The Astronomy Thread

  • Guest, it's time once again for the hotly contested and exciting FoH Asshat Tournament!



    Go here and fill out your bracket!
    Who's been the biggest Asshat in the last year? Once again, only you can decide!

Lambourne

Ahn'Qiraj Raider
2,688
6,487
He doesn't need approval, no one owns Mars so no state has jurisdiction over it. This was arranged in the Outer Space Treaty back in the 60s. How long this will last is anyone's guess though, probably until they find oil on Mars...
 
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user

Kiroy

Marine Biologist
<Bronze Donator>
34,560
99,745
He doesn't need approval, no one owns Mars so no state has jurisdiction over it. This was arranged in the Outer Space Treaty back in the 60s. How long this will last is anyone's guess though, probably until they find oil on Mars...

Umm sorry my grandma bought me one square inch of mars for $200 when I was 13. I have the certificate and a picture of mars to prove it. Musk lands on my shit i'll sue his ass into oblivion.
 
  • 1Trump
  • 1Worf
Reactions: 1 users

meStevo

I think your wife's a bigfoot gus.
<Silver Donator>
6,351
4,634
BFR was never defined ;)

A lot of nice stuff in his presentation, would be nice if it happened. He wants 2 BFRs to have landed cargo on Mars by 2022, 4 rovers, 2 nammed by 2024.


DK4BZU9VwAAjmwO.jpg


DK4BclHVAAANo0O.jpg



DK3oOVVVAAA45gQ.jpg





Apparently Lockheed Martin has some Mars plans of their own. By comparison they look... antiquated.

DK3KxrrVAAAusSv.jpg


The possibility of using the BFR to launch it though could change everything, because it can put payloads nearly 9m in diameter in orbit.

They're going to continue cranking out Falcons 9s, with 13 of 20 launches this year, and 30 planned so far for next year. At the current rate they'll account for half of the launches in the world next year.
 
  • 2Like
Reactions: 1 users

meStevo

I think your wife's a bigfoot gus.
<Silver Donator>
6,351
4,634
Can only have 5 images in a post, so here's a couple more for people who don't feel like watching the video.

DK3e-P9UEAEECnC.jpg


DK3fhlVVwAEqDom.jpg


DK3fwUhUIAAoYil.jpg
 
  • 2Like
Reactions: 1 users

Aaron

Goonsquad Officer
<Bronze Donator>
8,027
17,681
I sometimes think Elon Musk must be absolutely batshit insane... but even so I still respect him. His visions might be in the realm of the pipe dreams we were sold by NASA and others back in the late 60's/early 70's... but damn it, it's the future I desperately desire to see, so I hope he makes it and doesn't crash and burn... :/
 
  • 4Like
  • 1Worf
  • 1Solidarity
Reactions: 5 users

Pops

Avatar of War Slayer
8,136
21,317
Umm sorry my grandma bought me one square inch of mars for $200 when I was 13. I have the certificate and a picture of mars to prove it. Musk lands on my shit i'll sue his ass into oblivion.

StarNet-CertificateS01D05.jpg


Yeah, well my Mom got me a star. Have you been viewing it without my permission?
 
  • 2Worf
Reactions: 1 users

Cybsled

Avatar of War Slayer
16,293
11,935
That Mars outpost concept art looks cool, but all on the surface? Hasn't the general wisdom been that for sustained residence, you would need something underground to protect against radiation?
 
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user

Palum

what Suineg set it to
23,145
32,710
He doesn't need approval, no one owns Mars so no state has jurisdiction over it. This was arranged in the Outer Space Treaty back in the 60s. How long this will last is anyone's guess though, probably until they find oil on Mars...

Woooosh
 
  • 1Solidarity
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 users

Tholan

Blackwing Lair Raider
759
1,433
That Mars outpost concept art looks cool, but all on the surface? Hasn't the general wisdom been that for sustained residence, you would need something underground to protect against radiation?

Working in tunnels, I can tell you that the amount of energy / material needed to start excavating shit is too high for an outpost. You'd need heavy machinery with strong steel to dig anything serious. So the first few settlement will most likely be made out of alu and fabric, and direct on the surface. But you're probably right - To avoid radiation, strong weather and get closer to the hot core of Mars (which could be a good source of energy also? ), you would have to dig a bit.
 
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user

Cybsled

Avatar of War Slayer
16,293
11,935
It may take some time to locate, but Mars has lava tubes. If they could locate that + a supply of permafrost/water ice, it would make for a good spot.
 
  • 2Like
Reactions: 1 users

Arative

Vyemm Raider
2,980
4,579
It may take some time to locate, but Mars has lava tubes. If they could locate that + a supply of permafrost/water ice, it would make for a good spot.

Isn't that what that natgeo show Mars had the colonists do? Set up in a cave with some ice for a water supply?
 
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user

Big Phoenix

Pronouns: zie/zhem/zer
<Gold Donor>
44,359
92,484
Mars is full of caves, could just build in one of them. Also couldnt they just coat everything in concrete? Mars has enormous amounts of water, readily available as pure ice in glaciers.

Also, very blury Orion/M42 Nebula;

LIYkynv.jpg
 
Last edited:
  • 4Like
Reactions: 3 users

Cybsled

Avatar of War Slayer
16,293
11,935
Ya, they did that on the Natgeo show. They sort of build an "above ground base" inside that lava tube pit, but other ideas would also include basically inflatable bases that conform to the lava tube or what have you.

Biggest problem is you need to really be able to recon that sort of thing ahead of time if possible. In the show they were like "well, we're here! let us find a spot to call home!". Because of the time delay due to distance, flying drones would be hard to control remotely unless they had really advanced self-fly and scout capabilities and minimal power consumption. Plus, it's a damned planet. You can spot likely areas, but without really advanced tools to narrow down prime candidates, it would be hard to find a "perfect spot". That takes investment unto itself, unless you are willing to do rotational shifts of people in above ground bases with scant radiation protection until you can locate a safer base location.
 
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user

meStevo

I think your wife's a bigfoot gus.
<Silver Donator>
6,351
4,634
Ring discovered around a dwarf planet.

Planetary Society-funded telescopes help find ring around Haumea, a distant dwarf planet

A couple excerpts:

In the early morning hours of January 21, 2017, the dwarf planet Haumea passed in front a star and cast a shadow across Europe. Twelve telescopes at 10 different observatories watched. European scientists hoped the transit would shed new light on a far-flung member of our solar system orbiting farther from the Sun than Pluto.

We know giant planets like Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune have rings, but thus far, we've only found them around two small worlds. Chariklo is about 250 kilometers wide, and has two rings, while Chiron, about the same size, is also suspected to have a ring. Both Chariklo and Chiron are Centaurs, small worlds orbiting the Sun between the asteroid belt and Kuiper belt, crisscrossing the giant planets' orbits.

With today's announcement, Haumea becomes the first, small, non-Centaur known to have a ring, and the farthest ring world we've found in our solar system.

The European observers discovered Haumea's rings by measuring the amount of light coming from the star the dwarf planet crossed. The light dips were consistent with a ringed world, and the Nature paper describes the rings as being similar to those of Uranus and Neptune.
 
  • 2Like
Reactions: 1 users