Science and Technology Thread

[Shyster]

Could be. I only pretend to be a rocket engineer, but I've watched a whole lot of YouTube videos of rockets blowing up, and I've never seen any failure quite like this one. It wasn't the engines, it wasn't a loss of control, it wasn't the stage that was actually working at the time, it wasn't at a point in flight with high levels of stress (although the rate of acceleration would be pretty high that close to staging), and it wasn't during staging itself.

Some theories from the space forums I read:
- The Dragon was carrying a fairly heavy (roughly one ton) docking adaptor in its unpressurized "trunk." If that came loose somehow, it could have fallen onto the top of the second-stage LOX tank and punctured it.
- A helium tank could have failed, and the pressure from the helium could have overpressurized the LOX tank and ruptured it. But one would think that failure would be apparent from the telemetry.

[Shyster]

Looks like a flawless launch earlier today for the Progress M-28 resupply mission to the ISS. If this mission had encountered problems, then NASA and Roscosmos would have needed to decrew the ISS due to lack of food and other supplies. Progress 28 is carrying more than two metric tons of compressed oxygen, spare parts, equipment for science experiments, medical supplies, and personal belongings and food for the crew. The Progress vehicles also carry the propellant that is used to periodically reboost the ISS's orbit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnbvWdsY0no

[obhave]

My first 1st author paper has been officially published

In other news:
"Black hole has cosmic burp"
http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150702 ... osmic-burp

[shafnutz05]

When will the next launch at Wallops be?

[Shyster]

My first 1st author paper has been officially published

Congrats!

When will the next launch at Wallops be?

The tentative date for the ORB-5 mission is March 30, 2016. The repairs on the pad are underway, and I believe Orbital might already be in possession of the new RD-181 engines they ordered from the Russians. In the meantime, Oribital is going to launch one of their Cygnus cargo vehicles on an Atlas V rocket, and that mission is currently scheduled for December.

[columbia]

https://instagram.com/p/48nt_oN7P2/?tak ... inasenicar

[columbia]

Rising temperatures due to climate change are latest threat to bumblebees
http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencen ... story.html

[count2infinity]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqA42M4RtxE

[tifosi77]

[columbia]

This week's NOVA is about the Pluto fly by.

[shafnutz05]

Pluto and Charon on approach:



Pluto close up:



Wow (mountains approximately 11,000 feet high for scale):

[Sam's Drunk Dog]

[LITT]

man, remember when pluto was a planet?

[Sam's Drunk Dog]

NASA on Thursday announced the discovery of Kepler-452b, the most Earth-like planet ever found.

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/na ... 1140b14b86

[shmenguin]

NASA on Thursday announced the discovery of Kepler-452b, the most Earth-like planet ever found.

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/na ... 1140b14b86

i don't know how this all works...would any of these telescopes be able to see satellites/space stations orbiting these planets, or is that too detailed?

[Sam's Drunk Dog]

NASA on Thursday announced the discovery of Kepler-452b, the most Earth-like planet ever found.

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/na ... 1140b14b86

i don't know how this all works...would any of these telescopes be able to see satellites/space stations orbiting these planets, or is that too detailed?

From the article, "the Kepler mission searches for Earth-like planets by looking for a dip in the brightness of stars, which indicates a planet is passing between the star and the telescope", so to me that means they don't really "see" the planets so much as they detect them and calculate their size, mass, etc. Based on that I doubt they are able to detect something as small as a satellite or a moon for that matter.

[Freddy Rumsen]

There are a lot of people on Twitter unaware that the picture in the article is not a photo.

[Sam's Drunk Dog]

[Sam's Drunk Dog]

How paralyzed patients are able to stand again

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/24/health/pa ... ODtopPhoto

[Avyran]

The New Horizons probe has discovered nitrogen glaciers on Pluto.

Pluto's atmosphere is replenished by ices that sublimate off its surface. New Horizons has identified three major types of ice—nitrogen, methane, and carbon monoxide—all within the bright 'heart' feature called Tombaugh Regio.

Nearby, close-up images of the edges of fractured plains called Sputnik Planum reveal the nitrogen glaciers. At Pluto's frigid temperatures—about -235 °C, 38 degrees above absolute zero—water ice is too brittle to flow. But nitrogen can, which means the features must be made of nitrogen, says William McKinnon, a team member and a planetary scientist at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri. “To see evidence for recent geological activity is really a dream come true,” he adds.

[Freddy Rumsen]

The New Horizons probe has discovered nitrogen glaciers on Pluto.

Pluto's atmosphere is replenished by ices that sublimate off its surface. New Horizons has identified three major types of ice—nitrogen, methane, and carbon monoxide—all within the bright 'heart' feature called Tombaugh Regio.

Nearby, close-up images of the edges of fractured plains called Sputnik Planum reveal the nitrogen glaciers. At Pluto's frigid temperatures—about -235 °C, 38 degrees above absolute zero—water ice is too brittle to flow. But nitrogen can, which means the features must be made of nitrogen, says William McKinnon, a team member and a planetary scientist at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri. “To see evidence for recent geological activity is really a dream come true,” he adds.

This is too cool.

[columbia]

This week's NOVA is about the Pluto fly by.

Finally watched this.

[tifosi77]

SpaceShipTwo 'Pilot Was Thrown From The Vehicle' High In Atmosphere

Siebold's survival was seen as something of a miracle. And new details from the NTSB only support that idea. The agency released Siebold's version of what happened, summarizing an interview it conducted with him that touches on everything from his normal pre-flight routine to what he could recall about an accident that he somehow survived.

We're going to publish part of that summary below. First, we'll remind you that the pilot's injuries included four fractures to his right arm; a dislocated shoulder; a fractured right clavicle; and a fractured little toe, on his left foot. Siebold also had bruises on his face, chest and legs, along with a bloody gash in his right elbow. And because he was lacking a visor, at least two pieces of debris lodged in his eyes and his corneas were scratched. His eyesight "improved quickly almost immediately" after those problems were addressed, according to the report.

[columbia]

That private space thing is really taking off.

[tifosi77]

That's two pretty solid wordplay jokes for you today, sir.