Space In General

[TenEightyOne]

One of the places I want to go with my girlfriend before I die.

Ditch her. Save the money and go twice.

 

[zzz_pt]

Ditch her. Save the money and go twice.

She's the one who showed me the beauty of astrophysics and space in general. B ut I got your point

 

[Danoff]

 

[CodeRedR51]

I still find it absolutely fascinating that we can shoot a satellite out into the massive openness of space and it can get to it's destination with no problems like it's the easiest thing in the world to do.

 

[Dennisch]

Pluto and Charon, as seen by the New Horizons probe. Less than a year to go and we'll finally see Pluto up close.

Just in case that the gif won't show :

pluto.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/pics/PR_E12_proper_sat_stars_3fps.gif

 

[Danoff]

I still find it absolutely fascinating that we can shoot a satellite out into the massive openness of space and it can get to it's destination with no problems like it's the easiest thing in the world to do.

It's not. I can tell you all about how it's done though.

 

[Dotini]

Check out these close-up pix of a comet. With any luck, they will land on it.
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-28741244

 

[TenEightyOne]

The worst part of any holiday is picking the campsite. BBC.

 

[zzz_pt]

From portugal, with pride

http://epod.usra.edu/blog/2014/08/andromeda-galaxy-from-the-dark-sky-alqueva-reserve-portugal.html

 

[Dennisch]

That is a really nice photo. Well, combination of photos.

Photo details: Canon 60Da camera; ISO 2000, 45 second exposure; at f/2.8; with a Canon telephoto lens series L at 200 mm; Travel mount Vixen Polarie. Sum of 51 pictures combined in Maxim DL 5 with a total time integration of 38 minutes.

 

[TenEightyOne]

That is a really nice photo. Well, combination of photos.

Photo details: Canon 60Da camera; ISO 2000, 45 second exposure; at f/2.8; with a Canon telephoto lens series L at 200 mm; Travel mount Vixen Polarie. Sum of 51 pictures combined in Maxim DL 5 with a total time integration of 38 minutes.

You can tell all that just from the little spots?

@zzz_pt, awesome picture

 

[Wiegert]

"3 second shutter exposure at night shows how crazy our atmosphere really is." - Reid Wiseman

Taken from the ISS with two of its retracted solar arrays in the distance.

 

[MisterWhiskers]

 

[Dotini]

A few hours ago there was an X-class solar flare and CME squarely aimed at Earth. There was another flare and CME very recently, due to glance off Earth's magnetosphere tomorrow, the 11th. Look for unusual lights in the sky for the next few days.

 

[zzz_pt]

A Cosmic Collision: Our Best View Yet of Two Distant Galaxies Merging


http://www.universetoday.com/114139...est-view-yet-of-two-distant-galaxies-merging/

 

[Sanji Himura]

We have a new country that has made it to Mars. INDIA! They sent a probe 10 months ago, and it just arrived on Mars' Orbit. It will then take photos of the surface for methane, an indicator of life. The mission so far cost India 4.5bn Rupees ($74 million or £45 million), and is considered the cheapest space mission in history.

 

[Danoff]

@Sanji Himura

http://www.engadget.com/2014/09/24/india-successfully-reaches-mars/

Oh look! When you pay everyone peanuts, borrow tons of expertise from NASA (I'm talking about flying NASA employees out to India to help), don't bother too much with science payloads, and take tons of risk, you can get to Mars cheaply with a little luck.

 

[Sanji Himura]

My source was the Beeb. I was exhausted last night and I didn't remember to post the link.

 

[BobK]

Problem is, though, what most people will take away is the headline:

India put a satellite in orbit around Mars for a fraction of what NASA spent

regardless how it was done.

 

[Danoff]

Problem is, though, what most people will take away is the headline:

India put a satellite in orbit around Mars for a fraction of what NASA spent

regardless how it was done.

Well, obviously that's the idea behind the article. I just wish journalists would learn a little about what they're writing about. And I wish that whoever it was the was quoted in India would be a bit more humble considering the help they got. There is a huge difference in scientific payload between this satellite and something like Maven. The article tries to put a spin on it by saying they "got it down" to a certain weight. What that means is that they didn't put much on the spacecraft. Which is fine if all you're trying to do is just learn how to get there - but then don't go bragging about it, and don't compare it to the pricetag of a real science mission.

 

[CodeRedR51]

Send your name on a micro chip to Mars. Also goes on the test flight of Orion in December.

 

[Dennisch]

 

[Brett]

I attempted to link mine also, but failed miserably.

 

[Dennisch]

I attempted to link mine also, but failed miserably.

I made a screenshot on my phone because that linking doesn't work.

 

[Brett]

I made a screenshot on my phone because that linking doesn't work.

Yep, tried the linking and a few other things and none of them worked.

 

[CodeRedR51]

Speaking of Mars, SpaceX just updated their facebook cover photo to this:

Are they trying to tell us something? Hmmm.

 

[PeterJB]

Terraforming Mars is, for me, an unfeasable and completely fruitless exercise. It would take God only knows how many years for the proposed algae to convert the atmosphere into Oxygen and then thicken it to the Earth's atmospheric pressure, whilst combating the erosive effect of the solar wind on a planet with no magnetic field and then sustaining it while people live there, who also have to combat Arctic temperatures all year round, reduced sunlight and doubled seasons.

 

[Dennisch]

SpaceX has seen Total Recall one too many times.

 

[CodeRedR51]

I think Musk it just crazy enough to try it thought.

 

[Exorcet]

Terraforming Mars is, for me, an unfeasable and completely fruitless exercise. It would take God only knows how many years for the proposed algae to convert the atmosphere into Oxygen and then thicken it to the Earth's atmospheric pressure, whilst combating the erosive effect of the solar wind on a planet with no magnetic field and then sustaining it while people live there, who also have to combat Arctic temperatures all year round, reduced sunlight and doubled seasons.

We've got a couple hundred million years until we need it, and by then the Sun will be hotter.