Astronomy and space exploration

[Davros]

he Pentagon brass are expected to say that it has been a struggle to unearth witness accounts from government workers concerned about job security.

So people who work for the government are worried the government may fire them for obeying the government

 

[BRiT]

So people who work for the government are worried the government may fire them for obeying the government

Well there's the government and The Government and then The Government. If you didn't know that, then you're not part of the later two.

 

[hoom]

Rocket lab finally launched their moonshot after a few delays

This is a satellite that will give near continuous comms with the lunar south pole, I think there is still supposed to be a south pole lander that will communicate with this.
Both being proof of concept for I think the manned landings.

 

[hoom]

First JWST picture

And Hubble one of ~same area

 

[Mariner]

With all that lens flare, is JJ Abrams involved in the project?

 

[Mariner]

Here's a short video with a better representation of the differences in the image quality:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1546675001755111424

The zoom out a bit later on is the 'wow' moment.

 

[nutball]

With all that lens flare, is JJ Abrams involved in the project?

Diffraction spikes

Notice that the spikes in JWST images have a 6-way symmetry. I think that's due to the hexagonal shape of the mirror segments. In HST and most ground-based images the diffraction spikes have 4-way symmetry.

 

[Laurent06]

JWST delivers! Fascinating.

Two Weeks In, the Webb Space Telescope Is Reshaping Astronomy | Quanta Magazine

In the days after the mega-telescope started delivering data, astronomers reported new discoveries about galaxies, stars, exoplanets and even Jupiter.

www.quantamagazine.org

 

[pharma]

NASA Ditches Rover for Mars Sample Return, Adds Two Helicopters - ExtremeTech

The agency has just completed a major review of the Mars Sample Return Program, and there are some significant changes. NASA is canceling the Sample Fetch Rover, and it's adding a pair of helicopters based on Ingenuity's design.

www.extremetech.com

NASA initially expected that aircraft, the first ever to fly on another planet, would only last a few months before its off-the-shelf hardware failed. And yet, it has flown 29 times and survived a year beyond the original estimate. The new helicopters will act as a secondary method of retrieving samples from the surface.

 

[pharma]

Nasa's Dart spacecraft 'changed path of asteroid'

Smashing a probe into threatening space rocks is a strategy to defend Earth, an experiment confirms.

www.bbc.com

 

[pharma]

NASA's Stunning Time-Lapse Video Of The Sun Packs 133 Scorching Days Into An Hour

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) captured a time-lapse video that shows 133 days in the life of the Sun in just one hour.

hothardware.com

 

[pharma]

En panne ou endormi sur Mars, le rover chinois Zhurong ne répond plus

Mis en hibernation en mai dernier pour passer l'hiver martien, il semble que le premier rover chinois sur la planète rouge ne se soit pas réveillé. Les équipes attendaient de ses nouvelles en décembre… L'orbiteur quant à lui semble également avoir quelques récents problèmes pour communiquer avec...

www.clubic.com

Put into hibernation last May to spend the Martian winter, it seems that the first Chinese rover on the red planet has not woken up. The teams were waiting to hear from him in December... The orbiter also seems to have some recent problems communicating with the control center.

 

[Davros]

Time for a cup of Tea

 

[Mariner]

Unsurprisingly, the launch failed to work properly, as with everything else in this country at present...

 

[nutball]

Wheeee!!!

Well that was fun. You could tell from the footage though that it was doomed from the start. Too much launch pad in places it's not supposed to be.

 

[Albuquerque]

Unsurprisingly, the launch failed to work properly, as with everything else in this country at present...

I'm not sure that's the right way to think about it. Per SpaceX themselves, they were happy just to see it clear the tower. The expectations of this launch were fairly low, as this is a whole new rocket design and was never fully expected to make it into space. Best way to learn is to keep trying, and exploding a fistful of rockets is entirely part of the plan.

Also, SKY DONUTS for the win!

 

[cheapchips]

Also, SKY DONUTS for the win!

The wild thing is, sky donuts is the stage separation method. The booster lobs the ship off the top. It just didn't work in this instance.

The flight computer then decided donuts are cool and carried on doing them for the rest of it's short life.

 

[orangpelupa]

the computer or the mission control? the one that decided to keep doing donuts

 

[cheapchips]

Flight computer. The ship was still attached after it should have bugger off, so the flight computer was "I'll keep trying". Mission control don't do anything except monitor the mission once the rocket launches. The flight termination system that eventually triggered is automated based on set conditions, eg the rocket is leaving the agree flight path window. There's not a big red detonation button in mission control these days.

 

[hoom]

I always assumed they'd have an 'anomaly' that blows up their launchpad so they can safely cancel it & claim the development $$$ spent as a tax write off or something.
So actually making it off the ground & past Max Q was relatively impressive.

It was a pretty dodgy launch as far as it got though.