SpaceX capsule back on Earth, paving way for new manned US flights

Will this help drum up any more business on campus?

NASA reveals secrets of Ultima Thule, the prehistoric space pancake

The farthest space rock ever explored is like nothing we've seen before:

Apparently the pieces merged at close to walking speed. That is really cool.

(03-19-2019 12:47 PM)uconnbaseball Wrote:  Apparently the pieces merged at close to walking speed. That is really cool.

Gravity is fun

In astrophysics milestone, first photo of black hole expected Wednesday

(04-06-2019 02:38 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  In astrophysics milestone, first photo of black hole expected Wednesday

Neat stuff! Last week I was so intrigued by this upcoming announcement that I wrote a little article about it on LinkedIn:

Big Science announcement: the first images of a black hole

Also related:
https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/eht_black_hole_picture.png

(04-06-2019 02:38 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  In astrophysics milestone, first photo of black hole expected Wednesday

No need to wait till Wednesday. Anyone who was at Reckling today saw a black hole.

(04-06-2019 06:19 PM)georgewebb Wrote:  

(04-06-2019 02:38 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  In astrophysics milestone, first photo of black hole expected Wednesday

Neat stuff! Last week I was so intrigued by this upcoming announcement that I wrote a little article about it on LinkedIn:

Big Science announcement: the first images of a black hole

Drawn out of darkness: Astronomers unveil first-ever image of a black hole



everything you need to know about the Black Hole...




trailer...

(04-10-2019 08:50 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  

(04-06-2019 06:19 PM)georgewebb Wrote:  

(04-06-2019 02:38 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  In astrophysics milestone, first photo of black hole expected Wednesday

Neat stuff! Last week I was so intrigued by this upcoming announcement that I wrote a little article about it on LinkedIn:

Big Science announcement: the first images of a black hole

Drawn out of darkness: Astronomers unveil first-ever image of a black hole

That looks remarkably like images of other astronomical objects that I had analyzed. And many of the pictures of my kids when they were young, but I was never a talented photographer.

NASA Wants to Send a Low-Cost Mission to Explore Neptune’s Moon Triton

Quote:In the coming years, NASA has some bold plans to build on the success of the New Horizons mission...
Posted on April 16, 2019 by Matt Williams
NASA Wants to Send a Low-Cost Mission to Explore Neptune’s Moon Triton

In the coming years, NASA has some bold plans to build on the success of the New Horizons mission. Not only did this spacecraft make history by conducting the first-ever flyby of Pluto in 2015, it has since followed up on that by making the first encounter in history with a Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) – 2014 MU69 (aka. Ultima Thule).

Given the wealth of data and stunning images that resulted from these events (which NASA scientists are still processing), other similarly-ambitious missions to explore the outer Solar System are being considered. For example, there is the proposal for the Trident spacecraft, a Discovery-class mission that would reveal things about Neptune’s largest moon, Triton...The idea calls for a spacecraft powered by a Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG) battery that would fit under the Discovery Program‘s cost gap.

I need to get some of those batteries to replace the ones that keep running out around the house!

(04-21-2019 05:19 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  

NASA Wants to Send a Low-Cost Mission to Explore Neptune’s Moon Triton

Quote:In the coming years, NASA has some bold plans to build on the success of the New Horizons mission...
Posted on April 16, 2019 by Matt Williams
NASA Wants to Send a Low-Cost Mission to Explore Neptune’s Moon Triton

In the coming years, NASA has some bold plans to build on the success of the New Horizons mission. Not only did this spacecraft make history by conducting the first-ever flyby of Pluto in 2015, it has since followed up on that by making the first encounter in history with a Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) – 2014 MU69 (aka. Ultima Thule).

Given the wealth of data and stunning images that resulted from these events (which NASA scientists are still processing), other similarly-ambitious missions to explore the outer Solar System are being considered. For example, there is the proposal for the Trident spacecraft, a Discovery-class mission that would reveal things about Neptune’s largest moon, Triton...The idea calls for a spacecraft powered by a Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG) battery that would fit under the Discovery Program‘s cost gap.

I need to get some of those batteries to replace the ones that keep running out around the house!

You realize those are typically fueled by plutonium, right? The cost of acquiring them is typically pretty high, and usually involves one or two decades of pretty sever sanctions.

(04-22-2019 04:23 PM)I45owl Wrote:  

(04-21-2019 05:19 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  NASA Wants to Send a Low-Cost Mission to Explore Neptune’s Moon Triton

Quote:In the coming years, NASA has some bold plans to build on the success of the New Horizons mission. ... The idea calls for a spacecraft powered by a Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG) battery that would fit under the Discovery Program‘s cost gap.

I need to get some of those batteries to replace the ones that keep running out around the house!

You realize those are typically fueled by plutonium, right? The cost of acquiring them is typically pretty high, and usually involves one or two decades of pretty sever sanctions.

... which means that they would cost you an arm and a leg ... but with the wounds artfully sutured.

:-)

(04-22-2019 04:39 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  

(04-22-2019 04:23 PM)I45owl Wrote:  

(04-21-2019 05:19 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  NASA Wants to Send a Low-Cost Mission to Explore Neptune’s Moon Triton

Quote:In the coming years, NASA has some bold plans to build on the success of the New Horizons mission. ... The idea calls for a spacecraft powered by a Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG) battery that would fit under the Discovery Program‘s cost gap.

I need to get some of those batteries to replace the ones that keep running out around the house!

You realize those are typically fueled by plutonium, right? The cost of acquiring them is typically pretty high, and usually involves one or two decades of pretty sever sanctions.

... which means that they would cost you an arm and a leg ... but with the wounds artfully sutured.

:-)

Why, I'd give my left arm for one of those...Still can throw my curve with my right. yeah, I thought it was interesting they are trying to send some of these relatively low-cost ships out to places like Triton. I remember seeing the Voyager grand tour reveal so much when I was younger. Kids today just always have all these clear pictures and data available...it was a smaller solar system in many ways back then...Wonder what we'll have discovered in 100, 200 and 300 more years?

(04-22-2019 06:55 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  

(04-22-2019 04:39 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  

(04-22-2019 04:23 PM)I45owl Wrote:  

(04-21-2019 05:19 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  NASA Wants to Send a Low-Cost Mission to Explore Neptune’s Moon Triton

Quote:In the coming years, NASA has some bold plans to build on the success of the New Horizons mission. ... The idea calls for a spacecraft powered by a Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG) battery that would fit under the Discovery Program‘s cost gap.

I need to get some of those batteries to replace the ones that keep running out around the house!

You realize those are typically fueled by plutonium, right? The cost of acquiring them is typically pretty high, and usually involves one or two decades of pretty sever sanctions.

... which means that they would cost you an arm and a leg ... but with the wounds artfully sutured.

:-)

Why, I'd give my left arm for one of those...Still can throw my curve with my right. yeah, I thought it was interesting they are trying to send some of these relatively low-cost ships out to places like Triton. I remember seeing the Voyager grand tour reveal so much when I was younger. Kids today just always have all these clear pictures and data available...it was a smaller solar system in many ways back then...Wonder what we'll have discovered in 100, 200 and 300 more years?

Uhh we don't have that long. Global Warming.

(04-22-2019 04:39 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  

(04-22-2019 04:23 PM)I45owl Wrote:  

(04-21-2019 05:19 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  NASA Wants to Send a Low-Cost Mission to Explore Neptune’s Moon Triton

Quote:In the coming years, NASA has some bold plans to build on the success of the New Horizons mission. ... The idea calls for a spacecraft powered by a Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG) battery that would fit under the Discovery Program‘s cost gap.

I need to get some of those batteries to replace the ones that keep running out around the house!

You realize those are typically fueled by plutonium, right? The cost of acquiring them is typically pretty high, and usually involves one or two decades of pretty sever sanctions.

... which means that they would cost you an arm and a leg ... but with the wounds artfully sutured.

:-)

ugh. At least it was actually a word, and spelt properly...

The mission of a lifetime: a drone on Titan in 2034

Launch scheduled for 2026.

Quote:Dragonfly, which will serve as a mini-chemistry laboratory, will fly from one site to another for years, searching for complex carbon-based molecules -- what researchers call life's building blocks.

The 1,300-pound (590 kilogram) drone won't land on Titan -- nearly one billion miles (1.6 billion kilometers) from Earth, until 2034.

(07-08-2019 09:01 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  The mission of a lifetime: a drone on Titan in 2034

Launch scheduled for 2026.

Quote:Dragonfly, which will serve as a mini-chemistry laboratory, will fly from one site to another for years, searching for complex carbon-based molecules -- what researchers call life's building blocks.

The 1,300-pound (590 kilogram) drone won't land on Titan -- nearly one billion miles (1.6 billion kilometers) from Earth, until 2034.

Very cool!

‘Ultima Thule’ no more: New Horizons’ space snowman is named Arrokoth

Quote:The snowman-shaped object that NASA’s New Horizons probe flew past nearly a year ago on the solar system’s icy fringe now has a Native American name: Arrokoth, a word that means “sky” in the Powhatan/Algonquian language.

NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft beamed back unprecedented data from interstellar space. It indicates a mysterious extra layer outside our solar system.