News from SPAAAAACE!

[lithy]

So SpaceX lost a rocket, so the third booster landing attempt was obviously a failure.

New Horizons is on its final approach and taking some pretty cool shots of Pluto and Charon.

 

[Tripredacus]

I just found out about the Dawn probe we sent to Ceres and its found some weird stuff.
https://www.nasa.gov/jpl/dawn/ceres-bright-spots-seen-closer-than-ever

 

[StevenK]

Thought this was worth a bump considering the recent announcements from NASA regarding probable water on Mars. One quote I read that stuck in my mind was that on Earth, absolutely everywhere we have found water we have found life.

This is a good, easy read from today:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-34412468

The last few paragraphs really get you thinking of the possibilities, and just how close we are to some huge discoveries that could completely change how we look at the universe and our place in it:

Next year, the European and Russian space agencies will launch an orbiting spacecraft that will try to confirm the presence of methane.

If life does exist on Mars, it is most likely to be below the surface. That is why two years later the Russians and Europeans will send the Exomars rover to to drill two metres into the planet. Just as the Viking lander did nearly 40 years ago, the Exomars rover will take a soil sample and test it for signs of life.

Dr Matthew Balme of the Open University believes that this will be one of the most important experiments carried out in human history.

"If we find life on Mars and it can be shown to be of a different origin to that on Earth, then that essentially means that the Universe is teeming with life. It seems almost impossible that life could spring up by chance on two adjacent planets if life was rare."

 

[lithy]

This was awesome. It literally looks like a reversed video of a rocket liftoff.

 

[lithy]

So there was some strange news about a Japanese probe that was supposed to do X-Ray examination of black holes. Contact was lost and then briefly restored and they don't really know where it is right now. Seems as if something may have broken it into pieces.

SpaceX finally succeeded in landing their first rocket stage back on their floating barge, which was awesome to watch.

 

[StevenK]

So there was some strange news about a Japanese probe that was supposed to do X-Ray examination of black holes. Contact was lost and then briefly restored and they don't really know where it is right now. Seems as if something may have broken it into pieces.

SpaceX finally succeeded in landing their first rocket stage back on their floating barge, which was awesome to watch.

Holy shit that was cool as fuck. I wonder what the size of it is, it looks small on there but I think I read it had taken a decent sized payload to ISS and back so it can't be all that insignificant.

 

[lithy]

Holy shit that was cool as fuck. I wonder what the size of it is, it looks small on there but I think I read it had taken a decent sized payload to ISS and back so it can't be all that insignificant.

First stage is just over 40 meters tall. It is under 4 meters in diameter, so pretty skinny.

The drone ship Of Course I Still Love You is supposedly a 90x50 meter landing pad.

 

[StevenK]

First stage is just over 40 meters tall. It is under 4 meters in diameter, so pretty skinny.

The drone ship Of Course I Still Love You is supposedly a 90x50 meter landing pad.

My first thoughts are it looks like a hell of a job to get something that tall and skinny to land and stay upright like that. Why not just land it back on a soft platform where it doesn't matter if it falls over, or whatever direction it lands in fact? That has to be easier and cheaper technology to work with.

 

[Heinz]

I saw this video when I woke up, it has literally made my day.

 

[lithy]

My first thoughts are it looks like a hell of a job to get something that tall and skinny to land and stay upright like that. Why not just land it back on a soft platform where it doesn't matter if it falls over, or whatever direction it lands in fact? That has to be easier and cheaper technology to work with.

Since the upper part of the first stage is mostly empty fuel tanks after the launch and most of the bottom is the heavy rocket motors, the center of gravity is supposedly pretty low, they've claimed that they can get the rocket back to shore on that barge just like that, but for extra security they weld something over the feet to hold it down to the deck.

 

[hyper]

the Dragon spacecraft carries a 7,300 lbs. payload

some alt views & additional footage

https://youtu.be/_ZXu_rYF51M?t=8m38s

 

[Bill Kilgore]

For some reason i keep thinking this is about the Pornhub space program .
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/pornhub-space-program-sexploration#/

 

[hyper]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillary_Montes

 

[lithy]

Cool, don't think I had seen that photo, I remember checking out a lot of the fly-by photos, but then forgot that they were going to continue to release stuff long afterward.

Pale Blue Dot (Earth from the edge of the solar system)

Hubble Ultra-Deep Field (long exposure of a 'dark' part of the sky)

 

[Heinz]

Incredible photo of the surface there, I truly wonder what it would be like walking upon that surface.

 

[FilthyRear]

Pale Blue Dot (Earth from the edge of the solar system)

Pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of things.

 

[StevenK]

Cool, don't think I had seen that photo, I remember checking out a lot of the fly-by photos, but then forgot that they were going to continue to release stuff long afterward.

Pale Blue Dot (Earth from the edge of the solar system)

Hubble Ultra-Deep Field (long exposure of a 'dark' part of the sky)

First picture you think wow, it's just us in the middle of nothing forever.

Second picture flips that right on it's head, there's stuff everywhere! The sheer scale of it is so unimaginable if I think about it I almost start to feel claustrophobic stuck on this tiny chunk of rock.

 

[Ren-chan]

The long exposure photo is really amazing.

 

[hyper]

Martian sunset

surface daylight

 

[lithy]

So India launched a small scale demonstrator of a reusable space shuttle.

http://gizmodo.com/the-images-from-indias-first-ever-space-shuttle-launch-1778176802

 

[Karou]

butthole pics



sucking and spitting.

so I'm a little immature?

maybe purple isn't a 'good' color? uhoh and I thought my amethysts I've found were...

 

[hyper]

 

[GutsDozer]

Badass.

 

[Jeneki]

Since we are seeing the civilian-model gravity waves now, that means the military has been using them to repel alien space fleets for decades now.

 

[Spike Spiegel]

Any word on Jupiter's data being collected? I was hoping to hear something cool by now from Juno.