Author Topic: Deep Space and Interplanetary Exploration - Houston, we are go for launch!  (Read 117532 times)

rebs

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It could also just be a sensor glitch sending a faulty signal but even if it has failed to latch that would just mean the panel may not be able to rotate to face the sun perfectly, it would still generate power. There's a couple of other minute risk increases to mission health but I'm sure over the next few weeks they will work out a work-a-round.

That's what I hope, as well, Dynodragon.
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Wrangler

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Aren't there telescopes they could track it and see while it's semi-close by to determine if they can get visual.

It maybe at 90% power NOW, but those solar panels are big for further out it goes.  Hope sensor issue not detecting solar panel did not open and in mean while having did open physically.
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kato

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Aren't there telescopes they could track it and see while it's semi-close by to determine if they can get visual.
Visual (or rather detail radar image) tracking of orbital objects with this precision of detail analysis is a military thing, generally only focused on space below 3000 km. And there's only about four systems worldwide that do that.

Daryk

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I'm not sure even military systems could see it with enough resolution now...

rebs

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Do you despise dark matter?  Well then, a new model of the universe that completely does away with the highly elusive stuff might be just what you've been looking for.

Details below...

https://www.newsweek.com/new-model-universe-does-away-dark-matter-mond-gravity-1642209?amp=1
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Daryk

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Interesting, but definitely early days.  Thanks for the link!  :thumbsup:

Sabelkatten

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As I understand it the big problem for MOND variants is to explain the apparent irregular distribution of whatever-dark-matter-might-actually-be. MOND may be a lot more exciting than CDM, but I haven't seen much that makes me optimistic about its chances. :(

rebs

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Very true.  There's a lot of matter and energy we need to account for. 
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Rainbow 6

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You might find the new Professor Brian Cox series on the BBC called Universe interesting.

rebs

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You might find the new Professor Brian Cox series on the BBC called Universe interesting.

I'll check that out when I get to wifi land again.  Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

In other news, ever wonder how deep Jupiter's Great Red Spot runs?  Juno has measured it at between 300km and 500km.

Details in the following link...

https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/28/22749095/nasa-juno-jupiter-great-red-spot-depth
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rebs

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While out of communication due to a conjunction,  NASA's Perseverance rover has collect many wonderful pictures of the Martian landscape. 

Details and images in the link below...

https://news.yahoo.com/nasas-perseverance-rover-beamed-back-115928807.html
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kato

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DLR has published a detail analysis of the bouncing of Philae during its landing on 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

https://www.dlr.de/content/en/articles/news/2020/04/20201028_4_5-billion-year-old-ice-on-comet-fluffier-than-cappuccino-froth.html

During the landing, Philae bounced off of a ridge that it hit, then bounced after a second surface contact and came to rest in a crevice where it operated for 2.5 days. How exactly it landed in that crevice was unknown though, and the exact location itself was only found 22 months after the landing.

What actually happened (numbers for second picture):



Philae came in from the left and hit that large boulder marked on the left of this image.

It managed to hit an edge on that boulder in such a way that it slid off over it, entering a crevice behind it filled with dust while starting a fast rotation of the lander (1). The windmilling movement of its legs dug a channel that allowed it to fly through that dust-filled crevice until it exited it again (2), moving dust along with it.

Upon exiting it hit the boulder to the right, scratching off the surface and compressing the ice there 25 cm (!) deep with an imprint of the top of the lander (3), then after 3 seconds bounced back to where it hit an overhang on the first boulder (4a) and from there bounced back against the surface with a larger impression (4b).

This took two minutes in total. From that last contact it did one last slow bounce over 30m distance in 8 minutes until it came to rest under an overhang in the shadow to the right.



The path was found by analyzing data from the 48cm-long magnetometer boom sticking out the side of Philae, which generated data when it moved relative to the lander - i.e. with every surface contact, in different ways.

The above link also has videos of the area.

The crash bounce was fortuitious in multiple ways - in its final resting position, laying on its side, the main instrument tower on Philae did not make surface contact. However during this impact - when it made that 25 cm deep impression - it was the instrument tower that bored itself into the surface, thus allowing measurements taken during those three seconds to be reevaluated now. From it they could derive data on the porosity and tensile strength of the surface area, and in combination with data from the Rosetta orbiter on the composition of the entire comet. The impact also exposed pristine water ice.

rebs

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That is some fascinating stuff, Kato.  I'm glad that Philae was able to take such good measurements in such a short period of time.
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Wrangler

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Amazing an accomplishment for ESA.  It was very fortunate that the surface of the comet was soft enough allow Philae keep operating despite barely any sunlight reaching the solar panel. 
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kato

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It was very fortunate that the surface of the comet was soft enough allow Philae keep operating despite barely any sunlight reaching the solar panel.
It's sometimes claimed that Mascot-1 - onboard Hayabusa 2 - due to "lessons learned" from Philae had a self-righting mechanism and ran on larger batteries. That's of course not quite the case. Mascot launched only 6 months after Philae landed, that's not enough to add stuff like that.

The lessons learned were to go on Mascot-2, which was being designed back then for the AIM mission to asteroid Didymos. Mascot 2 was to have the self-righting mechanism of Mascot-1, but a solar panel folded onto its body - which would yield some protection during a rough bounce landing (like Philae had) and would be able to be deployed after the self-righting mechanism had brought it into a position where it could actually use it. Planned operating time was 3 months.

Mascot-2 was removed from the mission when AIM was downspecced to "Hera", which doesn't have a surface mission but instead carries a pair of cubesats for orbital operations that take up about the same space/weight on the carrier spacecraft.

Daryk

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I hadn't seen YouTube videos like this before, but wow! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpUcZXiKtfU

rebs

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Awesome video.  I appreciate seeing that much curvature. 
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rebs

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I love this image taken by Hubble.  It shows the N44 nebula and the stary gap "bubble" toward the center.  No one knows for sure how it was formed, but the effect is stunning.

Read more about it in the following link...

https://scitechdaily.com/mysterious-superbubble-hollows-out-nebula-in-stunning-new-hubble-image/amp/
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Maingunnery

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Space looks downright dusty in that image.  8)
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rebs

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I know!  It highlights how clear the "super bubble" is.
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Wrangler

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Hopefully, Hubble will recover from it's latest issues.  Despite the Webb telecope going up soon, it doesn't quite cover things Hubble can do.
"Men, fetch the Urbanmechs.  We have an interrogation to attend to." - jklantern
"How do you defeat a Dragau? Shoot the damn thing. Lots." - Jellico 
"No, it's a "Most Awesome Blues Brothers scene Reenactment EVER" waiting to happen." VotW Destrier - Weirdo  
"It's 200 LY to Sian, we got a full load of shells, a half a platoon of Grenadiers, it's exploding outside, and we're wearing flak jackets." VoTW Destrier - Misterpants
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Wrangler

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Sounds like the Parker Solar probe having a bumpy ride. The probe is now as of 2020 the fastest object in the solar system. An article as posted by CNET, saying the probe being bombard by the dust, the impacts against's shield is resulting in plasma explosions as its speeding towards the sun.


"Men, fetch the Urbanmechs.  We have an interrogation to attend to." - jklantern
"How do you defeat a Dragau? Shoot the damn thing. Lots." - Jellico 
"No, it's a "Most Awesome Blues Brothers scene Reenactment EVER" waiting to happen." VotW Destrier - Weirdo  
"It's 200 LY to Sian, we got a full load of shells, a half a platoon of Grenadiers, it's exploding outside, and we're wearing flak jackets." VoTW Destrier - Misterpants
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rebs

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Fingers crossed for the Parker Solar Probe, for Lucy, and for the JWST.
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"Thou shalt not create a machine in the image of the human mind." ~ The Orange Catholic Bible, Dune, Frank Herbert

Sabelkatten

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Dang. 163kps. That's moving!

Daryk

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Well, "moving" for objects above some arbitrary size...  ^-^

rebs

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Seems that the International Space Station had to perform an emergency maneuver yesterday in order to avoid some orbiting space junk.  The ISS was only in mild danger of collision, but the crew took no chances.

https://gizmodo.com/space-station-will-make-an-emergency-maneuver-after-det-1848031344/amp
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Daryk

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Ah, ASAT tests... the gifts that keep on giving...  ::)

Wrangler

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Crew-3 docked with Station last night. It was late but there seem to be something going on after they docked.
"Men, fetch the Urbanmechs.  We have an interrogation to attend to." - jklantern
"How do you defeat a Dragau? Shoot the damn thing. Lots." - Jellico 
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worktroll

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Near-Earth asteroid is a fragment from the moon

Fascinating enough, but it's the "when"- right down the bottom - that gets me.
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rebs

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Wow!  That's pretty recent, even by human reckoning. 
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