The thread for space cadets!
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hobbsyoyo
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Yeah it was quite the spectacle. I got in at 3:30 am to watch this and I wasn't disappointed. I'm actually in the livestream on youtube (I'm to the far right when they show the crowd outside of mission control) but it's a far-away shot through glass so I'm not recognizable.
warpus
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I just saw these for the first time and I guess I should be in this thread more often
warpus
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A grad student from my university who knows people that I know just got selected to be an astronaut. It's pretty awesome.
hobbsyoyo
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Pretty cool gif. I never got my CRS-7 patch, by the way, even though we were promised by a high-up that we would.
No such promise was made about Amos-6 and we didn't get that patch either. It just kind of sucks when you build the rocket or spacecraft, watch it go up in flames and then not get any momento of the effort.
I love my patches - I know it's really weird but for me it's a big perk of the job. Oh well, with our launch rate going up there have been plenty of patches to go around and a lot more to come.
I will try and link tomorrow but New Zealand launched their first rocket recently. It got to space but failed after stage separation and thus didn't get to orbit. The rocket had a hard roll during launch that thrust vectoring failed to cancel out. I don't know what caused that (there was no noticeable yaw moment that would point to a stuck thrust vector actuator) but there is a good chance that the spin starved the second stage engine of propellant. Great first effort and super exciting that New Zealand has joined the other space fairing nations.
warpus
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Can you buy the patch somewhere even though you didn't get it? Maybe a knock off, if you have to? Or is that just not "the same"
That's amazing about NZ. I had no idea. Apparently they launch from the Mahia peninsula. I had to look up where that is too, it's on the north island. Would have never guessed NZ was up to stuff like this
That's amazing about NZ. I had no idea. Apparently they launch from the Mahia peninsula. I had to look up where that is too, it's on the north island. Would have never guessed NZ was up to stuff like this
Berzerker
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recent article at yahoo said a flat worm that lived in space came back and grew 2 heads, twice... apparently thats so rare it doesn't bode well for people in space, the genetic mutations will turn us into a new species if we survive a long trip
in other news, they think the asteroid Psyche contains a treasure larger than anything we have here. They think its the exposed core of a larger object that got ripped open, the miners who get there first will have hit the motherlode
in other news, they think the asteroid Psyche contains a treasure larger than anything we have here. They think its the exposed core of a larger object that got ripped open, the miners who get there first will have hit the motherlode
warpus
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Aren't astronauts sent up on insulated space capsules to protect them from radiation from the sun and other sources?
Thorgalaeg
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I dont think normal capsules designed to orbit Earth have much radiation shielding. Shielding is naturally provided by the magnetosphere. At least concerning charged particles.
Yes, radiation shielding of manned spaceships going far away from Earth (e.g. Mars) is another big technological problem to solve. Mars itself isn't quite safe place from radiation point of view, too. But at least there are more options, like going underground.
It has to be pointed out here that this was in an experiment that tested the regenerative abilities of the worms. As in cut the worm apart and let the tail grow back. Which turned out to be head. This could well be microgravity screwing up the growth process rather than mutations.
warpus
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OMG we got this question during wednesday night trivia yesterday.. about the Van Allen belt radiation. Question asked us to name the planet it is near. Not multiple choice, we had to think up the answer. I will now never forget that it is EARTH
trader/warrior
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I've been wondering about this. I really don't like the thought of going underground. Wouldn't it be possible to make some kind of concrete or just pile martian soil on an inner structure to make radiation safe martian buildings? Would presumably just need a good inner membrane. And for the layer of soil to be pretty thick I guess. I would really hope it's possible to have at least some amount of windows too. One thing making mars safer, much like on the ISS, is that the planet itself shields it 50% of the time.
While writing this I found this: Material Scientists Make Martian Concrete
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hobbsyoyo
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A few were distributed and I am pretty sure you can find some online at inflated prices. I want one but not that bad - and it wouldn't have my employee number on it either.
Yeah Rocket Lab is just awesome, I'm really excited for them.
Berzerker
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https://phys.org/news/2017-06-unseen-planetary-mass-warped-kuiper.html
another planet nine... and its distorting the orbits of objects in the Kuiper Belt
its doing more than that I think, its why the planets are off kilter too...
another planet nine... and its distorting the orbits of objects in the Kuiper Belt
its doing more than that I think, its why the planets are off kilter too...
warpus
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That's interesting
from the above article said:
That's not the same as the other Planet 9 is it? The one postulated to align the periapsii(?) of a couple of KBOs; because they are talking Mars to Earth mass. The other one was Neptiunian IIRC.
I wonder if that is just us picking up statistical outliers by looking too hard at the data.
warpus
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The article does say that it's probably not "planet 9", because that one is "supposed to be" a lot further out.
It also says that the data is unlikely to be a statistical fluke, since they are looking at an average rather than individual numbers.
It also says that it could be explained by a passing star, which would have moved stuff around in this way, but it's unlikely because it would have had to have happened rather recently (last 50 million years IIRC)
They conclude that the most reasonable explanation for the data is some sort of a Mars-like mass orbiting the sun out there somewhere
It also says that the data is unlikely to be a statistical fluke, since they are looking at an average rather than individual numbers.
It also says that it could be explained by a passing star, which would have moved stuff around in this way, but it's unlikely because it would have had to have happened rather recently (last 50 million years IIRC)
They conclude that the most reasonable explanation for the data is some sort of a Mars-like mass orbiting the sun out there somewhere
