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Dunno yet, they haven't said anything other than they got hold of it again after telling the rover to increase the length of time it waited for a signal.

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31 minutes ago, Cade said:

Dunno yet, they haven't said anything other than they got hold of it again after telling the rover to increase the length of time it waited for a signal.

 

Fingers crossed. It'd be frustrating if they can make contact with it but it's also permanently grounded.

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Just send someone in to turn it back on. :whistling: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

::troll::

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I don't think they expected it to last this long. If it's out of action well they proved this can be done in the thin Martian atmosphere which previously was uncertain, so all future rovers will probably carry one. Obviously makes sense, scout all around before telling the rover to move and how far to go.

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3 hours ago, JFK-1 said:

I don't think they expected it to last this long. If it's out of action well they proved this can be done in the thin Martian atmosphere which previously was uncertain, so all future rovers will probably carry one. Obviously makes sense, scout all around before telling the rover to move and how far to go.

 

They only expected it to make 2 or 3 flights. This was a bare-bones, proof-of-concept experiment.

The next one will be state of the art now that we know Martian flight is viable.

 

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20 minutes ago, Cade said:

 

They only expected it to make 2 or 3 flights. This was a bare-bones, proof-of-concept experiment.

The next one will be state of the art now that we know Martian flight is viable.

 

 

I'm thinking the next one should be able to scout out potentially interesting sites and independently map a precise course to the site taking it around any obstacles it then sends that data to the rover. 

Maybe even follow it then intervene in real time to stop it if something unexpected crops up. Obviously we can't do that with the I think it's a 20 minute lag between sending a signal and the signal reaching Mars. 

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One of Japan's rovers managed to get a good picture of the Lander.

It's supposed to be on its side but is resting on the roof instead.

Over-rotated on landing as it was on a slope!

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Mars copter is dead.

Damaged a rotor on landing last week when it lost contact.

 

:levein2: Designed for 5 test flights, made 72.

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Japanese have managed to regain contact with their SLIM lander using a lunar orbiter.

 

They're now planning what to do next to get the project back on track.

 

The two tiny wee rovers are both working fine.

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il Duce McTarkin
8 hours ago, Cade said:

Japanese have managed to regain contact with their SLIM lander using a lunar orbiter.

 

They're now planning what to do next to get the project back on track.

 

The two tiny wee rovers are both working fine.

 

Good stuff.

 

I'm really excited at the prospect of putting people back up there. I think the human race really needs it at the moment, tbh, on lots of levels.

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Jim_Duncan
8 hours ago, il Duce McTarkin said:

 

Good stuff.

 

I'm really excited at the prospect of putting people back up there. I think the human race really needs it at the moment, tbh, on lots of levels.

 

Lunar and Mars bases, akin to what we currently have in Antarctica, as a precursor to further exploration of space are pretty much the only hope that our species will not eat itself.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Been watching the live coverage of the attempted landing. The expected landing time has come and gone, but currently no communication with the lander. Though they say they expected this.

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Think they initially couldn't find it, got a UK ground station to search for it. Now they say they can confirm the lander is on the surface, it's transmitting but the signal is faint, they need to work to refine it but they think that will work out okay.

 

So it's down and broadcasting, good job. I have always said there is only one space superpower and it's the US by a long way.

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PortyJambo
11 hours ago, ehcaley said:

Not on Flightradar then?🤔

Had to land on the moon because of strong winds, right next to the flights that were diverted from Edinburgh airport during the storm...

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Lovecraft

Great job.  Well done to them all for nailing it.

 

I expect there to be some land allocated for student flats next week.  😉

 

 

 

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Lone Striker
17 hours ago, Homme said:

They have a faint signal I see. UK based telescope helping pick it up.

 

 

Yeah, and there's quite a spin-off for UK companies at the cutting edge of engineering, telecoms, instrumentation, robotics, automation, AI  etc  to win business from these private spacecraft companies, including  over 100 in Scotland. 

 

 It'll be a huge milestone if they detect water ice at some of these locations. 

 

Fascinating times.

 

 

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SpaceX are pencilling in a tentative "early March" date for the 3rd test launch of Starship.

 

They don't hang about. Still sticking to their "rapid testing, rapid development" ethos.

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Seems they have come down in a heavily cratered area suggested by NASA as a place to examine as one of the potential sites for the return of humans to the moon on the next Artemis mission.

 

Some of these craters are in permanent shade which is something I always thought they would be looking for. Keeps you out of the blistering heat of direct sunlight and there might be water ice in them. If there's water but only in some select locations that's obviously key. And might be a  future point of dispute when China try to get in on the act.

 

The targeted landing site was a cratered terrain next to a 5km-high mountain complex known as Malapert. It's the southernmost point on the Moon ever visited by a spacecraft, at 80 degrees South.

 

It's on the shortlist of locations where Nasa is considering sending astronauts later this decade as part of its Artemis programme.

 

There are some deep craters in this region that never see any sunlight - they're permanently in shadow - and scientists think frozen water could be inside them.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-68377730

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  • 3 weeks later...

Mid-day tomorrow 14th March (UK time) for a possible launch of SpaceX's third Starship test flight.

 

 

 

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All engines lit
Went up

Hot staging worked

Booster landed in ocean

Ship made it to orbit

Fuel transfer worked

Payload door opened and closed as it should

Re-entry began

Ship disintegrated during re-entry

 

Much, much better than the previous test which in turn was much, much better than the first one.

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Bigsmak
7 hours ago, Cade said:

All engines lit
Went up

Hot staging worked

Booster landed in ocean

Ship made it to orbit

Fuel transfer worked

Payload door opened and closed as it should

Re-entry began

Ship disintegrated during re-entry

 

Much, much better than the previous test which in turn was much, much better than the first one.

 

Hopefully it keeps getting better.. While I would love to go into space, there are many folk who I would love to just send away never to be seen again

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1 hour ago, Bigsmak said:

 

Hopefully it keeps getting better.. While I would love to go into space, there are many folk who I would love to just send away never to be seen again

The sooner Musk fecks off to play at being King of Mars the better.

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Musk is a giant prick but on one level I have to appreciate him for groundbreaking rocket research. Musk has money to burn and burning it on reusable rocket research in particular is massively helpful in the long term. Some might burn it on porn stars, not Musk.

 

He's a bona fide space pioneer but I don't see Musk or anybody for that matter taking a seat on a rocket to Mars anytime soon and this stage I see absolutely zero point in risking human life travelling to Mars.

 

There is probably little to no chance of colonising Mars this century while improving AI robots will be able to perform any preparatory research we might need.

 

The moon is the real race this century and Musks heavy lift rockets will help with that. Musk is more of a space superpower than China, they must spy the shit out of Musk and SpaceX 

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PortyJambo
6 hours ago, JFK-1 said:

Musk is more of a space superpower than China, they must spy the shit out of Musk and SpaceX 

They won't need to try very hard, he'll probably post tweets of all the secrets they would need to know!

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Scientists predict a rare nova explosion

 

The nova T Coronae Borealis explodes about once every 80 years.


While the world's attention has been focused on the total solar eclipse that will occur later this spring, the distant Corona Borealis binary system – which contains one dead white dwarf star and one ageing red giant star – has been busy gearing up for its own moment of glory: a spectacular nova explosion.

 

The rare cosmic event is expected to take place sometime before September 2024. When it occurs it will likely be visible to the naked eye. No expensive telescope will be needed to witness this spectacular cosmic performance, says Nasa.

 

FULL ARTICLE

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240322-visible-nova-explosion-is-coming

 

 

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henrysmithsgloves
49 minutes ago, JFK-1 said:

Scientists predict a rare nova explosion

 

The nova T Coronae Borealis explodes about once every 80 years.


While the world's attention has been focused on the total solar eclipse that will occur later this spring, the distant Corona Borealis binary system – which contains one dead white dwarf star and one ageing red giant star – has been busy gearing up for its own moment of glory: a spectacular nova explosion.

 

The rare cosmic event is expected to take place sometime before September 2024. When it occurs it will likely be visible to the naked eye. No expensive telescope will be needed to witness this spectacular cosmic performance, says Nasa.

 

FULL ARTICLE

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240322-visible-nova-explosion-is-coming

 

 

Hopefully when it happens we will have a clear sky,not holding my breath though,the joys of sky watching in Scotland 😞

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6 minutes ago, henrysmithsgloves said:

Hopefully when it happens we will have a clear sky,not holding my breath though,the joys of sky watching in Scotland 😞

 

I'm wondering how bright it will be. From ancient Chinese records, they were really good at recording stuff like this. This one they called a guest star because they had no idea what it was, to them it's another star that wasn't there before.

 

Quote

In late April 1006 AD a staggeringly bright “guest star” exploded into Earth’s skies in the constellation Lupus.

 

SN 1006 would have been around 16 times brighter than Venus.

 

That's real bright since Venus is typically the brightest object in the night sky aside from the moon. I'm guessing this will be nothing like that because that was a supernova and this is a nova, there's a difference.

 

A supernova is a giant star blasting itself to pieces, a nova only ever happens on the surface of a white dwarf when it's pulled a heap of hydrogen from a neighbouring star. I guess that's why this is so regular, like clockwork it takes that white dwarf 80 years to gather enough hydrogen for an outburst.

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hughesie27
5 hours ago, JFK-1 said:

 

I'm wondering how bright it will be. From ancient Chinese records, they were really good at recording stuff like this. This one they called a guest star because they had no idea what it was, to them it's another star that wasn't there before.

 

 

That's real bright since Venus is typically the brightest object in the night sky aside from the moon. I'm guessing this will be nothing like that because that was a supernova and this is a nova, there's a difference.

 

A supernova is a giant star blasting itself to pieces, a nova only ever happens on the surface of a white dwarf when it's pulled a heap of hydrogen from a neighbouring star. I guess that's why this is so regular, like clockwork it takes that white dwarf 80 years to gather enough hydrogen for an outburst.

What you'll see when the T CrB nova occurs

The T CrB star system normally has a visibility magnitude +10 in terms of brightness, according to Nasa. But when the upcoming T CrB nova eruption takes place, the visibility will jump significantly, up to what's known as a magnitude +2, which is far brighter than a +10. To put that into some context, a +2 is a similar level of brightness as the North Star, Polaris.

By the time that happens, T CrB will be visible to the naked eye.

Those hoping to see the nova display should look in the sky for the constellation Corona Borealis, or the Northern Crown – a small, semicircular arc near Bootes and Hercules, says Nasa. "This is where the outburst will appear as a 'new' bright star," the space agency explains.

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10 minutes ago, hughesie27 said:

What you'll see when the T CrB nova occurs

The T CrB star system normally has a visibility magnitude +10 in terms of brightness, according to Nasa. But when the upcoming T CrB nova eruption takes place, the visibility will jump significantly, up to what's known as a magnitude +2, which is far brighter than a +10. To put that into some context, a +2 is a similar level of brightness as the North Star, Polaris.

By the time that happens, T CrB will be visible to the naked eye.

Those hoping to see the nova display should look in the sky for the constellation Corona Borealis, or the Northern Crown – a small, semicircular arc near Bootes and Hercules, says Nasa. "This is where the outburst will appear as a 'new' bright star," the space agency explains.

 

It will be an interesting event, but i'm holding out for a really bright supernova. Something like SN 1006 which astronomers estimate to have been about 7,200 light years away. Which just reminded me again we're always looking back in time, which I find irritating but hey what can ya do, Einstein and all.

 

Egyptian astrologer and astronomer Ali ibn Ridwan, writing in a commentary on Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos, stated that the "spectacle was a large circular body, 21⁄2 to 3 times as large as Venus.

 

The sky was shining because of its light. The intensity of its light was a little more than a quarter that of Moon light" (or perhaps "than the light of the Moon when one-quarter illuminated")

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hughesie27
15 minutes ago, JFK-1 said:

 

It will be an interesting event, but i'm holding out for a really bright supernova. Something like SN 1006 which astronomers estimate to have been about 7,200 light years away. Which just reminded me again we're always looking back in time, which I find irritating but hey what can ya do, Einstein and all.

 

Egyptian astrologer and astronomer Ali ibn Ridwan, writing in a commentary on Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos, stated that the "spectacle was a large circular body, 21⁄2 to 3 times as large as Venus.

 

The sky was shining because of its light. The intensity of its light was a little more than a quarter that of Moon light" (or perhaps "than the light of the Moon when one-quarter illuminated")

Hopefully Beetlejuice goes around the time Beetlejuice 2 is out.

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10 minutes ago, hughesie27 said:

Hopefully Beetlejuice goes around the time Beetlejuice 2 is out.

 

Yeah that could be something else. I knew it was relatively close so just checked on it. For some reason they find it difficult to precisely judge the distance, but the estimate is between 400 to 600 light years. Considerably closer than the 7,200 SN 1006 originates from. That lit up the sky brighter than Venus.

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  • 2 weeks later...
henrysmithsgloves
7 hours ago, Kalamazoo Jambo said:


Heading down to Ohio on Monday to see the total eclipse :thumbsup:

 

😎😎

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Greedy Jambo

Here's a question, 

The moon is riddled with huge craters caused by meteors, comets etc,

Why isn't Earth?

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superjack
10 minutes ago, Greedy Jambo said:

Here's a question, 

The moon is riddled with huge craters caused by meteors, comets etc,

Why isn't Earth?

Erosion clears them and vegetation and water hide them.

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Generic Username
scottishguy
11 minutes ago, Greedy Jambo said:

Here's a question, 

The moon is riddled with huge craters caused by meteors, comets etc,

Why isn't Earth?

Earth has an atmosphere, so most objects burn up before impacting the earth.

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PortyJambo
20 minutes ago, Greedy Jambo said:

Here's a question, 

The moon is riddled with huge craters caused by meteors, comets etc,

Why isn't Earth?

There are craters on Earth but, as Superjack says, many are either eroded or covered by water, etc. Some are still visible though, as in below in Arizona. And Earth's atmosphere, as scottishguy says, will burn up many objects that would hit Earth and leave craters like on the Moon.

 

220px-Meteor_Crater_-_Arizona.jpg

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hughesie27
18 minutes ago, Greedy Jambo said:

So why does Nasa track Asteroids and comets? 

Because some are big enough not to burn up.

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If you could actually see all the impact sites on earth it would make the moon look smooth. Bigger target and greater gravitational attraction means the earth has been truly pounded then continually wiped clean 

 

There's a report from I think around the middle ages of people witnessing a large impact on the moon, that would be an interesting sight.

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