NASA & Space Exploration

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On 7/8/2022 at 12:50 AM, JamesRobot said:

I really enjoyed this article on the coldness of space.

https://www.space.com/how-cold-is-space

I'm glad you're learning and enjoying space and astronomy! That said... UGH! this article explained many ideas in a very misleading way. Just for example:

space itself isn’t exactly cold. In fact, it doesn’t actually have a temperature at all. 

The Universe as a whole is about 2.7K, this is simply the temperature of the cosmic background. While technically "space" as a concept has no temperature and no mass, realistically if you were in outer space (which I will use to distinguish from the concept of "space") without protection you would quickly (less than one day) reach the same ambient temperature, which at 2.7K is also -270.3 Celsius - so yeah, it's cold. And you would be solid. While you would not "immediately" nor even after just a few minutes freeze solid, you would nevertheless quickly reach that unimaginably cold temperature.

The hottest regions of space are immediately around stars, which contain all the  conditions to kick start nuclear fusion.

WTF? Nuclear fusion happens in the core of stars. Not on the surface of stars, not in the "space immediately around stars". Also, the hottest regions known are typically the accretion disks around black holes.

This is a result of a collision with an Earth-sized object early in its existence causing Uranus to orbit the sun on an extreme tilt, making it unable to hang on to its interior heat. 

Very misleading. The primary reason Uranus is cold because is because it is about 20 times farther than the Earth from the Sun and receives about 1/400 as much energy. The fact that it is tilted on it's side could explain why it's a colder than expected, but by far the primary reason is distance.

Anyway, I do get worked up about some of these things

Good article to share with my students and have them note all the misleading parts!

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The resolution on JWST is phenomenal....

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https://www.floridatoday.com/story/tech/science/space/2022/07/31/nasa-artemis-moon-launch-expected-draw-crowds-space-coast-florida/10175336002/

Sold-out hotels. Excitement that seems to grow by the day. The potential for hundreds of thousands of visitors, support staff, and more. 

These are just a few of the factors being calculated into preparations for Artemis I, the first launch of NASA's moon-focused Space Launch System rocket slated for Aug. 29. Standing 322 feet tall, it promises to be the biggest, most powerful rocket to launch from the Space Coast in years – bringing with it a level of excitement to match.

I'm so excited! Anyone from here planning to go and see the launch? What an experience it must be...

[Tanooki | 4,933]

Now I wish I could, and at the same time happy I can't with a crowd that size and the sellouts for places to sleep.  I can imaging the jacked up rates within a 100mi of that place.   The space coast is awesome, wanted to do it for decades and finally did it just last year in April.  Thank Florida for being saner than most, easy to get down and enjoy things where so many other places were overly closed/limited.  It made it a real pleasure with minimal crowds there and especially disney.

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Apparently the "partnership" (so to speak) between the USA and Russia, in particular when it came to rockets many of which were built in Russia, is ostensibly over. And hey, that's probably a good thing

Northrop Grumman Invests in New Solid Rocket Motor Manufacturing Facilities in Magna, Utah

https://news.northropgrumman.com/news/releases/northrop-grumman-invests-in-new-solid-rocket-motor-manufacturing-facilities-in-magna-utah

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) is expanding its solid rocket motor manufacturing facilities with the groundbreaking of new state-of-the art facilities to support nearly every phase of solid rocket motor manufacturing, including case manufacturing, propellant mixing and casting, and final assembly.

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https://www.yahoo.com/news/keeps-going-going-nasas-mars-221429689.html

The space agency said Ingenuity recently took its 40th flight on Mars. That's quite an accomplishment when you consider that the 4-pound helicopter was sent to the red planet on the underbelly of NASA's Perseverance rover with the goal of achieving even just one vertical flight on Mars.

Amazing... we're flying on another planet... for the 40th time!

 

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Rocket Lab Successfully Launches Its First Electron Rocket From U.S. Soil

https://www.rocketlabusa.com/updates/rocket-lab-successfully-launches-first-electron-mission-from-u-s-soil/

“Electron is already the leading small orbital rocket globally, and today’s perfect mission from a new pad is testament to our team’s unrelenting commitment to mission success,” said Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck. “After our busiest launch year yet in 2022 with nine successful missions, what better way to kick off the new year than by launching Virginia-built spacecraft from a Virginia launch site, enabled by our rapidly growing Virginia-based team. This mission has been a real team effort. Thanks to the consistent support of NASA, Virginia Space, the FAA, the Commonwealth and our mission partner HawkEye 360, Rocket Lab is proud to bring a reliable and responsive new launch capability to Virginia’s Eastern Shore.”

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https://futurism.com/the-byte/russia-good-lander-crashed-moon

As we've previously pointed out, the crash couldn't have happened at a worse time for Russia's space agency — given international turmoil, a largely isolated space program, and uncertainty shrouding future space collaborations.

But if the Kremlin is to be believed, there was nothing wrong with Luna-25's demise. In fact, it was actually a good thing, because it will serve as a rallying cry to continue on.

Yet in large part due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, many of the country's international partners have since pulled out, meaning that the country will likely have to blaze its own path. Last year, the European Space Agency officially announced it was ending all cooperation with Russia on future lunar missions.

In short, Rocosmos' plans were already a tall order even before Luna-25 crash-landed earlier this month. But according to the Kremin's swagger, it's just getting started.

Indeed. Along those lines, Russia is having PHENOMENAL success with their war special operation in Ukraine. Their economy is doing so well it's hard to believe there aren't millions...nay billions wanting to immigrate to the Putonic shores. Russia is a beloved model of success and integrity the world over. Also, they have the safest windows the world over, and no one ever accidentally falls out nor down any stairs.

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Hope people had fun watching the eclipse! We were not in the path of totality, but still got a good 80% or so