GnauzBookOfRhymes
Superstar
In the same twisted way that people think to themselves "what if I just swerved this car off the bridge and into the lake" I wonder if astronauts think to themselves "what if I just untethered myself" during a space walk"
[ [ Space + Science ] ]
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Pioneer 10 & 11 are essentially ghost probes floating through space at this point and have been for quite some time. P11 gave out and sent its final transmission on September 30, 1995 while its twin soldiered on, sending a final received signal on January 23, 2003. How the Voyager(s) continue sending back useful data from interstellar space with their remaining working instruments four decades on is pretty astonishing.
A little bit of background information on the relatively brief history of outer planet exploration. These sort of missions actually don't occur very often at all and ordinarily take a very long time to get off the ground.
NOTE: The Ulysses probe was a joint project between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency) in the 1990s, primary focus was that of solar satellite. So while it did pass Jupiter on a loop back around en route to the Sun, it isn't considered a 'proper' outer planet mission.
Pioneer (NASA Ames) [1972-1997]
Just as the name would suggest, these were the first spacecraft(s) to travel through the asteroid belt and make successful flyby's of Jupiter and Saturn. A true feat to be sure, although they were almost something of a test run compared to what would follow. Officially decommissioned in 1997, heard from for the last time in 2003.
Voyager (NASA JPL) [1977-present]
Humanity's space probes. The first and only to have flown by and surveyed all four of the outer gas giants in one mission, the only spacecraft (Voyager 2) that's been to Uranus and Neptune to date and the first to ever cross into Interstellar space (Voyager 1). The amount of scientific data acquired from the probes by 1989 alone was enough to fill 6,000 editions of Encyclopedia Brittanica.
What's more: it's still an ongoing, active mission four decades later, still transmitting data with the instruments that are operational although one-way communication now has a 17-plus hour delay through the Deep Space Network as Voyager 1 & 2 are over 20 and 18 billion kilometers away from Earth, respectively. No other space exploration mission beyond the moon boasts anywhere near the same level of achievement.
Galileo (NASA JPL) [1989-2003]
The first Jupiter orbiting spacecraft and came attached with a separate atmospheric entry probe intended to gather as much as possible in a very finite amount of time (i.e. before it got vaporized). Galileo successfully went into orbit in December 1995 after encountering two asteroids en route but had a more specified focus on various Jovian moons. Sustained significant radiation damage and lost capabilities over the course of its mission before (plan) crashing into Jupiter's atmosphere.
Cassini (NASA JPL) [1997-present]
The only orbiting probe sent specifically to study the Saturnian system in detail along with a Titan moon lander (Huygens) in tow that was developed by the ESA, though it lasted only 90 minutes before losing power. Cassini arrived and went into orbit in 2004 and has been building on the Pioneer and Voyager observations ever since. Craft is still in decent health and a currently active mission, expected to last through September 2017.
New Horizons (NASA Goddard) [2006-present]
Kuiper Belt probe that made a little bit of noise during the Summer of 2015 when it completed its flyby of the dwarf Pluto. Incidentally, Voyager 1 could've went by it decades ago but due to the limited navigational ability at the time, JPL had to decide between that or a closer look at Saturn's moon of Titan, which sent it on a trajectory above the plane of the solar system and out into Interstellar space.
Berniewood Hogan
IT'S BERNIE SANDERS WITH A STEEL CHAIR!
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Nah, I just have familial roots to Germany.
posting articles about how nice Nazi von Braun was to black folks.
WvB's participation in the Civil Rights Movement could actually warrant it's own separate thread and Jim Crow-era Murikkka wasn't much better than Nazi Germany in terms of social/race relations tbh but no that's obviously not the point. However, considering he was the chief engineer foremost responsible for the primary topics that were being posted about (such as the V-2 and Saturn V), it's an interesting aside given the infamy surrounding his background.
I think we banned you a couple years ago, doggy.
I was actually invited to join earlier this year by a non-CAC -
Berniewood Hogan
IT'S BERNIE SANDERS WITH A STEEL CHAIR!
levitate
I love you, you know.
Does the accelerating expansion of the universe have an acceleration limit?
I would think so.
At some point whatever is serving as the source of the expansion will become too diluted to maintain said expansion.
Eventually the rate of expansion will decrease to zero. At that point there will simply be a big, cold, universal void.
But I have no idea what the fukk I'm talking about.
I would think so.
At some point whatever is serving as the source of the expansion will become too diluted to maintain said expansion.
Eventually the rate of expansion will decrease to zero. At that point there will simply be a big, cold, universal void.
But I have no idea what the fukk I'm talking about.
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I'm highly amused by some recent developments in here breh, so a little more extensive if you're interested:
How An Ex-Nazi Helped Desegregate Alabama - KnowledgeNuts
A 1952 presentation at a local white high school showed how aloof von Braun still was about the racial climate. He recruited seven black college students from Alabama A&M to encourage interest among the high school students in science and engineering. Some of these high school students had said disparaging things (or worse) to their black neighbors. Predictably, the presentation wasn’t as successful as von Braun desired, and most of the students tuned the program out. Still, von Braun wanted to make a difference in Alabama’s youth, no matter their ethnicity.
Ten years later, however, the progress of civil rights and desegregation was still slow in Alabama. The federal government was looking at the situation, and they weren’t pleased. Because of the state’s racial reputation, many professionals, black and white, were hesitant to work at the Marshall Space Flight Center. NASA lobbied von Braun, who was the center director, and said that there needed to be increased effort to recruit and retain black professionals, otherwise, NASA might move the center out of the state.
Von Braun explained to his superiors that unfortunately there were not enough scientifically qualified black people in the area. Many black engineers from other states were also hesitant to move to Alabama. Thus, NASA said that the Marshall Space Flight Center would have to grow its talent.
Von Braun then helped historically black colleges write grant proposals that would secure funding for a stronger curriculum. Then he met with local contractors to make sure that black applicants had equal opportunity for openings. Finally, NASA decided that there would be a summer jobs program because it might help transition individuals into later full-time positions. Although von Braun didn’t initiate these programs, he readily took to fulfilling NASA’s goals, despite opposition from segregationists.
Von Braun knew that integrated employment at his facility couldn’t be the only solution to the simmering racial tensions. Therefore, he began an even more aggressive campaign for civil rights by the mid-1960s. He spoke to the local Chamber of Commerce, pressing it to conform to the new civil rights laws.
Later, he took the stage at Miles College, when the school began construction of a new physics building. Miles College had taken the lead in protests and boycotts in Birmingham, an even more racially volatile city, so it was impressive that this national figure was supporting this small black college. Later, back in Huntsville, he pushed for expanded voting rights. He even attacked Governor Wallace’s defiance of desegregation.
@Wiirdo
#CivilRightsHero #NotAllNazis #ActualFacts
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The bass about to drop on the sounding rocket.
joeychizzle
光復香港，時代革命
At this moment in time we know that the universe is expanding at an accelerating rate. When will the rate slow? Who knows. 5 billion years ago, however, the rate of expansion was actually decelerating due to everything being closer together and the commensurate gravity slowing shyt down.
When the light and heat energy dissipates from the galaxies and clusters and all that other good shyt, the universe is gonna shrink. It's gonna shrink like a mf.
Entropy.
Just picture a fire. There's a spark, shyt ignites, the fire spreads, everything burns, and then nothing burns cuz there ain't shyt left to burn. Except in the universe's case everything contracts until maximum density is reached.
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levitate
I love you, you know.
I find it difficult to comprehend all of the matter/energy within the universe being condensed to a singularity. (Pre-Big Bang)
Where in the hell did the energy come from to project matter outward? And how much energy would that take?
We have matter indefinetly confined to simple black holes (exclude Hawking radiation for a minute
). Yet somehow all the matter of the universe was expelled from an unimaginably dense singularity? I believe the technical term is..."How, Sway?".
Perhaps it wasn't a singularity, but rather an orifice? Imagine a water hose, turned on for a brief period, spraying not water but the contents of the universe, then shutting off.
Where in the hell did the energy come from to project matter outward? And how much energy would that take?
We have matter indefinetly confined to simple black holes (exclude Hawking radiation for a minute
). Yet somehow all the matter of the universe was expelled from an unimaginably dense singularity? I believe the technical term is..."How, Sway?". Perhaps it wasn't a singularity, but rather an orifice? Imagine a water hose, turned on for a brief period, spraying not water but the contents of the universe, then shutting off.
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A worthwhile read.
New York Times Review
NASA’s primary mission in the 1960s was to go to the moon, but close second were its twin goals of improving the economy of the South and fighting segregation, which President Johnson considered to be inextricably linked. By building space centers in Houston; Huntsville, Ala.; rural Mississippi; and Brevard County, Fla., NASA used its prestige and financial might to challenge the profoundly racist culture of its host communities.
The agency enforced equal opportunity hiring rules (albeit poorly) for its contractors, forbade employees to participate in events at segregated institutions and brought significant numbers of educated workers to the Deep South. The black engineers, scientists, computer programmers, would-be astronauts and other pioneers who desegregated the space program were as courageous as any civil rights marchers, and this is the first time their story has been told in detail.
Under pressure from Johnson, NASA officials seemed to relish pushing for civil rights. James Webb, NASA’s administrator, and Wernher von Braun, the ex-Nazi rocket scientist (of all people), tangled with George Wallace as they tried to protect their Huntsville base from “the worst segregationist excesses.” As Paul and Moss show in this surprising and insightful history: “A common lament since 1969 has been, ‘If they can put a man on the moon, why can’t they . . . ?’ NASA did land men on the moon and in the process made life in the South less segregated.”
New York Times Review
NASA’s primary mission in the 1960s was to go to the moon, but close second were its twin goals of improving the economy of the South and fighting segregation, which President Johnson considered to be inextricably linked. By building space centers in Houston; Huntsville, Ala.; rural Mississippi; and Brevard County, Fla., NASA used its prestige and financial might to challenge the profoundly racist culture of its host communities.
The agency enforced equal opportunity hiring rules (albeit poorly) for its contractors, forbade employees to participate in events at segregated institutions and brought significant numbers of educated workers to the Deep South. The black engineers, scientists, computer programmers, would-be astronauts and other pioneers who desegregated the space program were as courageous as any civil rights marchers, and this is the first time their story has been told in detail.
Under pressure from Johnson, NASA officials seemed to relish pushing for civil rights. James Webb, NASA’s administrator, and Wernher von Braun, the ex-Nazi rocket scientist (of all people), tangled with George Wallace as they tried to protect their Huntsville base from “the worst segregationist excesses.” As Paul and Moss show in this surprising and insightful history: “A common lament since 1969 has been, ‘If they can put a man on the moon, why can’t they . . . ?’ NASA did land men on the moon and in the process made life in the South less segregated.”
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Active Spacecraft Missions (Launch Year)
> Cassini (1997) [Saturn Orbiter]
> Cloudsat (2006) [Earth Climate Satellite]
> Juno (2011) [Jupiter Orbiter]
> Kepler (2009) [Exoplanet Space Telescope]
> Mars Odyssey (2001) [Mars Orbiter]
> MER Opportunity (2004) [Mars Rover]
> MSL Curiosity (2011) [Mars Rover]
> MRO Reconaissance (2005) [Mars Orbiter]
> NuSTAR (2012) [X-Ray Space Telescope]
> OCO-2 (2014) [Earth Carbon Observatory]
> Spitzer (2003) [Infrared Space Telescope]
> TES (2004) [Earth Tropospheric Emission Spectrophotometer]
> Voyager 1 (1977) [Outer Planetary / Interstellar Probe]
> Voyager 2 (1977) [Outer Planetary / Interstellar Probe]
Past Spacecraft Missions
> EPOXI (2005-2011) [Hartley Comet 2 Flyby]
> Explorer (5 total) (1958-1970) [Earth Satellites]
> Galileo (1989-2003) [Jupiter Orbiter]
> Magellan (1989-1994) [Venus Orbiter]
> Mariner (10 total) (1962-1973) [Mercury, Venus, Mars Flybys]
> Mars Pathfinder (1996-1997) [Mars Lander/Rover]
> MER Spirit (2004-2010) [Mars Rover]
> Surveyor (7 total) (1966-1968) [Moon Orbiters/Landers]
> Ulysses (1990-2009) [Solar Probe]
> Viking 1 (1975-1982) [Mars Orbiter/Lander]
> Viking 2 (1975-1980) [Mars Orbiter/Lander]
Much of JPL's beastly position among NASA field centers probably has to do with their being managed by Caltech, arguably the most prestigious university in the entire western hemisphere. Harvard and MIT are much larger and have greater research output, but as a learning institution in the physical sciences it's hard to do better than Caltech. Not to mention 34 associated Nobel Prizes and luminaries such as Richard Feynman and Linus Pauling, probably the two greatest American scientists of the last century.