Robots are cool and all, but have you tried shooting squishy humans into space so that they can use their eyeballs to appreciate the features on the surface of the Moon with more nuance??
space
Fascinating #documentary on the #Challenger space shuttle #disaster. Apparently #NASA withheld quite a bit of #information from the #public for decades.
While it was true the rubber O rings failed due to subfreezing temperatures, NASA ignored engineers warnings and proceeded with the launch. What isn't true is the #astronauts vaporizing due to the #explosion. Withheld #evidence showed not only were they aware, they activated #emergency air tanks and were passengers trapped in a cabin on a #terrifying high speed freefall which slammed into the ocean.
'The most incredible display of aurora I've ever seen in my 20 years of flying'.
Pilot captures historic northern lights show from 37,000 feet (photos)
#news #science #space #astronomy #aurora #photography
Mars at the Moons Edge
Credits: Sergio Scauso
#nature #space #astrophotography
Enter the Dragon 🐉🥋
Here it is – my new JWST image of the young protostellar outflow system in Cassiopeia called HH288, aka The Dragon Jet.
We discovered it in the 1990s & the NASA/ESA/CSA JWST reveals stunning new detail, including several new jets crossing the main dragon 🙂👍
This is a 4K version – you can view & download the full 12K image here: https://www.flickr.com/gp/markmccaughrean/944q5814f8
For more coverage, see this by @DrCarpineti at: https://www.iflscience.com/dragon-jet-erupts-from-baby-stars-in-stunning-new-jwst-image-82374
Edited 231d ago
I'm flat-out amazed that we can monitor the currents of molten metal in Earth's outer core, 2200 kilometers underground--but we can. Lately, part of that flow has reversed direction, for reasons unknown.
There's a whole other dynamic world inside the world we see.
https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/FutureEO/Swarm/Insights_into_Earth_s_molten_outer_core_from_space #space #science #tech
"For two decades, spacefaring nations have operated under a simple rule: any satellite sent into orbit must have a less than one in 10,000 chance of injuring someone on the ground. The rule was written when a few dozen objects reentered the atmosphere each year. By early 2026, with more than 9,000 #Starlink satellites in orbit and filings for constellations totaling over 70,000 spacecraft, that arithmetic no longer holds."
https://indiandefencereview.com/starlink-satellites-falling-nonstop-to-earth-risk/
Yes, you may be killed by falling human made space junk, but the odds remain small(ish) that will occur. The (almost inevitable) #KesslerSyndrome may also prevent future #space flights if all those #satellites in Low Earth Orbit start colliding, creating countless debris.
However, we *ALL* have to worry about the ‘chemical problem’ being created by SpaceX et al in the upper atmosphere. I have been banging on about this for a while and the attached article summarises the science in an easy to understand way - I have pasted the bit about the ‘chemical problem’ below because we *ALL* need to understand what the billionaires are doing to the planet while we are watching.
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Quote:
Debris on the ground attracts immediate attention, but atmospheric scientists are tracking a slower process with potentially larger consequences. When satellites vaporize in the mesosphere, 50 to 80 kilometers above Earth, they release clouds of vaporized metals that condense into aerosol particles. Those particles descend into the stratosphere, where Earth’s protective ozone layer resides.
Aluminum is the element of greatest concern. Upon reentry, aluminum oxidizes into aluminum oxide nanoparticles. A single 250 kilogram satellite generates roughly 30 kilograms of these particles. Unlike chlorofluorocarbons, which directly destroy ozone, aluminum oxide acts as a catalyst. One particle can facilitate chemical reactions that destroy thousands of ozone molecules over decades without being consumed.
Researchers from the University of Southern California’s Department of Astronautical Engineering documented an eightfold increase in atmospheric aluminum oxides between 2016 and 2022, directly correlating with the proliferation of satellite constellations, a finding reported in detail by CNET. In 2022 alone, reentering satellites released an estimated 41.7 metric tons of aluminum, approximately 30 percent more than the natural input from micrometeoroids.
Projections based on current deployment schedules suggest annual aluminum oxide emissions could reach 360 metric tons, a 646 percent increase over natural background levels, according to research highlighted by Popular Mechanics. Because these particles take 20 to 30 years to descend into the ozone layer, the atmospheric chemistry of today’s satellite fleet will not manifest as measurable ozone loss until the 2040s. By then, the upper atmosphere could already be saturated with catalysts.
NASA high altitude sampling flights over Alaska in 2023 detected the signature of this process. At approximately 60,000 feet, instruments found that 10 percent of stratospheric sulfuric acid particles larger than 120 nanometers contained aluminum and other metals traceable to spacecraft reentries, according to data presented at the American Astronomical Society meeting that year. The atmosphere now bears a permanent chemical marker of human activity in space.
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#space #science #TheBillionairesAreKillingUsAll
https://indiandefencereview.com/starlink-satellites-falling-nonstop-to-earth-risk/
JWST NIRCam and MIRI image of Arp 142, also known as NGC 2936, NGC 2937, and UGC 5130, or the Penguin and the Egg.
The Penguin is a spiral galaxy whose shape has been distorted by the gravity of the elliptical Egg galaxy. The two are about 100,000 light-years apart and completed a close pass between 25 and 75 million years ago.
Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
Source: https://webbtelescope.org/contents/media/images/2024/124/01J06XYGEDEE86D1H9N5EJ9EG0
Happy Sunday, y'all.
My new YT video is up! This week's topic is ads in space, which is wild, but is becoming a possibility and may one day be a thing. Luckily for us, there's some resistance.
If you enjoy the video, let me know what you think and please take a second to hit the like button. Thank you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fz9NSNL2NG4
#Space #Ads #Capitalism #Astronomy #Science #YouTube #Video #SocialMedia
Name: Kepler-904 b
A potentially rocky world, larger than Earth.
Distance from Earth: 3,190 light-years
Year discovered: 2016
Discovered by: Kepler
Planet radius: 1.77 x Earth
Orbital period: 3.02 day(s)
JWST image of Arp 16, also known as M66.
This image was taken as part of the PHANGS program. They take high-resolution observations of galaxies at many different wavelengths of light to learn how the small-scale details of how stars form influence the large-scale structures of galaxies.
Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, J. Lee (STScI), T. Williams (Oxford), PHANGS Team
Source: https://webbtelescope.org/contents/media/images/2024/105/01HMA6P3V363GW0EA0347CR6HV
Earlier today, the discarded upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket impacted on the Moon. As part of a coordinated observing campaign, our Very Large Telescope detected spectral lines of sodium and lithium gas in the impact plume lasting for 5-10 minutes after impact.
📷 ESO/C. Schmidt et al.
1/4
The FAA once said that pieces of space debris “pose a significant risk,” but the Trump administration has backed off a rule that would have required companies like Elon Musk’s SpaceX to remove rocket parts from orbit within 25 years of launch.
https://www.propublica.org/article/faa-trump-space-junk-safety-spacex-rockets?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
#News #ElonMusk #SpaceX #Aviation #Space #Rockets #Safety #Trump
What is Webb observing?
https://spacetelescopelive.org/webb?obsId=01KKAYRHH5YPGGPH1EB2SR6DXD
Possible Link Between Earthquakes and Solar Activity? Here's What We Know. Via @whatdamath #Space #Astrophysics #OrbitalMechanics #Astronomy 🚀 🌌 ☄️ 🛰️ #Geology #RocksForJocks #EarthScience #seismology
Possible Link Between Earthqua...
Curiosity: 4844th day of the mission
Image captured 6 hours ago.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
#Mars #Curiosity #rover #Sol4844 #CuriosityRover #space #science
📡 #SETI accounts to follow:
@setiinstitute - Non-profit research org founded in 1984, looking for life elsewhere in the universe
@setihub - Interdisciplinary SETI research network at Univ of St Andrews, Scotland. Interested in how humans can prepare for discovery of extraterrestrial life
@stephenxwebb - Physicist & writer, author of "Where is everybody?", member of UK SETI research network
@planetarypan - Planetary scientist, science communicator, comms specialist for SETI institute
Edited 50d ago
Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman took this picture of Earth from the Orion spacecraft after completing the translunar injection burn. There are two auroras (top right & bottom left) and zodiacal light (bottom right) is visible as the Earth eclipses the Sun.
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/hello-world/
#Earth #Artemis #Artemis2 #Orion #Integrity #OrionIntegrity #spacecraft #NASA #Moon #space #aurora
New point of view, looking toward the Moon
Live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3kR2KK8TEs
#Artemis #Artemis2 #Orion #Integrity #OrionIntegrity #spacecraft #NASA #Moon #space #news
Home, Seen from Orion.
NASA astronaut and Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman peers out of one of the Orion spacecraft's main cabin windows, looking back at Earth, as the crew travels towards the Moon.
#ReidWiseman #Earth #Artemis #astronaut #Artemis2 #Orion #Integrity #OrionIntegrity #spacecraft #NASA #space #photography
Scientists Answer Vital Question: What Happens If You Throw A #PaperAirplane In #Space?
Using a numerical model and an honest-to-goodness wind tunnel, the pair explored what would happen if an A4 "origami space plane" were yeeted out the window of ISS 250mi above Earth. How long would it take the orbit to decay? Would it immediately tip straight down? Would it burn up on atmospheric re-entry, or crash down on Earth with tremendous impact?
https://www.jalopnik.com/2203058/what-happens-if-you-throw-paper-airplane-in-space/
‘"Project Hail Mary" demonstrates how intellectual humility can be a guiding force for scientists and astronauts.
From @TheConversationUS: An anthropologist explores the hit film.
Bonus #TrekJokes
Q: How many #Klingons does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None. Klingons do not fear the dark.
Q: How many #Ferengi does it take to change a light bulb?
A: It depends how much Latinum you are willing to pay.
Q: How many #Starfleet officers does it take to change a light bulb?
A: It depends if it would violate the Prime Directive.
Q: How many #Cardassians does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None. They just try to convince you that there are five lights.
(It's #HootinTootinTuesday again! Post some jokes or funny memes under this hashtag today, and bring lots of smiles to #Mastodon.)
#Humor #Humour #FunnyMeme #Space #Jokestodon #Artemis #MoonMission #SpaceMission #NASA #Astronauts #ArtemisII #Artemis2 #StarTrekTNG #StarTrek #StarTrekTheNextGeneration #DadJokes #LightBulbJokes
