The Astronomy Thread

The 20th is the 50 anniversary of the big one. Man landing on the moon.

I read once only Gene Kranz was over 35 in the control room that day. May have been not true no way to check it. Looking at his wiki he was 36 at the time.

Even this thing is better than a fucking quadcopter.

Well it's better than blowing up another astronaut I suppose. That'll nix Musk's entire project right fast. In fact, the risk of that happening is significant enough that he should delay NASA manned projects and focus on capturing as much of the cargolift market as possible. He can do manned missions for private clients.

Government contracts are always going to be more lucrative in the near term, especially if they actually start to get serious about the moon stuff. Private clients are ok, but that is a pretty niche market and you still have the same safety problem. A billionaire isn't going to strap himself into your space craft if they aren't convinced it is safe as a space craft can be.

Musk is still first at this point. That is a position you need to fully take advantage of, before you find yourself mired in competition. A company with a functioning and reliable launch platform and space craft is going to be a much more attractive option than someone still in the PoC stage.

Tomorrow is the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. But the media is "remember the US put a man on the moon, did nothing for women.

Tuco said:

SpaceX blowing up a few astronauts wont kill spacex. It'll set them back for sure, but everyone understands the risks.

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Right, a big part why this work is being done privately in the first place is that a company can afford to take more risks of this type than can a government agency.

My sister's SO works at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and gave my kids and me a private tour today. We got a good look at the Mars 2020 Rover, which is nearly fully assembled and will shortly disappear from public viewing to undergo environmental testing. It's pretty cool being this close to machines which will shortly be an another planet.

I had a funny thought, what if travelling back in time was a lot easier than we imagined and it takes an advanced civilization 300 years of advancement to develop it. In an effort to perfect the past they through their own ineptitude or through war to control the future end up erasing their own existence entirely. Could time travel be the great civilization filter? Lol

Tripamang said:

I had a funny thought, what if travelling back in time was a lot easier than we imagined and it takes an advanced civilization 300 years of advancement to develop it. In an effort to perfect the past they through their own ineptitude or through war to control the future end up erasing their own existence entirely. Could time travel be the great civilization filter? Lol

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The aliens/etc/paranormal thread is that way. ---->