L. Marcus Posted January 20, 2016 Report Share Posted January 20, 2016 Come on, get started already! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted January 20, 2016 Report Share Posted January 20, 2016 A good rant takes time and emotional energy that I can't spare at the moment. Back in the day I could go into a Hitlerian frothing rage about this. Still could if I worked at it, but I am real busy right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted January 20, 2016 Report Share Posted January 20, 2016 How about just the bullet points, then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted January 20, 2016 Report Share Posted January 20, 2016 HST primary mirror was ground to the wrong shape due to a rookie mistake by a tech who'd never figured a telescope for space before. Why was a rookie tech used for this project? Because, by definition because it was an international project not under formal alliance, it was an unclassified project. All the experienced techs (and dozens of orbiting telescopes had been made before, a good number of them larger than the 92-inch Hubble, but all of those are pointed down) were with defense contractors, with terms in the contract explicitly forbidding those people working on unclassified projects. Neither the military nor the contractors would agree to relax those contractual clauses for the one unique project, because money. So the root cause of the botched mirror is nothing but defense contractor corporate greed. So NASA got blamed for the ~$1B cost overrun caused by that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted January 20, 2016 Report Share Posted January 20, 2016 Therefore, we need more civilian space telescopes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted January 21, 2016 Report Share Posted January 21, 2016 In space. The hard part these days is getting them to space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted January 21, 2016 Report Share Posted January 21, 2016 Just a few more years and you've got a heavy lifter worthy of the name! Then it shall be spaceborne optical interferometers galore! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted January 21, 2016 Report Share Posted January 21, 2016 ... once those are developed. SIM was zeroed out back in the Bush the Lesser administration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted January 21, 2016 Report Share Posted January 21, 2016 Really? Poo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted January 21, 2016 Report Share Posted January 21, 2016 I thought I had made a post about it back when that happened, but I haven't been able to find it again. Not a surprise, really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted January 21, 2016 Report Share Posted January 21, 2016 Perhaps it was deleted for excessive use of expletives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted January 21, 2016 Report Share Posted January 21, 2016 It wasn't that long after I joined up here, so I was trying to be good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted January 21, 2016 Report Share Posted January 21, 2016 Have you ever been un-good? Behavior in carrying out your professorial duties don't count. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted January 21, 2016 Report Share Posted January 21, 2016 Ummm ... yes. You will forgive me for neglecting to describe specifics. In some cases the statute of limitations has yet to expire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted January 21, 2016 Report Share Posted January 21, 2016 Good to know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted January 22, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted January 22, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 Supernova Is 570 Billion Times Brighter Than the Sun, Pushes Limits of Known Physics http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/next/space/superluminous-supernova-is-570-billion-times-brighter-than-the-sun-pushes-limits-of-known-physics/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted January 22, 2016 Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 Oh, that's where I left my secret weapon! Pariah 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted January 22, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 Oh, that's where I left my secret weapon! Updated with link as taken this long to post it. tkdguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted January 22, 2016 Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 Hopefully I'll have time to get to the tech papers on this ... after the 1st of the month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted January 22, 2016 Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 Big star went VLAMMO! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted January 22, 2016 Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 Glad it didn't happen in our neighborhood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted January 22, 2016 Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 Or our neck of the woods, even. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted January 24, 2016 Report Share Posted January 24, 2016 We seem to be overdue for such a thing, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted January 24, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2016 Who forgot to pay the supernova credit card? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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