The thread for space cadets!

[Syno]

I'd go too and I'd join whatever ideologically-based group that warpus leads. Then I'd push to disenfranchise the other groups and possible exterminate them for bad behavior.

But seriously, I'd go right now in a heart beat. How do you prove you are 'smart' to them?

Presumably ask you to take general tests like the SATs and the like, and release the results to them, maybe?

Perhaps they have their own tests, too.

 

[PlutonianEmpire]

Already trying to impose ideological differences? You guys should be ashamed of yourselves.

Ideological divisions are bad, mm'kay?

 

[hobbsyoyo]

But if you don't like bacon, you don't deserve to breathe my bottled oxygen!

 

[warpus]

A newly found superEarth and how it compares to Terra

The water in the image is just a guess, we don't know either way

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I have a question on the techniques used to find extrasolar planets:

Since one common method used to find extrasolar planets involves measuring the gravitational 'tug' of a planet around the host star, I am guessing that any such 'tug' would also include the 'tug' of a moon of that planet, right?

What I mean is that there could be situations where extrasolar planets have moons of non-trivial masses (wrt to their planets they orbit). The Earth - Moon system is good example of this, as is Pluto - Charon (plus all the other minor moons of Pluto). So if you were looking at the Solar system from far away and detected Earth's 'tug' on the Sun, that tug would presumably include the 'tug' of the moon, correct? How do you differentiate the tugs? Can you? Could this mean that many of the giant planets we've found (including the one Warpus posted about) are not actually as big as previously thought but rather have big or multiple moons?

_______

I also wonder how hot that star of the planet Warpus just posted about is. If it's close to our sun's temp, then that world will likely be a hellhole given it's size and proximity, even if it's in the 'goldilocks' zone.


Edit:
U.S. spaceship ventures plan to send test pilots into orbit as early as 2015

Americans could be flying into orbit on U.S.-built spaceships again as early as 2015 — but the first fliers won't be NASA astronauts or millionaire space tourists. Instead, they'll be commercial test pilots, employed by the Boeing Co., Sierra Nevada Corp., SpaceX or maybe even a dark-horse company like Blue Origin, the venture funded by Amazon.com billionaire Jeff Bezos.
...

NASA's manager for the Commercial Crew Program, Ed Mango, said the agency and its commercial partners are already talking about "Phase 2" for the program. The certification requirements and timetable for Phase 2 are expected to be set this year, with contracts awarded by May 2014, Mango said. "We believe that there’ll be more than one, probably two, three, maybe others, that will be ready to compete for Phase 2," he said.

I need to get me a jerb with one of these companies.

 

[peter grimes]

A newly found superEarth and how it compares to Terra

The water in the image is just a guess, we don't know either way

What's the mass? Or, I suppose the question I want answered is, what is the likely range of the mass?

They can figure that out from the orbital distance if they know the mass of the star, right?

 

[warpus]

I have a question on the techniques used to find extrasolar planets:

Since one common method used to find extrasolar planets involves measuring the gravitational 'tug' of a planet around the host star, I am guessing that any such 'tug' would also include the 'tug' of a moon of that planet, right?

What I mean is that there could be situations where extrasolar planets have moons of non-trivial masses (wrt to their planets they orbit). The Earth - Moon system is good example of this, as is Pluto - Charon (plus all the other minor moons of Pluto). So if you were looking at the Solar system from far away and detected Earth's 'tug' on the Sun, that tug would presumably include the 'tug' of the moon, correct? How do you differentiate the tugs? Can you? Could this mean that many of the giant planets we've found (including the one Warpus posted about) are not actually as big as previously thought but rather have big or multiple moons?

I have no idea about this or peter grimes' question, but if I had to guess I would say that there are probably slight variations in the data that might indicate the presence of a large enough moon.. but.. It might have to be big enough to be considered a binary type system anyway.

So I'm not sure, but you'd think that if they say "we found a planet", that they ruled out a planet with a giant moon somehow.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Eh, on that last sentence, scientists still bicker over what a planet is.

 

[Crezth]

Eh, on that last sentence, scientists still bicker over what a planet is.

That's not right. They know what a planet is. The only people bickering are those who are butthurt about Pluto.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

That's not right. They know what a planet is. The only people bickering are those who are butthurt about Pluto.

I know, it was a joke.

 

[warpus]

Uranus

 

[PlutonianEmpire]

That's not right. They know what a planet is. The only people bickering are those who are butthurt about Pluto.

Like me.

And I take it we (us who are butthurt about pluto) are in the tiny minority, right?

 

[SouthernKing]

Like me.

And I take it we (us who are butthurt about pluto) are in the tiny minority, right?

Probably because there was no good reason to keep it a planet?

 

[r16]

pluto is a planet since ı learned it so in school .

(sorry for the pointless bump but ı was checking my account and didn't notice the date ... )

 

[SouthernKing]

pluto is a planet since ı learned it so in school .

(sorry for the pointless bump but ı was checking my account and didn't notice the date ... )

That right there is the sole reason for a good 95% of "Pluto is a planet!" complains.

On a different subject, I found this a while back. It's a tool that calculates the effects of asteroid (or comet) impacts.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

There is a similar one for nuclear blast effects. I'll have to look it up but it's pretty cool. You pick the bomb and a city and it shows you how screwed you'd be.

 

[PlutonianEmpire]

There is a similar one for nuclear blast effects. I'll have to look it up but it's pretty cool. You pick the bomb and a city and it shows you how screwed you'd be.

There's two of them, actually; ground zero II and hydesim.

You're welcome.

 

[Winner]

I have a question on the techniques used to find extrasolar planets:

Since one common method used to find extrasolar planets involves measuring the gravitational 'tug' of a planet around the host star, I am guessing that any such 'tug' would also include the 'tug' of a moon of that planet, right?

What I mean is that there could be situations where extrasolar planets have moons of non-trivial masses (wrt to their planets they orbit). The Earth - Moon system is good example of this, as is Pluto - Charon (plus all the other minor moons of Pluto). So if you were looking at the Solar system from far away and detected Earth's 'tug' on the Sun, that tug would presumably include the 'tug' of the moon, correct? How do you differentiate the tugs? Can you? Could this mean that many of the giant planets we've found (including the one Warpus posted about) are not actually as big as previously thought but rather have big or multiple moons?

This method currently can't differentiate between the mass of the planet itself and its (hypothetical) moons. The one Kepler uses theoretically could, but I think we lack the resolution to even attempt it.

It would certainly be interesting to find that a planet we thought had 4.3 Earth-mass is in fact a double planet with one having 3.2 Earth-mass and the other 1.1 Earth-mass.

It will depend on how common large moons are around terrestrial planets - is the Earth's Moon more or less a result of an improbable accident, or are Moon forming collisions so common that a lot of other terrestrial planets have them? In our solar system, we have evidence for both hypotheses. Giant planets probably will have plenty of moons. It seems that the heavier a gas giant is, the heavier its moons get. The bonus is that you can cram 3 or 4 Earth-sized moons in one gas giant's sphere of influence and have them all orbit inside the habitable zone. Imagine colonizing such a system, it would be a treasure trove

(It's important to note thought that the mass of the Moon is pretty small in comparison with that of the Earth - ~ 1.2% )

I also wonder how hot that star of the planet Warpus just posted about is. If it's close to our sun's temp, then that world will likely be a hellhole given it's size and proximity, even if it's in the 'goldilocks' zone.

About habitable zones, you can play with this simulator

 

[warpus]

The ISS might soon be getting an addition - an inflatable module built by a private company

More information

A new deal between NASA and a commercial spaceflight company to add a privately built module to the International Space Station could lead to future uses of the novel space technology beyond low-Earth orbit, space agency and company officials say.

NASA will pay $17.8 million to Bigelow Aerospace of North Las Vegas to build an inflatable module, test it and prep it for flight. The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) is to be launched around the summer of 2015.
The space agency and Bigelow officials provided details of the contract in a Las Vegas briefing Wednesday.

The new inflatable BEAM will be launched to the International Space Station by a Falcon 9 rocket built by another private spaceflight company, California-based SpaceX. The module will be cocooned inside the unpressurized cargo hold of SpaceX's Dragon capsule atop the Falcon 9. NASA has already purchased the launch of the SpaceX Falcon under a separate Commercial Resupply Services contract.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Yeah those guys bought the TransHab inflatable module tech from NASA and are now selling it back to them.

They have already sent 2 prototype inflatable space stations into orbit and have plans to lease out orbital stations for use as factories, laboratories and possibly hotels once they have access to reliable launchers. The founder made his fortune in hotels, fwiw.

Very exciting stuff!

And in case anyone was wondering, inflatable modules are in many ways safer than rigid ones and typically provide much more living/working space since you can stuff more fabric in a rocket than you can rigid shell.