SPACE - random thread about space stuff

Lassr · Post by **Lassr** » Wed Aug 03, 2016 11:41 am

Here is a mock up of ECLSS.

Lassr · Post by **Lassr** » Wed Aug 03, 2016 11:51 am

Here is a space station section that was not used and they use it to test the CO2 removal & oxygen generation, contaminate removal & the plasma experiment.

CO2 removal on left, Oxygen generator in back, contaminate removal to the right.

Moliere · Post by **Moliere** » Mon Aug 08, 2016 10:28 am

raydude · Post by **raydude** » Tue Aug 16, 2016 3:37 pm

So this is what I've been working on.

Mostly the telemetry side, making sure that the packets get unpacked and formatted correctly so the scientists and engineers can access their data. Then working on the higher data products to generate the digital terrain maps that Tim talks about in the video so we can figure out where to get our sample.

The Canadians have been a blast to work with. They are a really fun and knowledgeable group of people.

Can't wait for next month's launch!

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Tue Aug 16, 2016 4:53 pm

That's really cool. How long is the flight time to Bennu (and back)?

raydude · Post by **raydude** » Tue Aug 16, 2016 8:30 pm

Kraken wrote:That's really cool. How long is the flight time to Bennu (and back)?

Two years to get there, about a year and a half of mapping, then narrowing down our sample sites. Followed by sample acquisition between 2020 and 2021. Then the return cruise home, taking about two years, with the sample return capsule separating from the spacecraft in 2023 and parachute landing in Utah.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Tue Aug 16, 2016 9:07 pm

Where an alien life form will escape the sample to breed overnight and start a bloody rampage that will leave the Mormons decimated.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Tue Aug 16, 2016 9:56 pm

raydude wrote:
Kraken wrote:That's really cool. How long is the flight time to Bennu (and back)?
Two years to get there, about a year and a half of mapping, then narrowing down our sample sites. Followed by sample acquisition between 2020 and 2021. Then the return cruise home, taking about two years, with the sample return capsule separating from the spacecraft in 2023 and parachute landing in Utah.

So the whole spacecraft is coming back, then? That'll be a deep space first. Will it go into a parking orbit or reenter and burn up or keep going for parts unknown?

raydude · Post by **raydude** » Wed Aug 17, 2016 7:40 am

Kraken wrote:
raydude wrote:
Kraken wrote:That's really cool. How long is the flight time to Bennu (and back)?
Two years to get there, about a year and a half of mapping, then narrowing down our sample sites. Followed by sample acquisition between 2020 and 2021. Then the return cruise home, taking about two years, with the sample return capsule separating from the spacecraft in 2023 and parachute landing in Utah.
So the whole spacecraft is coming back, then? That'll be a deep space first. Will it go into a parking orbit or reenter and burn up or keep going for parts unknown?

Yep, the whole shebang comes back. The spacecraft itself will then fire thrusters to get into a stable orbit around the sun.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Wed Aug 17, 2016 7:10 pm

raydude wrote:So this is what I've been working on.

Mostly the telemetry side, making sure that the packets get unpacked and formatted correctly so the scientists and engineers can access their data. Then working on the higher data products to generate the digital terrain maps that Tim talks about in the video so we can figure out where to get our sample.

The Canadians have been a blast to work with. They are a really fun and knowledgeable group of people.

Can't wait for next month's launch!

Those numbers are in metric! Abort the launch! Abort the launch!

The Meal · Post by **The Meal** » Wed Aug 17, 2016 10:08 pm

raydude wrote:So this is what I've been working on.

I got an email from a former coworker who's now in Pasadena working on the Asteroid Retrieval Mission for JPL. He's looking for a tech for his project. (Better for me would be if he had been looking for a fellow engineer for his project...)

raydude · Post by **raydude** » Thu Aug 18, 2016 8:19 am

Getting the rocket ready

Three weeks to go till launch.

AWS260 · Post by **AWS260** » Mon Aug 22, 2016 6:14 pm

NASA re-establishes contact with STEREO-B spacecraft after 22 months of silence.

I can only assume that at some point over those 22 months, STEREO-B achieved sentience.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Mon Aug 22, 2016 6:30 pm

AWS260 wrote:NASA re-establishes contact with STEREO-B spacecraft after 22 months of silence.

I can only assume that at some point over those 22 months, STEREO-B achieved sentience.

"The downlink signal was monitored by the Mission Operations team over several hours to characterize the attitude of the spacecraft " -- I'll bet it was pissed off. "You never call me except when you want something."

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Wed Aug 24, 2016 2:34 pm

Earth-sized world 'around nearest star'

The nearest habitable world beyond our Solar System might be right on our doorstep - astronomically speaking. Scientists say their investigations of the closest star, Proxima Centauri, show it to have an Earth-sized planet orbiting about it. What is more, this rocky globe is moving in a zone that would make liquid water on its surface a possibility. Proxima is 40 trillion km away and would take a spacecraft using current technology thousands of years to reach. Nonetheless, the discovery of a planet potentially favourable to life in our cosmic neighbourhood is likely to fire the imagination. "For sure, to go there right now is science fiction, but people are thinking about it and it's no longer just an academic exercise to imagine we could send a probe there one day," said Guillem Anglada-Escudé whose "Pale Red Dot" team reports the existence of the new world in the journal Nature.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Wed Aug 24, 2016 4:36 pm

raydude wrote:Getting the rocket ready

Three weeks to go till launch.

Cool!

dbt1949 · Post by **dbt1949** » Fri Aug 26, 2016 12:27 pm

Scientist creates black hole in lab Oh good. That's just exactly what we need on this world.

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Fri Aug 26, 2016 12:41 pm

dbt1949 wrote:Scientist creates black hole in lab Oh good. That's just exactly what we need on this world.

He simulated a black hole. He actually attempted to create an audio type black hole - which is quite different. That being said, I think one of the goals of the LHC is to create very small black holes.

Edit: Here's an article describing what he tried in case you don't want to watch the video.

But physicists thought it should be possible to create analogue black holes in the lab, not out of sound, but with Bose-Einstein condensates—exotic forms of ultra-cold quantum states matter where a bunch of atoms behave like a single atom. In 2009, Jeff Steinhauer’s lab at the Israel Institute of Technology (Technion) did just that: they briefly produced a supersonic flow for about eight milliseconds in a soup of 100,000 chilled rubidium atoms.

Defiant · Post by **Defiant** » Mon Aug 29, 2016 3:19 pm

Not a Drill: SETI Is Investigating a Possible Extraterrestrial Signal From Deep Space
If the signal is truly from an alien world, it’s one far more advanced than ours

The Meal · Post by **The Meal** » Mon Aug 29, 2016 3:34 pm

Defiant wrote:Not a Drill: SETI Is Investigating a Possible Extraterrestrial Signal From Deep Space
If the signal is truly from an alien world, it’s one far more advanced than ours

Neat! Rio scale value of one (insignificant). Odd that the Russians would sit on it.

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Mon Aug 29, 2016 3:46 pm

Ars had an article about it and one expert noted that the signal is at 11 GHz, which is odd...but also a frequency the military frequently uses and so he would caution anyone reading too much into it just yet and was surprised the group released anything so soon.

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Mon Aug 29, 2016 5:17 pm

stessier wrote:Ars had an article about it and one expert noted that the signal is at 11 GHz, which is odd...but also a frequency the military frequently uses and so he would caution anyone reading too much into it just yet and was surprised the group released anything so soon.

FiveThirtyEight just ran an article that touches on a possible reason that we're hearing about it before it's confirmed one way or the other.

But whether the plan is painstakingly detailed or ho-hum simple, Shostak thinks it’s likely to break down in an actual E.T. event. That’s because the similar protocols SETI operated under before the 2010 Declaration proved to be of almost no use back in 1997, when scientists thought — for about a day — that they really had picked up an alien signal. While they were still working on confirming that the signal was coming from extraterrestrials, Shostak started to receive calls from journalists who had heard something was up. “And I’m not gonna lie to The New York Times and say there’s no signal,” he said.

Spoiler: The 1997 signal turned out to be from a NASA solar research satellite. But if Step 1 and Step 2 could get turned around so quickly even back then, Shostak said, there’s no hope that if a signal were detected today you’d be able to confirm it first and then announce it. Not in the age of social media.

dbt1949 · Post by **dbt1949** » Mon Aug 29, 2016 7:31 pm

Aren't all worlds alien?

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Sat Sep 03, 2016 3:48 pm

AS-202 computer

The Guidance and Navigation Control computer launched on 1966's Apollo-Saturn 202 mission, was the first of its kind. It successfully led a rocket in and out of suborbit, paving the way for the mission to the moon. After that kind of pioneering adventure, you might expect this metal explorer to be safely ensconced in a museum somewhere.

But until very recently, it wasn't. Instead, it was languishing in obscurity—first in a scrap heap, then in storage in Houston, Texas. It was rescued by a self-described "perpetual hacker" from Tshwane, South Africa named Francois Rautenbach—who not only identified, verified, and fixed up the computer, but also recovered the software used during the AS-202 launch, reports Gadget.co.za.
...
But what happened after that? According to Rautenbach, even as this hardware and software inspired future missions, the stuff itself—the circuits, the modules—ended up in a trash pile, surrounded by junk. The whole heap was then sold at a scrap metal auction to a man in Houston, who wishes to remain anonymous.

Rautenbach had become interested in the Apollo Guidance Computer after reading up on it challenged his own assumptions. "Most of us grew up with the fallacy that the AGC was less powerful than a basic programmable calculator," he told Gadget.co.za. "I discovered that this was far from the truth, and that the AGC was in fact a very powerful and capable computer." He began befriending AGC experts around the world—and soon heard from that Houston computer prospector, who had combed through his scrap pile and found historical gold.
...
Thanks to Rautenbach, the computer itself is now on display on the USS Hornet Museum Ship in Alameda, California. No word yet on what has happened to the software modules, but watching Rautenbach play with them is its own kind of honor.

"This was the first computer to use integrated circuits, or microchips," he says in the first video, after bringing one of the modules, which look like thick black bars, close to the camera to reveal a NASA serial number. "It was the first computer in space. This is the real stuff."

WYBaugh · Post by **WYBaugh** » Thu Sep 08, 2016 8:51 pm

Congrats RayDude!

raydude · Post by **raydude** » Fri Sep 09, 2016 12:59 am

Thanks. Here's a link to a video I took with the iPhone. Doesn't do justice to actually seeing it in person at the viewing site. My first launch viewing and something I will never forget.http://youtu.be/yxEaMjcxA1g

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Fri Sep 09, 2016 8:33 am

Congrats!!!

So how loud was it? That bass sound I imagine would be pretty powerful.

raydude · Post by **raydude** » Fri Sep 09, 2016 9:49 pm

stessier wrote:Congrats!!!

So how loud was it? That bass sound I imagine would be pretty powerful.

It was loud but not so loud that my kids had to cover their ears. They initially piped the sound of the rocket through the loudspeakers that were placed all along the viewing area, but the real thing soon drowned them out. You could definitely feel the power in the deep rumble of the engines and the kind of ripping sound as it flew upward. I was amazed at how bright the flame from the engine was, and didn't expect that.

I was also pleasantly surprised at how smoothly things turned out. There was no hold due to a mechanical glitch or safety concern. It was a textbook perfect launch. All in all it was a very powerful and emotional moment, as all these people cheered the rocket on and clapped as the announcer mentioned another checkpoint passed.

The bus ride to the viewing area was great as well. We passed close by the Vehicle Assembly Building and had a great view of it from several sides. Our viewing area was also right next to the Saturn V/Apollo building which was still open so folks could get in, check out the exhibits as they were waiting, then go back out. We lost track of time while trying to find a place to sit and by the time we found a place it was already T-30 minutes to launch.

It was pretty cool bumping into some of the folks who I worked with on the mission and introducing them to my family and getting to meet theirs. Can't wait to visit the Kennedy Visitor's Center tomorrow and play tourist.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Sat Sep 10, 2016 7:25 pm

For a week off and on Ive been watching old Gemini launches to hear a sound you only heard on those Redstone rockets of that day. If you watch and listen close right when the engine go full you'll hear a 'WHHhhuuuuuump' type sound. Its the 'turbo' on it spinning up instantly as fuel mixes.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Tue Sep 13, 2016 6:17 pm

Anyone know if this is true?

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Tue Sep 13, 2016 8:52 pm

To be fair, that's also the internet speed at any given noodle shop in Tokyo.

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Thu Sep 15, 2016 2:26 pm

Daehawk wrote:Anyone know if this is true?

Does an experiment count as true?

AWS260 · Post by **AWS260** » Fri Oct 14, 2016 9:57 am

The European Space Agency's Mars orbiter and lander arrive on Wednesday. No fancy skycranes or airbags for this one:

A parachute and thrusters will slow the descent, until the lander belly flops the last two metres onto the Meridiani Planum, a flat expanse near the equator.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Fri Oct 14, 2016 7:45 pm

Remember how small you felt the first time you heard that the observable universe contains 200 billion galaxies? Prepare to feel ten times smaller: At least 2 trillion is the latest estimate.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Fri Oct 14, 2016 8:01 pm

Kraken wrote:Remember how small you felt the first time you heard that the observable universe contains 200 billion galaxies? Prepare to feel ten times smaller: At least 2 trillion is the latest estimate.

And we cant go to any of them. Its not fair.

AWS260 · Post by **AWS260** » Mon Oct 17, 2016 8:04 pm

Just watched the Antares launch from Wallops from my roof in Brooklyn. Very cool.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Mon Oct 17, 2016 8:26 pm

Amy Shira Teitel . This YouTube girl is wonderful. She it a total space nut and makes some great videos on it all.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Mon Oct 17, 2016 11:01 pm

Daehawk wrote:Amy Shira Teitel . This YouTube girl is wonderful. She it a total space nut and makes some great videos on it all.

She speaks accurately and with incongruous authority about things that happened before she was born, but oh, that Millennial vocal fry is grating. Still enjoyed a couple of her videos and even learned a tidbit or two.

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Wed Oct 19, 2016 11:57 am

Europe was trying to be the second entity to land something successfully on Mars today and it looks like it might have gone poorly.

I never knew just how impressive NASA's record of 8 out of 9 attempts was before reading all about this today.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Wed Oct 19, 2016 4:09 pm

stessier wrote:Europe was trying to be the second entity to land something successfully on Mars today and it looks like it might have gone poorly.

I never knew just how impressive NASA's record of 8 out of 9 attempts was before reading all about this today.

Yup, Mars is hard.

Too bad about the Euro lander, if it's lost, but as a technology demonstrator it still served its purpose. Back to the drawing board!