killer:

http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2014/an-extended-mission-for-ladee.html

After extending the mission another month, a minor miracle of careful fuel usage in itself, the LADEE is set to impact the moon near the end of April.

LADEE spends most of her days checking out the chemical composition of the atmosphere and dust surrounding the moon. In her last month she will come closer to the moon to check out what the atmosphere is like at newer, lower altitudes, practically skimming the surface at 5km high. Prior to this new phase, she was performing her science at altitudes of 20-60km.

As she comes closer and closer, she will eventually be unable to maintain orbit, and bury herself deep into the surface of the moon.

They are somewhat worried about the possibility of her crashing into or near one of the several Apollo sites, which is undesirable for reasons of historical and political value. Perhaps they will accidentally deorbit her on top of the Chinese rover...

Notably, this is the first mission to employ a laser communications device, which attained a communications rate of over 600megabits per second, though the error free rate was more sedate at 20 megabits per second. Note that this was from a spacecraft orbiting the moon to a ground station on earth. No small feat. Future missions, particularly manned missions, will no doubt employ laser communications for the purpose of faster data transmission. The next technology demonstration of laser communications will occur in 2017 as a satellite is put into orbit as a laser relay, providing not only significantly faster communications for the same power and weight requirements on a spacecraft, but also providing communications to other satellites and spacecraft in orbit around earth that might not be in direct line of site of the ground station.

Mar 10, 2014#37

GasBandit

Hell, 20 megabit is more bandwidth than I get at home

Wonder what the latency is. The speed of light at that distance should get travel time slightly over a second, but that's probably not the only factor.

stienman said:
They are somewhat worried about the possibility of her crashing into or near one of the several Apollo sites, which is undesirable for reasons of historical and political value. Perhaps they will accidentally deorbit her on top of the Chinese rover...

If Kerbal Space Program has taught me anything, it's that it's damn near impossible to get one thing onto the moon within 1km of another thing on the moon without trying really really really hard and being able to do correction burns on the way down.

Mar 10, 2014#38

evilmike

From NASA Goddard's Flickr account:

Mar 10, 2014#39

PatrThom

GasBandit said:
If Kerbal Space Program has taught me anything, it's that it's damn near impossible to get one thing onto the moon within 1km of another thing on the moon without trying really really really hard and being able to do correction burns on the way down.

However, when you don't want it, I'm sure the odds reduce significantly.

--Patrick

Mar 10, 2014#40

sixpackshaker

PatrThom said:
However, when you don't want it, I'm sure the odds reduce significantly.

--Murphy

FTFY

Mar 10, 2014#41

strawman

evilmike said:
From NASA Goddard's Flickr account:

Pretty sure thats an artist rendering of the impact of LADEE into the moon.

Hope everyone attached debris shielding to their homes and buildings...

May 22, 2014#42

strawman

Well I thought we had a thread about it, but searches aren't working for me.

The spacecraft originally known as ISEE-3 (International Sun-Earth Explorer), then, because it was still working at the end of that mission, was re-tasked as ICE (International Cometary Explorer) is coming close to earth again, near its 36 year anniversary of being launched.

NASA decommisioned it in 1997, but found it hadn't fully shut down when they listened to it in 1999, and that all but one of its sensors and experiments were still operational. Further, it had enough propellant for a short burn. However, all the equipment used to talk to it decades ago had been decommissioned in 1997, and NASA has no current way to give it commands.

A group of scientists and enthusiasts got together, came up with a trajectory that would recapture it in Earth's gravitational field so it would begin to orbit us again. They successfully raised the minimum $125,000[USD], and are now in the process of setting the equipment up to communicate with the spacecraft and initiate a burn near the end of this month or beginning of the next.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Cometary_Explorer (wikipedia article about the spacecraft)

http://www.rockethub.com/42228#description-tab Crowdfunding campaign (they met the goal, but have stretch goals now)

http://spacecollege.org/isee3/ Project updates

May 22, 2014#43

PatrThom

You may have mentioned it in the XKCD thread. Sorta.

--Patrick

Jul 1, 2014#44

evilmike

(via Astronomy Picture of the Day )

Jul 1, 2014#45

strawman

Tomorrow morning an interesting satellite is launching at 5:50am EDT. It's going into the a-train, a fascination flying formation of earth and environmental satellites following one after the other in the same orbit, separated by only 12 to 15 second each. In order to get this CO2 mapping satellite into the a train formation, the launch window is only 30 seconds.

Today the intrepid group trying to resurrect isee3 attempted communication, and succeeded in several commands, but were not able to start the burn in the time slot they had available. They will try again tomorrow. Project updates on their twitter feed:

https://mobile.twitter.com/isee3reboot

Jul 2, 2014#46

strawman

They are go for launch in under an hour, for those night owls, or Europeans. Check out the blog updates here http://blogs.nasa.gov/oco-2/

And google nasa tv for a live feed with audio from the control room.

Jul 2, 2014#47

Bubble181

stienman said:
for those night owls, or Europeans.

...
Is, umm...This an either/or thing? Do I have to choose?

Jul 10, 2014#48

strawman

stienman said:
The spacecraft ... ICE (International Cometary Explorer) is coming close to earth again ... A group of scientists and enthusiasts got together, came up with a trajectory that would recapture it in Earth's gravitational field so it would begin to orbit us again.

And it appears that this attempt is a failure. While they will still try a few more things, their best guess is that the tanks of propellant are actually empty or otherwise nonfunctional.

From the project updates: "Our troubleshooting today eliminated some suspected causes of propulsion system problems. We do not think any of the valves are malfuctioning. Right now we think there is a chance that the Nitrogen used as a pressurant for the monopropellant Hydrazine propulsion system may have been depleted. That said, we still have a number of troubleshooting options yet to be explored. We have a DSN pass scheduled for Friday that will allow us to recalibrate our location information and trajectory plans for ISEE-3. Even if the L-1 halo orbit is no longer an option, we do have plans to use ISEE-3 for science in other locations within the inner solar system after the lunar flyby on 10 August."

They are, at minimum, going to turn on the instruments and collect data as it flies by, and as the above quote mentions they have a few more thoughts on methods to try, but it may be the last time we will ever see this spacecraft. Sounds like they'll leave it alive, though, and perhaps in the future we'll have powerful enough radio capability to at least receive it and check up on it occasionally like we do with Voyager (who, incidentally, has definitely left the solar system).

Jul 20, 2014#49

evilmike

Jul 20, 2014#50

GasBandit

Man, such a nailbiter. When the propellant remaining started ticking down from 60 seconds to empty while still 100 feet off the ground, that's some serious pucker factor there.

Jul 29, 2014#51

evilmike

The new record holder...

A map of Opportunity's journey:

No word on when it will get to come home. It's a good rover.

(via NASA)

Jul 30, 2014#52

GasBandit

MAN MADE BIOLOGICAL OXYGEN-PRODUCING LEAF, MOFOS

Who needs stupid carbon filters now? These bad boys take in light, CO2 and H20... and produce oxygen! It's important because apparently terrestrial plant life doesn't grow as well in zero gravity.

Jul 30, 2014#53

PatrThom

So he invented...algae?

--Patrick

Jul 30, 2014#54

GasBandit

PatrThom said:
So he invented...algae?

--Patrick

Algae in a high efficiency, high surface area, convenient leaf-shaped silk artificial container, I suppose. Did you watch the video? It's not plants, it's... plant guts.

Jul 30, 2014#55

PatrThom

GasBandit said:
Did you watch the video?

Yes. He has divorced the organelles (chloroplasts) from the organism and put them to work for his intended purpose, a bit like pearls from oysters. He suspends them in a matrix of some sort of rendered silk product, which is probably chemically very similar to gelatin (protein v. protein). I just want to know the purported benefits over algae. Lower water usage, maybe? Do the chloroplasts still need to be "alive" in order for this to function (if not, this would mean better shelf life). Is there a reason this couldn't be algae suspended in thin sheets of agar?

Also I was unclear on how they would be "recharged."

--Patrick

Aug 1, 2014#56

GasBandit

Space Engineers' propellentless electricity powered thrusters are now not so impossible.

http://sploid.gizmodo.com/nasa-reveals-new-impossible-engine-can-change-space-t-1614549987

NASA builds working EM-Drive "Quantum Vacuum Virtual Plasma thruster" which uses no reaction mass, only electricity, can't explain why the hell it works.

This is absolutely earth-shattering. Imagine satellite maneuvering thrusters that never run out.

Oct 31, 2014#57

evilmike

Nice picture of Astronomy Picture of the Day today:

Oct 31, 2014#58

GasBandit

It's been a rough week for american spaceships. First the Antares rocket explodes seconds after liftoff, and now Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo has crashed in the Mojave desert and the crew is MIA.

Oct 31, 2014#59

GasBandit

Latest news is, of the two-man crew of VGSS2, one is dead and one is injured, being airlifted to the hospital.

http://www.breakingnews.com/item/2014/10/31/1-pilot-dead-another-injured-after-virgin-galacti/[DOUBLEPOST=1414782703,1414782203][/DOUBLEPOST]

Oct 31, 2014#60

sixpackshaker

It is so sad when this happens to the stuff that dreams are made of.

Oct 31, 2014#61

GasBandit

I'm no forensics expert, but the lack of a smoking crater and the large pieces of spacecraft close together makes me think whatever went wrong went wrong in the air that resulted in a loss of control, and the spacecraft did the falling-leaf thing to the earth instead of augered in on a ballistic trajectory, breaking in half on impact. The crew wears parachutes. No word on if they jumped or rode it all the way in.[DOUBLEPOST=1414783690,1414783367][/DOUBLEPOST]Looking at a picture of SS2 (here pictured attached to the craft that carries it up to 50k feet), the photo above might just be that of a single tailfin, no idea about the rest of the ship.

Oct 31, 2014#62

PatrThom

Best guess ATM is that the rocket motor exploded during the burn.

--Patrick

Oct 31, 2014#63

GasBandit

Another photo of the crash

Appears to be at least some of the fuselage, perhaps on its back?

Oct 31, 2014#64

PatrThom

Incidentally, if you want to learn more of the story behind the vessel (and haven't seen it already)...

--Patrick

Nov 1, 2014#65

GasBandit

Nov 1, 2014#66

Frank

Nov 3, 2014#67

GasBandit

Investigators are saying the "feathering" system (not sure how that works in a rocket engine, I'm only familiar with "feathering" in the case of propellers) deployed prematurely before the craft broke up in flight. Not specified if it was causal or symptomatic of the cause.

Nov 3, 2014#68

sixpackshaker

The Feathers is when the wing moves into a 90 degree angle to slow the space plane down so it can do reentry with out needing a heat shield. So the co-pilot hit the brakes under full throttle and it ripped the wings off.

Nov 3, 2014#69

PatrThom

GasBandit said:
I'm only familiar with "feathering" in the case of propellers

Watch the movie. They explain the whole design and how it works, and why the feathering system means they don't have to pack a chute.
(If you're at all interested in flight/space explo, then I recommend you watch it anyway. It's a great documentary)

--Patrick

Nov 6, 2014#70

evilmike

An image from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array international observatory in Chile which shows an very early stage of planetary system development:

(via Gizmodo)

Nov 6, 2014#71

sixpackshaker

All hail Sauron!

Nov 8, 2014#72

evilmike

Earlier this year the Lick observatory , the world's oldest mountaintop observatory, was in danger of losing its funding from the University of California. The school has changed course and will continue to fund the observatory. The decision is in part due to a public campaign to save the facility. (via io9)

Also:

Nov 10, 2014#73

strawman

Rosetta's going to drop her child off at daycare. Forever.

Wednesday, we will attempt to land a spacecraft on an asteroid.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/10/world/philae-comet-lander/

Should take 7 hours from separation to landing.

Nov 12, 2014#74

GasBandit

Nov 12, 2014#75

PatrThom

Been following the saga over at http://xkcd1446.org/

--Patrick

Nov 12, 2014#76

Piotyr

Nov 12, 2014#77

strawman

I assume that's just a CGI image, and not an actual photo of the lander.

Nov 12, 2014#78

GasBandit

stienman said:
I assume that's just a CGI image, and not an actual photo of the lander.

I think so. I was taken in by it too at first, as several news sources have been treating it as if it were actual footage, but I'm almost certain it's CGI.

Nov 12, 2014#79

Piotyr

Either way, it works for an "It landed" image.

Nov 12, 2014#80

evilmike

PatrThom said:
Been following the saga over at http://xkcd1446.org/

--Patrick

Nov 13, 2014#81

GasBandit

here's some more pictures of the landing.

https://www.halforums.com/media/esa-comet-landing.22/

Nov 13, 2014#82

tegid

It's an amazing accomplishment because it's the first time humanity has landed some device on a comet but also, as a minor point, it's the fourth body in the solar system where we have 'set foot', the third besides earth! Fucking amazing

Hope they are finally able to secure the module with the harpoons or whatever

Nov 13, 2014#83

strawman

tegid said:
the fourth body in the solar system where we have 'set foot', the third besides earth!

Does throwing something onto Titan with no expectation of "landing" count?[DOUBLEPOST=1415893734,1415893652][/DOUBLEPOST]No, wait, it did land, and lasted for about 90 minutes after landing. You'll have to include that in your list.

Nov 13, 2014#84

PatrThom

stienman said:
No, wait, it did land, and lasted for about 90 minutes after landing. You'll have to include that in your list.

If that's what you're doing, we'll have to include Venus in your list as well.

--Patrick

Nov 13, 2014#85

evilmike

Also to be considered:

The soft touchdown of NEAR Shoemaker on the Asteroid 433 Eris.

The landing of the Hayabusa probe on 25143 Itokawa.

Nov 13, 2014#86

tegid

Okay, yeah, those count. The 8th then...

Nov 13, 2014#87

GasBandit

Nov 14, 2014#88

evilmike

The Philae lander had issues on landing. The anchoring harpoons and landing did not deploy and the landing thruster did not fire. The lander bounced twice. The first bounce was 1km high and took almost 2 hours to complete. The lander is now sitting on its side in the shadow of a cliff which means that it is not getting enough sunlight to sustain the mission. (via Space.com)

Even in its compromised position, the probe is still collecting data. It will also begin attempting several additional experiments while it still has power. (via io9)

Nov 15, 2014#89

evilmike

More updates on Philae:
* The lander has successfully drilled into the comet to seach for organic molecules.
* All of the data that has been collected has been downloaded.
* The main solar panel has been repositioned to improve its ability to collect sunlight.
* The lander has been placed in sleep mode and will try to reactivate when it is closer to the sun.

(via Gizmodo)

Nov 17, 2014#90

evilmike

The ESA has released a mosaic showing images captured by the OSIRIS camera on the Rosetta orbiter. The images show the first decent of Philae and part of the first bounce. (via ESA, Gizmodo)

Nov 17, 2014#91

GasBandit

Uh... Jose Canseco has some odd ideas about the ramifications.

"SPACE PIONEERS USED TO RIDE THESE BABIES FOR MILES!"

Nov 17, 2014#92

Charlie Don't Surf

He's not wrong

Nov 17, 2014#93

GasBandit

Charlie Don't Surf said:
He's not sane

FTFY

Nov 17, 2014#94

strawman

Comets "have their own power"? Anything we put on them has to be sped up to match the speed of the comet in the first place, and if we can do that, what do we need to attach it to the comet for? Anything we speed up that much will continue on until it hits something else, just like the comet!

Nothing he said is true. Our Juno Mission spacecraft was travelling over 25 times faster than halley's comet.

Rosetta had to travel faster than its comet at points during its mission simply to catch up to it.

Nov 17, 2014#95

tegid

Charlie Don't Surf said:
He's not wrong

He's not simply wrong, he's either using a system of physics entirely different from that of the rest of the world, has some secret info about comets, or is high.

Nov 17, 2014#96

GasBandit

Nov 17, 2014#97

Charlie Don't Surf

He knows more about the importance of space research than the average American

Nov 17, 2014#98

strawman

Well he stands in the exclusive club of 158 million Americans that know more about the importance of space research than the average American.

In short, that's not a very high recommendation. Can you compare him to an established space or science expert? Or even a celebrity scientist, like Bill Nye? How would those people appreciate his comments?

Nov 17, 2014#99

Chad Sexington

Wait, are we assuming Jose Canseco is serious when he tweets? Because I've always assumed it's intentionally humorous.

Nov 17, 2014#100

PatrThom

Hey, since Yogi Berra is gone...

--Patrick

Nov 17, 2014#101

GasBandit

PatrThom said:
Hey, since Yogi Berra is gone...

--Patrick

... I ... don't think... Yogi Berra is dead.

Nov 17, 2014#102

Null

GasBandit said:
... I ... don't think... Yogi Berra is dead.

He's still alive, he just doesn't use twitter. (none of the accounts with his name are verified)

Nov 17, 2014#103

Dei

I just wanted to give kudos to the SpongeBob reference!

Nov 17, 2014#104

GasBandit

Dei said:
I just wanted to give kudos to the SpongeBob reference!

I'm not proud of that. But it's so often invoked in memes, there was no way I would not know about that.

Nov 17, 2014#105

PatrThom

GasBandit said:
... I ... don't think... Yogi Berra is dead.

Shh! You'll ruin it!

--Patrick

Nov 18, 2014#106

Mathias

Charlie Don't Surf said:
He's not wrong

He's 100% wrong, but thanks for confirming you're a dope.

Nov 18, 2014#107

Charlie Don't Surf

geez, y'all are a bunch of dopes for not watching Ancient Aliens.......

Nov 18, 2014#108

sixpackshaker

Charlie Don't Surf said:
geez, y'all are a bunch of dopes for not watching Ancient Aliens.......

You mean you watch the most racist show on TV?

Nov 18, 2014#109

Charlie Don't Surf

the insane racism is like, a footnote in all that Ancient Aliens spouts

Dec 3, 2014#110

evilmike

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has launched another Hayabusa probe. The Hayabusa 2 mission will intercept an asteroid in 2018, land, deploy rovers, and ultimately return samples to Earth in 2020. The asteroid selected will be more of a primordial body than in the first mission. It is hoped that the data collected will provide new insight into the formation of the solar system.

(via The Rocketry Blog and The Japan Times)

Dec 3, 2014#111

HCGLNS

The Orion launches tomorrow! First big step towards manned missions to deep space!

Dec 5, 2014#112

jwhouk

Orion is up.

Dec 5, 2014#113

jwhouk

The gal who's the "host" of NASA's Orion web coverage (Brandi Dean)... looks strangely like a certain cosplayer we all know and love.

Dec 5, 2014#114

evilmike

Dec 5, 2014#115

jwhouk

Orion is home.

Dec 9, 2014#116

evilmike

Timelapse of the ISS being constructed

Dec 9, 2014#117

PatrThom

evilmike said:
Timelapse of the ISS being constructed

--Patrick

Dec 9, 2014#118

fade

sixpackshaker said:
You mean you watch the most racist show on TV?

Well, if Ancient Aliens are anything like Ancient Humans, then it makes sense. Nothing is more racist than the conversation ringing through the halls of an old folk's home.

Dec 12, 2014#119

evilmike

Paging @Squidleybits (everybody else can watch too)

Geminid Meteor Shower this weekend.

Everything you need to know.

Dec 13, 2014#120

PatrThom

Ok, it's cute, I'm posting it.

--Patrick

Dec 13, 2014#121

Squidleybits

Oh no! Out if town!!

Dec 20, 2014#122

Squidleybits

Can anyone recommend an astrophotography book? I may need to take a picture taking break over the holidays but I can research for sure

Dec 29, 2014#123

Squidleybits

My first attempt at a close up. Pleiades (I think).

Jan 20, 2015#124

GasBandit

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket almost managed to land itself.

http://www.wired.com/2015/01/difficult-land-rocket/

It didn't quite make it though.

Bear in mind this is actually pretty impressive, because this rocket wasn't actually designed be easy to land - it is just a lifter and has no lateral thrust whatsoever. It's amazing it even got this close. This was AFTER a successful resupply run. It managed to pilot itself down to the landing platform from orbit on its own, it just came down a little hard because, apparently, the maneuvering fins ran out of hydraulic fluid on the way down.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/spacex-pinpointed-caused-falcon9-rocket-141300639.html

Jan 28, 2015#125

evilmike

Remembrance Day

(images via io9)

Jan 29, 2015#126

jwhouk

*SIGH*

Feb 9, 2015#127

Cheesy1

Sometimes, the universe just seems to be smiling on you!

galaxy cluster SDSS J1038+4849

Feb 13, 2015#128

evilmike

This week's SpaceX launch:

Feb 13, 2015#129

AussieT

Old article from the NY Times. A graphical representation of the currently confirmed planets found by the Kepler space telescope. I wish that we could set up twenty of them, along with 20 of the James Webb telescope to make a giant interferometer just to get a better view of what is out there.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/science/space/keplers-tally-of-planets.html?_r=0

Feb 13, 2015#130

AussieT

Forgot about reading this one. This talks further about the EM-Drive that produces thrust from electricity. I believe GasBandit talked about before, but I'm not certain. Also gives another teams perspective on it after they did some testing, other than the inventors with actual results. That part is interesting. If you have ever worked with magnetrons, you know they do some interesting things. I remember once in one of my classes showing that the magney for a SPS-49 could cause oscillations in a direction just by the field induction causing it to go out of tune. I'm going to have to dig the paperwork out again, and see if would do the same thing. Interesting.

http://nextbigfuture.com/2015/02/more-emdrive-experiment-information.html?m=1

Feb 13, 2015#131

jwhouk

So, basically, once you got the drive up in space, you could point it in whatever direction, turn it on, and - boom, it's in Mars orbit within a week?

Feb 13, 2015#132

GasBandit

I'm not sure I'm reading it right, but 5 x 10^-6 Torr is less force than you'd get from a small aerosol spray can. Methinks you'd still need conventional boosters to get "up to speed" but then could potentially use these EM drives for slow course corrections for as long as you had power - which, if your solar panels and batteries hold up, could be as good as indefinite.

Major changes in direction however would still have to whip around gravity wells, I think.

Wait, no, I AM reading it wrong, that was their reading for what constitutes hard vacuum

Ok, so if I'm reading it right THIS time... maybe not a week, but it'll take less time than with conventional chemical thrusters. It's already apparently stronger than existing tech ion thrusters, and because it doesn't use chemical propellants, it can be fired indefinitely generating 0.4 newtons per kilowatt. Which granted isn't a lot of force, but if you figure in you basically will never run out of fuel so you can more or less be constantly thrusting....

Feb 13, 2015#133

redthirtyone

GasBandit said:
you can more or less be constantly thrusting....

How YOU doin'?

Feb 14, 2015#134

Cheesy1

More close-up pictures by Rosetta of Comet 67P/C-G

Feb 14, 2015#135

PatrThom

I had no idea comets were actually just camouflaged Cylon bases.

--Patrick

Feb 21, 2015#136

evilmike

Attention @Squidleybits (and others who photograph the sky)

(via BoingBoing)

Feb 21, 2015#137

PatrThom

I saw last night. It was fantastic. Shame all I have is a phone camera, because the sky looked amazing with that conflux and the shadows of giant construction equipment.

--Patrick

Feb 21, 2015#138

evilmike

PatrThom said:
I saw last night. It was fantastic. Shame all I have is a phone camera, because the sky looked amazing with that conflux and the shadows of giant construction equipment.

--Patrick

Yeah, I ran into the same problem. I was about 5 miles away from my camera when I spotted it. I suspect it's going to be cloudy here tonight. :/

Feb 21, 2015#139

Squidleybits

Cloudy here tonight sadly. Our yard would be perfect to get the picture! I'll try though if it's clear.

Mar 13, 2015#140

evilmike

Mar 19, 2015#141

PatrThom

Yay if you live in eastern Iceland or the Faroe Islands, I guess.

--Patrick

Mar 19, 2015#142

GasBandit

Reminds me of Cousin Oskaar.

Mar 19, 2015#143

PatrThom

That video never ceases to be hilarious.

--Patrick

Mar 20, 2015#144

tegid

PatrThom said:
View attachment 17784
Yay if you live in eastern Iceland or the Faroe Islands, I guess.

--Patrick

The Sun will be about 70% covered here in Barcelona, should be pretty nice ...if the sky weren't thick with clouds

I'm particularly bummed because in the floor right above me is the astronomy department, and normally they organize something and the roof and give out special glasses and everything. And in a few months I won't be working here any more >.<

Mar 20, 2015#145

redthirtyone

I've said it before & I'll say it again - there is a small area near St Louis which will be in the path of a total solar eclipse TWICE in a 7 year span!!

Mar 20, 2015#146

Null

That's why people keep randomly sticking things there.

Mar 20, 2015#147

GasBandit

The really weird thing is, the first picture of all of those posts animate for me, but the second does not unless I open it in its own window. And that goes for both Chrome at the house, and Firefox here at work.

Mar 20, 2015#148

Bubble181

GasBandit said:
The really weird thing is, the first picture of all of those posts animate for me, but the second does not unless I open it in its own window. And that goes for both Chrome at the house, and Firefox here at work.

....oohhh, those are supposed to animate too. I was wondering why both pictures said "no eclipse".

Mar 20, 2015#149

redthirtyone

GasBandit said:
The really weird thing is, the first picture of all of those posts animate for me, but the second does not unless I open it in its own window. And that goes for both Chrome at the house, and Firefox here at work.

Yeah, now that I actually pay attention, those animations aren't gifs, so they run thru once, and quickly at that... sorry

Apr 15, 2015#150

GasBandit

Well, the landing went a little better this time, but they still say it landed too hard/going sideways too much.

Apr 28, 2015#151

GasBandit

Uh oh. The ISS resupply craft carrying 6000 pounds of supplies seems to be having itself a little Kerbal Space Program moment.

ISS supply craft spinning out of control, docking delayed indefinitely

May 3, 2015#152

evilmike

The SpaceX April 14th landing attempt:

(via io9)

May 5, 2015#153

Jay

So close.

May 13, 2015#154

GasBandit

The sunset on Mars is blue, FYI.

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover captured the above image on April 15, and it’s being described as the first sunset observed in color by the spacecraft.

The photos were taken last month, but they were just sent back to Earth last week.

While Mars may appear red, the sunset is actually blue, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory explains why this is possible:

Dust in the Martian atmosphere has fine particles that permit blue light to penetrate the atmosphere more efficiently than longer-wavelength colors. That causes the blue colors in the mixed light coming from the sun to stay closer to sun’s part of the sky, compared to the wider scattering of yellow and red colors. The effect is most pronounced near sunset, when light from the sun passes through a longer path in the atmosphere than it does at mid-day.

[DOUBLEPOST=1431571935,1431571903][/DOUBLEPOST]

May 13, 2015#155

PatrThom

Speaking of Mars, is anyone else annoyed at the latest U-Verse commercial?

I mean, even if Earth and Mars were as close together as they could possibly get, the communication delay should still be about 7min between question and response (3+ min broadcast, 3+ min receive).

--Patrick

May 15, 2015#156

Jay

I always wondered if there's a theory of faster communication even possible compared to what we have available today.

May 16, 2015#157

PatrThom

Jay said:
I always wondered if there's a theory of faster communication even possible compared to what we have available today.

Many have been proposed, but all of them come back to that same limitation.

--Patrick

May 16, 2015#158

Ravenpoe

Jay said:
I always wondered if there's a theory of faster communication even possible compared to what we have available today.

There are some exotic ideas regarding quantum entanglement

May 16, 2015#159

GasBandit

Ravenpoe said:
There are some exotic ideas regarding quantum entanglement

I used to think that too, but wikipedia poured cold water on my giddy hopes.

May 16, 2015#160

Ravenpoe

GasBandit said:
I used to think that too, but wikipedia poured cold water on my giddy hopes.

Well, that's why I called them exotic as opposed to feasible.

Unfortunately, at least as far as our current understanding of the universe is concerned, there appears to be no possible way for information to travel faster than the speed of light.

Jun 7, 2015#161

AussieT

If anyone has followed the Planetary Society, they know that they just recently launched their prototype solar sail. After many problems and delays with communicating with it, it has finally deployed its sails. The following is a link of where you can see it for about the next week or two before it gets dragged back down by atmospheric effects.

http://www.n2yo.com/?s=40661

Jun 10, 2015#162

evilmike

A new hangar at Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center

(via Gizmodo)

Jun 10, 2015#163

GasBandit

Solar eclipse as seen from an airplane (and sped up a lot)

Jun 10, 2015#164

sixpackshaker

I wonder how slow that plane is flying.

Jun 10, 2015#165

GasBandit

sixpackshaker said:
I wonder how slow that plane is flying.

At that altitude? Probably not very (several hundred mph would be my guess, minimum)

Jun 10, 2015#166

PatrThom

Yeah. They have trouble staying up unless they're going pretty fast. Airplanes are heavy, air is thin, etc.

--Patrick

Jun 10, 2015#167

Null

PatrThom said:
Yeah. They have trouble staying up unless they're going pretty fast. Airplanes are heavy, air is thin, etc.

--Patrick

At that altitude, yes. At lower altitudes, though, a 747 has a 15:1 glide ratio (without power but at a stable attitude, it will travel 15 feet forward for every foot it descends).

Jun 10, 2015#168

PatrThom

Null said:
At that altitude, yes. At lower altitudes, though, a 747 has a 15:1 glide ratio (without power but at a stable attitude, it will travel 15 feet forward for every foot it descends).

And no idea how much extending the flaps will help, but that's something I expect they wouldn't want to try at 32,000 feet.

--Patrick

Jun 10, 2015#169

Null

PatrThom said:
And no idea how much extending the flaps will help, but that's something I expect they wouldn't want to try at 32,000 feet.

--Patrick

Yeah extended the flaps at that altitude might well cause a stall. They generally extended the flaps only at low altitude because of ground effect - an aircraft at low altitude gets a boost to lift from the air being forced against the ground. That's how ground effect vehicles like the Russian Ekranoplanes worked.

Jun 10, 2015#170

GasBandit

Glide ratio doesn't account for speed. It may get 15:1 ratio, but the stall speed of a 747 is still 98 knots (112 mph).

Anyway, I don't think that's a 747 in the video, it looks more like a gulfstream 3 if you made me guess.

Jun 10, 2015#171

GasBandit

Though I suppose it could also be a G650 (the aircraft alluded when one is "fly like a G6") or any of the Gulfstreams that routinely employ vertical winglets at the end of their wings... but its curvature just looks more like a 3 to me.

Jun 14, 2015#172

evilmike

The ESA's comet lander is communicating again:

For 85 seconds Philae "spoke" with its team on ground, via Rosetta, in the first contact since going into hibernation in November.

(via ESA Rosetta Blog)

Jun 28, 2015#173

Dei

Falcon went boom today in the upper atmosphere. :/

http://money.cnn.com/2015/06/28/technology/spacex-rocket/index.html

Jun 28, 2015#174

Bubble181

Dei said:
Falcon went boom today in the upper atmosphere. :/

Real Life Kerbal Space Program. Can we hold elections to decide who plays Jebediah?

Jun 28, 2015#175

jwhouk

Elon Musk, of course.

Jun 28, 2015#176

Terrik

So I was at Kennedy Space Center yesterday and learned about the launch so I went out to St. Augustine on the beach this morning to watch the launch. Saw the orange fireball going up, and then a large puff of white smoke and thought maybe I had seen some sort of multi-stage separation going on, but nope, it was blowing up.[DOUBLEPOST=1435538745,1435538573][/DOUBLEPOST]At least Jun got to see it too. Not only was it her first launch, but she got to see a minor(?) catastrophe as well. 2 for 1. I can only say that because it was unmanned.

Jul 2, 2015#177

Bubble181

Jupiter and Venus close together last night, moon digitally added for size comparison.

Jul 10, 2015#178

fade

9.5 years ago, we basically fired a gun at where Pluto was going to be and in just a few days we will hit the target. The New Horizons probe will reach Pluto in an amazingly short amount of time.

Jul 10, 2015#179

GasBandit

Fuck Yeah

Jul 10, 2015#180

Cheesy1

Good thing it survived that glitch it had this past weekend, or this could have been one long and expensive mistake.

Jul 12, 2015#181

GasBandit

Jul 13, 2015#182

fade

I would hazard a guess that the "polygonal feature" is a suture, possibly from two colliding bodies early in the solar system formation. Being small and cool, Pluto probably failed to completely collapse to a sphere under it's own gravity.

Jul 13, 2015#183

PatrThom

fade said:
I would hazard a guess that the "polygonal feature" is a suture, possibly from two colliding bodies early in the solar system formation. Being small and cool, Pluto probably failed to completely collapse to a sphere under it's own gravity.

"You know how I got these scars?"[/Pluto]

--Patrick

Jul 14, 2015#184

evilmike

Jul 14, 2015#185

Dave

Jul 14, 2015#186

fade

Jul 14, 2015#187

MindDetective

Dave said:

Did he walk through a swamp to get there or something?

Jul 14, 2015#188

Cheesy1

MindDetective said:
Did he walk through a swamp to get there or something?

Yeah, it's called "Disney World"!

Jul 14, 2015#189

evilmike

(via xkcd)

Jul 14, 2015#190

fade

Ha. The best part is the wiki article.

Jul 14, 2015#191

Jay

What an age to live in.

Jul 14, 2015#192

PatrThom

Yes, but what if it hits my car?

--Patrick

Jul 15, 2015#193

evilmike

The unofficial names being used for Pluto's surface features are being drawn from the dark figures of myth and literature such as:

A large splotch that resembles a whale was named Cthulhu, a deity from a H. P. Lovecraft story.*

Other splotch names included Meng-Po, the goddess of forgetfulness in Chinese mythology.

Balrog, a creature in J. R. R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” books.

Vucub Came and Hun Came, death gods of Mayan mythology.

The reasoning was “We got tired of calling it the dark spot on the left and the dark spot on the right,” said Jeffrey M. Moore, the leader of the geology, geophysics and imaging team. (via The New York Times)

* I am a little leery of them making Lovecraftian connections to Pluto. If they decide to rename the planet Yuggoth, I'm out of here...

Jul 15, 2015#194

GasBandit

I'm pretty sure this is where we'll find the Kerbal Deep Space Kraken, at this rate.

Jul 17, 2015#195

fade

Jul 17, 2015#196

PatrThom

I laughed when I saw it also.

--Patrick

Jul 20, 2015#197

DarkAudit

46 years ago today...

Contact light at 15:20.

Jul 23, 2015#198

evilmike

Jul 23, 2015#199

evilmike

Tonight's launch

Jul 23, 2015#200

jwhouk

Everything Nominal, I hope?

Jul 26, 2015#201

Frank

So no talk about NASA's conference about Kepler 452b? A planet 20% larger than Earth in a VERY Earth-like orbit around it's sun that's only slightler larger (and older) than our own sun.

I listened to the conference while waiting for an appointment, exciting stuff. Can't wait for them to finally get the James Webb up there so it can start giving us incredible new details about all the exoplanets Kepler has spotted, including seasonal changes, atmosphere make-up and possible signs of vegetation.

Jul 27, 2015#202

Jay

I'm not surprised that we found something, there are countless stars out there. I'd expect millions of earths... the distance though? Ich.

Aug 1, 2015#203

evilmike

Great... now I've got this stuck in my head:

Aug 1, 2015#204

PatrThom

evilmike said:
Great... now I've got this stuck in my head:

I can think of worse things.
Many of them.

--Patrick

Aug 2, 2015#205

Ravenpoe

Jay said:
I'm not surprised that we found something, there are countless stars out there. I'd expect millions of earths... the distance though? Ich.

The distance to any planets we find is going to be ich, even the "close" ones.

Aug 2, 2015#206

Jay

The furthest probe is going top speeds we have ever achieved. If it was launched to go to this star back when we built the pyramids it'll still be 99.97% from it's destination.

Sent from my SM-G925W8 using Tapatalk

Aug 2, 2015#207

GasBandit

PatrThom said:
I can think of worse things.
Many of them.

--Patrick

Aug 2, 2015#208

PatrThom

No, I was thinking of stuff that is even worse.

--Patrick

Aug 4, 2015#209

DarkAudit

Aug 6, 2015#210

Bubble181

Moon passing in front of Earth, as captured by the EPIC on DSCOVR. Looks horribly fake but is real. Neat. Light side of the moon!

Aug 6, 2015#211

fade

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RealityIsUnrealistic

Aug 6, 2015#212

GasBandit

Bubble181 said:
Moon passing in front of Earth, as captured by the EPIC on DSCOVR. Looks horribly fake but is real. Neat. Light side of the moon!

Shit. Space Engineers needs that in their skybox.

Aug 21, 2015#213

evilmike

A new selfie from the Curiosity Rover -- this one was taken such that it is both a picture of the rover and the panorama around it:

(via io9)

Sep 18, 2015#214

fade

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/pluto-wows-in-spectacular-new-backlit-panorama

Beautiful photos of Pluto's surface:

Sep 24, 2015#215

evilmike

Reminder: Lunar Eclipse this weekend

@Squidleybits are you up for the challenge?

Sep 25, 2015#216

Squidleybits

Come on clear skies!!

Sep 25, 2015#217

strawman

Oh man... maybe I should get up for this one.

The best way, I've been told, to capture the "supermoon" is at moonrise or moonset, with a recognizable object in the foreground as a shadow. Position yourself a good distance from the object, with the moon near it, and the moon looks huge to those familiar with the object.

In Michigan it'll be moonrise for the supermoon eclipse, so if I plan this right I could put anything in the frame. Wonder if there are any nice bridges around. I suppose it would be best to have several places chosen far apart, then choose one based on weather closer to the eclipse.

The question is - will I actually get off my duff and do it?

Sep 25, 2015#218

Squidleybits

My plan is to use my 300mm on my crop body for essentially 460mm and get a close up from my driveway.

I may get fancy and try to focus stack. We'll see though as I leave early
The next morning for the Yukon. Can't be up all night sadly.

Sep 25, 2015#219

Dei

I really need to get a tripod.

Sep 25, 2015#220

Squidleybits

Honestly thought for a 1/250s exposure you could handhold I'm sure. I've done that when I haven't been keen on dragging out the tripod.

Sep 25, 2015#221

strawman

When I'm tripod-less, I find an outside corner or surface and push one point of the camera against it while I shoot. It reduces handheld vibration significantly. Just resting it on top of a walking stick while holding it helps. A tripod is certainly better and more convenient, but I've done very slow shots pushing the camera against something solid and have taken some great shots. So don't let lack of tools stop you - if you've got a camera, there's always a way to capture something interesting.

Sep 25, 2015#222

Dei

I mean usually I brace against a railing, but then maybe I get 1 non blurry shot out of it, then cry about not having a tripod.

Sep 25, 2015#223

Fun Size

stienman said:
The best way, I've been told, to capture the "supermoon" is at moonrise or moonset, with a recognizable object in the foreground as a shadow. Position yourself a good distance from the object, with the moon near it, and the moon looks huge to those familiar with the object.

I don't know...that seems like a lot of work for a dick pick.

Sep 25, 2015#224

strawman

Fun Size said:
I don't know...that seems like a lot of work for a dick pick.

You joke, but I was actually thinking about this local landmark:

The last time we had a supermoon I was driving along the road it's on, and the moon was huge next to the water tower. It wouldn't have broad appeal, but the locals would get a kick out of it. This image isn't mine, the few that I attempted to take with my cellphone while driving aren't worth sharing.

Sep 25, 2015#225

PatrThom

stienman said:
Wonder if there are any nice bridges around.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambassador_Bridge
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Water_Bridge
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zilwaukee_Bridge
There's also the Mackinac Bridge, but that's farther away.

Fun Size said:
I don't know...that seems like a lot of work for a butt pic.

FTFY

--Patrick

Sep 25, 2015#226

strawman

Yeah, Mackinac is not only far away, but the best image would have to be on the water. The two bridges to Canada might be good - less than an hour away, and I'd be able to stay on the Michigan side (though it wouldn't be hard to get to Canada, it could take a long time depending on traffic). You have to be a good distance away from the subject to get a "big moon" shot, though, and that can be tricky with buildings and such in the way, depending on where exactly the moonrise will occur.

The first two are pretty nice, but I can't say I appreciate the Zilwaukee style enough to trek out there for it.

The University of Michigan stadium would be a good one to catch, or one of the two clocktowers on campus.

Sep 27, 2015#227

Jay

Moon is so red.

Sep 27, 2015#228

Shakey

All I see are clouds...

Sep 27, 2015#229

Hailey Knight

Supposedly NASA will make a big scientific announcement tomorrow concerning Mars. So place your bets:

- Water
- Alien fossil
- Matt Damon

Sep 27, 2015#230

WasabiPoptart

Zero Esc said:
Supposedly NASA will make a big scientific announcement tomorrow concerning Mars. So place your bets:

- Water
- Alien fossil
- Matt Damon

Jimmy Hoffa

Sep 27, 2015#231

Squidleybits

I tried!

Sep 27, 2015#232

Cheesy1

Cloud cover the whole time. Couldn't see a damn thing.

Sep 27, 2015#233

WasabiPoptart

Not visible in HI. Plus it's rainy.

Sep 28, 2015#234

GasBandit

All I got were red tinged clouds.

Sep 28, 2015#235

klew

Squidleybits said:
I tried!
View attachment 19239

Did I make it better?

Sep 28, 2015#236

strawman

The first image is the supermoon prior to eclipse, closer to the horizon, the second is during the eclipse. I'm really happy to have captured even these with my setup. The clouds discouraged me at first, but I got the supermoon through a hole in the clouds (handheld, too - it was that bright!), and by 10pm the clouds were gone. Sat out behind the barn witha broken tripod and took a dozen of the blood moon. Lots of little problems I found out during and after, but it's a lot better than I've ever done before, so I'm pleased.

Sep 28, 2015#237

PatrThom

stienman said:
The first image is the supermoon prior to eclipse, closer to the horizon, the second is during the eclipse. I'm really happy to have captured even these with my setup. The clouds discouraged me at first, but I got the supermoon through a hole in the clouds (handheld, too - it was that bright!), and by 10pm the clouds were gone. Sat out behind the barn witha broken tripod and took a dozen of the blood moon. Lots of little problems I found out during and after, but it's a lot better than I've ever done before, so I'm pleased.

If you got enough of the blood moon, can you stack the pictures to increase resolution?

--Patrick

Sep 28, 2015#238

GasBandit

Sep 28, 2015#239

strawman

PatrThom said:
If you got enough of the blood moon, can you stack the pictures to increase resolution?

--Patrick

That's what I hear. I have maybe 4 pictures about this good, but I don't have the tools or expertise to try stacking them. Aside from that, it wouldn't be that big an improvement, and if I want a really good one I'll just look at one of the many much better images on the internet. It's not worth spending a lot of money or time on for me when I can ride someone else's coattails for free...[DOUBLEPOST=1443449984,1443449694][/DOUBLEPOST]The press conference starts in a little over an hour. http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-to-announce-mars-mystery-solved

Zero Esc said:
Supposedly NASA will make a big scientific announcement tomorrow concerning Mars. So place your bets:

- Water
- Alien fossil
- Matt Damon

Sep 28, 2015#240

evilmike

NASA Says There's Strong Evidence of Liquid Water on Mars

Images collected by HiRISE camera show that recurrent slope lineae—flow paths on Martian slopes appear that are thought to be caused by liquid water—appear to be seasonal, fading when inactive and reappearing annually over multiple Martian years.

The clincher comes in the form of spectral data, collected by the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter: Hydrated salts within the flow paths. These offer powerful evidence of evaporated brine, possibly from an underground reservoir.

(via Gizmodo)

Also, xkcd has its own take on the news:

Sep 28, 2015#241

ThatNickGuy

If they'd found oil, we'd have been there yesterday with a manned crew.

Sep 28, 2015#242

Bubble181

Obviously not my pictures ,but a friend-of-a-friend who's a photographer:

Muse Heart Photography

Sep 28, 2015#243

jwhouk

I suspect that the next target of any probe or lander is going to be that area where they saw the "streaks".

Sep 28, 2015#244

DarkAudit

jwhouk said:
I suspect that the next target of any probe or lander is going to be that area where they saw the "streaks".

Yep...

Sep 29, 2015#245

Bubble181

Sep 29, 2015#246

GasBandit

Sep 30, 2015#247

DarkAudit

What the water on Mars is for...

Sep 30, 2015#248

Dei

Oct 2, 2015#249

ThatNickGuy

Oct 2, 2015#250

Dei

Oct 5, 2015#251

fade

Mars, looking toward Curiosity's next destination.

It looks like where Kirk fought the Gorn.

As a caveat, this is white balanced to Earth light, hence the freakishly earth-like blue sky. You can really make out the ventifacts (wind weathering artifacts) on the faces of those hills.

Nov 3, 2015#252

fade

Dec 22, 2015#253

evilmike

Last night, SpaceX stuck the landing.

(via io9)

Dec 22, 2015#254

PatrThom

...the fourth one stayed up!

--Patrick

Jan 20, 2016#255

DarkAudit

Possible ninth (tenth if you're pro-Pluto) found?

Jan 20, 2016#256

GasBandit

DarkAudit said:
Possible ninth (tenth if you're pro-Pluto) found?

10 times the mass of earth and orbits every 10,000 years?

This is a planet of villains if ever I've heard of one. I expect it to crack open any day now, and a swarm of either ravenous space bugs or implacable undead robots will come pouring out and scour all life from our tiny blue orb.

Jan 20, 2016#257

bhamv3

... how can robots be undead?

Jan 20, 2016#258

GasBandit

bhamv3 said:
... how can robots be undead?

Like this:

Jan 20, 2016#259

PatrThom

GasBandit said:
10 times the mass of earth and orbits every 10,000 years?

This is a planet of villains if ever I've heard of one. I expect it to crack open any day now, and a swarm of either ravenous space bugs or implacable undead robots will come pouring out and scour all life from our tiny blue orb.

Nah.
It's just the sentinel, sent back to check back on us periodically, ready to trigger another Toba event and re-seed if necessary until we "get it right."

--Patrick

Feb 15, 2016#260

evilmike

It turns out a recent viral image,

(via imgur)

is an actual, unconventional cross promotion:

(via Gizmodo)

which promotes an actual contest.

Feb 18, 2016#261

WasabiPoptart

Tomorrow is Space Day at my kid's school. Susan Kilrain and Mark Polansky are coming to talk to the students.

Feb 19, 2016#262

WasabiPoptart

Feb 20, 2016#263

WasabiPoptart

Aussie is have a geek-out moment since he's sandwiched between two (former) astronauts.

Feb 20, 2016#264

DarkAudit

WasabiPoptart said:
Aussie is have a geek-out moment since he's sandwiched between two (former) astronauts.

View attachment 20474

I don't recognize them by sight. A little help please?

The only astronaut I ever met was the late Pete Conrad at the 1994 ComiCon. Same one I met Adam West at. Too bad my autograph book was lost in the fire in 2005. :cry:

Feb 20, 2016#265

PatrThom

DarkAudit said:
I don't recognize them by sight. A little help please?

WasabiPoptart said:
Tomorrow is Space Day at my kid's school. Susan Kilrain and Mark Polansky are coming to talk to the students.

There you go.

--Patrick

Feb 28, 2016#266

PatrThom

--Patrick

Apr 8, 2016#267

evilmike

SpaceX finally stuck the landing on a barge (via Gizmodo)

Apr 8, 2016#268

GasBandit

evilmike said:
SpaceX finally stuck the landing on a barge (via Gizmodo)

I TOLD them to swallow their pride and just install the Mechjeb mod, already.

Apr 8, 2016#269

Null

Wow, that's really incredible.

Apr 8, 2016#270

PatrThom

Looks pretty legit when reversed, too.

--Patrick

Apr 8, 2016#271

Jay

Humanity get a bro-fist from Elon Musk.

Guy has been having a great month.

Apr 11, 2016#272

Denbrought

evilmike said:
SpaceX finally stuck the landing on a barge (via Gizmodo)

(...) the autonomous spaceport drone ship

Being able to write that in a non-fictional setting is very uplifting.

May 1, 2016#273

evilmike

Now withness the power of this fully armed and operational telescope...

Four Laser Beams Will Create the World's Most Powerful Fake Stars

May 1, 2016#274

GasBandit

CHA

May 6, 2016#275

DarkAudit

Astronaut Ice Cream has finally been to space...

May 6, 2016#276

Dei

SpaceX nailed another drone ship landing. They weren't expecting success for this one because of the size of the rocket. My husband and I were watching the live feed, and it was awesome. The guy finished saying they weren't expecting success, the screen went white, everyone groaned, and then it came back with the rocket dead center perfect.

May 6, 2016#277

CynicismKills

SpaceX? More like SpaceYes.

May 6, 2016#278

GasBandit

And Elon Musk is pragmatic as always.

May 6, 2016#279

Null

GasBandit said:
And Elon Musk is pragmatic as always.

"Things potential supervillains say"

May 6, 2016#280

jwhouk

At this point, I'd vote for Musk over Trump for President. (Too bad Musk is ineligible, of course.)

May 8, 2016#281

Null

jwhouk said:
At this point, I'd vote for Musk over Trump for President. (Too bad Musk is ineligible, of course.)

Well, Musk's a much better choice. His businesses are built on improving or changing the ways people do business, not licensing his name to substandard products or dodgy real estate speculation; Musk is self-made, rather than inheriting vast wealth; Musk's goals are transformative rather than exploitative. If I were to vote for a billionaire, it would be someone like Elon Musk, not someone like Drumpf.

May 9, 2016#282

strawman

Electing Musk would be chaining him down to the deck of a ship he has no real control over, and effectively removing his intelligence and capacity from the economy.

May 9, 2016#283

Denbrought

stienman said:
(...) effectively removing his intelligence and capacity from the economy.

I think that's called "going Galt". Maybe politicians are just Randian method-actors?

May 9, 2016#284

PatrThom

Null said:
Well, Musk's a much better choice. His businesses are built on improving or changing the ways people do business, not licensing his name to substandard products or dodgy real estate speculation; Musk is self-made, rather than inheriting vast wealth; Musk's goals are transformative rather than exploitative. If I were to vote for a billionaire, it would be someone like Elon Musk, not someone like Drumpf.

Well then I can't wait for Musk's The Division.

--Patrick

May 28, 2016#285

evilmike

Another launch, another landing.

May 29, 2016#286

PatrThom

evilmike said:
Another launch, another landing.

...OR IS IT?

--Patrick

May 29, 2016#287

GasBandit

PatrThom said:
...OR IS IT?

--Patrick

"Fuckin gyroscopes/attitude thrusters, how do they work?!"

May 29, 2016#288

PatrThom

GasBandit said:
"Fuckin gyroscopes/attitude thrusters, how do they work?!"

More like:

--Patrick

Jun 2, 2016#289

fade

So all these chipsats regular Joes are sending out... What do sentient aliens think when these things show up in advance of us? That's some creepy sci-fi stuff from their point of view. Assuming a lot about them, of course.

Jun 2, 2016#290

TommiR

fade said:
So all these chipsats regular Joes are sending out... What do sentient aliens think when these things show up in advance of us? That's some creepy sci-fi stuff from their point of view. Assuming a lot about them, of course.

And how about those Pioneer plaques, then? Somebody actually thinks the best way to make a good first impression on strangers is to send unsolicited nude pics of ourselves, and directions to our place?

Jun 2, 2016#291

strawman

TommiR said:
And how about those Pioneer plaques, then? Somebody actually thinks the best way to make a good first impression on strangers is to send unsolicited nude pics of ourselves, and directions to our place?

It's essentially humanity's version of this beloved meme.[DOUBLEPOST=1464887961,1464887895][/DOUBLEPOST]Come to Earth in the next 20 cosmic years if you want an ass kicking!

Jul 18, 2016#292

evilmike

The ground track was to the South. I got to see most of the assent, the separation, and most of the descent.

A couple of pictures from tonight:

Launch:

After stage separation:

The bright dots are the stages. I was surprised that the first stage went dark after separation. It flared up once or twice and then went dark again. I couldn't track it until it was in the final descent phase.

Jul 18, 2016#293

PatrThom

evilmike said:
It flared up once or twice and then went dark again. I couldn't track it until it was in the final descent phase.

Why waste fuel?
(I assume)

--Patrick

Jul 18, 2016#294

evilmike

One addendum:

I forgot to mention that I was pleasantly surprised by the sonic booms that didn't reach here until after the rocket had apparently landed. They felt right and familiar. Almost every shuttle landing was accompanied by twin sonic booms. It was always pretty tricky to see the Space Shuttle during landing phase -- I really only managed to get a good view of it once. So, I was always grateful for the sonic booms. I'd hear them and know that the shuttle was home.[DOUBLEPOST=1468858578,1468858248][/DOUBLEPOST]

PatrThom said:
Why waste fuel?
(I assume)

--Patrick

It makes sense. I was thinking that it might use a lower power burn to limit the speed of the descent.

Jul 19, 2016#295

evilmike

SpaceX has asked permission to land 3 of the 4 stages from a Falcon Heavy launch. The two booster rockets would land simultaneously and the first stage would land a short time after. (Gizmodo, Orlando Sentinel)

It appears from the animation that this would be an expansion of the existing LZ-1 site built at LC-13 and not new facilities.

Jul 19, 2016#296

Eriol

That is fucked up in all the best ways Mike. Nice catch.

I also like how in the article, Musk is saying that the 4th stage won't land yet. Which is also awesome.

Jul 19, 2016#297

strawman

I'm guessing the reason they did all the barge landings was to avoid possible incidents when landings go wrong, so now they've proven they can do a barge landing the government and safety regulators are all going, "Yeah, go ahead and land on US soil, you got this."

This is all amazing. Once we get to the point where they can do a launch a day we will start to see things like satellite phone and internet that's as cheap as cell phones (though still greater lag - can't beat the speed of light), and regular space tourism that while expensive isn't the millions of dollars that it would be today.

Launching regular robotic missions to planets and for other science missions will be cheaper, and we will be significantly closer to being able to send people to places further than the moon.

I'm not happy about the regular reductions in NASA budget, but I'm so pleased that the commercial sector is stepping up to the plate, and that Spacex is really making JPL, Boeing and others compete for contracts.

Jul 19, 2016#298

Eriol

stienman said:
I'm guessing the reason they did all the barge landings was to avoid possible incidents when landings go wrong, so now they've proven they can do a barge landing the government and safety regulators are all going, "Yeah, go ahead and land on US soil, you got this."

Not really. Landing on a barge takes less fuel, because you're already "downrange" (read: east, because you always take off that way to take advantage of the fact the Earth rotates that way) and it costs fuel to fly back to land. So you have to carry more fuel, and thus it's more expensive to fly back to land. But it is EASIER than the barge landing. Also, for launches on the limit of the capabilities of the rocket, there IS NO SPARE FUEL, and thus they can't land them at all. So when there's a bit of "room" for spare fuel, they land on a barge. When there's more, they land on terra firma.

The takeoff (and landing) zones are already so far away from anybody (I read once that if you were within quite a ways of the rocket taking off without a LOT of protection, you'd go deaf instantly) I don't think the safety concern is much of a concern. And while some toxic chemicals CAN be used in rockets, the SpaceX ones are using RP-1 (which is basically kerosene) and Liquid Oxygen, so while it's not "good for you" if it blows up and/or spills, it isn't "the earth is fucked forever" type of fuel, such as hydrazine, which is also common.

Note: Hydrazine isn't THAT bad, but it's still nasty stuff to deal with.

Jul 19, 2016#299

strawman

Eriol said:
Not really. Landing on a barge takes less fuel, because you're already "downrange"

I always assumed that they circled the earth once (or possibly twice) since it's obvious they use heat braking for the first part of slowdown, and they wouldn't want to carry 2x the fuel just to slow down. Thus I figured they could land near launch if they angled the heated reentry descent phase correctly, and that this would be ideal since they could then refurbish and relaunch without excessive transportation. But these are all baseless assumptions, I've not actually looked into it.

It sounds like what you're saying is that they only go a few thousand miles up and back down? That seems short for the amount of delta v they need, but I'm no rocket scientist...

Jul 19, 2016#300

MindDetective

stienman said:
I always assumed that they circled the earth once (or possibly twice) since it's obvious they use heat braking for the first part of slowdown, and they wouldn't want to carry 2x the fuel just to slow down. Thus I figured they could land near launch if they angled the heated reentry descent phase correctly, and that this would be ideal since they could then refurbish and relaunch without excessive transportation. But these are all baseless assumptions, I've not actually looked into it.

It sounds like what you're saying is that they only go a few thousand miles up and back down? That seems short for the amount of delta v they need, but I'm no rocket scientist...

Didn't they only land the first stage on the barge? That one doesn't go all the way up, I think.

Jul 19, 2016#301

strawman

MindDetective said:
Didn't they only land the first stage on the barge? That one doesn't go all the way up, I think.

They were landing the falcon 9 first stage on the barge, a two stage design that has already made multiple trips to the space station, as well as launching satellites.

So yes, it goes all the way up.

...

:unibrow:

[DOUBLEPOST=1468956875,1468956740][/DOUBLEPOST]The three rocket design in the video is the Falcon heavy, for comparison. It's essentially three falcon 9s, and doubles the falcon nine payload capacity.

The Falcon 9 carries 50k pounds to LEO, while the falcon heavy doubles that. On the individual pages it gives the payload to each orbit (geo, leo, mars, etc).

Jul 19, 2016#302

MindDetective

stienman said:
They were landing the falcon 9 first stage on the barge, a two stage design that has already made multiple trips to the space station, as well as launching satellites.

So yes, it goes all the way up.

...

The first stage goes all the way up, you mean? (That is what I meant by "that one".) Is 162 seconds (per your link) enough time to get it into an orbit and land wherever they want? I ask legitimately, as IANARS

Jul 19, 2016#303

strawman

Hmmm. The first stage does most of the work, but that doesn't mean it gives most of the delta v. It might, but once the mass is substantially reduced the second stage could possibly give as much delta v. I guess I don't know.

To the oracle!

My google search terms aren't bringing much up, but it looks like I'm wrong. This Q&A suggests that the first stage never completes a full orbit:

http://space.stackexchange.com/ques...pot-of-a-reusable-falcon-9-with-a-gto-payload

And there seem to be slow shutter images of Falcon 9 takeoffs with the separation in the image, which means that it really does land just thousands of miles from where it was launched. It also means it doesn't have to do very much braking to slow down before lighting its rocket again, it doesn't attain a very high delta v.

[DOUBLEPOST=1468957997,1468957817][/DOUBLEPOST]Here's some gory details. Simply amazing. The drone ship can maintain its location to within 3 meters even under heavy seas.

http://spaceflight101.com/spacerockets/falcon-9-v1-1-f9r/

Jul 19, 2016#304

PatrThom

stienman said:
I'm not happy about the regular reductions in NASA budget, but I'm so pleased that the commercial sector is stepping up to the plate

Some people are intimating that this is just the in-progress privatization of space (travel).

--Patrick

Jul 19, 2016#305

Eriol

The one thing most people forget is that in rocketry, while you start facing straight up, you RAPIDLY go to spending most of your energy making the payload go "sideways" and thus that's the "main" goal, not height.

Aug 9, 2016#306

GasBandit

Aug 10, 2016#307

strawman

I've actually been thinking about designing an HDR camera for rear view mirror replacement in vehicles, and they're doing it the same way I thought it would have to be done. The multiple exposures is easy, but the image processing to correctly combine them isn't. Neat that they've done it, hopefully we will see video cameras start to adopt this feature in general.

Aug 10, 2016#308

Eriol

stienman said:
I've actually been thinking about designing an HDR camera for rear view mirror replacement in vehicles, and they're doing it the same way I thought it would have to be done. The multiple exposures is easy, but the image processing to correctly combine them isn't. Neat that they've done it, hopefully we will see video cameras start to adopt this feature in general.

Kind of. Representing it back to us again in display is again hard. Hence why Gamma Correction is a thing. Our brains are good "cheaters" of what our eyes see around us, but actually representing it on a screen is just really REALLY hard if you're not trying to do false colors.

So... good luck!

Aug 10, 2016#309

strawman

Yes, and the trouble is increased because it's a display inside a vehicle, which means widely varying lighting conditions, and as a secondary or tertiary display it has to be bright enough to use when needed, but not so bright that it attracts attention when not needed.[DOUBLEPOST=1470848074,1470848009][/DOUBLEPOST]On the other hand, accurate color representation isn't as critical, particularly since it'll be on a display much smaller than 7".

Aug 26, 2016#310

evilmike

Aug 30, 2016#311

fade

To be taken with the usual OMG grain of salt needed when the media gets ahold of a story.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/30/health/seti-signal-hd-164595-alien-civilization/

Sep 1, 2016#312

DarkAudit

fade said:
To be taken with the usual OMG grain of salt needed when the media gets ahold of a story.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/30/health/seti-signal-hd-164595-alien-civilization/

Yeah, about that. Turns out the signal came from here.[DOUBLEPOST=1472739395,1472739354][/DOUBLEPOST]SpaceX Falcon 9 explodes on the pad during static test.

Sep 1, 2016#313

Eriol

DarkAudit said:
SpaceX Falcon 9 explodes on the pad during static test.

To me, emphasizing why it's important to DO tests on the pad.

I hope the satellite that was going to be launched wasn't there at the time of the test. Then the losses are much less.

Other sources: Florida Today,CBC

There was a report that this was a re-used rocket, but clearly not, as this was scheduled for this weekend, and the re-use one is going to be Q4 this year. So not related, even if you read some headlines saying so. I think the person writing that article was confused, because it's the same TYPE, but not the actual same rocket.

Sep 1, 2016#314

Dei

The satellite was on it as far as I know.

Sep 1, 2016#315

Dei

Sep 1, 2016#316

evilmike

I'm surprised that I didn't hear it go.

Sep 1, 2016#317

GasBandit

That camera was, what, 10 miles away?

Sep 1, 2016#318

evilmike

GasBandit said:
That camera was, what, 10 miles away?

I can't find a reference right now, but I'd guess it's probably closer to 3 miles.

Sep 1, 2016#319

PatrThom

GasBandit said:
That camera was, what, 10 miles away?

~12 seconds between flash and report, so ~2.5 miles, unless the audio/visual are not synchronized.
I assume they are, since you can hear someone nearby the camera gasp right when the first explosion happens.

--Patrick

Sep 1, 2016#320

strawman

Sep 2, 2016#321

PatrThom

Someone did a synced version (well, off by only a handful of milliseconds):

If that's really 2mi away, that is LOUD.

--Patrick

Sep 3, 2016#322

evilmike

Sep 3, 2016#323

DarkAudit

Tweets are still cut off. have to reload the page to see the whole thing.

Sep 3, 2016#324

Bubble181

DarkAudit said:
Tweets are still cut off. have to reload the page to see the whole thing.

Sometimes. It comes and goes for me, and reloading usually fixes it.

Sep 3, 2016#325

GasBandit

DarkAudit said:
Tweets are still cut off. have to reload the page to see the whole thing.

Yeah, I'm still trying to figure out why it is doing that. I thought I had it fixed once buuuuut....

Sep 3, 2016#326

evilmike

The JUNO mission recorded the radio emissions being given off by Jupiter's auroras and then downshifted the signals into the audio range.

The result sounded oddly familiar...

Sep 3, 2016#327

GasBandit

Kinda reminds me of the noise at the start of Telstar, too.

Sep 3, 2016#328

PatrThom

GasBandit said:
Kinda reminds me of the noise at the start of Telstar, too.

WHY U NO EMBED?

--Patrick

Sep 3, 2016#329

GasBandit

PatrThom said:
WHY U NO EMBED?

--Patrick

Because there are like 10 different versions of that noise, and I couldn't find a video with the exact noise I remembered. That one wasn't it, either.

Sep 3, 2016#330

Hailey Knight

A guy at another forum I used to visit was/is obsessed with that song.

Sep 3, 2016#331

PatrThom

Zero Esc said:
A guy at another forum I used to visit was/is obsessed with that song.

Well, the guy who wrote it wasn't exactly sane, either.

--Patrick

Sep 6, 2016#332

fade

evilmike said:
The JUNO mission recorded the radio emissions being given off by Jupiter's auroras and then downshifted the signals into the audio range.

The result sounded oddly familiar...

It's interesting the way they're parabolic in the frequency domain. It's very regular.

Sep 9, 2016#333

evilmike

Yesterday, NASA sucesfully launched the OSIRIS-REx probe on an Atlas V rocket. It's mission is to survey a nearby asteroid, obtain a sample, and return that sample to Earth. (Wikipedia)

The rocket was configuration was a bit unusual -- it only had a single rocket booster. Here is a shot of the booster separating from the rocket:

Sep 30, 2016#334

Just Me

Good night, Rosetta!
Your mission and Philae's may come to an end today, but you did a great job and served science well!

http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2016/09/30/loss-of-signal-confirmation/

Bye bye, cute space probes!

Ambition and Epilogue

Oct 14, 2016#335

PatrThom

Something that @Squidleybits probably wants to know about.
...and that @HCGLNS doesn't want her to know about.

Nikon DSLR with sub-zero Peltier cooling: The astronomer’s camera of choice

Nikon_camera_D5500a_Cooled_raffreddata_infografica_EN.jpg

--Patrick

Oct 14, 2016#336

strawman

I thought she was a canon user?

Oct 14, 2016#337

evilmike

PatrThom said:
Something that @Squidleybits probably wants to know about.
...and that @HCGLNS doesn't want her to know about.

Nikon DSLR with sub-zero Peltier cooling: The astronomer’s camera of choice

View attachment 22282

--Patrick

There is one thing I don't understand about this idea. If you look at the opposite side of the assembly, there is a fan attached to the camera body. Wouldn't this source of vibration be counter productive?

Oct 14, 2016#338

Squidleybits

stienman said:
I thought she was a canon user?

I am! I am considering investing in a small Sony mirorless system for camping/backpacking. It's also pretty decent in low light and small enough to use my tiny tripod.

I'm totally being optimistic here that I will be able to hike next spring.

Oct 14, 2016#339

strawman

Squidleybits said:
I am! I am considering investing in a small Sony mirorless system for camping/backpacking. It's also pretty decent in low light and small enough to use my tiny tripod.

I'm totally being optimistic here that I will be able to hike next spring.

I've heard a lot of good things about Sony mirrorless cameras. Here's looking forward to your hiking pictures next summer!

Oct 30, 2016#340

Bubble181

"Dark matter" which holds reality together finally identified

Oct 31, 2016#341

strawman

evilmike said:
There is one thing I don't understand about this idea. If you look at the opposite side of the assembly, there is a fan attached to the camera body. Wouldn't this source of vibration be counter productive?

People like cheap fans, and cheap fans vibrate, so you may have never come across a fan that doesn't vibrate. However, precision manufactured fans on precision sleeve bearings with precision balanced fan blades can exhibit low to no vibration. Put them on vibration damping mounts and even if the fan develops vibration (usually from dust adhering to the blades) then it's reduced.

Further, the fan probably runs at very low RPM, so any vibration, especially on such a small low mass fan, would be very low magnitude. Being an enthusiast camera, I'd expect there to be some instructions for periodically cleaning the fan and heatsink.

Nov 21, 2016#342

GasBandit

EM Drive is now officially a thing that works.

After months of speculation and leaked documents, NASA's long-awaited EM Drive paper has finally been peer-reviewed and published. And it shows that the "impossible" propulsion system really does appear to work.

In case you've missed the hype, the EM Drive, or Electromagnetic Drive, is a propulsion system first proposed by British inventor Roger Shawyer back in 1999. But, there's a not-small problem with the system. It defies Newton's third law, which states that everything must have an equal and opposite reaction.

The experimenting team does offer a hypothesis: "[The] supporting physics model used to derive a force based on operating conditions in the test article can be categorised as a nonlocal hidden-variable theory, or pilot-wave theory for short."

Pilot wave (aka de Broglie–Bohm) theories have recently gained some experimental support with rather complex optical setups related to the famous double slit experiment.

The next step for the EM Drive is for it to be tested in space, which is scheduled to happen in the coming months, with plans to launch the first EM Drive having been made back in September.

http://www.sciencealert.com/it-s-of...wed-em-drive-paper-has-finally-been-published

http://arc.aiaa.org/doi/10.2514/1.B36120

Meanwhile, on the ISS...

Nov 21, 2016#343

Null

Oh, they better be playing Yakety Sax during that.

Nov 21, 2016#344

GasBandit

Null said:
Oh, they better be playing Yakety Sax during that.

And play Scooby Doo "run away" bongo sound effects.

Jan 16, 2017#345

PatrThom

Crossposted from the XKCD thread:

Eugene Cernan, the last man on the moon, died today at the age of 82.

--Patrick

Jan 16, 2017#346

evilmike

Jan 24, 2017#347

evilmike

SpaceX has a launch scheduled next week. It will be the first launch from Florida after last year's rocket failure. It will also be the first launch from the newly refurbished LC-39A at the Kennedy Space Center. This will be the first launch from KSC in 5 years. (The other launches in the area occur at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.) (Gizmodo)

Hopefully, the National Park Service will not limit access to the Canaveral National Seashore during launch activities on LC-39A. The view would be spectacular as the launch pad is less than 3 miles from the south end of the beach.

Jan 27, 2017#348

evilmike

50 Years ago today.

Jan 28, 2017#349

evilmike

Jan 28, 2017#350

Cheesy1

I remember watching that in class when it happened. Of course, we kids didn't really fathom what had just occurred, but I remember a few teachers having to leave the room crying.

Jan 29, 2017#351

PatrThom

I was in the hallway between classes, carrying a studio video camera on my way to a shoot when the announcement came over the PA.

--Patrick

Jan 29, 2017#352

jwhouk

Just got back from my AM class that morning at UWW. Roommate was doing something, so I ran down into the basement rec area of our dorm and turned on the TV, because I'd heard something had happened.

Saw the replay of the explosion.

Feb 1, 2017#353

evilmike

The Challenger explosion is the one that hits me the hardest. I didn't see it happen -- I was on work study. My boss came in a exclaimed "the Shuttle's exploded". I went outside and saw the broken launch plume. I kept looking to see if there was any evidence that the orbiter had managed to separate from the main tank. By the time I went back inside, someone had dug up a TV set and we watched the news for the next hour or so, trying to make sense of it.

Also,

Feb 2, 2017#354

Sparhawk

evilmike said:
The Challenger explosion is the one that hits me the hardest. I didn't see it happen -- I was on work study. My boss came in a exclaimed "the Shuttle's exploded". I went outside and saw the broken launch plume. I kept looking to see if there was any evidence that the orbiter had managed to separate from the main tank. By the time I went back inside, someone had dug up a TV set and we watched the news for the next hour or so, trying to make sense of it.

Also,

Challenger is saw live because I had made sure to get out of class to get to the library to watch the launch.

Columbia affected me much more directly. I's final resting spot is about 50 miles east of me, lots of family lives there, many pieces were found on land that we own, and we know the exact spots that remains were found. I have never been into the museum that they have there.

Edited to correct which direction (east vs west) the crash occurred, I was a little messed up emotionally this morning.

Feb 19, 2017#355

evilmike

I didn't get as close as I had originally planned, but I did manage to catch the descent phase of the SpaceX CRS 10 launch today:

Feb 20, 2017#356

GasBandit

It's easy to forget that damn rocket is as tall as the Statue of Liberty.

Feb 22, 2017#357

Dei

Seven earth size planets found orbiting a red dwarf

Feb 22, 2017#358

GasBandit

Dei said:
Seven earth size planets found orbiting a red dwarf

That's pretty neat.

But the way they were hyping this made me think they were going to say they'd discovered extraterrestrial life or something.

Feb 22, 2017#359

Denbrought

GasBandit said:
That's pretty neat.

But the way they were hyping this made me think they were going to say they'd discovered extraterrestrial life or something.

Feb 23, 2017#360

Bubble181

Hey now, if this pans out, there'll suddenly be a *lot* more Trappists around, which would be a good thing

Feb 23, 2017#361

GasBandit

AckbarItsATrappist.gif

Mar 17, 2017#362

GasBandit

If you live between Oregon and South Carolina (@Dave), you might want to watch the first coast-to-coast total solar eclipse visible in the continental US in 99 years when it happens on August 21st.

http://www.eclipse2017.org/2017/path_through_the_US.htm

Mar 17, 2017#363

PatrThom

Dangit the one in 2024 is going to come SO CLOSE.
Haven't had anything else even close since 1977.

--Patrick

Mar 17, 2017#364

MindDetective

GasBandit said:
If you live between Oregon and South Carolina (@Dave), you might want to watch the first coast-to-coast total solar eclipse visible in the continental US in 99 years when it happens on August 21st.

http://www.eclipse2017.org/2017/path_through_the_US.htm

I'm hoping to see it. If anyone wants to come out to Oregon in August for this, let me know!

Mar 17, 2017#365

Sparhawk

GasBandit said:
If you live between Oregon and South Carolina (@Dave), you might want to watch the first coast-to-coast total solar eclipse visible in the continental US in 99 years when it happens on August 21st.

http://www.eclipse2017.org/2017/path_through_the_US.htm

Booked my hotel room in Nashville last June, it's going at over twice the rate I booked at now. Just north of Nashville is the longest duration of total eclipse. This is one of my bucket list items.[DOUBLEPOST=1489800951,1489800884][/DOUBLEPOST]

MindDetective said:
I'm hoping to see it. If anyone wants to come out to Oregon in August for this, let me know!

My daughter and her soon-to-be husband are going to the Portland area for their honeymoon/his birthday/eclipse.

Mar 30, 2017#366

Dei

Mar 30, 2017#367

evilmike

Dei said:

No luck catching the stage separation this time. It's a shame they didn't try for LZ-1.

Apr 10, 2017#368

Eriol

This article was great: Elon Musk Wants To Reuse All Of SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket By 2018, Slashing Cost Of Space Travel

Especially these two paragraphs:

Getting the second stage back as well will mean that SpaceX will be able undercut the price of any space launch system in the world. Combined with a rapid turnaround time –Musk wants to get it to less than 24 hours – this will mean cheap and easy access to space for governments, corporations and private individuals around the world.

For Musk’s competitors like ULA in the United States and Arianespace in Europe, this could be the end of the line unless they can quickly produce a similar capability themselves. But Boeing, Lockheed and others in the combined ULA organization spent the last 15 years telling the world Musk would fail, instead of researching the technology themselves.

On one level, I hope this is the case, so that the "old guard" is routed, but OTOH competition is ALWAYS a good thing for having a technology race, and so the lack of a clear competitor would be bad long-term. But maybe that's Blue Origin's job, which would be OK.

Jun 1, 2017#369

Eriol

Paul Allen gets in on stuff with a physical unveiling: Paul Allen’s colossal Stratolaunch plane emerges from its lair

It's a rather "negative" article, but not unrealistic concerns either. I just wonder if the person writing it has stock in Boeing or something.

Jun 1, 2017#370

strawman

There will still be a business case for launches like this. Current launches depend on fixed ground positions and narrow windows for specific orbital slots. As our sky becomes more crowded and satellites get smaller there will be a need to be able to reach slots that are currently unavailable to existing ground stations. Today these slots are reached with a large increase in fuel for the rocket and the satellite, but with this type of system you could launch at any angle, any time, and possibly reach orbits that are resource/cost prohibitive.

Further, it's using standard off the shelf parts and engines. So it should be easy and cheap not only to maintain, but to relaunch quickly. The turnaround time could be far shorter than SpaceX's reusable rockets, and those are slated for a turnaround time of just a day. This one could turnaround in hours.

Lastly, a lot of rocket launch problems occur in the initial atmospheric stage of the launch. This would reduce those issues significantly, and if something does go wrong the pilots may be able to return the satellite to the ground, saving a lot of cost, prior to launch.

Plus it's just amazing and fantastic. We will see, but my guess is that as long as they have staying power we could have two competing methods spread across three or more competing companies, which would only serve to continue the dramatic decline in cost in space exploration and satellite communication.

Jun 1, 2017#371

PatrThom

Isn't this just an upgraded version of the White Knight?

--Patrick

Jun 6, 2017#372

sixpackshaker

PatrThom said:
Isn't this just an upgraded version of the White Knight?

--Patrick

But each of the 'booms' look to be as large as a 767.

Jun 7, 2017#373

Eriol

Latest landing of a SpaceX rocket:

Notice at the 5-6 second mark how something gets blown off of the pad to the right of the rocket? I wonder what wasn't secured correctly on the pad itself. Well away from the rocket, so that couldn't have damaged it, but I wonder what's "on the pad" to go flying around like that, and if there's anything closer that could potentially do the same?

Jun 7, 2017#374

Sparhawk

Eriol said:
Latest landing of a SpaceX rocket:

Notice at the 5-6 second mark how something gets blown off of the pad to the right of the rocket? I wonder what wasn't secured correctly on the pad itself. Well away from the rocket, so that couldn't have damaged it, but I wonder what's "on the pad" to go flying around like that, and if there's anything closer that could potentially do the same?

Looks like it came from the edge of the darker area (repair?) and acts much like a roof shingle in it's flight.

Jun 7, 2017#375

Eriol

Sparhawk said:
Looks like it came from the edge of the darker area (repair?) and acts much like a roof shingle in it's flight.

I agree about where it appears to come from, but as for the "roof shingle" we have to remember scale here. That pad is hundreds of feet across (or more... i couldn't easily find dimensions, but that could be google-fu failing me). That "shingle" is probably 10ftx10ft or larger.

Jun 7, 2017#376

strawman

The video was uploaded at 4k resolution, 60 frames per second, so you could probably download it and examine it in reasonably high resolution frame by frame. There are actually two tiles, flat and approximately square, which are flat on the ground just outside the large black ring, both of which get picked up and thrown. They don't appear to have any markings meant to be visible at this range.[DOUBLEPOST=1496845257,1496844996][/DOUBLEPOST]http://www.teslarati.com/spacex-falcon-heavy-landing-pad-dragon-facility/

The landing pads appear to be concrete, but concrete doesn't like high temperature gradients and sudden temperature changes. My guess is these are tiles meant to protect the concrete from the rocket exhaust, and a few of them weren't needed, but weren't secured since they were so far from the expected blast radius.

Jun 7, 2017#377

strawman

I zoomed in and took a few stills, then asked on Stack Exchange to see if they might be able to figure it out:

https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/21838/spacex-crs-11-landing-pad-debris-identification

Jun 7, 2017#378

PatrThom

stienman said:
I zoomed in and took a few stills, then asked on Stack Exchange to see if they might be able to figure it out:

https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/21838/spacex-crs-11-landing-pad-debris-identification

Hmm, maybe I should create a SA account.
...'cuz the first thing I thought when I read the responses was "It's 'fora' not 'forata!'"

--Patrick

Jun 7, 2017#379

strawman

Apparently it's neither:

https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/69/which-is-the-plural-of-forum-fora-or-forums

Jun 7, 2017#380

PatrThom

stienman said:
Apparently it's neither:

https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/69/which-is-the-plural-of-forum-fora-or-forums

Common English usage is "forums," but if they're going to try and substitute the archaic form, they should at least get it right!
-ata is the correct pluralization for words ending in -*ma (stoma, schema, stigma), not words ending in -um.

Source: once had to create a routine that pluralizes words and decided to massively overdo it, some of the research is still with me.

--Patrick

Jun 8, 2017#381

CrimsonSoul

PatrThom said:
Hmm, maybe I should create a SA account.
...'cuz the first thing I thought when I read the responses was "It's 'fora' not 'forata!'"

--Patrick

It's leviOsa, not leviosA

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

Jun 8, 2017#382

strawman

CrimsonSoul said:
It's leviOsa, not leviosA

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

Ow! I bit my tongue!

Jun 21, 2017#383

evilmike

A small blue dot in a sea of red

The Curiosity Rover photographed by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (color enhanced). (Gizmodo)

Jun 26, 2017#384

strawman

SpaceX has successfully completed a 48 hour turnaround on its rocket. It put a satellite in orbit, landed, then 48 hours after landing launched 10 more satellites in different orbits in one launch.

https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/25/s...hes-and-recovers-second-falcon-9-in-48-hours/

This should radically change the cost of placing satellites, among other things, into orbit.[DOUBLEPOST=1498475303,1498475023][/DOUBLEPOST]Here's the webcast of the second launch, including spitting the ten satellites out:

Jun 26, 2017#385

Eriol

stienman said:
SpaceX has successfully completed a 48 hour turnaround on its rocket. It put a satellite in orbit, landed, then 48 hours after landing launched 10 more satellites in different orbits in one launch.

https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/25/s...hes-and-recovers-second-falcon-9-in-48-hours/

This should radically change the cost of placing satellites, among other things, into orbit.

@steinman, they did it from two separate pads, and two separate rockets. This wasn't a turnaround situation.

Still good stuff that they're being successful, but it's not THAT thing.

Jun 26, 2017#386

strawman

Aw!

Jun 26, 2017#387

DarkAudit

Drat!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Jun 26, 2017#388

Eriol

Eriol said:
@steinman, they did it from two separate pads, and two separate rockets. This wasn't a turnaround situation.

Still good stuff that they're being successful, but it's not THAT thing.

Link on the info for this one: https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/06/spacex-has-answered-a-lot-of-its-critics-this-year/

Elon Musk and SpaceX had one hell of a weekend. While much of the country celebrated the summer weekend at the beach or enjoying time with friends, SpaceX was hard at work launching two rockets for customers, one from the East Coast and one from the West Coast.

Jun 26, 2017#389

PatrThom

stienman said:
Aw!

DarkAudit said:
Drat!

Hooray! I'm for the other team!
Wait. No, I'm not. The sooner we can get off this rock, the better.

--Patrick

Jul 5, 2017#390

evilmike

Tonight's launch

Jul 10, 2017#391

Jay

I've been reading Elon Musk book and even though I already thought so highly of him, he now stands out even more now that I know where he came from and what he's gone through.
Sure, he's done a few faux pas along the way but that man has the absolute sheer will; something I've not seen from any other man.

He changed the name of the game! Before it was countries having space programs; now a company is running the space program with no dependence to antiquated Russian hardware or bi partisan government party who dictate our future based on who said what and what side of the scale they are (THE LEFT DERP, THE RIGHT DEEEERP).

Not long ago NASA has unveiled a plan to go to Mars. A plan. NASA has revealed many plans throughout the years, even a few "Mars visitation plans" that never came to be due to a variety of reasons (mostly shitty American politics). NASA having a plan to do X is basically a very formal and scientific way of NASA saying "We would like to do X and here is how we would go about it". Now they pass it by Congress who will carefully evaluate the plan and eventually come to the conclusion that sending people in rockets to other planets is a waste of money better spent on sending rockets into people on this planet.

Jul 20, 2017#392

evilmike

Happy Moon Landing Day.

Jul 20, 2017#393

PatrThom

evilmike said:
Happy Moon Landing Day.

You always remember your first.

--Patrick

Jul 23, 2017#394

klew

I'm flying to Portland and traveling to Albany for the eclipse, then back to Tigard for a couple days of vacation afterwards. The US Post Office has released a new Forever stamp, made with thermochromic ink (heat reveals an image), celebrating the eclipse.
https://store.usps.com/store/browse/productDetailSingleSku.jsp?productId=S_475304

Jul 23, 2017#395

GasBandit

klew said:
I'm flying to Portland and traveling to Albany for the eclipse, then back to Tigard for a couple days of vacation afterwards. The US Post Office has released a new Forever stamp, made with thermochromic ink (heat reveals an image), celebrating the eclipse.
https://store.usps.com/store/browse/productDetailSingleSku.jsp?productId=S_475304

Neat. I might buy stamps for the first time in... uhhh....

I'll get back to you.

Aug 4, 2017#396

Eriol

A really great article IMO on the conflict between SpaceX and ULA: How America’s two greatest rocket companies battled from the beginning

IMO it's really good, but hardly flawless. In particular, near the beginning they mention how ULA's payload-carrying rockets have never blown up since the beginning of the contract in the early 2000s, but they do not go into any more detail of the how/when/why of when SpaceX's DID blow up in the time they're reporting on. So that feels like a gloss-over. OTOH while the article does go into some detail of just how much ULA's rockets cost per launch, they do not compare or contrast to SpaceX's launches either. There's a LOT on the ballooning costs of the ELC "subsidy" (only in quotes because it's disputed, not indicating my particular opinion) but not much on the "average" cost per flight for either company.

So a pretty good article IMO, despite its flaws.

Aug 4, 2017#397

strawman

I still wish Armadillo Aerospace had become successful. Exo bought out the remaining assets in 2015 but they are nowhere near SpaceX and ULA...

Aug 23, 2017#398

Eriol

SpaceX revealed their pressure suit: Elon Musk reveals first official photo of SpaceX space suit

Looks nice. If functional, fine.

The article is quite explicit that this is a pressure suit, not an EVA (outside the spacecraft) suit.

Aug 23, 2017#399

sixpackshaker

I was hoping for Doctor Who orange...

Sep 6, 2017#400

Eriol

Sunspots active right now:

I like the "earth" measurement on that.

Sep 7, 2017#401

Eriol

SpaceX just launched (and landed) another one: SpaceX to Launch Air Force's X-37B Space Plane on Secret Mission Today: Watch Live

The article is a few hours old. I just watched the webcast myself live and they landed successfully. This was a "pad" landing, not at sea. It's still weird (but awesome) that they are making landing rockets a routine thing.

As for the payload itself, it's that weird unmanned mini-shuttle that the last time it was up for around 2 years.

Sep 11, 2017#402

fade

Sep 14, 2017#403

fade

Free NASA Ebook: Saturn Through the Eyes of Cassini

Knocked my socks off.

Sep 15, 2017#404

fade

Cassini's last photo:

Sep 15, 2017#405

fade

It's really strange to feel a bit depressed about the end of a satellite. I think it represents better days, when people wanted to work together to get somewhere, rather than fighting against each other all the time.

Sep 15, 2017#406

GasBandit

fade said:
It's really strange to feel a bit depressed about the end of a satellite. I think it represents better days, when people wanted to work together to get somewhere, rather than fighting against each other all the time.

I can't even throw out an old busted PC. I can't imagine intentionally destroying a multimillion dollar satellite.

Sep 15, 2017#407

PatrThom

GasBandit said:
I can't even throw out an old busted PC. I can't imagine intentionally destroying a multimillion dollar satellite.

You never know when we're going to have another satellite in the area and maybe need the parts.

--Patrick

Sep 25, 2017#408

Eriol

ARCA's Aerospike engine is ready for ground testing: http://newatlas.com/arc-aerospike-linear-engine-complete/51431/
They have a video too:

Somewhat press-release, but they have an actual thing on a test stand. Now to see if it will work. I only link this because I've heard of them before, so it's not quite flash-in-the-pan.

This is interesting as they are trying to make cheaper a segment of the market that the bigger guys (like ULA & SpaceX) aren't really focused on, the really REALLY small satellite market (like cubesats). Right now most of those have to piggy-back on another type of launch.

Also, any new player that becomes financially successful is a good thing for competition overall. We'll see if this company becomes such or not, but I wish them well.

Sep 26, 2017#409

Eriol

I apparently missed this one a couple of weeks ago:

Fun compilation. The captions make it better IMO.

Sep 27, 2017#410

PatrThom

Someone likes Monty Python way too much. Or Sousa.
Also, new rule...rockets are not allowed to tip over, because every time they tip over...BOOM!

--Patrick

Oct 9, 2017#411

strawman

10 more iridium 3 satellites were launched this morning by spacex in california.

This is the third of 8 iridium launches.

This is the fifteenth falcon 9 launch this year.

"SpaceX is targeting launch of Iridium-3 from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The instantaneous launch window is at 5:37 a.m. PDT, or 12:37 UTC on Monday, October 9. The satellites will begin deployment about an hour after launch. A backup launch opportunity opens at 5:31 a.m. PDT, or 12:31 UTC on Tuesday, October 10. Following stage separation, the first stage of Falcon 9 will attempt a landing on the “Just Read the Instructions” droneship that will be stationed in the Pacific Ocean."

6:10 - stream starts
22:00 - 10 seconds to launch
24:40 - main engine cutoff, stage 1 separation
29:11 - first stage landing sequence, 5km altitude
29:35 - first stage landing
1:14:00 - second stage engine startup (going into insertion orbit)
1:19:19 - First satellite deploy
Satellites are deployed about once every 90 seconds, the ninth one is in good view of the camera
1:32:40 - ninth satellite deploy
1:34:20 - final satellite deploy

Oct 11, 2017#412

strawman

Another launch today, 3:53pm PDT, 6:53pm EDT, launching an echostar satellite for SES providing broadcast TV, radio, and satellite communications to the US, gulf of mexico, and adjacent areas, replacing two existing satellites currently providing those services. The launch window is 2 hours, with a backup launch window tomorrow. The satellite will be deployed about 36 minutes after launch.

Reports suggest that this satellite will accelerate deployment of ultra high definition satellite TV.

This will use a Falcon 9 Full Thrust launch vehicle, as the satellite weighs over 11,000 pounds (5,200kg). The first stage in this rocket was last used in February of this year, so a turnaround time of under 10 months.

This is the third time SpaceX has reused one of its first stage rockets. http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/o...ies/spacex-launch-ses-11-satellite-wednesday/

Oct 11, 2017#413

Eriol

stienman said:
This is the third time SpaceX has reused one of its first stage rockets. http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/o...ies/spacex-launch-ses-11-satellite-wednesday/

That article doesn't say if they plan on landing this booster. I know that for some missions they just don't have the fuel to do so, but is this one, or not? I am wondering because it's just more difficult to put them into geostationary orbits, so it seemed possible this was a "the first stage isn't coming back" one. That it's a re-used booster makes that even MORE likely IMO, as then it's a "we got two uses out of it, better to 'burn' this one than a fresh one."

Or it could be coming back. We'll see by tonight/tomorrow.

Oct 11, 2017#414

strawman

Eriol said:
That article doesn't say if they plan on landing this booster. I know that for some missions they just don't have the fuel to do so, but is this one, or not? I am wondering because it's just more difficult to put them into geostationary orbits, so it seemed possible this was a "the first stage isn't coming back" one. That it's a re-used booster makes that even MORE likely IMO, as then it's a "we got two uses out of it, better to 'burn' this one than a fresh one."

Or it could be coming back. We'll see by tonight/tomorrow.

I wondered that as well, but haven't found the answer. They did specifically mention in one of the resources I read that a previous satellite for this provider required the sacrifice of a Falcon 9 first stage. Given its weight and the geostationary orbit, I'm guessing this might also be a first stage rocket loss.[DOUBLEPOST=1507730417,1507730125][/DOUBLEPOST]The youtube description does include a first stage landing attempt, so it looks like we'll be getting it back:

Following stage separation, Falcon 9’s first stage will attempt a landing on the “Of Course I Still Love You” droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

Oct 11, 2017#415

evilmike

They are planning a barge landing for the booster. (news13)

Oct 30, 2017#416

evilmike

Today's launch:

Nov 8, 2017#417

DarkAudit

Posting here because NASA...

NASA Discovers Mantle Plume under Antarctica.

In before the climate change deniers start pointing and yelling A-HA!

Nov 8, 2017#418

strawman

It'll probably be delayed yet again, but if their current schedule holds, SpaceX will static test the Falcon Heavy - the world's most powerful rocket by a factor of two - December 15th. If that goes well they may be launching an unknown (but huge) payload into orbit this year. It can handle a payload as large as 117,000 pounds (53,000kg) to orbit.

This is three Falcon 9 rockets, a total of 27 Merlin engines, strapped together producing 5 million pounds of lift at liftoff. The three falcon nine rockets will separate and individually return to earth, two to landing pads on the ground, one to a drone ship in the ocean.

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/11/spacex-aims-december-launch-falcon-heavy/

Nov 9, 2017#419

GasBandit

stienman said:
It'll probably be delayed yet again, but if their current schedule holds, SpaceX will static test the Falcon Heavy - the world's most powerful rocket by a factor of two - December 15th. If that goes well they may be launching an unknown (but huge) payload into orbit this year. It can handle a payload as large as 117,000 pounds (53,000kg) to orbit.

This is three Falcon 9 rockets, a total of 27 Merlin engines, strapped together producing 5 million pounds of lift at liftoff. The three falcon nine rockets will separate and individually return to earth, two to landing pads on the ground, one to a drone ship in the ocean.

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/11/spacex-aims-december-launch-falcon-heavy/

That sounds like some KSP nonsense right there, except for the part with the separated rockets returning safely

Nov 9, 2017#420

DarkAudit

Eriol said:
I apparently missed this one a couple of weeks ago:

Fun compilation. The captions make it better IMO.

TIL SpaceX posted that video themselves, which makes it even cooler.

Nov 9, 2017#421

Eriol

Two pieces of news which are interesting IMO.

One: SpaceX Rocket Engine Suffers Failure During Test

An explosion occurred during a test of a SpaceX Merlin engine on Saturday (Nov. 4) at the company's test facility in McGregor, Texas, according to a statement obtained by Space.com.

"No one was injured and all safety protocols were followed during the time of this incident," according to the statement. "We are now conducting a thorough and fully transparent investigation of the root cause."

The explosion occurred during a test of a "Block 5" Merlin engine, which will be used in a future generation of the company's Falcon 9 rockets, a source told Space.com. Falcon 9 rockets that are currently in operation utilize the "Block 4" Merlin engine, so the incident will not require the company to halt any of its scheduled launches.

Other sources weren't as good at highlighting how this wasn't a "current-generation" engine.

Two: Bizarre 3-Year-Long Supernova Defies Our Understanding of How Stars Die

Too much to quote there, but supernovas usually only last about 3 months of being really bright. This graph from the article shows it:

I'm more excited about this. I always like the idea of "that's funny?" in scientific results, and for this one they have 3 years (almost) of data to look at. That means there's something more to learn, which is great IMO. And good on the grad student in the story, as they now have a great topic for a PhD that isn't just an "incremental" improvement on something in their advisor's field, but something potentially new. Neat stuff.

Nov 9, 2017#422

evilmike

stienman said:
It'll probably be delayed yet again, but if their current schedule holds, SpaceX will static test the Falcon Heavy - the world's most powerful rocket by a factor of two - December 15th. If that goes well they may be launching an unknown (but huge) payload into orbit this year. It can handle a payload as large as 117,000 pounds (53,000kg) to orbit.

This is three Falcon 9 rockets, a total of 27 Merlin engines, strapped together producing 5 million pounds of lift at liftoff. The three falcon nine rockets will separate and individually return to earth, two to landing pads on the ground, one to a drone ship in the ocean.

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/11/spacex-aims-december-launch-falcon-heavy/

Neat. I hadn't realized that they had got a second landing pad set up at LZ-1 already.

For those that haven't seen it, here is the animation showing SpaceX's eventual plan for the Falcon Heavy landing sequence when they have another landing pad available.

Nov 9, 2017#423

PatrThom

DarkAudit said:
TIL SpaceX posted that video themselves, which makes it even cooler.

It needs that Lincoln quote. You know the one...”Failed, failed, failed, and then...”

—Patrick

Nov 15, 2017#424

strawman

SpaceX is targeting launch of the Zuma spacecraft from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The two-hour primary launch window opens at 8:00 p.m. EST on Thursday, November 16, or 1:00 UTC on Friday, November 17. A backup two-hour launch window opens at 8:00 p.m. EST on Friday, November 17, or 1:00 UTC on Saturday, November 18. Following stage separation, Falcon 9’s first stage will attempt to land at SpaceX’s Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

[DOUBLEPOST=1510785072,1510784971][/DOUBLEPOST]Still no date for the Falcon 9 Heavy launch. Last delay said December.

Late 2017Falcon Heavy • Demo Flight
Launch window: TBD
Launch site: LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will launch on its first demonstration flight. The heavy-lift rocket is formed of three Falcon 9 rocket cores strapped together with 27 Merlin 1D engines firing at liftoff. Delayed from 3rd Quarter of 2015 and April, September and December 2016. Delayed from 1st Quarter 2017, 2nd Quarter 2017 and 3rd Quarter 2017. Delayed from November 2017. [Oct. 10]

Nov 18, 2017#425

DarkAudit

TIL Gordon Cooper was the only nonsmoker of the Mercury Seven.

The longer the flights got, the harder it must've been for the astronauts to cope.

Nov 18, 2017#426

PatrThom

DarkAudit said:
TIL Gordon Cooper was the only nonsmoker of the Mercury Seven.

The longer the flights got, the harder it must've been for the astronauts to cope.

To paraphrase @gasbandit’s earlier comment... it’s very cold turkey in space.

—Patrick

Nov 20, 2017#427

GasBandit

Your mom's dildo's been delivered. /highfive

Dec 1, 2017#428

PatrThom

When you really, really build something to last.

Voyager 1 fires up its trajectory thrusters for the first time in almost 40 years

--Patrick

Dec 1, 2017#429

Cheesy1

Dec 2, 2017#430

strawman

https://techcrunch.com/2017/12/01/elon-musk-is-putting-his-personal-tesla-into-mars-orbit/

Musk claims he'll test launch the Falcon Heavy before the end of this month, and its payload will be his tesla roadstar, playing space oddity, to be inserted into Mars orbit - assuming, as he implies, the falcon heavy doesn't blow up on ascent. He does indicate that no matter what, the launch will be spectacular - and I have no doubt that's true.

They still haven't done a static engine test, but once that's done it should be mere weeks until the first falcon heavy launch.

Dec 12, 2017#431

strawman

Tomorrow (Wednesday December 13) Spacex is launching CRS-13.

This mission marks the first time SpaceX is flying both a flight-proven Falcon 9 and a flight-proven Dragon spacecraft. Falcon 9’s first stage previously supported the CRS-11 mission in June 2017 and the Dragon spacecraft previously supported the CRS-6 mission in April 2015.

Dec 13, 2017#432

strawman

Pushed back to friday the 15th.

Dec 13, 2017#433

Eriol

stienman said:
Pushed back to friday the 15th.

Weather? Technical? Source?

Dec 13, 2017#434

evilmike

Eriol said:
Weather? Technical? Source?

They were concerned about contamination in the fuel system. (http://www.mynews13.com/content/new...cles/cfn/2017/12/12/spacex_falcon_9_rock.html)

Dec 13, 2017#435

strawman

Eriol said:
Weather? Technical? Source?

Dec 20, 2017#436

evilmike

Dec 21, 2017#437

GasBandit

[DOUBLEPOST=1513873552,1513873540][/DOUBLEPOST]*notice that Earth-chan is.... flat.

Dec 21, 2017#438

Eriol

evilmike said:

Another write-up I read mentioned how 2/3 of the boosters on that thing are "flight-tested". So actually even if this blows up, it won't "cost" them much, as a good amount of it is "paid for" already. At least that's one way of looking at it.

Dec 21, 2017#439

PatrThom

GasBandit said:
*notice that Earth-chan is.... flat.

She's been drained of resources.
Also, Mars-chan should be shorter. A lot shorter.
Also I can't wait to see what @neiltyson's tweet response is to this.

--Patrick

Dec 28, 2017#440

evilmike

Jan 3, 2018#441

DarkAudit

Jan 3, 2018#442

Eriol

DarkAudit said:

Now I want the reverse view. I think the stuff holding it up on the "back" would be interesting to see too!

Jan 3, 2018#443

strawman

Friday is the "Zuma" launch, a secret satellite where the only knowns are that it's for the US Government and it was built by Northrup Gruman.

https://arstechnica.com/science/201...the-mysterious-zuma-satellite-again-thursday/

Then Saturday is the currently scheduled Falcon Heavy static fire test. Assuming the fit check continues to go well, we might see this thing spit fire!

http://www.al.com/news/huntsville/index.ssf/2018/01/spacex_plans_to_make_january_m.html

Jan 3, 2018#444

strawman

Eriol said:
Now I want the reverse view. I think the stuff holding it up on the "back" would be interesting to see too!

There's not that much to see. You can get a little taste from a front/side angle here:

http://www.al.com/news/huntsville/index.ssf/2018/01/spacex_plans_to_make_january_m.html

A triangular base with a tall post.

According to this, the Transporter/Erector/Launcher (TEL) is just a modified version of the one they're already using for the Falcon 9 launches. It has some closer images of that TEL:

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/11/spacex-aims-december-launch-falcon-heavy/

If you do a google image search for "Falcon heavy tel" you'll get a lot of pictures of the Falcon 9 TEL, and a few for the Heavy.

Here's a closeup of the base:

https://i.redd.it/4x2xw7bemqwy.jpg

Jan 3, 2018#445

Eriol

stienman said:
Then Saturday is the currently scheduled Falcon Heavy static fire test. Assuming the fit check continues to go well, we might see this thing spit fire!

http://www.al.com/news/huntsville/index.ssf/2018/01/spacex_plans_to_make_january_m.html

From that link:

SpaceX has set Jan. 15 to open the launch window, but that window could remain open for days before launch, so booking a flight to Florida for a closeup view is a gamble. In part, that's because the launch also depends on a successful static fire test of the Falcon Heavy on the pad. That test fire is now planned Saturday.

The launch could also slip because SpaceX has a satellite to launch first that has already been delayed once. The launch of the Zuma satellite is now set for Friady, only one day before the tentative Falcon Heavy static firing.

So, one is somewhat dependent on the other. Probably due to using the launch pad, or at the least not wanting to juggle TOO much at the same time.

And thanks for your other links on the TEL. Appreciate it.

Jan 3, 2018#446

PatrThom

Eriol said:
Now I want the reverse view. I think the stuff holding it up on the "back" would be interesting to see too!

No! If they do that, the world will know it's just a giant cardboard cut-out!

#spacehoaxcoasttocoast

--Patrick

Jan 3, 2018#447

Eriol

PatrThom said:
No! If they do that, the world will know it's just a giant cardboard cut-out!

#spacehoaxcoasttocoast

--Patrick

Are you referencing something real? I really don't want to google that hashtag and find out that it is. I think I'll be happier not knowing.

If just a simple joke, great. The problem is, it might be real...

Jan 3, 2018#448

Bubble181

@Ravenpoe's law strikes again!

Jan 3, 2018#449

PatrThom

Eriol said:
Are you referencing something real?

Yes. The subgroup of the population who thinks the Moon landings and such were faked, and also an animated comedy series by Adult Swim. This is funny because it's a fake show that lampoons a real show that was set in outer space and was popular around the time of the (alleged) Moon landings, and also because it intimates that these space deniers are spread across the entire country.

--Patrick

Jan 3, 2018#450

strawman

Eriol said:
Are you referencing something real? I really don't want to google that hashtag and find out that it is. I think I'll be happier not knowing.

If just a simple joke, great. The problem is, it might be real...

For the same reasons some people believe the moon landings are fake, the earth is flat, jets spew mind control agent into the air, and 9/11 was an inside job, there are those who believe spacex is a fake company.

Elon Musk, for example, indicated that the early Falcon 9 launches were done at night so the CGI was easier. We can only assume he's doing them during the day now because they've advanced their ability to fake the launches.

Also PROOF:

The line! It proves the whole thing is a fake. Sadly now that he's proved SpaceX is a fraud he hasn't covered them, and has moved on to more important videos.

Jan 3, 2018#451

Dei

My friend made an awful lot of money to fake his job then. He even complained about the ridiculous hours just to keep the charade going. :awesome:

Jan 3, 2018#452

Null

I have relatives who were literally in mission control in Houston or Langley Research Center for NASA during the moon landings. I am not at all amused by those who think it's a hoax.

Jan 3, 2018#453

Dei

Null said:
I have relatives who were literally in mission control in Houston or Langley Research Center for NASA during the moon landings. I am not at all amused by those who think it's a hoax.

If I can't laugh at idiots, then I just become depressed by them.

Jan 3, 2018#454

Eriol

Null said:
I have relatives who were literally in mission control in Houston or Langley Research Center for NASA during the moon landings. I am not at all amused by those who think it's a hoax.

Does this more amuse, or upset your relatives that it was necessary?

Jan 3, 2018#455

GasBandit

Eriol said:
Does this more amuse, or upset your relatives that it was necessary?

Aww, I was hoping it would have the song.

But yeah, you don't call a guy like a Buzz Aldrin a coward and a liar to his face and not expect to pick a few teeth off the ground.

Jan 3, 2018#456

Null

Eriol said:
Does this more amuse, or upset your relatives that it was necessary?

Melvin said, "Yeah, that's Buzz for you."

I get a kick out of it, myself.

Jan 7, 2018#457

PatrThom

Was a busy day on Sun.

(skip to about the 13:00 mark to get straight to the fireworks)

--Patrick

Jan 8, 2018#458

strawman

Yep. That was the last thing before a Heavy static fire test. Musk says the static fire test will be this week, and the launch by the end of the month if nothing goes awry:

[DOUBLEPOST=1515430263,1515430200][/DOUBLEPOST]Note that it's no longer vertical, they left it up for a day and took it down again shortly after. It'll have to go vertical again for the static fire test, then down again, then up once they decide to go for launch.

Jan 8, 2018#459

Eriol

PatrThom said:
Was a busy day on Sun.

(skip to about the 13:00 mark to get straight to the fireworks)

--Patrick

Some reports that the satellite may be dead. SpaceX says that everything went fine on their end. Because classified though, we may never know.

https://arstechnica.com/science/201...nched-by-spacex-may-be-lost-sources-tell-ars/

Jan 8, 2018#460

PatrThom

Eriol said:
Some reports that the satellite may be dead. SpaceX says that everything went fine on their end. Because classified though, we may never know.

Either that or radio silence, I guess. Knowing that it's secret bugs me, and I'm not even involved or impacted (that I know).
Irrespective of the function of the payload, I find myself hoping that none of it was SpaceX's fault.

--Patrick

Jan 9, 2018#461

strawman

"May be lost"

This is not the first time a US spy satellite has been reported as lost, but has actually fully worked.

https://www.space.com/637-anatomy-spy-satellite.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misty_(satellite)

Jan 9, 2018#462

strawman

Looks like the heavy was rolled back out to the launch pad yesterday. It's possible Spacex won't announce the static test fire until after it happens, so I'm looking for twitter feeds and other sources of information close to the launch pad.

https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-falcon-heavy-spied-first-static-test-fire/

Wish we just had 24/7 HD webcams pointed towards each of the launch and landing pads.

Jan 9, 2018#463

Eriol

stienman said:
https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-falcon-heavy-spied-first-static-test-fire/

I laughed at this statement:

Falcon Heavy will launch a somewhat livelier version of Delta IV Heavy’s boilerplate mass-simulator with the Tesla Roadster, and the main goal is quite clearly to test the vehicle’s ability to send a payload into a trans-Martian injection (TMI) orbit, albeit likely without an actual injection into orbit around Mars at the other end. Even if the payload is somewhat silly, a successful launch to TMI would be the most literal step yet made by the commercial space company along its path to Mars.

TMI. Hehe.

(I know, really cheap joke, but it's RIGHT THERE)

Jan 11, 2018#464

strawman

Today's attempt for the static fire of Falcon Heavy has reportedly been scrubbed, after loading propellant into the falcon heavy.

Here's a page that updates every time there's a change:

https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/01/09/falcon-heavy-demo-flight-preparations/

They will likely try again tomorrow, 1pm EST.

Jan 11, 2018#465

evilmike

If you use a newsreader, the local cable news has a feed dedicated to space: http://www.mynews13.com/content/news/cfnews13/feeds/rss.html/space.html

It's not perfect, but it is often useful as a reminder that something is happening at KSC or the Cape.

Jan 12, 2018#466

Eriol

Delayed again for "unspecified" reasons until Saturday: https://www.clickorlando.com/news/s...-spacex-falcon-heavy-rocket-moves-to-saturday

Jan 16, 2018#467

DarkAudit

Now scheduled for ~4pm EST today...

Jan 16, 2018#468

strawman

The static fire test of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket is not expected today, and we have not received a new target date for the hold-down firing at pad 39A.
SpaceX's launch team continues to work through testing of the Falcon Heavy ahead of the first static fire at pad 39A.
Meanwhile, launch preps at nearby pad 41 are underway for an Atlas 5 mission scheduled for liftoff Thursday evening, with rollout of the rocket to the launch pad scheduled for tomorrow. A Falcon Heavy static fire at pad 39A is not expected to occur during the Atlas 5 countdown, a ULA official said today, due to shared safety, security and ground infrastructure between the two adjacent pads.
Based on that, the Falcon Heavy static fire is expected no earlier than Friday, but the target date for the hold-down engine firing remains uncertain, and we'll share information as we confirm it.

Jan 23, 2018#469

strawman

Now that the shutdown is over...

The hold-down firing of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy is now expected no earlier than Wednesday. The test window opens at 3 p.m. EST (2000 GMT).

I'm betting Spacex is going to work like crazy to have the test fire done before the February temporary funding time limit. I'm hoping it happens sooner, and that there's still enough time for a launch before congress gets riled up again!

Jan 24, 2018#470

evilmike

Jan 25, 2018#471

Eriol

In reporting about this test-fire, we finally get one piece of Zuma news:

most recently launching a classified satellite known as Zuma.

The mysterious satellite was lost, according to Pentagon sources, possibly because it failed to separate from the Falcon 9's second stage. SpaceX did not build the satellite's attachment mechanism, and the company insists the rocket performed normally.

This was the piece of information I've been looking for since the initial news. Maybe it's lost, maybe the Pentagon is just throwing wool over everybody's eyes, but for payload separation, who made the mechanism that (may have) failed? Not SpaceX? OK, was their technical data (vibration, G-forces, etc) for what to withstand accurate? Almost certainly yes (easily known, many other launches to compare to, etc). Therefore, not SpaceX's fault in the least. Somebody else's wonky release mechanism.

Jan 25, 2018#472

fade

Eriol said:
I laughed at this statement:

TMI. Hehe.

(I know, really cheap joke, but it's RIGHT THERE)

It's really hard not to insert these flaccid jokes into any ready, willing conversation about the Falcon rocket. It stands proud, erect and ready to service us.

Jan 25, 2018#473

evilmike

Jan 27, 2018#474

evilmike

Jan 27, 2018#475

strawman

Just a few days before the next government shutdown. Hope they don’t scrub!

Jan 28, 2018#476

strawman

Elon Musk missed an opportunity to shape the flamethrower nozzle like one of SpaceX’s Merlin engines.

https://www.boringcompany.com/flamethrower

Jan 28, 2018#477

chris

stienman said:
Elon Musk missed an opportunity to shape the flamethrower nozzle like one of SpaceX’s Merlin engines.

https://www.boringcompany.com/flamethrower

Bet the kids love this one

Jan 30, 2018#478

GasBandit

The earth's magnetic field is shifting. The poles may flip. This could get bad.

Jan 30, 2018#479

strawman

It reads like a pulp fiction novel.

It will have its way with us, no matter what we do. Our task is to figure out how to make it hurt as little as possible.

As far as the rest of it, the supposition is pretty heavy handed and "worst case scenario". I like the part where it's implied that the decay to zero could happen instantly and catch us unawares, then the sentence that says we could be in that state for a century.

Either it'll happen quickly without warning - and snap back into place or reverse just as quickly - or it'll take a long time to switch and we'll be able to see it coming more clearly.

But it appears that this is written in the "essays and opinion" section, so I guess I can't really complain.

Jan 31, 2018#480

strawman

A satellite that NASA launched in 2000 and lost contact with in 2005 was rediscovered by a radio amateur who likes to track satellites (and was actually searching for the more recently lost ZUMA), and Nasa just verified that it is indeed the same satellite, IMAGE, by interpreting the radio signals it's sending and verifying its ID number in the data payload.

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/nasa-image-confirmed

They are now working on cobbling together the software and equipment required to communicate with it, and if successful will turn on its science payloads and see how operational it is. This is not a small task, given that Windows XP wasn't even around (windows NT and 98) when it launched, and linux was on version 2 (it's on version 4 now), and the fastest processors at the time were Intel's Pentium III.

It's like finding a 154 million dollar bill in your coat pocket that you lost over a decade ago.

https://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/presskit/2000/image.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMAGE

Jan 31, 2018#481

MindDetective

stienman said:
A satellite that NASA launched in 2000 and lost contact with in 2005 was rediscovered by a radio amateur who likes to track satellites (and was actually searching for the more recently lost ZUMA), and Nasa just verified that it is indeed the same satellite, IMAGE, by interpreting the radio signals it's sending and verifying its ID number in the data payload.

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/nasa-image-confirmed

They are now working on cobbling together the software and equipment required to communicate with it, and if successful will turn on its science payloads and see how operational it is. This is not a small task, given that Windows XP wasn't even around (windows NT and 98) when it launched, and linux was on version 2 (it's on version 4 now), and the fastest processors at the time were Intel's Pentium III.

It's like finding a 154 million dollar bill in your coat pocket that you lost over a decade ago.

https://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/presskit/2000/image.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMAGE

Notably, IMAGE served well past its intended mission parameters. This is an exciting find, and maybe a chance to squeeze more out of an expensive mission, but IMAGE was already a successful mission by any measure.

Jan 31, 2018#482

strawman

MindDetective said:
Notably, IMAGE served well past its intended mission parameters. This is an exciting find, and maybe a chance to squeeze more out of an expensive mission, but IMAGE was already a successful mission by any measure.

Yes, except for one - successful deorbit to reduce space debris. If they can squeeze more science from it that would be great, but I hope they can at minimum deorbit it.

What gets me is that satellites don't seem to have a "mission failure" routine. If out of contact for a period of time, IMO, they should start deorbit maneuvers.

Jan 31, 2018#483

evilmike

Jan 31, 2018#484

strawman

'nother spacex launch in about 7 minutes. Here's one live rebroadcast with additional commentary by the everyday astronaut:

[DOUBLEPOST=1517433691,1517433514][/DOUBLEPOST]Nah, nevermind, here's the spacex stream. The EA stream is talking about sponsers and other unrelated stuff.

Jan 31, 2018#485

strawman

Ok, now the everyday astronaut is handling good questions.

Jan 31, 2018#486

evilmike

Feb 5, 2018#487

evilmike

Feb 5, 2018#488

strawman

The Federal Aviation Administration has approved a launch license for SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket set for blastoff Tuesday, giving the U.S. government’s regulatory green light for the heavy-lifter to dispatch Elon Musk’s used electric sports car on a one-way trip into deep space.

Dated Feb. 2, the FAA launch license clears a final regulatory hurdle for the Falcon Heavy’s test launch from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The launch window Tuesday opens at 1:30 p.m. EST (1830 GMT) and extends until 4 p.m. EST (2100 GMT).

The official weather forecast issued Sunday by the U.S. Air Force’s 45th Weather Squadron predicts an 80 percent chance of favorable conditions during Tuesday’s launch window.

https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/02/...launch-license-for-first-falcon-heavy-flight/

Feb 5, 2018#489

PatrThom

evilmike said:

Some say he's just hitching a ride back to his home planet, all we know is that he's called the Starman.

--Patrick

Feb 5, 2018#490

evilmike

Pretty good video on launch viewing.

Feb 6, 2018#491

DarkAudit

SpaceflightNow twitter feed giving better updates than the official SpaceX feed. As I type this, liftoff planned for 3:45pm EST, but I'm gonna bet it scrubs for the day.

Feb 6, 2018#492

strawman

With only 15 minutes left in the window (3:45-4pm) a scrub seems very likely.

Feb 6, 2018#493

DarkAudit

Fueling has begun. 3:45pm still target time.

Feb 6, 2018#494

Dave

Feb 6, 2018#495

evilmike

Hopefully the high altitude wind issue resolves itself. It's a beautiful day for a launch otherwise.

Feb 6, 2018#496

Dave

The video I posted is to a live feed. When it gets to be time they'll cut back to it. Until then you get PBS with Falcon sitting in the background.

Feb 6, 2018#497

evilmike

Feb 6, 2018#498

Dave

Yup. Much better feed than the one I posted. I was just coming in to post this video as well.

Feb 6, 2018#499

Dave

That was fucking amazing!

Feb 6, 2018#500

DarkAudit

Easter egg on top of easter egg in the payload. Notice the Don't Panic! on the center display of the car.

Forums