The Astronomy Thread

Loser Araysar

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Fortunately there IS SpaceX.

The Russians are not doing very well when it comes to advancing space technology at this time.

What do you mean?

Theyre turning Ukraine into a moon crater landscape right now to train for eventual moon colonization and annexation
 
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Mudcrush Durtfeet

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Looks like next launch attempt for SLS will be no earlier than Nov 12.

In other news, the BE-4 engine went through a full static test fire, so it looks like Vulcan will probably be having its first launch in the first half of 2023.

Elsewhere...

The rocket from Firefly failed to take off. It is notable as it would have been the first methane fueled rocket to reach orbit if it had succeeded. It ignited at T-0, but thrust was too low to lift the rocket and it automatically aborted.
 

Sanrith Descartes

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It's just crazy to me how Einstein was right about so much stuff without having the data we have now to validate it.
Imagine what one can do when a super genius IQ and living in a time when science and math were not perverted by woke agendas.

Oh wait, we dont have to imagine. We just look backwards about 50 years or so.
 
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BrutulTM

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If it wasnt for Elon Musk the US would still be unable to put people into space. Russia has been continuously able to put people into space since Yuri Gagarin.

Only because they're still using the same rocket platform that they built in the 60's. It's the equivalent of if the US just kept making the Saturn V and never did the space shuttle etc. You could definitely argue that the space shuttle program was a mistake, but it's not like Russia has done anything that innovative by just using their rocket from the 60's for 50 years. Don't get me wrong, NASA might have been better off if they just kept upgrading the Saturn rockets the way Russia did. The space shuttle was the same dream that Elon Musk had of a reusable launch platform but they utterly failed to pull it off from a financial standpoint.
 

Loser Araysar

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Only because they're still using the same rocket platform that they built in the 60's. It's the equivalent of if the US just kept making the Saturn V and never did the space shuttle etc. You could definitely argue that the space shuttle program was a mistake, but it's not like Russia has done anything that innovative by just using their rocket from the 60's for 50 years. Don't get me wrong, NASA might have been better off if they just kept upgrading the Saturn rockets the way Russia did. The space shuttle was the same dream that Elon Musk had of a reusable launch platform but they utterly failed to pull it off from a financial standpoint.

Is this supposed to be a bad thing? Build something right and you can use it for next 60 years.

Or give billions to nASSa and watch them piss it all away
 

Cybsled

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It's not a bad thing, but it's basically the space equivalent of a Honda Civic: Doesn't cost a lot and it will run forever so long as you keep it maintained. However, they really haven't innovated much beyond that. They made attempts, but most got mothballed or scrapped due to costs. Their deep space unmanned missions have also been sporadic to virtually non-existent since the fall of the USSR.

The US at least has experimented with more platforms and private industry is further innovating or transforming. If SpaceX gets Starship functioning as advertised, it will be a massive game changer: Fully reusable platform with massive payload capacity and the ability to serve multiple mission roles, dramatically reducing costs. It will be like how the railroad transformed land transportation.
 
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Mudcrush Durtfeet

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The Falcon 9 (and heavy) are already a vast improvement over non-reusable rockets. No one can compete in price with them, nor is anyone going to equal them any time soon.

If SpaceX had failed though, I think we wouldn't be seeing much innovation here in the US, and we'd still not be able to put people in orbit.

Fingers crossed and hoping Starship at least partially pans out.
 
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1987

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What do you mean?

Theyre turning Ukraine into a moon crater landscape right now to train for eventual moon colonization and annexation
We've spent about triple NASAs annual budget in Ukraine in 6 months. So I want to see little green men, whether from space or radiation poisoning, make it so.
 
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Ukerric

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We've spent about triple NASAs annual budget in Ukraine in 6 months. So I want to see little green men, whether from space or radiation poisoning, make it so.
An Alien Mothership crashes on Mars in 2022.

First american on Mars in 2025.
 

Tuco

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I continued my self-guided tour and turned my head to face the other direction, to stare into space. I love the mystery of the universe. I love all the questions that have come to us over thousands of years of exploration and hypotheses. Stars exploding years ago, their light traveling to us years later; black holes absorbing energy; satellites showing us entire galaxies in areas thought to be devoid of matter entirely… all of that has thrilled me for years… but when I looked in the opposite direction, into space, there was no mystery, no majestic awe to behold . . . all I saw was death.

I saw a cold, dark, black emptiness. It was unlike any blackness you can see or feel on Earth. It was deep, enveloping, all-encompassing. I turned back toward the light of home. I could see the curvature of Earth, the beige of the desert, the white of the clouds and the blue of the sky. It was life. Nurturing, sustaining, life. Mother Earth. Gaia. And I was leaving her.

Everything I had thought was wrong. Everything I had expected to see was wrong.

I had thought that going into space would be the ultimate catharsis of that connection I had been looking for between all living things—that being up there would be the next beautiful step to understanding the harmony of the universe. In the film “Contact,” when Jodie Foster’s character goes to space and looks out into the heavens, she lets out an astonished whisper, “They should’ve sent a poet.” I had a different experience, because I discovered that the beauty isn’t out there, it’s down here, with all of us. Leaving that behind made my connection to our tiny planet even more profound.
 
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Edaw

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Love the reply. Lumi Lumi



187_detail_as11-44-6551_orig.jpg
 

BrutulTM

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moon-between-fingers-600w-431359864.jpg


Look how small the moon is here. It fits between a human thumb and index finger! Shutterstock proves the moon landing was fake!
 
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Edaw

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This video is deeply unsettling for some reason.

Reminds me of Dyson Sphere Program though.

I think it is the lack of rotation of the moon. Creates an odd visual effect, and cognitive shock.

Same thing as uncanny valley for faces but for objects.
 
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Burns

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One future telescope project that will be able to see the surface of exoplanets using the Sun's gravitational lensing (maybe launchable within the next 20 years (w/ 30 year travel time)):

 
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