The Space Thread

[YEK]

Are those Orion's balls?

[prdctvsm]

[MaartenVC]

What would happen if the Moon starts plunging towards Earth?

Edited February 10, 2022 by MaartenVC

[Nebraska]

3 hours ago, MaartenVC said:

What would happen if the Moon starts plunging towards Earth?

[Nebraska]

Quote

Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein is currently inbound from the Oort Cloud, a distant region of the solar system known for packing billions and possibly trillions of icy objects. The comet will make its closest approach to Earth in 2031, when it will come to within 11 au of the Sun (1 billion miles), in which 1 au is the average distance from Earth to the Sun. The comet, coming no closer than Saturn, won’t likely be visible to the unaided eye, but astronomers will be keeping a close watch, as it’s turning out to be a rather extraordinary object.

 

[Rubin Farr]

 

[MaartenVC]

First images from JWST (unfocused)

[Rubin Farr]

 

[MaartenVC]

About the Colonization of Mars

In my opinion the technological investments and advancements are the most important reason to wanting to go to / settle on / terraform Mars.
Not so sure if it'll ever actually be possible to make Mars into a self-sustaining Eden where people would like to live.
Seems next to impossible. Or, it would at least take an immense amount of time and resources. Too much probably.
I think there are more-suited candidates for that romantic idea.
It also seems there are not that many valuable resources on Mars. 
So economically it also seems like wishful thinking.
Only thing I can think of is that Mars would be a great hub for the mining of the Asteroid Belt.
In that way Mars could become an industry center for refining resources and for producing space-related materials, objects, vehicles,...
Mars could be a first step in our 4X space game.
I really can't tell how long it would take though.
I just hope humanity doesn't destroy itself in such way it could never recover from to do go and explore and expand into the vastness of space.
What a waste that would be.

Edited March 17, 2022 by MaartenVC

[Rubin Farr]

Interesting read, sorry for all the ad spam

https://www.livescience.com/mirror-universe-explains-dark-matter

[MaartenVC]

Good news, everyone!
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Reaches Alignment Milestone, Optics Working Successfully
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-s-webb-reaches-alignment-milestone-optics-working-successfully


While the purpose of this image was to focus on the bright star at the center for alignment evaluation, Webb's optics and NIRCam are so sensitive that the galaxies and stars seen in the background show up. At this stage of Webb’s mirror alignment, known as “fine phasing,” each of the primary mirror segments have been adjusted to produce one unified image of the same star using only the NIRCam instrument. This image of the star, which is called 2MASS J17554042+6551277, uses a red filter to optimize visual contrast.
Credits: NASA/STScI


This new “selfie” was created using a specialized pupil imaging lens inside of the NIRCam instrument that was designed to take images of the primary mirror segments instead of images of the sky. This configuration is not used during scientific operations and is used strictly for engineering and alignment purposes. In this image, all of Webb’s 18 primary mirror segments are shown collecting light from the same star in unison.
Credits: NASA/STScI

 

Edited March 17, 2022 by MaartenVC

[MaartenVC]

"Three Russian cosmonauts have arrived at the International Space Station wearing flight suits in yellow and blue colors."
https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-kazakhstan-space-launches-science-business-d947eb778e5527e28cd8554eedcf3414
Is this real? I can't reach roscosmos.ru.

Sergey Korsakov, Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveyev emerged from the Soyuz capsule wearing yellow flight suits with blue stripes, the colors of the Ukrainian flag. The men were the first new arrivals on the ISS since the start of the Russian war in Ukraine last month. Roscosmos via AP

[Rubin Farr]

Hell yeah 

[MaartenVC]

about Alpha Centauri C aka Proxima Centauri

"At just four light years away, Proxima Centauri is our closest solar neighbor. The recent discovery of the new exoplanet Proxima D, has reopened the discussion of whether the proxima system is our best chance at reaching another Earth. How did we discover Proxima D? How do we know what the conditions are on planets so far away? Watch the episode to learn more."

The Alpha Centauri Triple Star System
 - It is the closest gravitationally bound star system to our star system. 
 - It includes the following star systems: Alpha Centauri A, Alpha Centauri B, Alpha Centauri C aka Proxima Centauri.
The Alpha Centauri C Star System aka Proxima Centauri
 - It is an infrared red dwarf flare star.
 - small (14% Sun) low-mass (12.5% Sun) dense (33x Sun) very-low-luminosity (0.17% Sun)
 - It is the closest star system to our star system. (located 4.2465 light-years away from the Sun)
 - It has the following exoplanets: Proxima Centauri b, Proxima Centauri c, and Proxima Centauri d.
 - Proxima d is a sub-Earth orbiting very closely to the star. (discovered in 2020, confirmed in 2022)
    0.028 Earth-Sun-distance orbit, 5.1 Earth-days orbit, 0.26 Earth mass, 0.81 Earth size, 360 K (87 °C; 188 °F)
 - Proxima b is an Earth-sized exoplanet in the habitable zone. (discovered in 2016)
    0.05 Earth-Sun-distance orbit, 11.2 Earth-days orbit, 1.07 Earth mass, 1.30 Earth size, 234 K (−39 °C; −38 °F)
 - Proxima c is a super-Earth possibly surrounded by a huge ring system. (discovered in 2019)
    1.49 Earth-Sun-distance orbit, 1928 Earth-days orbit, 7 Earth mass, ? Earth size, 39 K (−234.2 °C; −389.5 °F)

Edited March 24, 2022 by MaartenVC

[YEK]

 

[Rubin Farr]

3D lunar samples

https://ares.jsc.nasa.gov/astromaterials3d/

[milkface]

On 2/10/2022 at 7:05 PM, MaartenVC said:

What would happen if the Moon starts plunging towards Earth?

Not true. I would just make the moon stay still again.

[Rubin Farr]

35 minutes ago, milkface said:

Not true. I would just make the moon stay still again.

 

[Rubin Farr]

https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/30/23002980/earendel-hubble-most-distant-star-gravitational-lensing-jwst

[Rubin Farr]

lol

https://www.physics-astronomy.org/2022/03/nasa-wants-to-probe-deeper-into-uranus.html?m=1

[MaartenVC]

"What is inside a black hole? Inevitable crushing doom? Gateways to other universes? Weird, multidimensional libraries? If you’ve ever wanted to know then you might be in luck - Some physicists have argued that you’re inside one right now."

(probably not, but it's fun to think about the possibility)

[MaartenVC]

NASA plans to retire the International Space Station (ISS) by 2031.
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/02/02/world/nasa-international-space-station-retire-iss-scn/index.html
They're probably gonna let it de-orbit/crash to Earth.
(more specifically into the South Pacific Oceanic Uninhabited Area, aka Point Nemo)

Personally I kinda wish they'd put it into a stable orbit around the sun, or put it in a Lagrange point, or just fling it out our solar system, for historical/archeological reasons.
But it would probably cost too much to do so. Easier and cheaper to let it crash.
 

Some info about the ISS:
 - Collaboration between 15 countries.
 - The first component was launched in 1998, and the first long-term occupants arrived on 2 November 2000.
 - It was slowly assembled over more than a decade of spaceflights and crews.
 - It consists of: pressurized habitation modules, structural trusses, photovoltaic solar arrays, thermal radiators, docking ports, experiment bays and robotic arms.
 - About 251 people from 19 different nations have visited the space station, many of them multiple times.

Some photos:

Edited April 2, 2022 by MaartenVC

[MaartenVC]

A number of risks for staying in space for an increased length of time (for example for going to Mars), and some solutions being worked on.
 

[Rubin Farr]

Uranus and its moons 

[Rubin Farr]

7 1/2 years after starting this thread about testing the Orion program launch system, and NASA is still having problems getting to a wet launch rehearsal. frustrating.