Less than 15 minutes to the Falcon Heavy launch

Falcon Heavy Test Flight | SpaceX

Wow.

Those two stages landing back in tandem was really impressive.

This.

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

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

How in the world do they do that? Wow.

https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/6/16...failed-landing

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

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.

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.

Pretty interesting.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/21/world...tem/index.html

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

Interesting I guess but somewhat underwhelming.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/07/us/na...ngs/index.html

Israel to launch its first spacecraft to the moon | Fox News

JEWS IN SPACE!

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

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...nce/index.html

Neat!

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/...oid/index.html

Some nice pics.

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

https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/28/asia/...ntl/index.html

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

https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science...ead-ncna939076

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

Congrats NASA.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/26/world...day/index.html

Welcome to Mars (again)


InSight Is Catching Rays on Mars | NASA

I give you the sounds of Mars:


NASA InSight Lander 'Hears' Martian Winds – NASA's InSight Mars Lander

That's pretty cool

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

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

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.

This is the first-ever picture of a black hole. Thank the Event Horizon Telescope. - Vox


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

wow

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

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."

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/...mis/index.html

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...nar-ambitions/

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

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

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?

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.

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

https://www.foxnews.com/science/nasa...s-life-on-mars

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.

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.

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/na...reen-scn-trnd/

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.

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


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

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/ed...rnd/index.html

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.

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