The Big Space Exploration Topic [21-08-2017: Total Solar Eclipse in the USA!]

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  • @Gustav_Graves Gustav, I have great respect for you and I know you are well respected upon this forum. I also acknowledged that this thread was created by you and therefore, you admire space travel. But my beliefs are my beliefs. A lot of the ideas of what space is that have been presented to us are mere fabrications. Let me be clear, I do not say space does not exist in and of itself, but moreover that space as we know it simply does not exist.
  • Posts: 11,119
    @Gustav_Graves Gustav, I have great respect for you and I know you are well respected upon this forum. I also acknowledged that this thread was created by you and therefore, you admire space travel. But my beliefs are my beliefs. A lot of the ideas of what space is that have been presented to us are mere fabrications. Let me be clear, I do not say space does not exist in and of itself, but moreover that space as we know it simply does not exist.

    First of all, I'm only respected by a small majority in here. Quite a lot of people in here hate me, despise me, and don't mind to see me leave the forum forever :-P.

    Secondly, what are stars for you then? Christmas lights?
  • @Gustav_Graves I am very sorry to hear that Gustav, you are a most fantastic man! Stars are stars. The moon isn't what we think it is though. And space. Well, I think space is a hallucination cast by lights and something our minds can't quite adapt to comprehend. Behind those layers is something quite wonderful, but maybe also quite dangerous.
  • Posts: 11,119
    @Gustav_Graves I am very sorry to hear that Gustav, you are a most fantastic man! Stars are stars. The moon isn't what we think it is though. And space. Well, I think space is a hallucination cast by lights and something our minds can't quite adapt to comprehend. Behind those layers is something quite wonderful, but maybe also quite dangerous.

    Well, I do agree with you that there's a lot of stuff out there that we can't possibly understand. And I think encountering and confronting that 'weirdness' is beautiful by itself. I don't get fearful by it.

    But even as we still don't know a lot about all of this, you can't possibly think that space is a 'hallucination cast by lights'?

    I mean, these are not hallucinations. These pictures are proof of all the beauty of our universe:

    Planet Mars last week:
    PIA20765.jpg

    The beautiful white spots of our dwarf planet Ceres:
    PIA20355.jpg

    And the 'nature' of another dwarf planet, Pluto:
    PIA20213.jpg
  • jake24jake24 Sitting at your desk, kissing your lover, eating supper with your familyModerator
    Posts: 10,591
    @Gustav_Graves I think I speak for most here when I say that you are a valued and respected member, and many of us, including myself, would hate to see you go.
  • @Gustav_Graves I agree with all of that, Gustav and yes, it does all look rather beautiful. But when I talk about the impossibility of space travel, I talk about trajectories, the math that means one could simply not land on another planet safely and even if by some miracle they did, they wouldn't be able to then again make it back. There's a lot that we can't see of space and therefore a lot that we can't understand.
  • Posts: 11,119
    @Gustav_Graves I agree with all of that, Gustav and yes, it does all look rather beautiful. But when I talk about the impossibility of space travel, I talk about trajectories, the math that means one could simply not land on another planet safely and even if by some miracle they did, they wouldn't be able to then again make it back. There's a lot that we can't see of space and therefore a lot that we can't understand.

    Didn't they say that once about the Moon?
  • @Gustav_Graves I'm not ruling out that one day it may well be possible. But as I've said, I think we're at the very basic stages of space travel and what can be done and seen with space. When you look at all that went on with the race to be first on the moon between America and the Russians, it's absolutely fascinating.
  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 8,264
    @Gustav_Graves I agree with all of that, Gustav and yes, it does all look rather beautiful. But when I talk about the impossibility of space travel, I talk about trajectories, the math that means one could simply not land on another planet safely and even if by some miracle they did, they wouldn't be able to then again make it back. There's a lot that we can't see of space and therefore a lot that we can't understand.

    May I invite you to start studying math, before you proclaim we're not capable of calculating these things? It's too easy saying 'no'to things like this without learning yourself.

    Have you ever been on an airline? Have you ever tried to lift one of those planes off of the ground with your bare hands? Isn't it impossible that they fly?

    Science is not about 'beliefs'. They just don't come into it. You may doubt an outcome, but that has nothing to do with beliefs.

    Science is allabout trying, and we've come far further then you seem to want to aknowledge. But you can find out for yourself. Visit a family of one of the austonauts up there in the ISS, see him come down. Look him in the eye and then see if he's part of an elaborate setup.

    In the meantime, check out this for pure awesomeness:



  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    It s more likely the other way around. People have been teleported to Mars bases for half a century. The more advanced technology is reserved for secret projects.
  • Posts: 11,119
    Welcome in today's society. I wouldn't be surprised if even Donald Trump makes a topic like this ridiculous.
  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 8,264
    Werll it's a bit late for that, the events should've occured in 2003 en 2012. So it's fair they yanked it off the curriculum. Or it should've bene in the 'history that didn't happen'class.
  • Some stunning new pictures from NASA's Juno probe, who is now making pictures (and measurements) in an orbit around Jupiter. These pictures are from the north pole region, and show a much more grey-ish, blue-ish color:

    PIA21032.jpg
    PIA21031.jpg
    PIA20895.jpg
    PIA21034.jpg

    Also, NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover keeps surprising us with stunning new pictures. These are the so called 'Murray Buttes', which were carved this way by thousands of years of wind erosion....and perhaps water erosion:

    PIA20765.jpg
    PIA21041.jpg
    PIA21042.jpg
    PIA21044.jpg
    PIA21043.jpg
    PIA21045.jpg

    Make no mistake, NASA is damn serious about getting to Mars before 2040. Earlier this month, NASA announced that it will be launching a monster rocket called the Space Launch System as its first launch in this mission. First testflight of this SLS rocket will be in September 2018. These charts give you an idea how....insanely big these rockets are:

    and-heres-how-the-sls-compares-to-its-predecessors-1-610x763.jpg
    the-first-version-of-sls-610x458.jpg
    heres-a-piece-by-piece-break-down-of-the-70t-sls-1-610x458.jpg



    Don't forget that NASA's Cassini probe is still in orbit around Saturn and is still making flyby pictures of the mysterious moon Titan. This is another picture of the wonderful ethane/methane seas (and rivers) of Titan. The sea is named 'Ligeia Mare':

    PIA20021.jpg

    And the latest picture from NASA's Dawn probe, which is orbiting the sweet little dwarf planet Ceres. On this picture you see the enormous ice volcano 'Ahuna Mons'. It has a height of more than 5,500 m:

    PIA20915.jpg

    Last week NASA also released some more pictures from the south polar methane snowcaps on Pluto. Watch the strange rusty colors of methane deposits. The New Horizons Probe is still relaying pictures:

    PIA21025.jpg
    PIA21026.jpg
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,183
    Those images are amazing, @Gustav_Graves! Thank you.
  • DarthDimi wrote: »
    Those images are amazing, @Gustav_Graves! Thank you.

    I recently came to the conclusion....that it's much better to steer away from the 'Next American President Topic' and focus on the most positive achievements of human civilization :-)
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    Stunning pictures. I loved astronomy since I was a little kid.
  • JohnHammond73JohnHammond73 Lancashire, UK
    Posts: 4,151
    Outstanding pictures.
  • jake24jake24 Sitting at your desk, kissing your lover, eating supper with your familyModerator
    Posts: 10,591
    Thank you for providing those beautiful pictures, @Gustav_Graves.
  • edited September 2016 Posts: 11,119
    Thanks guys ;-).

    Sometimes I really would like to be on Mars now :-). Being alone there. In a space suit. Discovering some new life and stuff like that :-). That's what drives many of my hobbies and work.

    I think you guys will therefore love Erik Wernquist's video as well. Narrated by an author I admire, Carl Sagan:

  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    Very cool. Thanks.
  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 8,264
    @Gustav compltely agree! Amazing pictures, thank you! Cool vid too. Sagan is a legend. (and this absolutely is better then the American Idiot- eh presidential elections thread. ;-)
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,183
    Carl Sagan was a science master.
    And that video sure is a master piece.
  • Let's go to Saturn's moon Europa with our own ship tomorrow. And let's male a buddy event out of it hehehe
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,800
    This thread is stellar!!!!
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,351
    Mars is starting to look like Delta Vega.
    latest?cb=20070121084650
  • edited September 2016 Posts: 11,119
    Have a look at this stunning compilation video of NASA's Juno probestravelling to Jupiter's poles:



    From 1min 30sec and onwards it gets dramatic. It also shows that the orbit of the Juno probe is very much elliptical with farthest and closest approaches of Jupiter during one whole orbit.
  • Posts: 11,119
    Did NO ONE see this video? :-O

  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,183
    I used it in class! :)
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    I saw it. Very cool.
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