Space news and Exploration II

[ScienceRocks]

 

[sealybobo]

You are aware of course that Obama with support of the Democrats stripped NASA of anyway to reach orbit or space? We must hire private enterprise to deliver materials to the space station and must use Russia to send people into space.

We have no space vehicle and no plans to make another. Ohh did I mention that Obama and the democrats cut NASA's budget to the bone?

Political hack says what?

 

[ScienceRocks]

You are aware of course that Obama with support of the Democrats stripped NASA of anyway to reach orbit or space? We must hire private enterprise to deliver materials to the space station and must use Russia to send people into space.

We have no space vehicle and no plans to make another. Ohh did I mention that Obama and the democrats cut NASA's budget to the bone?

Political hack says what?

The question I have to ask.
I wonder what the republicans have to offer towards restoring America's power in space? Will they refund nasa and get us back on course??? If not, then you're no better.

 

[ScienceRocks]

SpaceX Takes Second Shot at Falcon 9 Landing on Sunday
SpaceX Takes Second Shot at Falcon 9 Landing on Sunday News Opinion PCMag.com

• By Damon Poeter
• February 5, 2015 10:41pm EST

As part of the DSCVR weather satellite launch, SpaceX will try again to set down its rocket on a floating landing pad.

SpaceX on Sunday plans to make its second attempt at setting down a reusable Falcon 9 rocket on a floating landing platform as part of the launch of the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) mission from Cape Canaveral, Fla., NASA said.

The private space firm has been staging a series of Falcon 9 landing tests during recent launches for NASA and commercial satellite clients. Following several years of short-range tests with its Grasshopper reusable rocket, SpaceX began incorporating landing capabilities in its Falcon 9 first-stage booster for official missions, orchestrating controlled splashdowns in the Atlantic Ocean.

In early January, SpaceX attempted its first landing of a Falcon on a "drone spaceport ship," part of a cargo run ferrying about 5,000 pounds of supplies and scientific equipment to the International Space Station (ISS). The reusable rocket made it to its watery target but came down too hard during the landing and was destroyed.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Update on EMDrive work at NASA Eagleworks - "Experimental Thrust is at 50 micronewtons"

There is information from Paul March on the testing of the controversial EMDrive at NASA Eagleworks. Paul commented on the NASA spaceflight forum.

Experimental Thrust is at 50 micronewtons but need at least 100 micronewtons to go to Glenn Research Center (GRC) for a replication effort in the next few months

The NASA Eagleworks Lab is still working on the copper frustum thruster that was reported on last summer at the AIAA/JPC. They have now confirmed that there is a thrust signature in a hard vacuum (~5.0x10^-6 Torr) in both the forward direction, (approx. +50 micro-Newton (uN) with 50W at 1,937.115 MHz), and the reversed direction, (up to -16uN with a failing RF amp), when the thruster is rotated 180 degrees on the torque pendulum.

 

[sealybobo]

You are aware of course that Obama with support of the Democrats stripped NASA of anyway to reach orbit or space? We must hire private enterprise to deliver materials to the space station and must use Russia to send people into space.

We have no space vehicle and no plans to make another. Ohh did I mention that Obama and the democrats cut NASA's budget to the bone?

Political hack says what?

The question I have to ask.
I wonder what the republicans have to offer towards restoring America's power in space? Will they refund nasa and get us back on course??? If not, then you're no better.

They say Obama cut NASA funding but considering the recession we were going through and it isn't like republicans were willing to pay for it.

Kennedy got us to the moon. Can you imagine were we'd be if instead of the cold war with Russia we spent all that time and money on going green to make sure the planet doesn't become uninhabitable and space exploration for that inevitable day.

I hope we can mine mars and build a moon size spaceship so we aren't in any hurry to get to the nearest inhabitable planet because like earth it won't last forever either.

We need to become nomads in space. Stay on a planet as long as you want but eventually you gotta bounce.

 

[ScienceRocks]

SpaceX poised to launch resurrected space weather satellite
29 minutes ago

A $340 million sun-observing spacecraft that was initially dreamed up by former US vice president Al Gore is finally poised to launch Sunday after being kept in storage by NASA for years.

The unmanned Deep Space Climate Observatory is scheduled to blast off atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 6:10 pm (2310 GMT) from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

DSCOVR's goal is to help space weather forecasters by collecting data on solar wind and geomagnetic storms that can cause damage to electrical systems on Earth.

After the launch, SpaceX will make another attempt to guide the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket back to a controlled landing on an ocean platform, as part of the California-based company's goal of making rockets one day as reusable as airplanes.

Read more at: SpaceX poised to launch resurrected space weather satellite

 

[ScienceRocks]

Rosetta prepares for a close encounter with Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko
By Anthony Wood

Rosetta prepares for a close encounter with Comet 67P Churyumov Gerasimenko
February 7, 2015

ESA's Rosetta orbiter is preparing to make a daring 6 km (3.7 miles) pass of one of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko's most active regions – an area on the comet's larger lobe designated as Imhotep. As the comet moves closer to the Sun, mission controllers are expecting to see an exponential increase in volatile activity, and ESA hopes that the new orbits planned for the little probe will allow scientists to gain a better understanding of these effects

 

[ScienceRocks]

Box 1 Better Than Earth Scientific American

 

[ScienceRocks]

Breakthrough technologies could pave the way for cheaper, faster small-satellite launches

"We've made good progress so far toward ALASA's ambitious goal of propelling 100-pound satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO) within 24 hours of call-up, all for less than $1 million per launch," Tousley said. "We're moving ahead with rigorous testing of new technologies that we hope one day could enable revolutionary satellite launch systems that provide more affordable, routine and reliable access to space."

 

[sealybobo]

Breakthrough technologies could pave the way for cheaper, faster small-satellite launches

"We've made good progress so far toward ALASA's ambitious goal of propelling 100-pound satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO) within 24 hours of call-up, all for less than $1 million per launch," Tousley said. "We're moving ahead with rigorous testing of new technologies that we hope one day could enable revolutionary satellite launch systems that provide more affordable, routine and reliable access to space."

One very small step. Yawn. Lol

 

[ScienceRocks]

Some space news from china!


http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/ch..._133978153.htm

The orbiter conducted three times of tests between Friday and Saturday to modulate the speed, height and orbit in a simulative moon sampling mission, according to a statement of the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense on Sunday.

Such technologies will possibly be used in the country's next lunar probe mission, Chang'e-5.

=-------
http://www.spaceflight101.com/change...n-updates.html

The craft remains operational and entered its 14th hibernation period this week as the sun set at the landing site inside Mare Imbrium where Chang’e 3 landed on December 14, 2013, releasing the Yutu rover that was planned to operate for a three-month mission.

In a brief statement issued by the State Administration for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND) it was confirmed that the Chang’e 3 spacecraft entered its 14th lunar night on January 14. Updates on the mission’s progress and the status of the spacecraft were not available for most of 2014 and signals from Chang’e 3 that could be tracked by amateur observers on Earth were no longer to be found.

Last month, the Chang’e 3 lander celebrated its first anniversary on the lunar surface, surpassing its design life with both of its instruments still functioning well. The lander is equipped with a Lunar-based Ultraviolet Telescope and an Extreme UV Camera. The UV Telescope was designed to acquire imagery of galaxies, binary stars, active galactic nuclei and bright stars. A lunar-based telescope does not have to battle the effects of the atmosphere that are often the limiting factors for scientific observations of ground-based observatories.

----
http://gbtimes.com/china/chinas-luna...orbiting-earth

China has released a stunning new image from it's recent lunar mission, showing the Moon in different phases as it orbits around the Earth.

The multiple exposure picture was taken by the service module of the Chang'e 5-T1 mission, from a stable orbit at the second Langrangian Point (also known as L2), on the far side of the Earth in respect to the Sun.

The shot is just the latest in a series of astonishing images that have emerged from the mission, giving wonderful perspectives of the Moon as our nearest neighbour in space. In October, the spacecraft sent back a shot of the Earth and Moon together while slinging around the far side of our celestial partner.

 

[ScienceRocks]

28 Months on Mars

NASA’s Curiosity rover has explored Gale Crater for 833 Martian days, or Sols. And it has found evidence, written in red rocks and sand, of lakes and streams on a warmer, wetter, habitable Mars.

Watch!!!

My take on what a dense atmosphere and oceans on mars means for other extrasolar planets.
This adds support that a larger planet like earth or larger with the right atmosphere would be habitual. I expect the 5 or 6 earth/super earth planets within the habitual zone probably have atmospheres capable of supporting liquid water and most likely more.

 

[sealybobo]

28 Months on Mars

NASA’s Curiosity rover has explored Gale Crater for 833 Martian days, or Sols. And it has found evidence, written in red rocks and sand, of lakes and streams on a warmer, wetter, habitable Mars.

Watch!!!

My take on what a dense atmosphere and oceans on mars means for other extrasolar planets.
This adds support that a larger planet like earth or larger with the right atmosphere would be habitual. I expect the 5 or 6 earth/super earth planets within the habitual zone probably have atmospheres capable of supporting liquid water and most likely more.

I thought earth was one of the smaller planets and the big ones were the ones farther from the sun.

I remember hearing it might not be that way in every solar system but I bet its common.

Where are these 5 planets

 

[ScienceRocks]

Kepler 186f, Kepler 62e, kepler 438b, Gliese 667cc, Gliese 832c

List of potentially habitable exoplanets - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

Earth so far is one of the smallest planets, BUT it is likely not so for the simple reason that not even kepler can see smaller then earth planets unless it gets very lucky.

The current theories have the big gas giants forming beyond the snowline where all the gas is(far away from the strong solar winds!). As they orbit the star(as ice giants/piles of rock) their massive gravity of being 8-12 earth masses pulls in this gas = jupiters, saturns, Neptune, etc. I am thinking the hot jupiters moved inwards towards their stars!

 

[sealybobo]

Kepler 186f, Kepler 62e, kepler 438b, Gliese 667cc, Gliese 832c

List of potentially habitable exoplanets - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

Earth so far is one of the smallest planets, BUT it is likely not so for the simple reason that not even kepler can see smaller then earth planets unless it gets very lucky.

The current theories have the big gas giants forming beyond the snowline where all the gas is. As they orbit the store(as ice giants/piles of rock) their massive gravity of being 8-12 earth masses pulls in this gas = jupiters, saturns, Neptune, etc. I am thinking the hot jupiters moved inwards towards their stars!

So these giant planets might be livable for humans? I've been wondering why we haven't discovered and verified a planet with life on it yet. What do we need to do to confirm? Do we need to send a unmanned ship first? How long will it take? I heard 70,000 years. What's the plan?

So our telescopes can see possible inhabitable

 

[ScienceRocks]

Too see life we will need a "telescope" of either surface(HUGE!) or a spaced based one(smaller) that's capable of observing the light of one of those planets. And from this light we can tell what kind of elements make up the atmosphere. I think the smallest planet that has been done is a little bigger than Neptune(17 earth masses). There's a couple of such telescopes planned for the 2020s that hopefully will give us a idea of the atmospheres of some of these planets.

A planet that's as far away as these would take millions of years at speeds of 40 to 50 thousand miles per hour to get to them. I'd suggest using anti-matter. which could go 10% of the speed of light! Of course, I think Gliese 832c could be hundreds of thousands?

None of those 5 planets I posted above are above 8 earth masses...So they're super earth.

 

[sealybobo]

Too see life we will need a "telescope" of either surface(HUGE!) or a spaced based one(smaller) that's capable of observing the light of one of those planets. And from this light we can tell what kind of elements make up the atmosphere. I think the smallest planet that has been done is a little bigger than Neptune(17 earth masses). There's a couple of such telescopes planned for the 2020s that hopefully will give us a idea of the atmospheres of some of these planets.

A planet that's as far away as these would take millions of years at speeds of 40 to 50 thousand miles per hour to get to them. I'd suggest using anti-matter. which could go 10% of the speed of light! Of course, I think Gliese 832c could be hundreds of thousands?

None of those 5 planets I posted above are above 8 earth masses...So they're super earth.

What does it means 8 earth masses? 8 times as big? That's fine as long as we can breathe.

Anti matter? What's that? Nuclear power? Do we know it will work? I think Sagan was talking about this in the cosmos. Wed get their in 40 years but several hundreds of years would have passed on earth. I'll look up anti matter but what would that do?

 

[sealybobo]

If you can explain how anti matter would work.

Remember in the cosmos they were showing the proton circling the atom and every so often it would disappear and then reappear? What's all that about? Where does it go?

Remember neutrenos? They even fly through the earth? Wtf?

 

[ScienceRocks]

Too see life we will need a "telescope" of either surface(HUGE!) or a spaced based one(smaller) that's capable of observing the light of one of those planets. And from this light we can tell what kind of elements make up the atmosphere. I think the smallest planet that has been done is a little bigger than Neptune(17 earth masses). There's a couple of such telescopes planned for the 2020s that hopefully will give us a idea of the atmospheres of some of these planets.

A planet that's as far away as these would take millions of years at speeds of 40 to 50 thousand miles per hour to get to them. I'd suggest using anti-matter. which could go 10% of the speed of light! Of course, I think Gliese 832c could be hundreds of thousands?

None of those 5 planets I posted above are above 8 earth masses...So they're super earth.

What does it means 8 earth masses? 8 times as big? That's fine as long as we can breathe.

Anti matter? What's that? Nuclear power? Do we know it will work? I think Sagan was talking about this in the cosmos. Wed get their in 40 years but several hundreds of years would have passed on earth. I'll look up anti matter but what would that do?

Earth mass Earth mass - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia or 1 M⊕ = 5.97219 × 10^24 kg...Pretty much it's how heavy it is! Mass = Volume × Density...This means what's it's volume and what's its made out of = mass..If it is made out of ice(low density), but has a large volume = much less, than a world that's made out of iron and the same volume..Just Imagine that these worlds all have masses less than 8 times times ours and 2 times our radius!

On the otherhand, Kepler 438b and 186f are near our size!

442b

You maybe able to breath on a planet like Kepler 438b, Kepler 442b or Kepler 186f if it has the right elements within it for you to breath. Oxygen of around 20-25%, etc. Even then it might not be breathable as other gases that are very bad for us might be in high percentages.

Gravity of the larger ones may make it very hard to breath! Of course, I am talking about planets with higher gravity created by the 4-8 times mass planets...You will weight more as mg=w!

Anti-matter is the opposite of matter! Antimatter - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia