The Astronomy Thread

meStevo · Jun 24, 2019

11:30pm PST is the target launch. Their window is a few hours long, so this is towards the end of it iirc.

meStevo · Jun 25, 2019

Center core crashed into the ocean near the drone ship. Was stated over and over this was their most challenging center core landing. Twice as far from the coast, more stress on the vehicle. Crash could have been intentional if they weren't able to control the core as much as they wanted on descent. They aim for the ocean and only correct at the end of ascent so that it basically doesn't become a guided missile hitting the drone ship if there's an anomaly.

It's so blown out it kinda looks like bad FX, lol.

Sadre Spinegnawer · Jun 25, 2019

Borzak said:
They show up in astrophotography pretty easily maybe less when you're tracking an object and expose an hour or more of short exposures stacked together.

photons are photons, and the less coming in, the sharper we can design outward looking devices.

I am not sure there is a way out pf this.Adaptive optics allow us to correct for atmospheric distortions. But that is different from saying, "this photon is astronomical, this faction is manmade."

meStevo · Jun 25, 2019

meStevo · Jun 25, 2019

They caught half a fairing for the first time.

Mr Steven was renamed GO Ms Tree prior to this Falcon Heavy launch.

Tuco · Jun 25, 2019

spronk · Jun 25, 2019

No Signs of Aliens in the Closest 1,300 Stars, Hunt Funded by Russian Billionaire Reveals

While the truth might be out there, technological aliens don't seem to be — at least not yet. New results from the most comprehensive Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) program ever undertaken — which surveyed 1,327 nearby stars for signals from intelligent beings — have turned up empty.

While the team didn't find anything this time around, Price said that there could be many explanations for the lack of alien signals. Perhaps the search was conducted at the wrong frequencies, or those signals were hidden by radio interference from Earth. Any such undertaking is limited by the methods and discoveries that humans happen to have made in the course of our own history.

just a few more stars to check

Zindan · Jun 25, 2019

I'm guessing the center cores land out in the ocean because they travel further away from launch site than the other boosters?

meStevo · Jun 25, 2019

Zindan said:
I'm guessing the center cores land out in the ocean because they travel further away from launch site than the other boosters?

That and/or the added velocity/trajectory makes it not make sense to include the required fuel to boost back to the coast.

meStevo · Jun 26, 2019

Heavy core failure:

MusicForFish · Jun 26, 2019

Thought this was cool.

NASA to open Moon rock samples sealed for 50 years

From 1969 to 1972, 12 astronauts brought back lunar samples weighing a total of 842 pounds. Some of the rocks and soil samples were vacuum-packed on the Moon and have never been exposed to Earth's atmosphere. Some were frozen or stored in gaseous helium after Apollo 11 splashed down and have remained untouched since.

Zeigler noted that due to technological improvements over the past 50 years, the space agency was smart to wait to analyze the lunar samples.

"We can do more with a milligram than we could do with a gram back then. So it was really good planning on their part to wait," he said.

In total, there are more than 100,000 samples from the Apollo lunar inventory, including some of the original 2,200 being broken into smaller pieces for study.

The nine teams that were selected to study the samples are NASA Ames Research Center/Bay Area Environmental Research Institute, NASA Ames, NASA’s Goddard Spaceflight Center, NASA Goddard, University of Arizona, University of California Berkeley, US Naval Research Laboratory, University of New Mexico and Mount Holyoke College/Planetary Science Institute.

“By studying these precious lunar samples for the first time, a new generation of scientists will help advance our understanding of our lunar neighbor and prepare for the next era of exploration of the Moon and beyond, “ Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, said in an April statement. This exploration will bring with it new and unique samples into the best labs right here on Earth.”

In total, the teams will receive $8 million to study the lunar samples, with each team receiving varying amounts of samples. "Everything from the weight of a paperclip, down to basically so little mass you can barely measure it," Zeigler said.

Though only 15 percent of the rocks that were collected on the Moon have been studied previously, scientists have been able to learn a great deal not just about the Moon itself, but the solar system as a whole. Ziegler said scientists have determined the ages of the surfaces of Mars and Mercury, and established that Jupiter and the solar system's other big outer planets likely formed closer to the sun and later migrated outward.

meStevo · Jun 27, 2019

NASA announcing a new mission tomorrow.

meStevo · Jun 27, 2019

Dragonfly has been selected, we're returning to the Saturn system for the first time since Cassini de-orbited.

We're sending a lander that can fly to Titan. Launching 2026, landing 2034.

Cybsled · Jun 27, 2019

2034...so far away ;o

I wonder what it is powered by? Gotta be some manner of nuclear power source. They said the mission would last a couple years and obviously solar isn't an option, unless this thing literally uses the methane available to power itself.

meStevo · Jun 27, 2019

Yeah, it will have an RTG. It can't fly off of that though, it can fly about once every Titan day, about 2 weeks.

khorum · Jun 27, 2019

Shoulda made a blimp. That looks too complex to last very long. 8 rotors, any which one could get nicked by a pebble or otherwise fail and we're out a 12-year mission. Titan's atmosphere is both colder and denser than ours, a blimp would've been ideal.

Cybsled · Jun 28, 2019

Blimp would be better for staying in the air longer, but then you're dealing with a ballast system/trying to control buoyancy, all of which would also complicate more exact landings. Plus the larger surface area might make it more susceptible to weather/wind gusts.

Rotor has its downsides as well, but some of the advantages are more precise control and multiple rotors for redundancy (presumably it will still be able to fly with a couple faulty rotors)

In looking at the mission profile, it seems like they mostly want it to be a surface probe, with flying mostly used to move it to new areas, so extended time in the air doesn't seem to be the priority anyways

Mudcrush Durtfeet · Jun 28, 2019

That's a hell of a mission. RTG for sure, or it'll freeze. Keeping something warm there is made much more difficult because of the thick (and very cold) atmosphere.

What are the winds like on Titan?

Also, have to watch out for Thanos.

meStevo · Jun 30, 2019

The Astronomy Thread

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I got Tuco'd!

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Bronze Baronet of the Realm

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Murder Apologist

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