Author Topic: The Official Space Exploration Thread  (Read 230875 times)

Offline Ryan

  • Retired Staff Member
  • Jedi Master
  • *
  • Posts: 5871
  • Destiny is all
    • View Profile
    • JediDefender
Re: The Official Space Exploration Thread
« Reply #735 on: February 20, 2009, 07:05 PM »
Huge gamma-ray blast spotted 12.2 bln light-years from earth

Quote
The spectacular blast, which occurred in September in the Carina constellation, produced energies ranging from 3,000 to more than five billion times that of visible light, astrophysicists said.

 :o

"This is the way."

Offline Daigo-Bah

  • Jedi Apprentice
  • *
  • Posts: 1240
  • What a desolate place this is...
    • View Profile
Re: The Official Space Exploration Thread
« Reply #736 on: February 20, 2009, 09:46 PM »
Last night I attended a lecture from Fred Haise, the Apollo 13 astronaut!  He showed actual footage from the mission as well as his aircraft crash and the early space shuttle test flights.  The talk was at the University of Southern Mississippi where I teach part time.
Greg Reeves

My *New* top 3 most desired figures: 1) Yerka Mig; 2) Uncle Owen; 3) Hoth Luke

Offline DSJ™

  • Staff Member
  • Jedi Council Member
  • *
  • Posts: 22380
  • Bouncy! Bouncy! I'm An Insane Kubrickaholic!™
    • View Profile
Re: The Official Space Exploration Thread
« Reply #737 on: March 2, 2009, 09:23 AM »
China's lunar probe lands on moon

Chinese probe crashes into moon

New space launch center to be built in China's southernmost Hainan

China plans first space docking for 2011

Obama Plans To Retire Space Shuttle

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (2 pages, 88 KB) PDF File

NASA's Space Shuttle Program managers meet March 4, to review new testing data of space shuttle Discovery's gaseous hydrogen flow control valves.

Managers then will be able to decide whether to go ahead with another Flight Readiness Review on March 6. The launch date for STS-119's mission to the International Space Station is tentatively targeted for March 12.

Offline DSJ™

  • Staff Member
  • Jedi Council Member
  • *
  • Posts: 22380
  • Bouncy! Bouncy! I'm An Insane Kubrickaholic!™
    • View Profile
Re: The Official Space Exploration Thread
« Reply #738 on: March 4, 2009, 05:17 AM »
Tiny moon discovered orbiting Saturn



Image courtesy NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute.

Offline DSJ™

  • Staff Member
  • Jedi Council Member
  • *
  • Posts: 22380
  • Bouncy! Bouncy! I'm An Insane Kubrickaholic!™
    • View Profile
Re: The Official Space Exploration Thread
« Reply #739 on: March 11, 2009, 10:28 AM »
Delayed Discovery is ready for launch

Clicky pic for high rez image.  8)



A nearly full Moon sets as the space shuttle Discovery sits atop Launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, in the early morning hours of Wednesday, March 11, 2009. Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls.

Discovery and her seven crewmembers are scheduled to blast off from a seaside launch pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center here at 9:20:10 p.m. EDT (0120:10 March 12 GMT) to begin their two-week construction flight.

Other space news:

Phoenix Mars Lander Found Liquid Water, Some Scientists Think



Images of one of Phoenix's struts taken by the lander's robotic arm camera on Sols (or Martian days) 8, 31 and 44 of th emission. The two spheroids enclosed by the circle appear to merge with each other, which some Phoenix scientists argue is a sign that the globs are liquid water. Credit: Renno, et al., NASA.

Offline DSJ™

  • Staff Member
  • Jedi Council Member
  • *
  • Posts: 22380
  • Bouncy! Bouncy! I'm An Insane Kubrickaholic!™
    • View Profile
Re: The Official Space Exploration Thread
« Reply #740 on: March 12, 2009, 11:01 AM »
Space shuttle Discovery launch canceled

From Space.com

Quote
CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA. – The launch of NASA's space shuttle Discovery will fly no earlier than March 15 after a gas leak thwarted an attempted liftoff on Wednesday, mission managers said today.

NASA postponed  Discovery's spaceflight earlier today after detecting a leak in a hydrogen gas vent line as the shuttle began fueling up for a planned launch tonight at 9:20 p.m. EDT (0120 GMT March 12).

Mike Moses, head of Discovery's mission management team, said engineers will begin inspecting the faulty gas line on Thursday and shuttle officials will meet that afternoon to review launch plans.

Moses said that delaying until March 15 will mean having to cut one spacewalk and three days from Discovery's flight, which was planned to last 14 days and include four spacewalks.

If the mission is delayed even more, to March 16, Discovery astronauts would complete only two of four spacewalks and the mission will run only 10 days, Moses said during a briefing here at NASA's Kennedy Space Center after the launch attempt.

The changes are necessary to make room for a Russian Soyuz spacecraft that is already scheduled to launch toward the International Space Station on March 26. If Discovery doesn't launch by March 17, NASA would have to stand down until after the Soyuz launch and a space station crew change. The next launch window would open on April 7.

"This is life in the space business. Sometimes things happen," said Moses. If Discovery's flight shifts to April, it would likely cause a ripple of delays for NASA's other shuttle launches this year and the planned shift to a larger, six-person crew aboard the space station this May, he added.



The hydrogen vent line connects to the external tank for space shuttle Discovery. A leak in the line prevented a planned March 11, 2009 launch attempt. Credit: NASA TV.

Offline Jayson

  • Jedi Sentinel
  • *
  • Posts: 11050
  • I am one with the Force and the Force is with me
    • View Profile
    • www.yakface.com
Yakface.com Owner/Content Manager
Follow me on Twitter - @yak_face / @JediJaybird

Offline DSJ™

  • Staff Member
  • Jedi Council Member
  • *
  • Posts: 22380
  • Bouncy! Bouncy! I'm An Insane Kubrickaholic!™
    • View Profile
Re: The Official Space Exploration Thread
« Reply #742 on: March 14, 2009, 09:14 PM »
Space shuttle Discovery on pace for Sunday launch



Lights around Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida bathe space shuttle Discovery at the seaside pad of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida after rollback of the rotating service structure for a March 11, 2009 launch attempt. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett.

Offline DSJ™

  • Staff Member
  • Jedi Council Member
  • *
  • Posts: 22380
  • Bouncy! Bouncy! I'm An Insane Kubrickaholic!™
    • View Profile
Re: The Official Space Exploration Thread
« Reply #743 on: March 15, 2009, 10:33 PM »
Space shuttle Discovery launches after repairs



Space shuttle Discovery blazes into the night sky as it lifts off Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on March 15, 2009 to begin the STS-119 mission to the ISS. Credit: NASA TV.

Offline Hemish

  • Jedi Apprentice
  • *
  • Posts: 1182
  • Blah
    • View Profile
Re: The Official Space Exploration Thread
« Reply #744 on: March 16, 2009, 08:06 AM »
Shuttle launches dont make much news these days down here, but dam me if it isnt an impressive thing to watch.
The problem with America is stupidity I'm not saying there should be a capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself

Offline DSJ™

  • Staff Member
  • Jedi Council Member
  • *
  • Posts: 22380
  • Bouncy! Bouncy! I'm An Insane Kubrickaholic!™
    • View Profile
Re: The Official Space Exploration Thread
« Reply #745 on: March 16, 2009, 10:59 AM »
More impressive for the lucky ones that get to see it. I heard it's one hell of a thing to watch live, the roar of the ignition, crackling of the engines as it gets higher etc...  8)

Check out these vidoes of some Shuttle launches from the air, amazing stuff!

STS-117 launch shot from aircraft at 11,000 ft ovr Orlando

Space Shuttle Atlantis Launch 2006 from plane

Shuttle Launch from plane 3/15/2009

STS-126 Shuttle Launch 11-14-08 night

NASA Shuttle Launch Endeavour STS-126

Real Sound of Space Shuttle STS-117 Launch, 3 miles

BEST SOUND OF A SHUTTLE LAUNCH! STS-117

A view from inside a Shuttle during launch:

Shuttle launch from inside orbitor

Last nights launch:

Space Shuttle Discovery STS-119 Launch 15.03.2009

Too ******* cool, it's sad that it will come to an end.  :'(

Offline Keonobi

  • Jedi Knight
  • *
  • Posts: 4412
    • View Profile
Re: The Official Space Exploration Thread
« Reply #746 on: March 16, 2009, 12:08 PM »
My Mom went out into their backyard to watch last evening.  They can attest it truly awe-inspiring to watch the launch.

In relation to all the delays with this particular launch.  Am I the only one noticing that recent launches have had more and more delays related to concerns about particular parts?  I'm concerned we might have a coming disaster on our hands, and here's why I think so.

The subcontractors that NASA use realize the shuttle program has a limited life.  They don't want to invest in producing costly spare components that will likely never be used by NASA, and they probably won't get paid extra for producing.  So when there is a spare needed, they are scrounging around for replacements.  I'm not saying they are putting parts on that aren't the right part or anything, its just noticable that they have problem with particular parts over and over.  To me this signals an inordinate amount of risk given the extremely low margin of safety involved essentially strapping people to a controlled explosion.

Like I said, I hope no astronauts are at risk, I just think at this particular point, for this particular highly dangerous program, that's its become something of a liability to use private subcontractors.
I am not the Stig

Offline Matt_Fury

  • Jedi General
  • *
  • Posts: 9374
  • I aim to misbehave.
    • View Profile
    • Every Action Figure Parody has a beginning.
Re: The Official Space Exploration Thread
« Reply #747 on: March 16, 2009, 04:44 PM »
The night launches are the coolest.  I saw a couple while I was a student at UCF.
This is the way.


I have spoken.

Offline DSJ™

  • Staff Member
  • Jedi Council Member
  • *
  • Posts: 22380
  • Bouncy! Bouncy! I'm An Insane Kubrickaholic!™
    • View Profile
Re: The Official Space Exploration Thread
« Reply #748 on: March 17, 2009, 09:58 AM »
Not sure if anyone has seen this show, I have been watching Journey to the Edge of the Universe on our Canadian Discovery Channel.

Quote
- This one-of-a-kind television event creates the first accurate non-stop journey from Earth to the edge of the universe -

In one uncut, single camera shot, experience the universe like never before! Accelerate up and out of our atmosphere, past the moon and out of our solar system, to the nearest stars, nebulae, galaxies and beyond - right to the edge of the universe. On this awe-inspiring and unique voyage, encounter the most beautiful, powerful and mysterious phenomena in the cosmos; from pulsars to supermassive black holes, from star nurseries to quasars.

Based on real images from the world's most advanced telescopes, spacecraft and rovers, cutting edge visual effects and CGI combine to create this is the first, accurate non-stop journey from here to infinity. Packed with wonder, excitement and even moments of terror, this 'cosmic zoom' reveals fascinating information that will underline our human connection with these spectacular and far-off phenomena.

It aired at the begining of the month & I missed it but low & behold it's onlne.

Truly an amazing show to watch. The Pinwheel galaxy is 27 million light years away, a galaxy that contains about one trillion plus stars. To even have a image like below from something that is so far away is just unbelievable. Clicky for high rez.



Quote
The cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be. Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known. Carl Sagan (1934 - 1996)

As for the Shuttle Discovery:

Quote
Space junk may force NASA and the International Space Station team to move the ISS, creating a slight detour for the space shuttle Discovery. The debris is likely to pass near the ISS on March 17, just one day before Discovery is scheduled to dock with the ISS. Busted up spacecraft pieces continue to grow.

According to NASA, a breakaway piece of a Russian satellite is likely to come close to the ISS on March 17, just one day before the Discovery is scheduled to dock at the orbiting platform. If the debris comes close enough to the ISS, NASA engineers will slightly move the ISS and force Discovery to recalculate its own path to the ISS.



A video camera aboard space shuttle Discovery captured this view of the shuttle's payload bay and robotic arm as the vehicle soared above the Earth. Photo credit: NASA TV.

Offline Darth_Anton

  • Jedi Sentinel
  • *
  • Posts: 10672
  • Whatever
    • View Profile
Re: The Official Space Exploration Thread
« Reply #749 on: March 17, 2009, 10:40 AM »




Do we know which telescope took that picture?
Please subscribe to my YouTube Channel - The Imperial Communique -https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyEfCtMv1lWhxSH-B1Scr4g
"Snark is the idiot's version of wit."