Space News

J Randall Murphy

J Randall Murphy

Trying To Stay Awake
nivek said:

View: https://vimeo.com/955650921
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Interesting — but checking further, it's still theoretical, lots of "might have" and "maybe" in the articles, as well as no precise position of the Sun ( yet ). It's all based on modelling and assumptions along with current day observations that have to be extrapolated backwards in time.

Let's not forget that the animation isn't accurate either. Not only is the scale way off, but Earth orbits the Sun, so it wouldn't be outside the Heliosphere on the leading side the whole time that the solar system was passing through the alleged cloud. Some of the time Earth would be protected by the Sun plowing a path through the cloud ahead of it.
 
nivek

nivek

As Above So Below

Elon Musk has been tasked with destroying the space station in 2030​

NASA has assigned the task of decommissioning the iconic orbital platform to none other than Elon Musk. It's difficult to believe that it has been 25 years since the first module of the International Space Station was launched. A shining beacon of hope, technological advancement and international co-operation, the ISS has remained a fixture of humankind's off-world ambitions for almost three decades. Like all good things, however, the space station will soon come to an end.

NASA has this week selected Elon Musk's company SpaceX to develop a new type of "tug" vehicle costing $843 million that will be used to drag the entire space station back down to terrra firma. This "de-commissioning" of the station will take place in 2030.

"Selecting a US De-orbit Vehicle for the International Space Station (ISS) will help NASA and its international partners ensure a safe and responsible transition in low Earth orbit at the end of station operations," said Ken Bowersox, NASA's director of space operations. "This decision also supports NASA's plans for future commercial destinations and allows for the continued use of space near Earth."

By the time the ISS is gone, it is likely that private firms will be in the process of launching their own commercial space stations into Earth's orbit. NASA and its partners will also be moving to build a new space station in orbit around the Moon as part of efforts to enable manned space exploration of the lunar surface and beyond.

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pigfarmer

pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
Remember where you were ?

My brother and I were kids up on summer vacation at Lake George, NY and I remember hearing it on the radio.
 
pigfarmer

pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
Poop. Where Man Boldly Goes. Another way to consider that phrase, eh? I don't think that was what Captain Kirk was talking about though.

That's part of what they left on the Moon's face. Impolite, really, but necessary.

The sanitary arrangements were said to look like a plastic top hat. An adhesive brim created an .... ass gasket.

Historical relics.
 
nivek

nivek

As Above So Below

Scientists have spotted unexpected X- and C-shaped structures in the atmosphere. They are struggling to explain them ​

Each day, radio signals from key communications and navigation satellites travel freely through a layer of Earth’s atmosphere known as the ionosphere. Floating 50 to 400 miles (80 to 643 kilometers) above our heads, directly beneath the lowest reaches of space where some communications satellites orbit, this zone in the upper atmosphere is also home to many unsolved puzzles — including an alphabet-shaped one that has the potential to thwart all that those radio signals do to keep life on our planet running smoothly.

Astronomers have known for some time that X-shaped crestlike formations can appear in the ionosphere’s plasma — a sea of charged particles — after solar storms. Volcanic events and extreme weather on Earth can also cause the phenomenon. Huge eruptions, such as the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai eruption in January 2022, loft particles into Earth’s atmosphere that even reach space. Thunderstorms and hurricanes can create pressure waves that find their way to the ionosphere.

Meanwhile, at night during these active periods, when the sun’s radiation isn’t as strong, is also when low-density bubbles appear in the ionosphere. Satellite data hasn’t always been able to capture the full picture of what’s occurring in the ionosphere, but NASA’s GOLD mission has a bird’s-eye view of the atmospheric layer over the Western Hemisphere from space, revealing how different factors cause disturbances in the ionosphere.

Now, astronomers looking at data collected by the GOLD mission have found similar features shaped like Xs and never-before-seen Cs that surprisingly seem to have appeared during “quiet times” when there were no atmospheric disturbances, according to new research. The findings are upending what’s known about how the unusual structures might form and their potential impacts.

The mission’s data is helping scientists to see “how complex Earth’s atmosphere is” while showing that it’s more variable than expected, even when there isn’t an obvious cause behind the alphabet-shaped disturbances in the ionosphere, said Jeffrey Klenzing, a research scientist who studies the ionosphere at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

“I would suspect that it’s always been happening,” he said. “And really the issue has basically been that we haven’t had enough data to really see that it is happening.” Gaining a better understanding of the letter-shaped phenomena may help scientists unlock the dynamics between the ionosphere and weather — and how the interplay may pose risks to people and systems on Earth.

(More on the link)

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