Author Topic: Space. The Final Frontier.  (Read 75601 times)

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Offline hammondsnats

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Re: Space. The Final Frontier.
« Reply #375: December 13, 2012, 01:17:12 PM »
hahahahahaha this thread took a crazy turn.

Offline Nathan

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Re: Space. The Final Frontier.
« Reply #376: December 13, 2012, 06:18:27 PM »
It started early.  I saw a bunch last night while paving while on the phone.

Pacing.  Stupid Swype.

Offline mitlen

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Re: Space. The Final Frontier.
« Reply #377: December 13, 2012, 06:20:23 PM »
Pacing.  Stupid Swype.

It's alright.   Hell I don't know what pacing is either.   :)     Gonna go out on the deck around 9 PM.   If the show has begun, I'm heading to a dark spot in our development.    Last time we had this sort of event, there was a party up on the hill.

Offline Coladar

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Re: Space. The Final Frontier.
« Reply #378: December 19, 2012, 05:18:13 PM »
So... I'd add the snark to this photo of the three launched to the ISS today, but I think it goes unsaid.

Offline Ali the Baseball Cat

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Re: Space. The Final Frontier.
« Reply #379: December 19, 2012, 07:11:52 PM »
I hope the ISS sauna is well stocked with vodka and juniper branches for them to whip each other with after a good sweat. 

"Я люблю тебя человека!"

Offline JCA-CrystalCity

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Re: Space. The Final Frontier.
« Reply #380: December 20, 2012, 04:10:14 PM »
I love your . . . 

My one year of high school Russian does not remember "cheloveka"?

Offline imref

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Re: Space. The Final Frontier.
« Reply #381: January 06, 2013, 09:56:22 AM »
William Shatner, Chris Hadfield (the currrent commander of the ISS), Buzz Aldrin, and George Takei having a conversation on Twitter:

http://laughingsquid.com/william-shatner-tweeted-an-astronaut-living-in-space-he-replied/

BTW, the ISS was overhead on Friday night around 8:30 PM.

Offline PANatsFan

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Re: Space. The Final Frontier.
« Reply #382: January 06, 2013, 06:20:55 PM »
The IMAX "To Fly" at Air and Space is truly awesome - took my son today. Highly recommended!

Offline mitlen

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Re: Space. The Final Frontier.
« Reply #383: January 06, 2013, 06:24:33 PM »
The IMAX "To Fly" at Air and Space is truly awesome - took my son today. Highly recommended!

I saw that years ago  ...  great stuff.

Offline Coladar

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Re: Space. The Final Frontier.
« Reply #384: January 08, 2013, 11:25:46 PM »
So to recap the big news this week... Damn, space science is off to a heck of a start for 2013. A shame it's all downhill from here for the foreseeable future with funding cut to nothing.

At least 17 billion earth size planets in our galaxy alone? I think 17 billion is laughable, I'd be willing to bet it's several times that. But there are definitely a crapload of planets lurking in the darkness.

Something like 15 planets discovered by 'citizen scientists' within stars' habitable zones. All/most gas giants, but factoring in moons they are still potentially harboring forms of life.

Explosion ten times more powerful than the biggest supernovae discovered in a galaxy's central black hole. Can't imagine what it ate or belched to give off so insanely large an amount of energy. Strange, and further proof we still don't have much of a grasp on what goes on out there.

Moving an asteroid to orbit the moon by 2025 from NASA? Cool concept, but no way it'll be done. Not by NASA, at least. Certainly not in the next decade.

Some private group recruiting folks to move to Mars? Awesome. Not gonna bother looking it up, but I believe they're planning it for the 2020s. Not gonna happen so soon by anyone, but would it ever be a nice surprise if it did.

Interestingly, their plan is a one way trip. You go, you don't come back. I watched the film Another Earth yesterday, where mention was made that explorers of the seas were all madmen or convicts. In the age of Thar Be Dragons, expectation that the ocean ended in a cliff where you fell off the earth, anyone making the voyage had to halfway expect to end up dead.

I wish the modern world would get off their moral highhorses and allow explorers to explore. We've become so sensitized that it's sickening. Any shuttle explodes, the reaction has been 'Shut them down! We're sending people to their deaths! Horrible!' I bet at least one of the astronauts who have died in such a manner, if asked whether seeing our planet from space was worth the risk still would have gone up.

If someone is fine with it, we ought to allow a one-way mission to Mars. This commercial venture isn't a suicide mission, but a colony with the expectation of just living out their life on Mars. If that isn't realistic, and a Mars and back mission can't happen for decades still because of funding or logistics, then let brave souls go to Mars for as long as possible with a cyanide capsule. Heck, so long as I didn't have a family to take care of, I'd be first in line. First folks to walk on another planet, going into space, and truly searching for life on Mars at the price of not making it back? Totally worth it.

Everybody dies in the end, if it means dying a decade or two early to be able to set foot on Mars... A couple decades of humdrum life on Earth only to die in obscurity, or setting foot on Mars and becoming immortalized for doing so is an easy choice. Back in the day of ocean exploration, few expected to make it back, and quite a lot of them didn't. It's insane the public demands guaranteed safety or else don't go for space flight. So long as the folks going know what they're signing up for, more power to them.

Offline imref

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Re: Space. The Final Frontier.
« Reply #385: January 08, 2013, 11:29:31 PM »
did you also see the news about the astroid on a path to come within 22k miles of Earth, and comet coming later this year that will be as bright as a full moon?

Offline cmdterps44

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Re: Space. The Final Frontier.
« Reply #386: January 09, 2013, 12:15:23 AM »
did you also see the news about the astroid on a path to come within 22k miles of Earth, and comet coming later this year that will be as bright as a full moon?

The comet is passing by the Sun which will give off a glare and will shine bright... pretty cool stuff.

Cola, where did you see that there are 17 billion earth sized planets in our galaxy?

Also, I think we should allow people to go to Mars, or at least the Moon, and live there. Sure, it'll probably mean a faster death, but if they choose to do so, let it happen! I wonder how much something would cost to set up... like say: A shuttle to the moon to build a base. lol.

Offline The Chief

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Re: Space. The Final Frontier.
« Reply #387: January 09, 2013, 07:58:06 AM »
When's this comet thing supposed to be?  Sounds cool.

Offline Coladar

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Re: Space. The Final Frontier.
« Reply #388: January 09, 2013, 08:05:55 AM »
did you also see the news about the astroid on a path to come within 22k miles of Earth, and comet coming later this year that will be as bright as a full moon?

Ahh, good catch. Really good one, I totally forgot to mention the comet. Yeah, they expect it •could• be one of the brightest in centuries. They even think it's part of one of the brightest comets ever, the Great Comet of 1680. Shares same orbital characteristics. So long as it doesn't burn up by grazing the sun, come December we might have something that makes Hale-Bopp look small in comparison.

The 17 billion is just their latest 'throw some wild numbers out there.' From what I recall, 100 billion stars in the Milky Way, they estimate 17% have earth sized planets somewhere. Personally, I'd be shocked if there isn't at least one for every star. Especially if they factor in moons of the same size. From all the info we have so far, which ain't much, the one certainty is planets are so incredibly common that I can't picture any solar system that isn't a freaky affair without multiple planets. So 17% of stars having only one earth size planet, anywhere in it's solar system... Way too small a number for me.

Link if you'd like to read further: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gb8TQMx8k8N1-rjxKnqlU-sPGH0w?docId=60608ceccf6b45a6918369829386fc58

Offline Coladar

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Re: Space. The Final Frontier.
« Reply #389: January 09, 2013, 08:09:22 AM »
Chief - It's called Comet Ison... S1 I think? Comet Ison is the base name, and unfortunate. Unlike most known comets, this is one of those 'named for their discovering scopes.' So there are a ton of Comet Isons, but I believe this one was discovered in September and the first one it found that month. Thus the S1. December is when it should be brightest.

Didn't read this article, but I expect it has all relevent info; http://www.space.com/19188-comet-ison-brightest-ever-2013.html

Offline cmdterps44

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Re: Space. The Final Frontier.
« Reply #390: January 09, 2013, 08:26:33 AM »
When's this comet thing supposed to be?  Sounds cool.

Yeah they were saying November/December of this year.

Offline Coladar

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Re: Space. The Final Frontier.
« Reply #391: January 09, 2013, 08:48:26 AM »
The comet is passing by the Sun which will give off a glare and will shine bright... pretty cool stuff.

Cola, where did you see that there are 17 billion earth sized planets in our galaxy?

Also, I think we should allow people to go to Mars, or at least the Moon, and live there. Sure, it'll probably mean a faster death, but if they choose to do so, let it happen! I wonder how much something would cost to set up... like say: A shuttle to the moon to build a base. lol.

One more reply... The suicide trip thing? I just can't accept reasons not to do it. Like with your example, or this private venture... We sure as hell have the technology to set up a permanent sustainable outpost. All you need are plants, water purification, and power. Boom. Likewise, the odds of some huge cluster**** happening the first or tenth time? One thing goes wrong, they're stuck and dead.

So one of two things: We either spend several times what a trip should cost that has a decent chance of success to put a billion safeguards in place and make it safer than driving on the highway. Or we accept exploration comes with risk, and worship the heroes among us who put their lives on the line for science and mankind while realizing they very well won't survive.

Kinda goes further down the road, but we *have• to get over this. Our destiny is the stars. Far as we know, we are the first lifeform in the universe to evolve enough intelligence and survive long enough to go to the stars. It is our obligation to do so. Past few years I've read a crapload about ideas for that first interstellar voyage. There are two thoughts: Don't do it, and don't do it. First is because they'd be idiots when twenty years later we master some new propulsion and their ancestors pass them by and say howdy. Second is because you aren't damning yourself, you're damning every last descendent for generations to live in maddening isolation.

It's upsetting that you've got people used to a quality of life who think they have a right to tell others what they can and can't morally do. Now suicide science is a huge no-no. I guarantee in today's climate even a private group couldn't pull off a suicide mission. Likewise, if not for the thousands who boarded a wooden boat for thar be dragons and death, and died doing it, none of us would be here today  Literally, not a single one of us aside from a couple of UK posters. My idea is Event Horizon style. Wormhole leads to Hell and everyone dies before Morpheus blows that freaker up. In other words: Exploration demands accepting risk and death. The alternative is to stagnate and go extinct; right now we're doing a damn good job of that.

Going way off topic, but the only way around it is light speed travel, which just isn't ever going to happen. Then with the miracle of physics, traveling at the speed of light any passenger inside would travel light years in the time it takes to blink. Everyone they left home would be long dead, but they could go *anywhere* in the universe instantly, to them.

But it ain't gonna happen - because it can't. Accelerating a large enough mass to contain humans to light speed is inconceivable. Having them survive said speed is impossible. Sci-Fi and media whore quack physicists like Michio Kaku (Seriously, if you have but a passing interest in this stuff.. Has there ever been a human as desperate for fame and so incredibly successful at never getting it as that guy?) and his ilk advocating the feasability of wormholes are just as crazy. If we go, it's going to be long, slow, arduous and deadly. No way around it. Ripley style cryostasis, maybe...

I read a while back about nuclear detonation as a means for propulsion. Apparently before test ban treaties, they were convinced with the right shock absorption, a nuclear device detonated every three seconds for several weeks would get a vehicle a significant fraction of the speed of light. This was with 60s tech. If we could only put our fears aside, put concepts of military and nationalization behind us, what we could have already achieved would stagger the imagination. Instead maroons protested New Horizons and Curiosity because they had the ever so scary nuclear power sources onboard. We're destined to stay on this planet until technology reaches a point some religious terrorist in a cave can engineer a bioweapon with 100% mortality and a long enough incubation period to send us all to our 72 virgins.

And considering the exponential gains in genetics and biology, never mind what conceivable artificial nanotech could do, we probably won't leave this planet in my lifetime, but will be advanced enough for some nut in a cave or a cabin (Ted Kazynski (sp) Unabomber style) with a degree and a few million bucks to kill us all before most of us die.

And in closing, maybe that's exactly how it'll have to be framed for the faint at heart. It isn't science or exploration, those that leave aren't dooming their childrens childrens children - instead, they are ensuring their survival. If it happens in the next century, it'll have to be labeled as the Noah's Ark of space. Whether to Mars or the Moon, or to the stars... I'd bet decent money the vehicle that leaves is called the Ark or something to that effect. My vote is for the ISS Enterprise, but c'est la vie. (And to stave off condescending correction, yes, ISS now is IS Station. ISS with the final S for Spaceship in keeping with the USS theme)

Offline imref

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Re: Space. The Final Frontier.
« Reply #392: January 09, 2013, 09:23:39 PM »
a look at a potential "doomsday asteroid" - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/09/apophis-asteroid-live-watch-video_n_2442446.html

It will pass within 24k miles of earth in 2029, and return again in 2036.

Offline cmdterps44

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Re: Space. The Final Frontier.
« Reply #393: January 10, 2013, 07:53:15 AM »
I just want the Mass Effect series to happen already. Let's get to Mars so we can find the Prothean technology!

Offline Coladar

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Re: Space. The Final Frontier.
« Reply #394: January 10, 2013, 08:10:14 AM »
I just want the Mass Effect series to happen already. Let's get to Mars so we can find the Prothean technology!

As indicative of my prior post and Event Horizon reference... I'm more of a Dead Space or Doom3 dude. I await finding the portal to Hell. I wait for the day Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum upload a virus to Hell, Morpheus blowing the Fu**er up and Bill Pullman making a cheesy speech as we all get pulled into the abyss to Hell. Then Keanu Reeves wakes up bald on a bus on Mars with Sandra Bullock, and so begins humanity expanding into space.

If it doesn't start that way, I'll be totally depressed and disappointed.

Offline cmdterps44

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Re: Space. The Final Frontier.
« Reply #395: January 10, 2013, 08:11:55 AM »
No way to Dead Space/Event Horizon. That would be some freaky stuff. At least Mass Effect is very diverse and friendly. I mean it spans the entire Milky Way galaxy!

Offline Coladar

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Re: Space. The Final Frontier.
« Reply #396: January 10, 2013, 08:33:11 AM »
No way to Dead Space/Event Horizon. That would be some freaky stuff. At least Mass Effect is very diverse and friendly. I mean it spans the entire Milky Way galaxy!

Eh, I dunno. I love the concept of Event Horizon. The idea of opening the unknown with the first FTL ship has stuck with me over the years.

Way, way off topic, but even a firefly/Serenity type deal with Zombies in space. I really wish they'd do more space horror. With cell phones and crap, Slasher flicks are passe. Nothing beats the isolation of space and what it offers as a medium for video fiction. Alien, Prometheus, Event Horizon, Dead space or Doom 3 are some of the most spooky things you can watch.

I'll try to tie it back on topic with this: It also doesn't hurt to have space exploration in the public eye. Yeah, these space=evil things don't exactly urge lets go there rallies.

But now really back on topic; I can't be alone in finding it sickening the state of science fiction. For the love of Pete, we are 'in the future.' Permanent manned presence in space until they burn the ISS up. And what is there? Wow, a Star Trek movie every five years. Think of all the astrophysicists who swear on growing up watching Shatner as the sole motivation to pursue their career. Kids now? Even folks my age, nearing thirty? I don't think it's a coincidence our NASA budget is slashed to crap, humanity is stagnating exactly while space fiction is dead.

Somebody needs to come up with the next Trek. Because as much as this post began as a totally random space horror rant, I genuinely believe there is no better or faster way to get us off Earth than by inspiring imaginations by TV or film. BSG remake doesn't count for me as such an endeavor, and Stargate was too grounded on earth with absurd Egypt or Merlin crap and 'gates' for travel. Man going into space on a ship, with all our CG abilities now, someone needs to get on that crap. If for no other reason than the good of mankind and our species assured survival. I'm willing to bet a good sum Roddenberry did more for space flight and science than the Apollo missions. With that in mind, I really don't think I'm too far off base here tying real life and fiction together.

Offline The Chief

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Re: Space. The Final Frontier.
« Reply #397: January 10, 2013, 03:02:13 PM »
I guess my comet joke was too subtle

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Offline cmdterps44

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Re: Space. The Final Frontier.
« Reply #398: January 10, 2013, 03:04:00 PM »
I guess my comet joke was too subtle

:couch:

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Offline mitlen

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