Space yays

[Glaurung]

It seems that something, probably a small asteroid or comet, collided with Jupiter on March 17. Here's an IFLScience post about it, including several short videos.

[comrade_general]

Cool image I came across. I really hope the SLS still becomes a thing.

[Jubal]

Huh, I hadn't actually realised how huge the Saturn payloads were compared to modern commercial rockets like the Falcon.

[comrade_general]

Saturn V was by far the most powerful launch system ever (successfully) constructed. A testament to what our capabilites were and could have continued to be if space remained higher on the priorities list. SLS is essentially a throwback, carrying a bit larger version of the Apollo craft, and a hybrid by using similar solid boosters like the shuttle did.

[Jubal]

Aye, it's short-sighted the extent to which NASA has been cut back.

[comrade_general]

http://www.space.com/34210-elon-musk-unveils-spacex-mars-colony-ship.html

Yay!

[Silver Wolf]

I remember reading about NASA's EM drive. The most fun part for me was that they were astounded that it actually works, despite the fact that it's not supported by the current fundamental laws of physics.

[Glaurung]

I remember reading about NASA's EM drive. The most fun part for me was that they were astounded that it actually works, despite the fact that it's not supported by the current fundamental laws of physics.

More about it on this thread.

"Not supported by the current laws of physics" generally means that we're about to find out something fun and interesting about the way the universe works. A hundred years ago it was things like radioactivity, the photoelectric effect, the Michelson-Morley experiment and the precession of the perihelion of Mercury - that got us relativity and quantum mechanics, and thence a vast array of modern technology.

At the moment we have dark matter, dark energy, the EM drive and probably other stuff that I haven't heard about yet. Somewhere, I hope, there is another Einstein working to make sense of it all.

[Jubal]

It would of course help & speed things up if we actually put the money in and funded the research on this stuff... (grumblegrumble).

[Jubal]

Interesting upcoming Mercury mission:

The two satellites that make up the BepiColombo mission to Mercury were presented to the media on Thursday.

This joint European-Japanese venture has been in development for nearly two decades, but should finally get to the launch pad in 15 months' time.

The two spacecraft will travel together to the baking world but separate on arrival to conduct their own studies.

Thursday's event in the Netherlands was the last chance for journalists to view the so-called "flight stack".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-40513818

[Jubal]

Not quite a yay - but the Cassini probe has finally had its watch ended, which felt like a thing to mention here.

The American-led Cassini space mission to Saturn has just come to a spectacular end.

Controllers had commanded the probe to destroy itself by plunging into the planet's atmosphere. It survived for just over a minute before being broken apart. Cassini had run out of fuel and Nasa had determined that the probe should not be allowed simply to wander uncontrolled among Saturn and its moons.

The loss of signal from the spacecraft occurred pretty close to the prediction. Here at mission control, at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, the drop-off was timed at 04:55 PDT (11:55 GMT; 12:55 BST).

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-41207827

[comrade_general]

To note, SpaceX has been launching and landing Falcon 9's for a while now, and they recently successfully tested their Falcon heavy, which is currently the most powerful rocket in the world, by sending one of their Tesla cars towards the general Mars area. I expect some more pretty portugaling fantastic things from them soon.

[comrade_general]

Here's the launch of the falcon heavy. The most epic part is the simultaneous landing of the boosters around the 9:15 minute mark.

[comrade_general]

https://deadspin.com/indians-pitchers-ponder-the-existence-of-multiple-earth-1825904317

Baseball and space. What more could you want?

Don't answer that.

[Glaurung]

Meanwhile, coming up overnight Friday / Saturday: the longest (at least by a few seconds) lunar eclipse this century. It will be visible from Australia, most of Asia and Europe, Africa, and parts of South America. The eastern and western edges of that range only get to see part of the eclipse; as seen from Australia, the moon will set before it's finished, while it will already have started when the moon rises for Europe. More details for this eclipse here, and for lunar eclipses generally here.