Cancer Posted April 8, 2014 Report Share Posted April 8, 2014 Mars in opposition April 8 What are the astrological ramifications? Cancer? You're an astrologer right? It's bright and red. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted April 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2014 "Diamond ring" in space Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted April 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2014 Testing parachutes for Mars landings Video included in article. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueCloud2k2 Posted April 14, 2014 Report Share Posted April 14, 2014 I do hope they are taking into consideration that Martian atmosphere is thinner than ours... I wouldn't put it past NASA to overlook this fact. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted April 14, 2014 Report Share Posted April 14, 2014 Come on, they've done this before -- successfully, even. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted April 14, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2014 http://www.engadget.com/2014/04/13/nasa-requests-battery-alternatives/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueCloud2k2 Posted April 14, 2014 Report Share Posted April 14, 2014 My problem with NASA is it seems like every time they want to launch a robot to Mars or whatever it is they are doing, they just have to re-invent the danged wheel. They could save so much money if they could just use 'Off of the Shelf' components and adapt existing tech to their needs. Rather than spend $500 on a top of the line digital camera and adapt it to meet their needs they have to waste more money trying to develop a brand-new camera that's really not any better than what you can buy at a Big Box Store. They also have run into the problem of having to do a 5 year study to determine what they need to do a 10 year study on. I respect everything NASA has accomplished and what they basically stand for. I just wish they'd fire the bureaucrats and hire some competent managers who will let the scientists actually do science. Maybe NASA should go private sector and join the beltway bandits? Hrm... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted April 14, 2014 Report Share Posted April 14, 2014 Scientific cameras are things you can't buy in a store, especially if you want greatest sensitivity, specific wavelength coverage, and so on. Even lab cameras for physics labs (which are available for order) don't have the performance or robustness of the space cameras. It often happens that they (anyone making a custom scientific camera, not just NASA) purchase special foundry runs to make the chips that will be the camera detectors. Also, anything going to space has to be "radiation-hardened", that is, built to withstand the high radiation environment, which consumer electronics most definitely aren't. (Yes, the cameras and other hardware suffer performance degradation over time that isn't just catastrophic failure.) For a while, for infrared cameras, the detectors were things that were "donated" to the project from DoD contractors, because the cutting-edge IR detector technology was classified and the astronomers had a battery of tests and expertise for evaluating the cameras that the Defense guys didn't have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted April 14, 2014 Report Share Posted April 14, 2014 Ancient Mars probably too cold for liquid water That may be behind a subscriber wall, unfortunately. The gist is that while intermittent and perhaps local episodes of liquid surface water on Mars may have happened in the remote past, a lengthy era of liquid water oceans is all but ruled out, even at early times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted April 14, 2014 Report Share Posted April 14, 2014 I do hope they are taking into consideration that Martian atmosphere is thinner than ours... I wouldn't put it past NASA to overlook this fact. On the contrary, NASA is well aware that the Martian atmosphere is "too thick for an unshielded entry but too thin to slow anything down". That's why Curiosity had that insanely complicated entry/landing sequence that involved heatshields, rockets, winches, and parachutes that (in my opinion) was almost guaranteed to fail. The whole point of this particular exercise is that if we want to send anything heavier than Curiosity, even its ludicrous landing system won't work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted April 15, 2014 Report Share Posted April 15, 2014 Riding retrorockets all the way down would work, but it'd also chew up the landing area, and if you suspect that water ice makes a significant component of the ground, then blasting it with rocket exhaust for a minute or three while landing may not be the best idea. Besides, rocket power consumes fuel and payload mass, and the latter is in critically short supply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueCloud2k2 Posted April 15, 2014 Report Share Posted April 15, 2014 Sounds like our physicists need to get to work developing counter-grav. Maybe they need motivation? Do you think a bull-whip or a stripper with whip-cream would be the best means? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted April 15, 2014 Report Share Posted April 15, 2014 Why not both? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted April 15, 2014 Report Share Posted April 15, 2014 A stripper with a bull-whip-cream? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted April 16, 2014 Report Share Posted April 16, 2014 Rule 34, man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueCloud2k2 Posted April 16, 2014 Report Share Posted April 16, 2014 Is nothing sacred? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted April 16, 2014 Report Share Posted April 16, 2014 Is that a rhetorical question? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted April 16, 2014 Report Share Posted April 16, 2014 Okay okay, back on topic: Possible birth on new Saturn moon. tkdguy and LordGhee 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordGhee Posted April 16, 2014 Report Share Posted April 16, 2014 L. Marcus beat me by 14 min. Who would have thought that the disk theory of planet formation could be proved by our own Solar system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueCloud2k2 Posted April 16, 2014 Report Share Posted April 16, 2014 It does seem a little incredulous that some planets have rings while others have moons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted April 16, 2014 Report Share Posted April 16, 2014 It's the Roche Limit, baby! Cancer 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmjalund Posted April 17, 2014 Report Share Posted April 17, 2014 If you liked it you should've put a ring on it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spence Posted April 17, 2014 Report Share Posted April 17, 2014 Okay okay, back on topic: Possible birth on new Saturn moon. L. Marcus beat me by 14 min. Who would have thought that the disk theory of planet formation could be proved by our own Solar system. You have it all wrong. It isn't a moon, it is an alien dreadnought sucking up fuel mass after arriving in system to prepare for the final stage of the invasion. Sheesh, do I have to think of everything? tkdguy, L. Marcus and BlueCloud2k2 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted April 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2014 Another exoplanet found Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted April 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2014 Blind luck asteroids haven't hit a major city yet SpaceX claims a milestone L. Marcus 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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