SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

Post by Max Peck »

AWS260 wrote: Tue Oct 20, 2020 6:42 pm
Max Peck wrote: Tue Oct 20, 2020 6:06 pm What's the deal with the weird clear plastic masks some of them are wearing?
Possibly to accommodate lip readers? That's the rationale for clear masks that I've seen in other places.
That makes sense, since it seemed only to be the presenters that were wearing them. OTOH, mini face guards like that seem to be only marginally better than no masks at all.
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

Post by raydude »

Kraken wrote: Tue Oct 20, 2020 6:14 pm Beautiful. Another triumph for robots. Looking forward to seeing the pictures tomorrow.
The spacecraft may have done the final descent on its own, but the act of getting there, reacting to unexpected issues, mapping the asteroid, sharing data, building asteroid models, and evaluating possible landing sites was all human, baby! Kudos to the OSIRIS-REx Team!

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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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raydude wrote:
Kraken wrote: Tue Oct 20, 2020 6:14 pm Beautiful. Another triumph for robots. Looking forward to seeing the pictures tomorrow.
The spacecraft may have done the final descent on its own, but the act of getting there, reacting to unexpected issues, mapping the asteroid, sharing data, building asteroid models, and evaluating possible landing sites was all human, baby! Kudos to the OSIRIS-REx Team!

I was pretty impressed by the software design that made it possible for the probe to assess the conditions for sample retrieval and decide whether or not to proceed. Also, it was designed to even try again if needed. Kudos to humans!
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

Post by Holman »

Max Peck wrote: Tue Oct 20, 2020 6:52 pm
AWS260 wrote: Tue Oct 20, 2020 6:42 pm
Max Peck wrote: Tue Oct 20, 2020 6:06 pm What's the deal with the weird clear plastic masks some of them are wearing?
Possibly to accommodate lip readers? That's the rationale for clear masks that I've seen in other places.
That makes sense, since it seemed only to be the presenters that were wearing them. OTOH, mini face guards like that seem to be only marginally better than no masks at all.
Giving a presentation with half your face invisible is also really hard.

I've been teaching in a mask all semester, and it makes communication much less natural. Speaking uses your face, not just your voice.
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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The only reason people get lost in thought is because it's unfamiliar territory.

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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Boop
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Lassr wrote: Wed Oct 21, 2020 10:44 pm Video
Needs a bigger explosion. CGI is unconvincing. 3/8 tentacles. :wink:
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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More lens flare!....Some lens flair!
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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SLS Core Stage nearing home stretch for Green Run tanking test
Final preparations are in work to ready the first Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage flight article for its first-ever propellant loading in the B-2 Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Southern Mississippi. Prime contractor Boeing is leading the Green Run test campaign for the central component of the space agency’s new launch vehicle as the test team approaches the critical Wet Dress Rehearsal (WDR) now tentatively targeted for early November.

The WDR is the seventh of eight Green Run test cases and the precursor to a full-duration Hot-Fire test of the stage once the tanking test is completed. Final closeouts of the stage to configure it for its first live countdown will take up much of the remaining time before the full Green Run team meets for a Test Readiness Review (TRR); the meeting is planned two days before the test to verify that the vehicle, the test stand, and the test team are ready to proceed.

In the WDR, the Core Stage will be prepared for ignition exactly as it will for the Hot-Fire and for a launch, activating all its systems to run together and meet all their firing criteria before the countdown is stopped several seconds before engine start.
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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NASA asteroid probe is overflowing with space-rock samples
The OSIRIS-REx team will work to stow the sample as fast as possible to minimize mass loss.

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This image, captured by OSIRIS-REx’s SamCam camera on Oct. 22, 2020, shows that the probe’s sampler head is full of rocks and dust collected from the asteroid Bennu, and that some of the particles are slowly escaping into space.
(Image: © NASA)

NASA's first-ever asteroid-sampling operation apparently went a little too well.

The agency's OSIRIS-REx probe snagged so much dirt and rock from the surface of the near-Earth asteroid Bennu on Tuesday (Oct. 20) that the spacecraft's sampling mechanism didn't close properly, allowing some of the collected material to escape into space, mission team members announced Friday (Oct. 23).

OSIRIS-REx's handlers now plan to stow the collected material in the probe's return capsule as soon as possible, to minimize the material lost. The team hopes to begin that crucial, multi-day operation on Tuesday (Oct. 27), NASA officials said.
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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raydude wrote: Wed Oct 21, 2020 9:07 am
Kraken wrote: Tue Oct 20, 2020 6:14 pm Beautiful. Another triumph for robots. Looking forward to seeing the pictures tomorrow.
The spacecraft may have done the final descent on its own, but the act of getting there, reacting to unexpected issues, mapping the asteroid, sharing data, building asteroid models, and evaluating possible landing sites was all human, baby! Kudos to the OSIRIS-REx Team!
Congratulations to you & your team, raydude!

I already knew the result by the time I got to watch the video, and I was still on pins-and-needles at the time and had goosebumps when that operator announced "we have touchdown".

Now good luck with getting those samples stored in the reentry vehicle before too much leaks away. :D
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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About 3% of Starlink satellites have failed so far

So much space junk.
However, there have been some problems along the way, as well. Aside from the usual concerns about light pollution and radio frequency interference (RFI), there is also the rate of failure these satellites have experienced. Specifically, about 3% of its satellites have proven to be unresponsive and are no longer maneuvering in orbit, which could prove hazardous to other satellites and spacecraft in orbit.

In order to prevent collisions in orbit, SpaceX equips its satellites with krypton Hall-effect thrusters (ion engines) to raise their orbit, maneuver in space and deorbit at the end of their lives. However, according to two recent notices SpaceX issued to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over the summer (mid-May and late June), several of their satellites have lost maneuvering capability since they were deployed.
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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The Milky Way's quiet, introverted monster won't spin
There's a beast hiding at the center of the Milky Way, and it's barely moving.

This supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A* (SgrA*), has a mass 4.15 million times that of our sun. It first revealed itself to scientists as a mysterious source of radio waves from the galaxy's center back in 1931; but it wasn't until 2002 that researchers confirmed the radio waves were coming from something massive and compact like a black hole —— a feat that earned them the 2020 Nobel Prize in physics. Just days before the team learned about their Nobel on Oct. 6, another group learned something new about the black hole: It's spinning more slowly than a supermassive black hole should, moving less than (possibly far less than) 10% of the speed of light.
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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There's water in them thar craters
Having dropped tantalising hints days ago about an "exciting new discovery about the Moon", the US space agency has revealed conclusive evidence of water on our only natural satellite.

This "unambiguous detection of molecular water" will boost Nasa's hopes of establishing a lunar base.
Speaking during a virtual teleconference, co-author Casey Honniball, postdoctoral fellow at Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, said: "The amount of water is roughly equivalent to a 12-ounce bottle of water in a cubic metre of lunar soil."
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Ah, the timeless "ounces per cubic meter" scientific unit of measure.
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Build a Perrier factory!
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Defiant wrote: Mon Oct 26, 2020 3:02 pm There's water in them thar craters
Having dropped tantalising hints days ago about an "exciting new discovery about the Moon", the US space agency has revealed conclusive evidence of water on our only natural satellite.

This "unambiguous detection of molecular water" will boost Nasa's hopes of establishing a lunar base.
Speaking during a virtual teleconference, co-author Casey Honniball, postdoctoral fellow at Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, said: "The amount of water is roughly equivalent to a 12-ounce bottle of water in a cubic metre of lunar soil."
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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I would think the Jets, Flyers, or Stars would have a leg up on getting there first.
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Crew-1 mission in final preparations as launch date aligns
With Crew-1 just weeks away, SpaceX and NASA have entered final preparations for the first operational Crew Dragon flight that will mark the first long-duration crew rotation mission to the International Space Station to launch from a country other than Kazakhstan since 2009.

The Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon with Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker, and Soichi Noguchi is now set to liftoff from LC-39A at the Kennedy Space Center, FL, on 14 November 2020 at 19:49 EST (23:49 UTC) for a one-day trip to the Station.

The Crew-1 mission will be the first time SpaceX conducts a long-duration crew flight to the International Space Station (ISS) and will mark the first time since August 2009 that a regular, long-duration Station crew member will launch on a U.S. vehicle.

The mission will use a new Crew Dragon capsule: C207, which the Crew-1 astronauts have named Resilience.
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Hope it doesn't get hit by a Starlink spamsat.
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Daehawk wrote: Tue Oct 27, 2020 4:41 pm Hope it doesn't get hit by a Starlink spamsat.
Fairly unlikely as Starlink is almost 100 miles further out than the ISS.
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Random thought. For a species to build a Dyson Sphere around their entire solar system and harness 100% of their suns energy just how many other solar systems would they need to deplete to do it I wonder.
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Daehawk wrote: Tue Oct 27, 2020 7:43 pm Random thought. For a species to build a Dyson Sphere around their entire solar system and harness 100% of their suns energy just how many other solar systems would they need to deplete to do it I wonder.
Probably none, if you assume the sphere itself is fairly thin. Think of how much material in our solar system is tied up in asteroids. If you have the technology to build a Sphere, you'd probably have the technology to go lasso asteroids and turn them into building material.
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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"What? What? What?" -- The 14th Doctor

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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Probably lots and lots of those.
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Im screwed as I dont have any 'Death by spaceborne virus' insurance.
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Don't worry, when the the sample return lands we can always call Doctors Stone, Burton, Leavitt and Hall plus Professor Kirke.
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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I'm on the mission to visit Psyche in 2022. Sadly we're not bringing back any souvenirs.
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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raydude wrote: Thu Oct 29, 2020 11:08 pm I'm on the mission to visit Psyche in 2022. Sadly we're not bringing back any souvenirs.
Cool, I didn't know that was a crewed mission. ;)
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Hrdina wrote: Sun Nov 01, 2020 6:15 pm
raydude wrote: Thu Oct 29, 2020 11:08 pm I'm on the mission to visit Psyche in 2022. Sadly we're not bringing back any souvenirs.
Cool, I didn't know that was a crewed mission. ;)
I know you're joking but I cant resist the chance to ..... Psyche!, it isn't.
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

Post by Daehawk »

Rocket launch seen from space.

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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Daehawk wrote: Sun Nov 01, 2020 7:22 pm
Hrdina wrote: Sun Nov 01, 2020 6:15 pm
raydude wrote: Thu Oct 29, 2020 11:08 pm I'm on the mission to visit Psyche in 2022. Sadly we're not bringing back any souvenirs.
Cool, I didn't know that was a crewed mission. ;)
I know you're joking but I cant resist the chance to ..... Psyche!, it isn't.
:D Nice!
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