The Astronomy Thread

LachiusTZ · Nov 17, 2021

BrutulTM said:
So are you saying that you can only survive a 4 foot drop if you bend your legs?

Well I guess we can all infer why you aren't doing that job anymore...

LachiusTZ · Nov 17, 2021

Captain Suave said:
IMO, whether or not electronics will break under ~10,000 G's is much less important than what happens when they inevitably have a timing error on release and launch the thing into the walls of their ground facility

Manley thinks it's the shifting weight, and I tend to agree.

That's a lot of mass, moving fast, with a near instant changing of it's center of gravity.

It's going to put a lot of stress on that arm etc.

But yeah, would be pretty spectacular to see them put a rocket through their facility. Lolol

BrutulTM · Nov 17, 2021

Captain Suave said:
The acceleration on the path of travel is very slow; the payload is brought up to speed over a period of 90 minutes or so. The issue is centripetal acceleration, which is high but sustained

Phones break when dropped onto hard surfaces because of the concentration of stresses. As mentioned in the video, current commercial electronics can withstand thousands of G's if applied to the entire structure. This doesn't meant that it's not a consideration, just not one that's immediately fatal to the concept at the configuration they're targeting.

IMO, whether or not electronics will break under ~10,000 G's is much less important than what happens when they inevitably have a timing error on release and launch the thing into the walls of their ground facility.

I was an electrical engineer, not mechanical, but shocks are different than sustained accelerations but both have issues. You have to think about resonant frequencies, PCBs paint canning etc.

Also, your phone might survive a drop from 4 feet onto tile or it might not. Most of us wouldn't repeatedly drop our phones from 4 feet onto tile because we wouldn't want to risk a $500 phone. Now imagine doing it with your 100 million dollar satellite which took 5 years to build and cannot be repaired if even the slightest thing breaks on it. Another cool thing about stuff that's going into space is that there's no gravity so if you leave a tiny screw or something loose in the assembly it can just merrily float around bumping into your boards and shorting things out for the life of the satellite.

BrutulTM · Nov 17, 2021

That's a $135M NOAA satellite at Lockheed that someone failed to follow procedures on.

Chanur · Nov 17, 2021

BrutulTM said:
That's a $135M NOAA satellite at Lockheed that someone failed to follow procedures on.

Someone deserves to be shit canned.

LachiusTZ · Nov 17, 2021

Chanur said:
Someone deserves to be shit canned.

Isn't NASA cost plus?

Someone prolly getting a raise. Lol

But yeah, 2021 boys

Kharzette · Nov 18, 2021

I think I like the magnetic rail in a vacuum tunnel idea more than this sling approach.

Gravel · Nov 18, 2021

BrutulTM said:
That's a $135M NOAA satellite at Lockheed that someone failed to follow procedures on.

When I worked for F/A-18, I would always say that I was "amazed planes weren't constantly falling out of the sky. Clearly there were some smart people there making sure they didn't, but I never met them."

Big Phoenix · Nov 18, 2021

The Longest Lunar Eclipse in 580 Years Takes Place This Friday—Here’s How and When to Watch It

2021’s Beaver Moon will experience the longest lunar eclipse of the century on the morning of Friday, November 19—and it’s also the longest event in 580 years.

www.yahoo.com

On the morning of Friday, November 19, the full Beaver Moon will take place in a 97%-total lunar eclipse, according to NASA, meaning that nearly all of the moon’s surface will be shrouded in the Earth’s shadow. November 2021’s eclipse will be about three and a half hours long, stretching from 2:18 to 5:47 a.m. EST. The Beaver Moon eclipse will peak at 4:02 a.m. EST, NASA reports, and will be visible across North America.

meStevo · Nov 19, 2021

294 days/year of sunshine in Vegas.

We had clouds for the eclipse.

Burns · Nov 19, 2021

Lunar Eclipses happen roughly twice a year. If you want to catch the next one, Nasa has them all listed out to 2100:

Catalog of Lunar Eclipses: 2001 to 2100

This page is part of NASA's Five Millennium Catalog of Lunar Eclipses. It contains a list covering 100 years of lunar eclipses.

eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov

If you keep filtering for rareness, everything becomes a once in a lifetime event...

meStevo · Nov 20, 2021

For the first time we have NASA and JPL involved in the basic foundation for SpaceX initial Mars Base Alpha plans.

SpaceX details plan to build Mars Base Alpha with reusable Starship rockets

For the first time, SpaceX has teamed up with researchers from NASA and several other US institutions to publicly discuss how it plans to use Starship to build Mars Base Alpha. Save for a handful of comments spread around the periphery of SpaceX and CEO Elon Musk’s main focus, Starship itself...

www.teslarati.com

Cybsled · Nov 20, 2021

I so badly want to see this come to fruition

Big Phoenix · Nov 20, 2021

As much as I want to see his wildest dreams succeed, its hard not to think Starship and everything around it is typical Musk monumentally overselling if not outright bullshitting for fame and money. The guy has a very clear history of hyping amazing new products that will revolutionize how we live and they fall completely flat on their face or endlessly delayed; Tesla semi, hyperloop, tesla taxi, telsa solar roof tiles etc.

Having a single crewed vehicle thats designed to land on Earth, Mars and Luna sounds great on paper but so did the Space Shuttle and we all know how that turned out. If youre wanting to send something to the Luna you dont need a heat shield, you dont need a craft that has an aerodynamic features. Thats all wasted weight and thus wasted fuel pushing that wasted weight.

Kiroy · Nov 22, 2021

Big Phoenix said:
As much as I want to see his wildest dreams succeed, its hard not to think Starship and everything around it is typical Musk monumentally overselling if not outright bullshitting for fame and money. The guy has a very clear history of hyping amazing new products that will revolutionize how we live and they fall completely flat on their face or endlessly delayed; Tesla semi, hyperloop, tesla taxi, telsa solar roof tiles etc.

Having a single crewed vehicle thats designed to land on Earth, Mars and Luna sounds great on paper but so did the Space Shuttle and we all know how that turned out. If youre wanting to send something to the Luna you dont need a heat shield, you dont need a craft that has an aerodynamic features. Thats all wasted weight and thus wasted fuel pushing that wasted weight.

I can't even imagine being this clueless about what musk has already accomplished and it's future potential.

Kiroy · Nov 22, 2021

BrutulTM said:
I was an electrical engineer, not mechanical, but shocks are different than sustained accelerations but both have issues. You have to think about resonant frequencies, PCBs paint canning etc.

Also, your phone might survive a drop from 4 feet onto tile or it might not. Most of us wouldn't repeatedly drop our phones from 4 feet onto tile because we wouldn't want to risk a $500 phone. Now imagine doing it with your 100 million dollar satellite which took 5 years to build and cannot be repaired if even the slightest thing breaks on it. Another cool thing about stuff that's going into space is that there's no gravity so if you leave a tiny screw or something loose in the assembly it can just merrily float around bumping into your boards and shorting things out for the life of the satellite.

I would imagine a sling launcher would be used to launch raw or near raw materials up. But ya, widgets aren't going to be going up in the thing. No fucking way.

Oblio · Nov 22, 2021

Kiroy said:
I can't even imagine being this clueless about what musk has already accomplished and it's future potential.

Just for starters...

Brahma · Nov 22, 2021

Big Phoenix · Nov 22, 2021

Kiroy said:
I would imagine a sling launcher would be used to launch raw or near raw materials up. But ya, widgets aren't going to be going up in the thing. No fucking way.

Do you forget this guy has made some insanely wild and stupid claims? Like this gem, from 4 1/2 years ago now;

Musk touts approval of New York-Washington 'hyperloop'

SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk on Thursday said he had received "verbal" approval to start building an ultra-high-speed underground transport system linking New York and Washington that would cut travel time between the cities to about half an hour. Musk, the...

news.yahoo.com

Kiroy · Nov 22, 2021

Big Phoenix said:
Do you forget this guy has made some insanely wild and stupid claims? Like this gem, from 4 1/2 years ago now;

Musk touts approval of New York-Washington 'hyperloop'

SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk on Thursday said he had received "verbal" approval to start building an ultra-high-speed underground transport system linking New York and Washington that would cut travel time between the cities to about half an hour. Musk, the...

news.yahoo.com

cool

also, regardless of his braggadociousness and bloviating, the boring company is a real company, with real contracts, digging real tunnels.

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