Space stuff thread

[z3r010]

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SpaceX will apparently attempt something truly epic during next week's cargo launch to the International Space Station.
During the Dec. 16 launch from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, which will send SpaceX's robotic Dragon capsule toward the orbiting lab, the California-based company will try to bring the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket back to Earth for a controlled landing on a floating platform in the Atlantic Ocean.

SpaceX Will Try to Land Rocket on Floating Platform Next Week

 

[ThrashZone]

Landing a rocket on a ship will indeed be interesting to see
Something tells me it will be more like a barge and probably empty

 

[essenbe]

I have to say, I'll be quite impressed.

 

[z3r010]

And when NASA are not putting rockets into space......

 

[Anak]

Landing a rocket on a ship will indeed be interesting to see
Something tells me it will be more like a barge and probably empty

You can see it if you go to: https://twitter.com/elonmusk/media It looks like a re-purposed Oil platform. I'd be impressed also!

Nice vid John!
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/media

 

[z3r010]

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[Anak]

Tonight's the Night for the Annual Geminid Meteor Shower!

Tonight Saturday the 13th and tomorrow night Sunday the 14th from midnight to dawn.

Dec. 12, 2014: December has arrived, and for backyard sky watchers that means one thing: It is time for the annual Geminid meteor shower. Every year in early December, Earth passes through a stream of gravelly, dusty debris from "rock comet" 3200 Phaethon. This causes a meteor shower that sometimes lasts more than two weeks.

"This year's Geminid meteor shower will peak on Dec. 13th and 14th with as many as 120 meteors per hour," predicts Bill Cooke, head of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. "I'm looking forward to a good display."

Source: Embers from a Rock Comet - NASA Science

​

For our European members:
Society for Popular Astronomy - 2014 Geminids and Ursids

Australian:
Astroblog: Geminid Meteor Shower 14-15 December 2014

Viewers all over the world can see this display of meteors. The only continent where the display is invisible is Antarctica. From there the radiant never rises above the horizon plus daylight lasts 24 hours this time of year. Viewers in the northern hemisphere have a distinct advantage as the nights are longer plus the Geminid radiant rises higher into the sky.

Observers in Australia, Southern Africa, and South America can best see Geminid activity near 0200 LST or 0300 local daylight saving time, when the radiant lies highest in their northern sky.

I will be happy to answer any questions you have concerning the Geminids. Before you ask please note that these meteors can be seen from anywhere north of Antarctica and that the best time to watch is between 10pm and 2am local standard time, no matter your location.

Source: Viewing the Geminid Meteor Shower in 2014 | American Meteor Society

Related Links for Live Viewing:

Live Telescope & Astronomy Shows of Stars & the Cosmos | Slooh

Virtual Telescope’s WebTV | virtualtelescope.eu

To report your sightings:

International Meteor Organization

 

[Anak]

Rosetta Reignites Debate on Earth's Oceans

Water, water everywhere...

Dec. 14, 2014: Where did our planet get its oceans? Among planetary scientists, this is one of the most important and perplexing questions about the origins of Earth. One popular theory holds that water was brought to Earth by the ancient impacts of comets and asteroids. However, new data from the European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft indicate that terrestrial water did not come from comets like 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The findings were published Dec. 10th in the journal Science......

.......The key to determining where the water originated is in its isotopic “flavor.” That is, by measuring the level of deuterium – a heavier form of hydrogen. By comparing the ratio of deuterium to hydrogen in different objects, scientists can identify where in the solar system that object originated. And by comparing the D/H ratio, in Earth’s oceans with that in other bodies, scientists can aim to identify the origin of our water.

Source: Rosetta Reignites Debate on Earth's Oceans - NASA Science

 

[Arelem]

Tonight Saturday the 13th and tomorrow night Sunday the 14th from midnight to dawn.

Dec. 12, 2014: December has arrived, and for backyard sky watchers that means one thing: It is time for the annual Geminid meteor shower. Every year in early December, Earth passes through a stream of gravelly, dusty debris from "rock comet" 3200 Phaethon. This causes a meteor shower that sometimes lasts more than two weeks.

"This year's Geminid meteor shower will peak on Dec. 13th and 14th with as many as 120 meteors per hour," predicts Bill Cooke, head of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. "I'm looking forward to a good display."

Source: Embers from a Rock Comet - NASA Science

As usual when there is some sort of cool night sky event, Chicago was socked in with heavy cloud cover.

 

[z3r010]

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[ThrashZone]

Mars has goffers

 

[Arelem]

Mars has goffers

Nah, I think its marmots

 

[z3r010]

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[Anak]

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A blaze of glory!

In reference to your tweet about Gordon Lightfoot......




btw....I'm open to anyone that would like to share the experience of the US eclipse in 2017, but you'll have to put up with my harmonica playing.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Mars has goffers

That should be golfers Mike :roflmao:

 

[Stephanie]

Mars has goffers

Nah, I think its marmots

Mouses

 

[A Guy]

Meeses

A Guy

 

[Kari]

How We ”Email” Hardware To Space

My colleagues and I just 3D-printed a ratcheting socket wrench on the International Space Station by typing some commands on our computer in California.

We had overheard ISS Commander Barry Wilmore (who goes by “Butch”) mention over the radio that he needed one, so we designed one in CAD and sent it up to him faster than a rocket ever could have. This is the first time we’ve ever “emailed” hardware to space.

Full story: https://medium.com/backchannel/how-we-email-hardware-to-space-7d46eed00c98

 

[Kari]

Read more: NASA Study Proposes Airships, Cloud Cities for Venus Exploration - IEEE Spectrum

 

[z3r010]

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