NASA/Space thread

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Tried to find a thread but couldn't find anything recent. So many cool things happening right now in astronomy.

Dawn is approaching Ceres. On the way in, they've noticed bright spots on the surface. My guess is a recent comet/meteorite hit, but either way, it's going to give scientists a great look at what's beneath the surface.

'Bright Spot' on Ceres Has Dimmer Companion | NASA (http://www.nasa.gov/jpl/dawn/bright-spot-on-ceres-has-dimmer-companion/index.html#.VO9BjOHyvgJ)

New Horizons is getting a good look at the Pluto system. A few months from now will be the fly-by where we should get an incredible look at Pluto.

85 Years after Pluto’s Discovery, NASA’s New Horizons Spots Small Moons Orbiting Pluto | NASA (http://www.nasa.gov/nh_new-horizons-spots-small-moons-orbiting-pluto)

Finally, Curiosity and the Mars Science Lab continue to do great work from the surface of Mars. Amazing to see things in HD.

Latest Selfie from NASA Mars Rover Shows Wide Context | NASA (http://www.nasa.gov/jpl/msl/latest-selfie-from-nasa-mars-rover-shows-wide-context)

[Thomkal]

what could it be?

Nasa's Mars announcement: Scientists to reveal 'major finding' on Monday | Science | News | Daily Express (http://www.express.co.uk/news/science/608126/Nasa-s-Mars-announcement-Monday-water-on-mars-life-on-mars)

[cartman]

I bet it is that this guy has a cousin:

http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120206051502/looneytunesmeals/images/c/c7/Marvin_the_Martian.gif

[tarcone]

It has to do with our world coming to an end on Monday. Something along the lines of "As earth ends we are going to Mars. C'ya suckers!"

[Thomkal]

So you guys are saying you have no clue huh? :)

[BillJasper]

What they define as a "major finding" and what the public define it as, are two different things.

But I have no clue.

[nol]

Prothean ruins, duh.

[Fonzie]

My guess? Evidence of running water.

[EagleFan]

My guess? Evidence of running water.

Then we need to stay as far away from Mars as possible...

[Edward64]

What they define as a "major finding" and what the public define it as, are two different things.

But I have no clue.

Hoping for little green (wo)men or some proof of life. But probably something about water.

[Ironhead]

Amazing photo from Hubble.

HubbleSite - NewsCenter - Hubble Zooms in on Shrapnel from an Exploded Star (09/24/2015) - Introduction (http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2015/29/)

[Edward64]

and its .... flowing water. I guess its a big story but seems anticlimatic since we knew about frozen ice at the poles.

[Thomkal]

yeah not very exciting, but still an important discovery I guess.

[Radii]

https://i.imgur.com/YZXObbN.jpg

(stolen from reddit)

[Thomkal]

Move over Pluto, it's Planet Nine:

'Planet Nine' Explained: Facts About the Mysterious Solar System World (Infographic) (http://www.space.com/31671-planet-nine-discovery-explained-infographic.html)

[Kodos]

Good stuff.

[Kodos]

Amazing photo from Hubble.

HubbleSite - NewsCenter - Hubble Zooms in on Shrapnel from an Exploded Star (09/24/2015) - Introduction (http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2015/29/)

No doubt that this is the doing of Starkiller Base.

[Julio Riddols]

Oh man, the race to put out the first film where a crew is sent to explore planet nine...

[Glengoyne]

So first Brown kills Pluto, and now he replaces it.

[bhlloy]

It's going to be hilarious when we discover aliens on that ninth planet who have been hiding out of sight this whole time

[NobodyHere]

Move over Pluto, it's Planet Nine:

'Planet Nine' Explained: Facts About the Mysterious Solar System World (Infographic) (http://www.space.com/31671-planet-nine-discovery-explained-infographic.html)

Planet 9 from Outer Space?

[SteveMax58]

Move over Pluto, it's Planet Nine:

'Planet Nine' Explained: Facts About the Mysterious Solar System World (Infographic) (http://www.space.com/31671-planet-nine-discovery-explained-infographic.html)

Wow...so its almost as big as Uranus? :D

[albionmoonlight]

It amazes me that there can be something that big within our solar system that we physically cannot see.

It is also amazing that we have the ability to infer its existence through gravitational effects, even as we cannot see it.

[Thomkal]

Wow...so its almost as big as Uranus? :D

well not mine (sorry, someone had to do it) :)

[Thomkal]

It amazes me that there can be something that big within our solar system that we physically cannot see.

It is also amazing that we have the ability to infer its existence through gravitational effects, even as we cannot see it.

yeah despite the stats, I think we need to see a picture. Until then, theories are nice, but a lot of theories turn out to be wrong. Still can't get over how long an orbit of Planet Nine might take. It seems like its barely moving.

[Peregrine]

Move over Pluto, it's Planet Nine:

'Planet Nine' Explained: Facts About the Mysterious Solar System World (Infographic) (http://www.space.com/31671-planet-nine-discovery-explained-infographic.html)

Pics or it didn't happen.

[Easy Mac]

nibiru is coming

[Thomkal]

Pics or it didn't happen.

heh

[BishopMVP]

It's funny how this stuff gains popular traction. "Planet X" has been theorized for years (in different variations, with different definitions, but knowing how some of Einstein's theories were "disproven" by science only to later be found correct, maybe this was exactly what Percival Lowell was referring to in the 30's), but even when it was published in semi-mainstream publications like Nature it would be in an article like this (http://www.nature.com/articles/nature13156.epdf?referrer_access_token=m6J3YKXwRGRgrw9lL-CdudRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0MR4M95y5cI5IA6NAQnvnEYdf_z4oQluYFbQcQer54Cp2NdxQy7KgJlSK1x8zUpgsoYJmij7eVra_86SW2-xv7r8dvLUkvd8imImZ0u6HnnttRc2WU55jFNRc2laA-aU_h6B3SaSMmAJ4ZiZx73QEMTu1e0XfrcyOlP3y-2gwjSkHiqR8srGBWt3nGs19kGvVij5wBDN08f8-yLUA4hWK3fZggX_hY2f8OfK2_kep2sShGVoRh9K-oj2FghvNPsksA%3D&tracking_referrer=www.washingtonpost.com). So I'll ask the astrophysicists I know when I see them next, but from my layman's take these CalTech guys didn't actually propose anything new, just had slightly deeper/better data, so I can't figure out why it's gaining so much traction right now. Regardless, it's still cool, and anything that inspires the public to support space (or deep sea) exploration is cool in my book.

[SteveMax58]

Pics or it didn't happen.

You know, oddly enough this is kind of along the lines of something I don't understand.

I realize we aren't snapping pics all over the sky at all times but why wouldn't someone, at some point, tried to calculate an approximate location and snapped a pic at some point of this potential planet.

Or is that how poorly funded we actually are?

[sabotai]

I realize we aren't snapping pics all over the sky at all times but why wouldn't someone, at some point, tried to calculate an approximate location and snapped a pic at some point of this potential planet.

I'm sure they're working on that right now, but they're not going to get an exact location, and it'll take time to hunt it down.

[Thomkal]

Pluto is turning out to be much more than a dwarf planet wannabee:

http://gizmodo.com/pluto-may-have-had-rivers-of-liquid-nitrogen-1766214976?rev=1458593951049&utm_campaign=socialflow_gizmodo_facebook&utm_source=gizmodo_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

[Thomkal]

welcome to the Fornax Cluster: (and bring on Stellaris :) )

Galaxy Cluster Gathers Inside a Cosmic 'Furnace' in New Video, Images (http://www.space.com/32564-galaxy-cluster-cosmic-furnace-fornax-video-image.html)

[Neuqua]

Having a close friend work for NASA has been amazing. Every now and then when he gets to work early, he'll send over a picture taken on Mars and there's something cool about knowing I'm the 2nd person ever to see certain parts of the planet.

[Thomkal]

cool

[cartman]

A couple of weekends ago my Dad and I took a road trip to Socorro, NM. It was one of the two Saturdays each year that they open Trinity Site up to the public. So we went and toured the area, stood at ground zero, and went to the house where they put the plutonium core together for the test.

Afterwards, we headed out to the Very Large Array, which does a huge open house on the weekends when Trinity Site is open. That was really cool. They took us to the operations room, we got to talk to a bunch of the scientists, and got to stand at the base of one of the huge dishes as it was being pointed to a new section of the sky.

The things they can do with the Array are incredible. They said they listen for radio signals so faint, that if you were to use a normal remote control for a toy car on the moon, it would several magnitudes stronger than the signals they listen for. They can move the dishes anywhere from being in a cluster of about a kilometer, all the way out to over 20 kilometers.

[PilotMan]

The pics were cool. A great bucket list trip for you. I'd love to have done that at the VLA.

[Neuqua]

Just for an example, he sent me this shot earlier today.

Yeah you can't really make up much from it but FOFC is now one of the first batch of humans to see this part of Mars.

[Kodos]

That IS cool.

[cartman]

A Giant Galaxy Orbiting Our Own Just Appeared Out of Nowhere (http://gizmodo.com/a-giant-galaxy-orbiting-our-own-just-appeared-out-of-no-1771257641)

[Thomkal]

Gentleman (and Ladies), I give you Jupiter!:

Jupiter has new visitor – a solar-powered spacecraft (http://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/hello-jupiter-nasa-spacecraft-arrives-at-giant-planet/ar-AAi618o?ocid=ansmsnweather11)

This is just amazing to me-can't believe the science and math that were involved to accomplish this-can't wait to see the pictures.

[Thomkal]

Sorry if this has been mentioned in thread before, but just saw this for the first time-have we found another civilization?:

Kepler's 'Alien Megastructure' Star Just Got Weirder (http://www.space.com/33674-alien-megastructure-star-just-got-even-weirder.html)

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Mystery object lurking past Neptune is baffling astronomers - AOL (http://www.aol.com/article/2016/08/12/mystery-object-lurking-past-neptune-is-baffling-astronomers/21450725/)

[albionmoonlight]

Growing up watching Science Fiction where humans can zip across the galaxy in hours, it is still jarring to have something as "close" as Neptune that we can't just go out there and look at.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Another interesting one.

Reports Of An Earth-like Planet Around Our Nearest Neighbor | IFLScience (http://www.iflscience.com/space/reports-of-an-earthlike-planet-around-our-nearest-neighbor/)

[Galaril]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kristintablang/2016/08/23/solar-express-futuristic-train-travel-concept-charles-bombardier-olivier-peraldi-boris-schwarzer/#271df8d348c1
Space train would get cargo and travelers to Mars i 37 hours.

[Brian Swartz]

I honestly don't understand the fascination with Mars colonization. 50 years ago it made sense, maybe even 20 years ago, although that's pushing it. But everything I've found indicates the gravity is too low and will cause major long-term consequences. That's one thing for the ISS or for spaceships which can generate artificial gravity via centripetal force, where you have a regimen of eating/exercise to combat it for astronauts, continuing research, etc. It's quite another for a scenario in which you are considering a 'second home' for humanity. For any sizable colonization it's got to be user-friendly, and the gravity issue makes that a non-starter from everything I've been able to discern.

[whomario]

I honestly don't understand the fascination with Mars colonization. 50 years ago it made sense, maybe even 20 years ago, although that's pushing it. But everything I've found indicates the gravity is too low and will cause major long-term consequences. That's one thing for the ISS or for spaceships which can generate artificial gravity via centripetal force, where you have a regimen of eating/exercise to combat it for astronauts, continuing research, etc. It's quite another for a scenario in which you are considering a 'second home' for humanity. For any sizable colonization it's got to be user-friendly, and the gravity issue makes that a non-starter from everything I've been able to discern.

Wait, isn´t the ISS essentially zero-G (without alternative due to the way it is designed to orbit around the earth) ?

38% gravity on Mars seems kinda more doable in comparison from a layman perspective, especially since the main issue of gravity loss is returning to 100% gravity on earth (yes, yes, the "dream" would be to travel back and forth at will, but not really a necessity).
Not saying there aren´t issues in and off itself beyond a certain point of degradation, but then again who is to say there won´t be a way to counter this by the time the first mission starts to some (better than now) degree ? Or at some point after the first "trailblazers" ? Colonization historically was never "user friendly" for the first couple generations i would argue ;)

[Thomkal]

Not a Drill: SETI Is Investigating a Possible Extraterrestrial Signal From Deep Space (http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/not-a-drill-seti-is-investigating-a-possible-extraterrestrial-signal-from-deep-space/ar-AAid9oY?OCID=ansmsnnews11)

SETI finallty paying off?

[BillJasper]

Not a Drill: SETI Is Investigating a Possible Extraterrestrial Signal From Deep Space (http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/not-a-drill-seti-is-investigating-a-possible-extraterrestrial-signal-from-deep-space/ar-AAid9oY?OCID=ansmsnnews11)

SETI finallty paying off?

An Interesting SETI Candidate in Hercules (http://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=36248)

No one is claiming that this is the work of an extraterrestrial civilization, but it is certainly worth further study.

The possibility of noise of one form or another cannot be ruled out, and researchers in Paris led by Jean Schneider are considering the possible microlensing of a background source by HD164595. But the signal is provocative enough that the RATAN-600 researchers are calling for permanent monitoring of this target.

[BillJasper]

Aliens Are (Probably) Not Broadcasting a Signal from Space : snopes.com (http://www.snopes.com/2016/08/29/alien-signal-from-space/)

According to science journalist Dave Mosher, the signal is indeed so uninteresting that the people who first found it didn't bother to let anyone know right away. The researchers found it using the RATAN-600 radio telescope located in Zelenchukskaya, in southwest Russia, more than a year ago.

[Kodos]

You humans are so desperate to not be alone...

[Thomkal]

Aliens Are (Probably) Not Broadcasting a Signal from Space : snopes.com (http://www.snopes.com/2016/08/29/alien-signal-from-space/)

Oh sure burst my bubble :)

[BillJasper]

Oh sure burst my bubble :)

I got excited when I saw the story yesterday. Then I started digging and burst my own bubble.

Misery loves company! :lol:

[Thomkal]

Some new photos of Jupiter showing things we haven't seen before:

Juno has photographed Jupiter's poles for the first time - Business Insider (http://www.businessinsider.com/juno-jupiter-north-pole-aurora-images-2016-9?utm_content=bufferbc288&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer)

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Epic four year time lapse of a dying star.......

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/U1fvMSs9cps" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Another spot in our solar system where we can collect water and return it to check for life.

NASA discovers water 'spewing' on Jupiter moon Europa (http://news.sky.com/story/nasa-discovers-water-spewing-on-jupiter-moon-europa-10594667)

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Amazing that two private companies have now done this. In my lifetime, we're likely going to see regular commercial flights into sub-orbital, if not orbital, space. That's crazy.

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin Space Capsule Aces Dramatic In-Flight Escape Test (http://www.space.com/34302-blue-origin-space-capsule-escape-test.html)

[Ironhead]

http://www.trbimg.com/img-57fff5f7/turbine/bal-watch-space-station-bound-rocket-in-first--001/750/750x422

Antares rocket should be visible tomorrow night a little after 8 PM for a large portion of the East Coast.

[Edward64]

I would love to see this ... but its kinda late for the Obama administration.

Obama just explained how NASA will get humans to Mars by the 2030s - ScienceAlert (http://www.sciencealert.com/obama-just-explained-how-nasa-will-get-humans-to-mars-by-the-2030s)
In a personal column published on CNN this Tuesday, Obama recommitted to getting human astronauts on Mars in the next two decades, and gave new details on how NASA plans to make this happen.

[Ironhead]

Update: Antares launch has been delayed 24 hours to Monday.

[CrescentMoonie]

Update: Antares launch has been delayed 24 hours to Monday.

Starting to wonder if it's going to happen, it was initially scheduled for Friday.

[Ironhead]

http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/full_width/public/thumbnails/image/oa-5launchviewing-firstsighting_med.jpg?itok=4NOA5Yk8

As of right now launch is still on for tonight at 7:40 PM EST.

[Ironhead]

35 minutes from launch. Still set to go.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Two More Moons For Uranus? | IFLScience (http://www.iflscience.com/space/uranus-may-have-two-more-undiscovered-moons/all/)

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

So many cool things going on right now.

New Horizons - Possible Clouds on Pluto, Next Target is Reddish | News - NASA Solar System Exploration (http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/2016/10/18/new-horizons-possible-clouds-on-pluto-next-target-is-reddish)

[NobodyHere]

Two More Moons For Uranus? | IFLScience (http://www.iflscience.com/space/uranus-may-have-two-more-undiscovered-moons/all/)

Uranus is mooning us?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Live broadcast of Mars landing today......

WATCH LIVE! European Mars Probes Arriving at Red Planet Today (http://www.space.com/17933-nasa-television-webcasts-live-space-tv.html)

[cartman]

Pretty cool theoretical discussion:

http://www.astronomy.com/news/2016/10/could-an-astronauts-corpse-bring-new-life-to-another-world

[Critch]

Cant find any mention of this on here:

Strange messages coming from the stars are ‘probably’ from aliens, scientists say (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/aliens-proof-evidence-facts-stars-scientists-extraterrestrial-life-et-intelligence-a7377716.html)

I for one welcome our new signaling overlords.

[CrescentMoonie]

SpaceX Finds Rocket Explosion 'Smoking Gun' (http://www.space.com/34641-spacex-elon-musk-falcon-rocket-explosion-launch-pad-accident.html?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=socialfbspc&cmpid=social_spc_514630)

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

See Cassini spacecraft's first images from its new Saturn orbit - CNET (https://www.cnet.com/news/nasa-cassini-saturn-pictures-new-orbit/)

[sabotai]

Direct imaging of four planets orbiting the star HR 8799 129 light years away from Earth (http://i.imgur.com/BVXrHQM.gifv)

[CrescentMoonie]

7 Earth-Size Planets Circle Nearby Star (http://www.space.com/35790-seven-earth-size-planets-trappist-1-discovery.html?)

[CraigSca]

What are the repercussions of the planets traveling so fast?

And aren't the artist's renderings a little off - shouldn't the sun be HUGE in the sky if the planets are that close?

[Suicane75]

It's a tiny sun.

[albionmoonlight]

What are the repercussions of the planets traveling so fast?

And aren't the artist's renderings a little off - shouldn't the sun be HUGE in the sky if the planets are that close?

Being that close to their star, they are going to be tidally locked to the sun (like the moon is to earth). That means that there will be a permanent day side and night side to the planet.

[Kodos]

It's a tiny sun.

In the Trump system, if I'm not mistaken.

[wustin]

Pretty cool that all the planets are tidally locked to each other. That means if you live on the fortune side of one end of the system you get to see a line of planets in the sky.

[CrescentMoonie]

Here's a great image and video gallery (https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/trappist1/) that NASA already has up.

[Edward64]

Nice but I was hoping for proof of extra terrestrial life in my lifetime but doesn't look as if its going to happen anytime soon.

[Chief Rum]

39 light years! Yea I know that's still ridiculously far, but, man, on a cosmic scale, that's right around the corner!

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Nice but I was hoping for proof of extra terrestrial life in my lifetime but doesn't look as if its going to happen anytime soon.

Not sure how old you are, but they said like they could nail it down pretty well whether that system harbors life in the next decade.

[CrescentMoonie]

SpaceX Reuses A Rocket To Launch A Satellite (http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/03/29/521941656/launch-land-launch-spacex-tries-reusing-its-rocket?)

This seems like a major step forward. Now we can start learning how many times a rocket can be reused and how quick the turnaround can be.

[Thomkal]

Farewell Cassini:

Cassini, NASA's 13-year Saturn mission, has ended (http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/cassini-nasas-13-year-saturn-mission-has-ended/ar-AArXUGQ?OCID=ansmsnnews11)

[Thomkal]

http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/16/world/neutron-star-collision-gravitational-waves-light/index.html

For the first time, astronomers were able to see two neutron stars colliding

[Thomkal]

Mysterious object from deep space has entered the solar system | Fox News (http://www.foxnews.com/science/2017/10/27/mysterious-object-from-deep-space-has-entered-solar-system.html)

[PilotMan]

Mysterious object from deep space has entered the solar system | Fox News (http://www.foxnews.com/science/2017/10/27/mysterious-object-from-deep-space-has-entered-solar-system.html)

That is so cool. Think about that. 1.7 million years to get here and blast through the solar system in a few weeks, never to return and we got to watch it.

[Thomkal]

That is so cool. Think about that. 1.7 million years to get here and blast through the solar system in a few weeks, never to return and we got to watch it.

Yeppers. Kind of blows my mind whenever some discovery or picture of something new is shown. We (meaning scientists and astronomers) had all these theories about how places like Saturn and Jupiter would be like, and almost all of them were wrong. There really is so much we don't know about space, so kind of wow'ed when something new gets introduced.

[Eaglesfan27]

That is so cool. Think about that. 1.7 million years to get here and blast through the solar system in a few weeks, never to return and we got to watch it.

Amazing. Love stuff like this.

[CrescentMoonie]

Another launch was supposed to happen this morning. I was standing at the window watching (because it's friggin 22 outside) and nothing happened. Apparently some idiot in a chopper ignored the temporary no fly zone and they'll launch tomorrow morning at 7:14 ET.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Launch was aborted for 7:37am ET today due to an aircraft in the launch zone. Watch: <a href="https://t.co/mzKW5uDsTi">https://t.co/mzKW5uDsTi</a> <a href="https://t.co/ltpdPInYtL">pic.twitter.com/ltpdPInYtL</a></p>&mdash; NASA (@NASA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NASA/status/929327577117859840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 11, 2017</a></blockquote>

[Edward64]

Amazing. Love stuff like this.

Here's an artist rendition. Strange looking thing ...

http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/20/world/first-interstellar-object-solar-system/index.html

[EagleFan]

Planet X... :)

Or the way that looks it may be Planet XXX... :devil:

[Thomkal]

Astronomers to check interstellar body for signs of alien technology | Science | The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/dec/11/astronomers-to-check-interstellar-body-for-signs-of-alien-technology?CMP=share_btn_fb)

[Thomkal]

Pentagon and Department of Defense admit to the existence of a UFO investigation program from 2007-2012:

Pentagon admits running secret UFO investigation for five years | World news | The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/17/pentagon-admits-running-secret-ufo-investigation-for-five-years?CMP=share_btn_fb)

[Edward64]

I (really want) to believe in friendly UFO's visiting earth.

[Thomkal]

I (really want) to believe in friendly UFO's visiting earth.

Well just about everyone does I think, except of course religious leaders.

[Thomkal]

Potential water found on Mars:

Huge Water Reserves Found All Over Mars (https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/01/mars-buried-water-ice-subsurface-geology-astronauts-science/)

[Edward64]

Potential water found on Mars:

Huge Water Reserves Found All Over Mars (https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/01/mars-buried-water-ice-subsurface-geology-astronauts-science/)

Eh, I'll believe it when one of the future rovers positively confirms it.

[tarcone]

I think a UFO visiting Earth would be like a big ship sailing into an island and meeting the natives a couple hundred years ago. Lots of awe and fear and curiousity

[cartman]

Less than 15 minutes to the Falcon Heavy launch

Falcon Heavy Test Flight | SpaceX (http://www.spacex.com/webcast)

[miked]

Wow.

[cartman]

Those two stages landing back in tandem was really impressive.

[Coffee Warlord]

Those two stages landing back in tandem was really impressive.

This.

Still trying to find word if the main booster made it.

[PilotMan]

That was so freaking cool I got goose bumps watching it.

[Edward64]

How in the world do they do that? Wow.

[cartman]

Still trying to find word if the main booster made it.

https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/6/16980954/spacex-falcon-heavy-rocket-middle-core-failed-landing

[Edward64]

Beats me as to real implications but thought it was a neat story.

Scott Kelly: NASA Twins Study Confirms Astronaut's DNA Actually Changed in Space (http://www.newsweek.com/scott-kelly-astronauts-nasa-dna-838535)
Astronaut Scott Kelly’s DNA was altered by a year in space, results from NASA’s Twins Study have confirmed. Seven percent of his genes did not return to normal after he landed, researchers found.

Scott Kelly and his twin brother, Mark Kelly—also an astronaut—were the subjects of the study that sought to find out exactly what happens to the body after a year in space.
:
:
In 2017, researchers discovered that the endcaps of Scott Kelly’s chromosomes—his telomeres—had become longer while he was in space. Further testing confirmed this change, and revealed that most of the telomeres had shortened again within just two days of his return.

After landing, 93 percent of Scott Kelly’s genes returned to normal, the researchers found. The altered 7 percent, however, could indicate long-term changes in genes connected to the immune system, DNA repair, bone formation networks, oxygen deprivation and elevated carbon dioxide levels.

[Thomkal]

wow - being a twin, I was more than a little curious as to the results of this experiment. Hope his altered genes don't cause him major problems down the road. Wonder how they can protect this from happening to other astronauts now.

[Edward64]

I wonder if this means evolution/adaptation may occur quicker in space than on earth (I guess that makes sense). It would be neat if they can definitively identify what the chromosome changes impact.

[Edward64]

Pretty interesting.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/21/world/interstellar-object-living-in-our-solar-system/index.html
For billions of years, it lived in our solar system without us even knowing it was there. But this object couldn't remain hidden around Jupiter forever. It was just peculiar enough to be noticed by researchers.

In 2017, the first observed interstellar visitor, an asteroid named 'Oumuamua, was found traveling through our solar system. Now, for the first time, astronomers have discovered a permanent resident that moved in during the early stages of our solar system's development, about 4.5 billion years ago.

The researchers call this exo-asteroid, known as 2015 BZ509, an "interstellar immigrant." It's known as an exo-asteroid because it originated outside our solar system.
:
At first glance, 2015 BZ509 is just one of many objects orbiting the gas giant Jupiter in a stable configuration called a resonance. Though all of the planets and most of the objects in our solar system orbit the sun by moving in the same direction, the exo-asteroid is going its own way. 2015 BZ509 moves in the opposite direction in a retrograde orbit.

"The asteroid and Jupiter take the same amount of time to complete one orbit around the Sun but one moves clockwise and the other counter-clockwise so they pass by each other twice per each full orbit," Morais wrote.

"This pattern is repeated forever -- it is a stable configuration -- in a simplified model with only the Sun, Jupiter and the asteroid. We saw that when we include the other planets it is still very stable, over the solar system's age."

That orbit is the same path the object has always followed, meaning it could not have formed in our solar system. If it were "native" to our solar system, it would have inherited the direction from the gas and dust that formed all of the other planets and objects.

[Thomkal]

Just shows again how little we really know about the science of space.

[Edward64]

Interesting I guess but somewhat underwhelming.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/07/us/nasa-mars-curiosity-rover-findings/index.html
Organic matter has been found on Mars in soil samples taken from 3 billion-year-old mudstone in the Gale crater by the Curiosity rover, NASA announced Thursday. The rover has also detected methane in the Martian atmosphere.

The search for life outside Earth focuses on the building blocks of life as we know it, which includes organic compounds and molecules -- although these can exist without life. Organic matter can be one of several things: a record detailing ancient life, a food source for life or something that exists in the place of life.

No matter its purpose, these work as "chemical clues" for researchers about Mars.

[NobodyHere]

Israel to launch its first spacecraft to the moon | Fox News (http://www.foxnews.com/science/2018/07/10/israel-to-launch-its-first-spacecraft-to-moon.html)

JEWS IN SPACE!

[Edward64]

Israel to launch its first spacecraft to the moon | Fox News (http://www.foxnews.com/science/2018/07/10/israel-to-launch-its-first-spacecraft-to-moon.html)

JEWS IN SPACE!

It would be pretty impressive accomplishment. More symbolic than practical I guess, more of a middle finger.

[Edward64]

Pretty cool.

Now we need to get Bruce Willis and his drill team to bring up some of that water to see if there are life forms.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/25/world/mars-subsurface-water-lake-evidence/index.html
A lake of liquid water has been detected by radar beneath the southern polar ice cap of Mars, according to a new study by Italian researchers from the Italian Space Agency, published Wednesday in the journal Science.
:
It sent radar pulses through the surface and polar ice caps and measured how the radio waves reflected back to Mars Express.

Those pulses reflected 29 sets of radar samples that created a map of drastic change in signal almost a mile below the surface. It stretched about 12.5 miles across and looked very similar to lakes that are found beneath Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets on Earth. The radar reflected the feature's brightness, signaling that it's water.

[Thomkal]

Neat!

[Edward64]

Nice job Japan.

It would be kinda "bad" if the Japanese found the first extraterrestrial amoeba/fossil though, the US would never live it down. But it's all science ...

https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/22/asia/japan-rovers-asteroid/index.html
The Japanese space agency JAXA said it made history Saturday by successfully landing two unmanned rovers on an asteroid.

"The two rovers are in good condition and are transmitting images and data," a JAXA statement said after the rovers separated from the Hayabusa2 spacecraft and landed on the asteroid Ryugu.

The rovers are collectively known as MINERVA-II1. The space agency reported that MINERVA-II1 is the world's first mobile exploration robot to land on the surface of an asteroid.
:
The 1 kilometer-wide space rock, which is shaped like a diamond, is expected to be "rich in water and organic materials," allowing scientists to "clarify interactions between the building blocks of Earth and the evolution of its oceans and life, thereby developing solar system science," JAXA said in a statement.

A series of specially designed cameras -- four on the first rover and three on the second -- will take stereo images of the asteroid's surface. The rovers are also equipped with temperature gauges and optical sensors as well as an accelerometer and a set of gyroscopes.
:
A third rover called MASCOT will be launched from Hayabusa2 in early October.

Later in the mission, scheduled for the end of October, the spacecraft will land on the asteroid after blowing a small crater in it using explosives, so samples that haven't been exposed to space can be gathered from below the object's surface.

After examining the far distant object and taking samples, Hayabusa2 will depart Ryugu in December 2019 before returning to Earth by the end of 2020 with its cargo of samples.

If successful, JAXA has said it will be the "world's first sample return mission to a C-type asteroid."

Japanese scientists are racing NASA for that achievement, with the US agency's sample retrieval mission due to arrive back on Earth in 2023.

[Edward64]

Some nice pics.

I'd say Bruce Willis got it right in Armageddon.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/28/asia/japan-hayabusa-rovers-first-video-intl/index.html

[Edward64]

This should be cool. Hope its as successful as its predecessors.

https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/mars-insight-s-landing-team-leader-all-nerves-excitement-ahead-ncna939076
When its Curiosity rover landed on Mars in 2012, NASA called the last, most perilous phase of the rover's descent "seven minutes of terror."

Now the space agency's Mars InSight lander is a day away from its own slightly more compressed touchdown on the red planet. This time, NASA says the final phase of the spacecraft's landing will last about six and a half minutes — and members of the InSight team are trying to contain their rising anxiety.

"It’s a little less terror," jokes Rob Grover, who leads the team in charge of InSight's landing at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

InSight, which is designed to study the red planet's deep interior, is scheduled to plunk down on the Martian surface on Monday at around 3 p.m. EST, after traveling more than 300 million miles since its launch in May from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

[Thomkal]

Lander arrives on Mars around 2 pm-hope it makes it!

[Edward64]

Congrats NASA.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/26/world/nasa-insight-mars-landing-today/index.html
After seven months of traveling through space, the NASA InSight mission has landed on Mars. A few minutes after landing, InSight sent the official "beep" to NASA to signal that it was alive and well, including a photo of the Martian surface where it landed.

Mission Control at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory exploded into celebratory applause and cheers after the touchdown was confirmed. The landing was watched around the world and even broadcast live on the Nasdaq Stock Market tower in New York City's Times Square.

[Thomkal]

Welcome to Mars (again)


InSight Is Catching Rays on Mars | NASA (https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/insight-is-catching-rays-on-mars)

[Thomkal]

I give you the sounds of Mars:


NASA InSight Lander 'Hears' Martian Winds – NASA's InSight Mars Lander (https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/news/8397/nasa-insight-lander-hears-martian-winds/?site=insight)

[kingfc22]

I give you the sounds of Mars:


NASA InSight Lander 'Hears' Martian Winds – NASA's InSight Mars Lander (https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/news/8397/nasa-insight-lander-hears-martian-winds/?site=insight)

That's pretty cool

[Edward64]

That is pretty cool (but it sounds like regular wind to me).

[Edward64]

Okay, its cool we were able to do this, human ingenuity and all.

But com'on, its just a rock. Can we start more serious exploration of Saturn/Jupiter/moons with water.

Nasa's New Horizons: 'Snowman' shape of distant Ultima Thule revealed - BBC News (https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46742298)
The ice world known as Ultima Thule has finally been revealed.

A new picture returned from Nasa's New Horizons spacecraft shows the little world to be two objects joined together - to give a look like a "snowman".

The US probe's images acquired as it approached Ultima hinted at the possibility of a double body, but the first detailed picture from Tuesday's close flyby confirms it.

New Horizons encountered Ultima 6.5 billion km from Earth.

The event set a record for the most distant ever exploration of a Solar System object. The previous mark was also set by New Horizons when it flew past the dwarf planet Pluto in 2015.

But Ultima is a further 1.5 billion km further out.

The mission team has decided to call the larger lobe "Ultima" and the smaller lobe "Thule". The volume ratio is three to one.

Jeff Moore, a New Horizons co-investigator from Nasa's Ames Research Center, said the pair would have come together at very low speed, at maybe 2-3km/h. He joked that if they were cars, "you probably wouldn't fill out the insurance form.

Ultima orbits the Sun in a region of the Solar System known as the Kuiper belt.

There are hundreds of thousands of Kuiper members like Ultima, and their frigid state almost certainly holds clues to how all planetary bodies came into being some 4.6 billion years ago.
:
:
The hope is that the course of the spacecraft can be altered slightly to visit at least one more Kuiper belt object sometime in the next decade.

New Horizons should have just enough fuel reserves to be able to do this. Critically, it should also have sufficient electrical reserves to keep operating its instruments into the 2030s.

[Thomkal]

yeah seems pretty insignificant as far as planetary objects go, but still an accomplishment for further distance away from Earth. Just wish we'd get the tech for clearer pictures of stuff that far out.

[whomario]

https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/kfpkHUjDj_cxYZCnFW4ABbGPCHw=/0x0:600x350/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:600x350):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/16022155/A_Consensus_sm.jpg

This is the first-ever picture of a black hole. Thank the Event Horizon Telescope. - Vox (https://www.vox.com/2019/4/10/18302343/first-picture-black-hole-eht-photo-event-horizon)


goes way over my head as far as 'understanding', but definitely qualifies as amazing.

[Thomkal]

wow

[PilotMan]

This is some pretty cool shit right here. In case you wanted a reason to ponder your place in the galaxy.

Astronomers have put together the largest and most comprehensive "history book" of galaxies into one single image, using 16 years' worth of observations from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. The deep-sky mosaic, created from nearly 7,500 individual exposures, provides a wide portrait of the distant universe, containing 265,000 galaxies that stretch back through 13.3 billion years of time to just 500 million years after the big bang. The faintest and farthest galaxies are just one ten-billionth the brightness of what the human eye can see. The universe's evolutionary history is also chronicled in this one sweeping view. The portrait shows how galaxies change over time, building themselves up to become the giant galaxies seen in the nearby universe. This ambitious endeavor, called the Hubble Legacy Field, also combines observations taken by several Hubble deep-field surveys, including the eXtreme Deep Field (XDF), the deepest view of the universe. The wavelength range stretches from ultraviolet to near-infrared light, capturing the key features of galaxy assembly over time. The video begins with a view of the thousands of galaxies in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field and slowly zooms out to reveal the larger Hubble Legacy Field, containing 265,000 galaxies.

<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/99uWHUQ-dC0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0"></iframe>

[Coffee Warlord]

Space. Is. Big.

[Warhammer]

Space. Is. Big.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has this to say on the subject of space,

"Space is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist, but that's just peanuts to space."

[Edward64]

I was one that thought going back to the moon was a waste of funds and would have preferred to focus on Mars. But this is a stepping stone, to learn from it and apply it to future (Mars) missions which makes perfect sense (e.g. prototyping before a build).

China has already reached the moon and have said they want to send rover to Mars. Sooner or later, there's going to be a first manned mission to Mars and I prefer it to be the US.

However, unlike the 60's to 90's, there are now viable private sector companies that can help or augment NASA, and it would be great if they can be leveraged.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/13/tech/nasa-budget-moon-mission-artemis/index.html
NASA has touted its bold plan to return American astronauts to the moon by 2024 for months. Now we're starting to get an idea of how much it will cost.

The space agency will need an estimated $20 billion to $30 billion over the next five years for its moon project, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine told CNN Business on Thursday. That would mean adding another $4 billion to $6 billion per year, on average, to the agency's budget, which is already expected to be about $20 billion annually.
:
NASA wants that mission to include two astronauts: A man and the first-ever woman to walk on the moon.
:
The overall goal of the Artemis program is to establish a "sustainable" presence on the moon, paving the way for astronauts to return to the surface again and again. Learning to live and work on another world, Bridenstine said, will prepare them for NASA's long-term mission: to put people on Mars for the first time in human history.

[PilotMan]

Yes the race to monetize the moon as a supply point for Mars will be big. Speaking of the moon, this is a fantastic story about it and the challenges it presents.



https://www.wired.com/story/moondust-nasa-lunar-ambitions/

[Thomkal]

Today NASA announced its next space science mission, codenamed Dragonfly. Its a probe/quadcopter? to the moon of Saturn, Titan.

[CrimsonFox]

When people talk about that huge space exploration company, am I the only one that hears "Space Sex"?

[Brian Swartz]

Question about the Mars stuff. I know there's like ten thousand things we have to learn before going there; Edward64 and PilotMan made good points that I totally agree with about the moon staging first concept. But I keep hearing a lot of stuff about it's really just a matter of how long it takes to figure out those things and whether or not we want to fund it all along the way.

I think that's an accurate statement when it comes to going there the way we've gone to the moon, or even staying weeks/a few months for experimentation etc. What I don't understand is all the 'we're going to colonize Mars eventually' stuff. I'm not at all sure that's even possible. The fine, everpresent dust could be a major obstacle to the required sensitive equipment, airlocks, etc. And assuming we can get over that hurdle, the far bigger one is gravity. We know microgravity is a problem due to the health issues that have come from astronauts at the space station, etc. But assuming we don't invent Star-Trek level space magic gravity plating, I've never seen any data that indicates we have any good idea that permanent Mars settlements wouldn't have the same issues. Maybe 0.38G is enough, maybe it isn't … but certainly we don't KNOW that it is, and the very limited information I've been able to find indicates it is theoretically more likely than not going to be an obstacle. You can have a ship spin en route for artificial gravity, and you can do that with a station in orbit. But that's not working when you're on the ground.

So how about it, fellow space nerds - what say you on the feasibility of a long-term settlement in Martian gravity?

[Edward64]

I'm sure the Mars colony (or really any other planet/moon we hope to colonize in this solar system) will have the same problem. We'll need to solve for creating some sort of artificial gravity if we are to live long-term in Mars.

Googling, there are options (but don't know the quality or practicality of those links). The one I like the most is creating an underground environment where the chambers can "spin" (which also helps protect from the harsh environment). They all sound fantastical but I'm sure there are a bunch of scientists trying to figure it out.

Unfortunately, we'll be long dead before there is colonization but still hopeful for exploration of Mars and other places where we may find "life" while I'm still around.

From what I've read, it does seem as if Mars is the most "friendly" planet to colonize in this solar system. Many other objects may have ice/water, but they have less gravity than Mars, we can grow things on Mars surface, it is relatively close to Earth etc.

There is a cost benefit analysis we have to go through, I'm not sure the benefits really outweigh the costs right now (I think it does especially when you factor in what it would mean if China does it first) but I'm all for starting the process of colonization knowing it'll take decades.

[Edward64]

NASA has let me down before on their announcements. Let's hope this time is different.

https://www.foxnews.com/science/nasa-chief-scientist-announcements-life-on-mars
In a startling interview, NASA's Planetary Science Division director Jim Green, Ph.D., has said the space agency is close to "making some announcements" about finding life on Mars — but that we're not ready for it.

“It will be revolutionary,” Green said in an interview with The Telegraph. “It’s like when Copernicus stated ‘no we go around the Sun.' Completely revolutionary. It will start a whole new line of thinking. I don’t think we’re prepared for the results. We’re not."

He added that he's worried because he believes NASA is close to finding life and making an announcement about it but wonders what will happen afterward.

[Warhammer]

Last night I was watching Ancient Aliens, I find it hysterical and better than watching a Hallmark movie. They were talking about the Panspermia hypothesis and how life started on Mars. They bring on a scientist from NASA who said that Earth is too insignificant on a cosmic scale and the possibility that life started here is ridiculous, it had to come from someplace else, Mars...

Let me get this straight, the largest rocky body in our solar system is cosmically insignificant, so life could't start here, it had to start on an even MORE insignificant rocky body. A bolide impact then launches matter from that body into space where life survives somehow for millions, maybe billions, of years, lands on Earth, survives the impact, and that is how life started on Earth.

Give me my primordial soup and black smokers any day of the week over that...

EDIT: With regards to life elsewhere, I do not think that primitive life is necessarily rare, single cell organisms, etc. I do think making the leap to multicellular organisms is a huge leap that does not happen often.

[Edward64]

Ancient Aliens ... I like how shows like that always say "could it be ..."

TBH, I'll be happy if we found alien single cell organisms, doesn't need to be Vulcans or like (would be nice though). Hope there is confirmation of alien life in my lifetime.

[Edward64]

More details and context below. New rover will land Feb 2021 so we'll know something in 2021.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/30/us/nasa-life-on-mars-jim-green-scn-trnd/
The Mars 2020 rover, along with the European Space Agency's ExoMars rover, will drill into the Martian crust. The surface of the Red Planet is believed to be radioactive, so if there is life on Mars, it likely lives below ground.

"We've never drilled that deep," he told the Telegraph. "When environments get extreme, life moves into the rocks."

The principle's been proven on our home planet: After drilling miles into the Earth, researchers found more life in the Earth's crust than on its surface, he said.

"The bottom line is, where there is water there is life."

And if the agencies' new rovers find proof that water once flowed on Mars, he said, the confirmation could come weeks or months of landing -- so buckle up, space lovers. The realm of possibility might get much wider very soon.

[Warhammer]

So the big hubbub was they are sending a new rover to search for life under the crust. That was it?

[Edward64]

So the big hubbub was they are sending a new rover to search for life under the crust. That was it?

Pretty much.

1) Water under crust on Mars
2) Where there is water there is life
3) Rover will dig deep
4) Therefore Rover will find life

Another one of those NASA over-hyping something that is 1.5 years away.

[PilotMan]

Another one of those NASA over-hyping something that is 1.5 years away.


You know what's funny? This has probably been in development for at least 3 years, and they've been sitting on it. You don't just go from 0 to 1.5 years with something like this. So from their perspective, it's pretty freaking exciting and something they can finally share.

[Edward64]

You know what's funny? This has probably been in development for at least 3 years, and they've been sitting on it. You don't just go from 0 to 1.5 years with something like this. So from their perspective, it's pretty freaking exciting and something they can finally share.

I get that but a couple days ago (see prior post), the announcement was

In a startling interview, NASA's Planetary Science Division director Jim Green, Ph.D., has said the space agency is close to "making some announcements" about finding life on Mars — but that we're not ready for it.

When I read "close" I thought within a couple weeks.

[Edward64]

I still believe there is some sort of coverup. It only makes sense that alien info/news/technology would be kept only in Area 51 servers.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/23/us/edward-snowden-joe-rogan-conspiracies-trnd/index.html
"In case you were wondering: Yes, man really did land on the moon. Climate change is real. Chemtrails are not a thing," he adds.

The NSA whistleblower addressed the conspiracies again on an episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast, released Wednesday, saying "there's no evidence" of aliens and chemtrails and the like.

"I know, Joe, I know you want there to be aliens," Snowden joked to Rogan, the podcast's host. "I know Neil deGrasse Tyson badly wants there to be aliens. And there probably are, right?

"But the idea that we're hiding them -- if we are hiding them -- I had ridiculous access to the networks of the NSA, the CIA, the military, all these groups. I couldn't find anything," he continued. "So if it's hidden, and it could be hidden, it's hidden really damn well, even from people who are on the inside."

Sigh.

[JediKooter]

I'm 100% there is life on other planets, moons, asteroids, etc...I'm just not 100% sure any of it or how much of it is actually intelligent life that is capable of interstellar travel, unless they have very long life spans. I think it would be cool if there were and as my first act as President, I would release info if it proves we have been visited by aliens and or have any alien tech.

[Kodos]

There's probably other intelligent life out there, but the space between us makes it hard/impossible for them to come to us.

[PilotMan]

Here's what gets me. We have intelligent life on this planet (whales, dolphins, elephants) and not only do we not make much of an attempt to understand or communicate with them, we look down on them as much less than they really are. What makes anyone think that we would have any success at figuring out something not from this world?

[NobodyHere]

I'm in the camp that if there is intelligent life then I hope we never meet them lest be walk into a 'To Serve Man' situation.

[NobodyHere]

Here's what gets me. We have intelligent life on this planet (whales, dolphins, elephants) and not only do we not make much of an attempt to understand or communicate with them, we look down on them as much less than they really are. What makes anyone think that we would have any success at figuring out something not from this world?

Hey, we just taught some rats how do drive cars. Isn't that enough?

Rats taught to drive tiny cars to lower their stress levels - BBC News (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50167812)

[PilotMan]

It's not really the same as two way communication.

[NobodyHere]

Well we do need to communicate with whales, Star Trek has taught us that much at least.

But what kind of conversations do you expect to have with a Dolphin or an Elephant?

[PilotMan]

Well we do need to communicate with whales, Star Trek has taught us that much at least.

But what kind of conversations do you expect to have with a Dolphin or an Elephant?

I would think any sort of higher lever communication might, at the very least, give me optimism that we might be able to do the same with aliens.

We know elephants have a very sophisticated social and emotional system, learning how to communicate that, on their level, using their methods seems like a place to start.

[Edward64]

There's probably other intelligent life out there, but the space between us makes it hard/impossible for them to come to us.

Timing also. They may have existed 50,000 years ago just like us but died off 40,000 years ago. Millienia is nothing in the age of the universe.

[cartman]

And in with the timing thing, it has been less than 200 years since radio was discovered on this planet.

[NobodyHere]

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/PUbNNw7br4vxhZoUPhqwZ9-650-80.jpg

[Thomkal]

cool

[Edward64]

In playing Stellaris, you are essentially roleplaying and trying to conquer a galaxy. There are M/Billions of galaxies in the Universe (great DLC expansion if we can do multiple galaxies) and a random question came up -- are there stars/solar systems between galaxies just floating around intergalactic space.

Apparently there are:

Lost in Space: Half of All Stars Drifting Free of Galaxies | Space (https://www.space.com/27682-rogue-stars-between-galaxies.html)
Instead, this finding of bright, blue light unexpectedly reveals these fluctuations may come from something called "intrahalo light," which is created by stars flung into intergalactic space during titanic collisions and mergers of galaxies. The researchers found that there was as much light from these intergalactic stars as there was from stars located in galaxies.

Then the next follow-up question is ... are those orphaned stars like solar systems and still have planets going around it? My guess is, in some cases, yes (but have not been able to find anything that specifically addresses planets)

[NobodyHere]

Uranus has started leaking gas, NASA scientists confirm (https://happymag.tv/uranus-has-started-leaking-gas-nasa-scientists-confirm/)

I didn't need a scientist to tell me that.

[Edward64]

Okay, so there is water on the moon.

Let's go find those bugs!

[Edward64]

SpaceX launch happening today. Cool stuff.

In the middle of watching Disney's The Right Stuff. It's kinda amazing to me that the US is the only country that had men on the moon vs landers/orbits so far. I do wonder if that is because of the technical challenges or other countries just don't consider it worthwhile. You would think China and USSR had the skill.

[Edward64]

Cool lift-off. T+5 min now on CNN.

Didn't see much other than engine burn (sun had set in FL). Go Elon!

[Brian Swartz]

I think the answer to your question is it's not worth it. Being able to have launch/production facilities on the moon, asteroid mining, etc. will change things eventually but we're still a ways away from that. Just too expensive to get large payloads to orbit and beyond without a really good reason to do so.

[Edward64]

Almost ... but still impressive IMO. Check out the video.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/09/spacex-starship-rocket-sn8-explodes-after-high-altitude-test-flight-.html

[Edward64]

Great month for space & Mars. UAE, China and US visiting.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

About an hour left until landing! Fingers crossed. I want to see that helicopter drone work.

[JPhillips]

Tremendous work.

[albionmoonlight]

Watching NASA folks celebrate still gives me goosebumps

[JPhillips]

That first picture is so cool.

[albionmoonlight]

I've enjoyed being a lawyer.

But, man, if I had it to do again, working for NASA would be a pretty cool life.

[tarcone]

My daughter is going to college to be an aerospace engineer, focusing on the space side. I hope I get to see her one day celebrating something like this.

[PilotMan]

That was so much fun to watch. All the engineering pieces that had to come together to make it all work, and it was flawless. Big smiles on the years of work it took to get to this moment. Great job all around.

[Edward64]

Congrats to NASA on the landing.

Now find me an alien bacteria, amoeba etc. I hope there are years of pics and science experiment results.

[Edward64]

Ingenuity detached from rover Perserverance and first flight planned on Apr 11. This will be pretty cool if it works!

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/6mKj5usCoVdZ9JBvBJAHYW-970-80.jpg.webp

NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity touches down on the Red Planet | Space (https://www.space.com/mars-helicopter-ingenuity-touches-down-martian-surface)
Weighing in at just 4 lbs. (1.8 kilograms), Ingenuity is a tiny, solar-powered helicopter that relies on a rechargeable battery to keep its systems warm during the harsh Martian night. Until today, Ingenuity has been attached to Perseverance's belly, feeding off the rover's nuclear-powered system to stay warm.

Now, the helicopter is using its internal battery to power a vital heater.

"This heater keeps the interior at about 45 degrees F through the bitter cold of the Martian night, where temperatures can drop to as low as -130 F (minus 90 degrees Celsius)," NASA's Bob Balaram, chief engineer for the Mars Helicopter project, wrote in a status update Friday (April 2). "That comfortably protects key components such as the battery and some of the sensitive electronics from harm at very cold temperatures."

Ingenuity is expected to make its first flight on April 11, with the data from that test reaching Earth on April 12, NASA officials have said.

[pantera]

^^^ Is this the first time ever that one man-made object has taken a photo of another man-made object on another planet?

[Edward64]

^^^ Is this the first time ever that one man-made object has taken a photo of another man-made object on another planet?

I don't think so. Think there has been orbiting modules taking pics of man-made stuff on the surface.

I do think this is the first time one man-made object on a surface has taken photo of another on the surface.

[Edward64]

Tomorrow is the day! Hope this works

How to watch the Mars helicopter Ingenuity's first flight online | Space (https://www.space.com/mars-helicopter-ingenuity-first-flight-how-to-watch)
The first helicopter is expected to attempt the first-ever flight on Mars on Sunday (April 11), with NASA unveiling the results a day later, and you can follow it all online.

NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity flight coverage actually begins today (April 9) with a preflight press conference at 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT). You can watch that live on Space.com and on this page, courtesy of NASA TV, or directly from NASA Television, the NASA smartphone app, the agency's website and several social media platforms (such as the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's YouTube and Facebook channels.)

[Edward64]

Tomorrow is the day! Hope it works (this time)

[pantera]

It flew! Amazing stuff. :banana:

[Edward64]

The video I saw was more like it went up, hovered and came back down. Was hoping for more but guess I get it as this was the first "flight".

[Thomkal]

neat

[pantera]

The video I saw was more like it went up, hovered and came back down. Was hoping for more but guess I get it as this was the first "flight".Haha, I know. But it's still pretty cool. I haven't read enough about it to understand how it can actually stay off the ground if there's not an atmosphere like we have? :confused:

[GrantDawg]

What is the time delay for video from the surface to Earth? I imagine any flight (as well as any movement for the rovers) have to be programmed and sent. They are not really in live control, right?

[Brian Swartz]

Correct. There's about a 15-minute communications delay.

[Brian Swartz]

I haven't read enough about it to understand how it can actually stay off the ground if there's not an atmosphere like we have?

Short version is that it has much larger, faster-spinning blades. Mars has an atmosphere, it's not a vacuum that near the surface, it's just very thin compared to ours.

[sabotai]

What is the time delay for video from the surface to Earth? I imagine any flight (as well as any movement for the rovers) have to be programmed and sent. They are not really in live control, right?

Depends on how far the planets are apart at any given time. Right now in their orbits, Earth and Mars are ~289 million km apart, so light (and communication) takes 16 minutes to go from one planet to another. So if they send a command to Mars, they wait 32 minutes to get a response back.

[Edward64]

This is pretty cool. Looking forward to decades of great pics and findings.

With private sector SpaceX and like, I wonder if they could (or would want to risk) to pull this off. Seemingly with limited commercial appeal but vast potential for science.

Hubble's enormous, ambitious successor is poised to change our understanding of the universe | Salon.com (https://www.salon.com/2021/11/29/hubbles-enormous-ambitious-successor-is-poised-to-change-our-understanding-of-the-universe/)
Folded like a $9.7 billion piece of metal origami and nestled into the nose of an Ariane 5 rocket, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will, in late December, be sent nearly one million miles from the surface of the Earth. Once it reaches its destination — a region of space with open views, where the sun and Earth's gravity counterbalance each other — the Hubble telescope's bigger, grander successor will spend the next decade answering questions that are as scientific as they are existential.

"How did we get here? What is the universe? And how did it come into being?" said David Hunter, a project manager at the Space Telescope Science Institute. "With something like the JWST, you actually have a tangible way of finding answers."

Over two decades of work — totaling 100 million hours of labor from more than 1,000 scientists, engineers, and technicians — went into the development of this next-generation space telescope. For their efforts, Webb will be able to peer into distant corners of the universe, using infrared detection to penetrate clouds of dust, survey the atmospheres of potentially habitable exoplanets, and look backward in time over 13 billion years, picking up faint light emitted by galaxies formed in the aftermath of the Big Bang.

[Edward64]

Zhurong and Perseverance are both still going strong. Examining boring rocks.

Not sure if both teams are sharing data and collaborating. Probably some but limited. They should get together in a room and watch second half of Martian together.

[Brian Swartz]

The Webb telescope will be remarkable assuming it works. I say that because it's been delayed multiple times, and if it doesn't work properly it will be hard to impossible to fix once it's out there, so worst-case scenario is it's a big space paper-weight. Plus side of course is being this generation's Hubble, showing us parts of space that we haven't seen before, increased detail, etc.

[Brian Swartz]

Looks like Webb is going to be a big Christmas present to all astronomy & similar enthusiasts. Launches tomorrow 7:20 AM EST. Of course we won't get any actual imagery till next summer, but just knowing that it's up there, and - hopefully - getting the setup & unfolding process going properly will be really cool.

I've been looking into more of the how it was made, engineering of the thing, etc. I was pretty well gobsmacked as they say. I think it's remarkable that we managed to produce it, even in the worst-case scenario where it goes completely wrong and fails which would be horrible, I'm still very impressed that we managed to build it in the first place.

[PilotMan]

Yeah, it makes me excited to think about the progress we could make, knowing the next level progress that we made with Hubble. It would be crushing if something happened that kept us from using it.

[Edward64]

About $10B. If it works as expected, well worth it IMO.

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is expected to cost NASA $9.7 billion over 24 years. Of that amount, $8.8 billion was spent on spacecraft development between 2003 and 2021; $861 million is planned to support five years of operations. Adjusted for inflation to 2020 dollars, the lifetime cost to NASA will be approximately $10.8 billion.

That is only NASA’s portion. The European Space Agency provided the Ariane 5 launch vehicle and two of the four science instruments for an estimated cost of €700 million. The Canadian Space Agency contributed sensors and scientific instrumentation, which cost approximately CA$200 million.

This places the James Webb Space Telescope among the most expensive scientific platforms in history, comparable only to the Hubble Space Telescope and the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.

[Edward64]

Just watched the launched. A little disappointing, could see it for first 20-30 seconds, then it went into the clouds and NASA showed a "simulation".

Launched from French Guiana. So assume the telescope and rockets had to shipped from US and Europe, and then reassembled (?).

They have live views of telescope now. All in all, pretty cool.

[Brian Swartz]

Launched from French Guiana. So assume the telescope and rockets had to shipped from US and Europe, and then reassembled (?).

Yep. Launching from near the equator allows the rocket to utilize the earth's rotation to aid in getting the telescope going in the proper vector. So far so good. The most likely failure points begin tomorrow or the next day from what I understand.

Edit: Tuesday, when they start unfolding the sunshield.

[Brian Swartz]

For anyone interested in following it, they've got regular tracking here: Where Is Webb? NASA/Webb (https://jwst.nasa.gov/content/webbLaunch/whereIsWebb.html). Speed appears to update hourly. Temps will update daily starting in a day or two. What I'm looking forward to seeing is the growing temperature difference when the sunshield gets into place hopefully starting about a week in.

[Brian Swartz]

On target so far. Pucker time begins tomorrow, as sun shield deployment starts.

[Brian Swartz]

There were a couple of delays for rest of the mission team and some non-critical issues, but the sunshield finished deploying today. Most of the potential failure points have now been surpassed. Getting the mirrors deployed correctly is next, and then the long process of cooling and calibration.

[NobodyHere]

I really hope this works, failure could kill any interest in funding future space projects.

[PilotMan]

I hope so, the information that it gleans could be incredible.

[GrantDawg]

We are going to find out the Kardashians are the center of universe after all, aren't we?

[Thomkal]

We are going to find out the Kardashians are the center of universe after all, aren't we?


I'd find a way to destroy the telescope if it did :D

[Brian Swartz]

I really hope this works, failure could kill any interest in funding future space projects.

It could, but the amount spent on it is a pittance in the grand scheme of things. We could do 'safe' projects that don't really move the needle in terms of our capabilities, but advancement means taking risks so ... I'm glad we're doing this and not something more cautious.

[Brian Swartz]

James Webb is now fully deployed! Now comes the long wait to see if the sunshield cools it sufficiently as expected, and if the precise mirror controls allow it to focus as expected.

[Thomkal]

yay

[tarcone]

Cannot wait for photos

[NobodyHere]

If the first thing we see is an alien mooning us then I shall die a happy man.

[Brian Swartz]

I'll raise a glass to you dying a happy man even though the other part isn't going to happen :D

[Edward64]

Waiting for those first pics.

re: Aliens, I'd be happy to find single cell organisms on the Moon or Mars. I am unsure if I'd want a superior technological race finding us. Lots of historical precedence where that did not turn out well.

Are those aliens going to be ST: First Contact Vulcans & Federation type or are they going to be more Battle Los Angeles type.

[Brian Swartz]

The thing about all that historical precedent is that it only tells us what intelligent life similar to humans would be likely to do. Alien advanced life could be far worse or far better than our example, and we have no way of knowing which as we have exactly zero sample size there.

What's going to be interesting to me is what happens if James Webb finds an atmosphere suitable for life - i.e significant amounts of oxygen, etc - on one of the exoplanets. It's one of those 'that would be really cool' moments, but we're unlikely in the extreme to know whether there actually is life there, and it will probably be far enough away that even if there *was* life there it may not still be there anymore, and there's certainly nothing we'd be able to do about it in any relevant timeframe vis a vis contacting them.

My guess is if that happens the internet goes crazy for a while in certain circles but it all amounts to a fat lot of nothing. Even if we found artificial lights on Proxima B which is probably the best case scenario for the 'we want to find aliens' crowd, we aren't close to the point where it's feasible to send a probe there, establish contact, etc. So what exactly do we do about it?

[Brian Swartz]

Webb has reached L2 and the insertion burn for the orbit there apparently went according to plan.

[NobodyHere]

Yay Science and Engineering!

More Equations less Invasions!

[Edward64]

Looking forward to some amazing nebula pics.

EDIT: for a guestimate

“We are planning a series of “wow” images to be released at the end of commissioning when we start normal science operations that are designed to showcase what this telescope can do,” said Jane Rigby, Webb Operations Project Scientist, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center at a press briefing in January. “They will showcase all four science instruments and they will really knock everybody’s socks off.”

The plan is to release images at one time and not as they’re taken. That could mean that the world will have to wait a while because a lot of testing needs to be done in the wake of Webb being fully deployed last weekend.

So when will we see Webb’s “wow” images? My best guess is the last week of May 2022. By then NASA will have aligned the 18 hexagonal of Webb’s 21 feet/6.5 meter mirror and collimated it using a few bright stars.

[Edward64]

Damn, some heads are going to roll for this mess. $10B for pics like this :)

Behold, the 1st images from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope! | Space (https://www.space.com/james-webb-space-telescope-first-photos-unveiled)
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/aCMKHMrCpXxbrqY9ogLxUL-970-80.png

[Brian Swartz]

Queue the conspiracy theorists. Oh wait, they've been on board for a while, there was no need to queue them.

In all seriousness I'm still mildly concerned about the cooling operation. Temperatures in some areas don't seem to fit with predictions. But MIRI has been slowly but steadily cooling for a while now so as long as that continues I'll keep my panic level to a minimum.

[Edward64]

Essentially a huge coronal mass ejection (can we just call it a solar flare?) happened but good thing it wasn't pointed towards earth.

Solar prominences are often associated with coronal mass ejections, a hugely energetic explosion of light, solar material and energy from the Sun. If these ejections are directed toward Earth, they can disrupt technology reliant on satellites. The ejections also cause the northern lights.

However, in this instance, the coronal mass ejection was traveling away from us.
I would hate to be on a plane which got hit. I assume the FAA and like will warn all airlines. It will be mass chaos if we lose or had spotty internet.

It's important to understand the solar cycle because space weather caused by the sun -- eruptions like solar flares and coronal mass ejection events -- can impact the power grid, satellites, GPS, airlines, rockets and astronauts in space.

Last time it happened was 1859 with the "Carrington Effect" which caused havoc with the telegraphs (internet of its day).

https://www.history.com/news/a-perfect-solar-superstorm-the-1859-carrington-event
Compared to today’s information superhighway, the telegraph system in 1859 may have been a mere dirt road, but the “Victorian Internet” was also a critical means of transmitting news, sending private messages and engaging in commerce. Telegraph operators in the United States had observed local interruptions due to thunderstorms and northern lights before, but they never experienced a global disturbance like the one-two punch they received in the waning days of summer in 1859.

[Brian Swartz]

Good video from a YT channel I enjoy on these things and the Carrington Event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-WxNB2UvnY

But yeah, we don't want to be around if one of them aims towards earth. It would not be fun. Thankfully also it's rare.

[Edward64]

Looks like its going well.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-60771210
The American space agency has achieved a major milestone in its preparation of the new James Webb Space Telescope.

Engineers say they have now managed to fully focus the $10bn observatory on a test star. The pin-sharp performance is even better than hoped, they add.

To get to this stage, all of Webb's mirrors had to be aligned to tiny fractions of the width of a human hair.

But the agency cautions that a lot of work still lies ahead before the telescope can be declared operational.

Lee Feinberg, the Nasa engineer who has led the development of Webb's optical elements, described the release of the first properly focused image as phenomenal.

"You not only see the star and the spikes from the diffraction of the star, but you see other stars in the field that are tightly focused, just like we expect, and all sorts of other interesting structure in the background," he told reporters.

"We've actually done very detailed analysis of the images we're getting, and, so far, what we're finding is that the performance is as good if not better than our most optimistic prediction."
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/5869/production/_123733622_1f935b99-c9fd-4c8c-b4c5-0de8558523de.jpg

[Brian Swartz]

Yep. I'm still watching the temps from time to time ... MIRI is steadily getting lower, currently in the mid-80s Kelvin. But all signs seem to point to alignment going exceptionally well, so as long as the final cooling stages go as well, there should be some exciting things happening second half of this year.

I've even mostly stopped being paranoid about it.

[Brian Swartz]

Temperature update; apparently they only turned on the MIRI cryo-cooler about a week ago. I thought that was supposed to happen earlier; apparently I was mistaken. Temp is dropping like a rock now (4+ Kelvin per day), which eliminates my last concern really.

We could be looking at some spectacular shots starting in about 6-8 weeks!

[Edward64]

Temperature update; apparently they only turned on the MIRI cryo-cooler about a week ago. I thought that was supposed to happen earlier; apparently I was mistaken. Temp is dropping like a rock now (4+ Kelvin per day), which eliminates my last concern really.

We could be looking at some spectacular shots starting in about 6-8 weeks!

It'll help us better understand the universe for sure. But will it be $10B worth? I'm betting yes.

[Brian Swartz]

MIRI recently reached it's target goal of an insanely cold 7K a few days ago. It's now below 6K. Apparently part of the delay that I didn't realize is that they had small heaters operating to slow it's cooling until a certain point, in order to ensure no ice buildup occurred. The more you know, the more you understand. Once they had everything running full, it dropped like crazy, almost 80K in 15 days.

The goal for the mirror temp isn't quite there yet - 36K, currently at 42+ and slowly dropping. But all appears to be well.

[NobodyHere]

James Webb telescope's MIRI instrument goes super-cold (https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-61086170)

https://i.imgur.com/MXBTtrH.png

[NobodyHere]

Uranus blasted a gas bubble 22,000 times bigger than Earth (https://www.popsci.com/story/space/giant-belch-from-uranus/)

That's one hell of a gas bubble!

[GrantDawg]

I am pretty sure my anus has out done that.

[Lathum]

Looks like that extension event asteroid is about to be announced


Astronomers Are About to Make a Massive Announcement About Something in The Milky Way (https://www.sciencealert.com/astronomers-are-about-to-make-a-massive-announcement-about-the-milky-way?fbclid=IwAR3ARTt_BObSZeAWWk4zpEZNF4GRMD3REjiQwQ1cWUOWz0mwt9N6z5MyQ9E)

[NobodyHere]

Looks like that extension event asteroid is about to be announced


Astronomers Are About to Make a Massive Announcement About Something in The Milky Way (https://www.sciencealert.com/astronomers-are-about-to-make-a-massive-announcement-about-the-milky-way?fbclid=IwAR3ARTt_BObSZeAWWk4zpEZNF4GRMD3REjiQwQ1cWUOWz0mwt9N6z5MyQ9E)

What's an "extension event"?


On second thought I withdraw the question.

[Lathum]

stupid sausage fingers

[Edward64]

Looks like that extension event asteroid is about to be announced

Astronomers Are About to Make a Massive Announcement About Something in The Milky Way (https://www.sciencealert.com/astronomers-are-about-to-make-a-massive-announcement-about-the-milky-way?fbclid=IwAR3ARTt_BObSZeAWWk4zpEZNF4GRMD3REjiQwQ1cWUOWz0mwt9N6z5MyQ9E)

So the big, really big announcement is a black hole in the center of our galaxy? Big whoop. These scientists need to play more space 4x games.

It's like often in my job, we come up with something and then we need to ask ourselves "so what? how does this impact the employee population (good, bad, scale etc.) and how do we explain it to them".

These scientists need to do the same thing when trying to impress the non-scientists. Yawn. Come back when you find extraterrestrial life.

[Edward64]

I guess it's nice. I want to really be impressed but (and I'm sure it's just me) doesn't look much different from other Hubble pics I've seen?

https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/11/world/james-webb-space-telescope-first-image-scn/index.html
The first glimpse of how the James Webb Space Telescope will change the way people see the universe has arrived.

President Joe Biden has released one of Webb's first images, and it's the deepest view of the universe ever captured.

The image shows SMACS 0723, where a massive group of galaxy clusters act as a magnifying glass for the objects behind them. Called gravitational lensing, this created Webb's first deep field view of incredibly old and distant, faint galaxies.
https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/220711161953-james-webb-telescope-first-image-0711-exlarge-169.jpg

[Edward64]

Okay, a larger pic. I think each one of those are like our Milky Way galaxy.

Each one with their own Old Republic, New Republic, First Order etc.

https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/07/webb-telescope-hires001.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1003

[sterlingice]

I thought the context was important when they were talking about this during the presentation - this is a grain of sand at arm's length picture of the universe. That's insane to think about and so difficult to comprehend.

SI

[Edward64]

Okay, that’s impressive

[sterlingice]

Here's the exact quote from the release:

"This slice of the vast universe covers a patch of sky approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arm's length by someone on the ground," according to a NASA release.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/11/world/james-webb-space-telescope-first-image-scn/index.html

It's what Bill Nelson said during the presentation.

It's also the oldest light we've ever seen before at 13 billion years old.

SI

[sterlingice]

Okay, that’s impressive

Yeah, I think it needs to be put in the proper context. Once that's done, quite impressive :)

SI

[Thomkal]

Here's the same image from Hubble and the one today:


https://twitter.com/ianlauerastro/status/1546625603641790465

[PilotMan]

Completely mind blowing. So excited to see the new pics. I cannot wait.

[Brian Swartz]

I guess it's nice. I want to really be impressed but (and I'm sure it's just me) doesn't look much different from other Hubble pics I've seen?

It's not just you. I don't expect what James Webb shows us to be visually and obviously different from Hubble in most cases. The difference is going to be as noted that we are able to see objects further away, get more information than Hubble can in terms of the spectroscopy (atmospheric compositions), etc.

I think each one of those are like our Milky Way galaxy.

A number of them are actually probably larger.

[Edward64]

More pics from Webb.

https://apnews.com/article/nasa-james-webb-space-telescope-images-4660ce6bc1fa35ccf97357b19976eef3
The four additional photos released Tuesday included more cosmic beauty shots.

https://storage.googleapis.com/afs-prod/media/97e2a65e3a744a13ac274a068f9e15bf/1000.jpeg

[Edward64]

FWIW I subscribe to Joe Scott, pretty entertaining guy. He did an episode that showing the Hubble vs Webb images and differences in detail. See starting at about 14:50

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGK5eIuWxb4&ab_channel=JoeScott

[Edward64]

I'm sure there's a reason but I don't get (1) why 68GB SSD vs standard 64GB and (2) why 64-68GB, why not 128GB or 256GB. The additional weight is literally negligible.

The Webb Space Telescope’s Profound Data Challenges - IEEE Spectrum (https://spectrum.ieee.org/james-webb-telescope-communications)
Compared to Hubble, which is still active and generates 1 to 2 gigabytes of data daily, JWST can produce up to 57 GB each day
:
Data gathered from its scientific instruments, once collected, is stored within the spacecraft’s 68-GB solid-state drive (3 percent is reserved for engineering and telemetry data). Alex Hunter, also a flight systems engineer at the Space Telescope Science Institute, says that by the end of JWST’s 10-year mission life, they expect to be down to about 60 GB because of deep-space radiation and wear and tear.

[Edward64]

I kinda heard about it but really didn't know much until I watched YT Joe Scott describe it.

We're going back to the moon baby! (and we'll be doing a lot of cool things along the way including a space station around the moon and getting the commercial side involved).

Short blurb but encourage you to watch the YT video below if interested in more details.

Through its current Artemis program, NASA envisions sending astronauts to the lunar south pole by 2025 and eventually establishing a permanent presence on the Moon. The program is a result of the Trump administration's Space Policy Directive 1 and a March 26, 2019 speech by former Vice President Mike Pence directing NASA to reach the Moon by 2024.

Artemis is designed to land humans on the Moon quickly and focus on Mars as a long-term human spaceflight goal after that. The preliminary short-term plan involves using both commercial rockets and NASA's Space Launch System, the Orion crew capsule, and a commercial lunar landing system. A small space station in lunar orbit called the Gateway would serve future surface missions

https://youtu.be/MHMTq24rQeI

[sterlingice]

Artemis I is supposed to launch at the end of this month. It's been delayed a lot but it sounds like it's likely to go this time (finally?). It's unmanned but the rocket heads to the moon and then back ahead of the (theoretical) 2025 manned return to the Moon. Was at Johnson Space Center this week and they had a pretty big exhibit up about it and a go at Mars around 2040. Didn't realize we were getting that close already. Though, again, we'll see if that timeline gets moved as it has quite a bit in the past.

SI

[NobodyHere]

We're going back to the moon baby! (and we'll be doing a lot of cool things along the way including a space station around the moon and getting the commercial side involved).


NASA is investing in crypto? Short-selling Gamestop?

[Edward64]

NASA is investing in crypto? Short-selling Gamestop?

Not a bad idea to maybe create a crypto coin and/or NFT.

Get an increase in public support, free advertising etc.

[NobodyHere]

Finally the headline we've all been waiting for (or maybe just me):

NASA to send probe inside Uranus (https://ktul.com/news/nation-world/nasa-to-send-probe-inside-uranus-to-learn-more-about-mysterious-planet-uranus-orbiter-and-probe-mission-atmosphere-moons-ocean-worlds-space-exploration-into-uranus-planet-ice-giant-magetnosphere-tilt-nebula)

[sterlingice]

Artemis I delayed for a little bit:
404 | NASA (https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-waves-off-first-artemis-i-launch-attempt-to-provide-media-update)

SI

[Lathum]

Successful Impact! NASA’s DART Mission Hits Asteroid in Historic Planetary Defense Test (https://scitechdaily.com/successful-impact-nasas-dart-mission-hits-asteroid-in-historic-planetary-defense-test/)