The Pod Bay

PearsonArtPhoto

12:06 AM

I think I might have something really close. The C3 energy matches at least...

Mazura

12:23 AM

Does it still have the batteries in it?

PearsonArtPhoto

12:36 AM

The batteries should have given out about 16 hours ago.

instagram.com/p/Be6VZEzgAEk

Last picture

geoffc

@tiamaria68uk Plus a towel and a sign saying “Don’t Panic”

Tweeted by elonmusk on December 8, 2017 at 5:37 AM in reply to elonmusk

There is a towel on board!!!!!!!

PearsonArtPhoto

Saw the question...

Mazura

Oh, so it still had its factory installed bats, but ran dry in 16 hours because it was transmitting? I'd have to assume you can listen to the radio for like a week in one of those...

geoffc

@Mazura The 60Kwh battery pack from Tesla was probably not in use, or at least removed. I suspect Elon's Roadster got the R80 upgrade to an 80 Kwh pack, which required an old pack to replace the batteries in and rebuild, almost by hand. So I suspect they kept the battery pack on earth.

PearsonArtPhoto

I'm getting close, but it doesn't quite match...

Mazura

12:48 AM

@geoffc - Lame. I haven't looked all that hard but I didn't find any chatter about if they're still in there.

Isn't that like half the weight of the car? ... or more

PearsonArtPhoto

There was plenty of spare capacity on this flight.

Mazura

What's the refit cost compared to the STS? And if it's astoundingly less, what advances drove that?

geoffc

@ReactingToAngularVues I went back and added some content to peoples responses. Interestingly this site seems hesitant to edit and add to other peoples answers... Wonder why that is.

Mazura

Rep.

geoffc

1:03 AM

@Mazura I know. But still... Easy to fix/improve some answers with just a bit more info...

And I am the official points piggy of this site.

Mazura

I stopped because why go through the effort if it can just be declined and then lost forever. If it at least went into the edit history and immediately rolled back.....

And if you have +2k where ever, you'd probably just put your own answer. But, rep - both ways. I'll edit a 1 rep's thing no prob. If you got rep, then I'm probably stepping on your toes.

Also, I don't get any rep for that ;)

Russell Borogove

1:35 AM

Corrected orbital data for the Roadster: 0.99 x 1.71 AU x 1.1 deg C3 = 12.0, passes orbit of Mars Jul 2018, aphelion November

Tweeted by planet4589 on February 8, 2018 at 12:22 AM

PearsonArtPhoto

Huh. That's a lot closer to what I'm seeing.

geoffc

John Ringo wrote: ""Dear Mister Musk:

"It has come to our attention that the Tesla Roadster, VIN ///, that was reported as 'lost' on your insurance claim has been found. While currently unrecoverable, the vehicle is nonetheless in a known, if continuously moving, location. Therefore, your insurance claim has been denied.

Thank you for using Progessive.

Flo

PS: Nice try, asshole!"

You should read Ringo's Troy Rising series. You will see Musk parellels in there. GREAT series of books. (If anyone seriously does read it, contact me after, I have a copy of a fan written book 4 that is awesome).

Another view of the landing, showing there not quite simulataneous landings. Offset by a small amount.

facebook.com/tim.seymour.545/posts/10208593326070679

ReactingToAngularVues

1:51 AM

@Mazura similar here. Even now, I have "6k" of meaningless rep. I'm not going to touch an answer with someone from 10k+ rep, out of fear of being shouted at.

Maybe StackOverflow proper has made me wary of community participation, no clue.

geoffc

@ReactingToAngularVues And if they do? How much shouting can one do in text only? I guess we could hunt you down, and sick rabid squirrels upon you and your family, but why go to the effort?

ReactingToAngularVues

@geoffc I fear the 39A flame trench more.

geoffc

@ReactingToAngularVues Go get Smarter Every Day's video of listenning to the launch from the top of the VAB and play that whenever someone is yelling at you indtead. :)

PearsonArtPhoto

> I honestly never expected I would say this in my life, but what is the approximate absolute magnitude of a tesla roadster in space?

satobs.org/seesat/Feb-2018/0081.html

The truth is, we don't really know where it is...

geoffc

PearsonArtPhoto

1:54 AM

I think I'm going to use my best guess as "Truth" for the purpose of the website I'm going to make, and call it good enough for now.

geoffc

Hahahahahahahahahaa

PearsonArtPhoto

There is a lot of good information out there, but...

I'm just hoping someone can pick it up on a telescope before it gets too far away.

geoffc

Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Found a SpaceX Meme facebook group.

PearsonArtPhoto

Okay, so, next up.

Let's see. I have the data as to where the object is, I guess I need to put it in some kind of a table or something. Hmmm...

PearsonArtPhoto

2:16 AM

I can probably do this with an S3 static website, and a database.

Just have to update the database periodically, and it should work...

deostroll

2:31 AM

What is the system which keeps a rocket upright called?

so it doesn't spiral back into earth...on launch

PearsonArtPhoto

First version will be really ugly, but...

PearsonArtPhoto

3:06 AM

Bleh, forget databases. I'm just going to hard code in ~24 hours worth, and figure more out tomorrow.

PearsonArtPhoto

4:13 AM

whereisroadster.com

It works. Not great, but it works!

Nathan Tuggy

5:25 AM

Any thoughts on undeleting space.stackexchange.com/questions/24839/… per asker's request? (Answer is mostly good except for one bit that's dead wrong and answerer doesn't seem to want to get rid of that bit.)

uhoh

8:06 AM

This just in! space.stackexchange.com/questions/24973/…

@NathanTuggy yikes, that's quite a nasty bit indeed. SE answers should try to be not wrong and questionable/objectionable (and in this case, wrong) stuff would need to be sourced from authoritative links. This is why serial answering without supporting links sets such a bad example, and opens the door for others to do it.

PearsonArtPhoto

11:59 AM

I doubt anyone is surprised, but Tuesday was the most popular day on this site by a factor of 3 that we have ever had.

2

Area 51 stats say we are at 11 questions/day, above the threshold to graduate.

Edlothiad

12:20 PM

By a factor of 3 is quite surprising!

PearsonArtPhoto

1:22 PM

Huh, whereisroadster.com seems to be a fairly popular site, so far.

Future Historian

Excuse me.

I have to ask something: 2024 is when Musk Outpost is expected to be established on the Martian surface, right?

So, do any of you expect delays between now and 2024 (ignoring the delivery of prior equipment in 2022, that is)?

PearsonArtPhoto

Yes

Musk is EXTREMELY optimistic in his timelines.

I rarely trust one that is more then a month away.

Future Historian

So, when is it realistically expected to be established?

PearsonArtPhoto

Good question, but I would say before 2030.

Future Historian

So, 2026 is when the first colonists arrive to Musk Outpost, and 2024 is two years behind the original schedule for sending the equipment.

Right?

Just as an example.

Future Historian

1:46 PM

@PearsonArtPhoto? 2026 for first human colonists is more reasonable, right?

As is 2024 for the initial equipment?

Edlothiad

Well it's 2 years later so it definitely is more reasonable

Whether or not it's realistic is a different question

Future Historian

True........

Edlothiad

(I'm an amateur here, so take everything with a pinch of salt) but I believe that the FH was expected to be launched around 2015 or maybe earlier, and was only successful 2 days ago, while hugely impressive that's multiple years behind that schedule. Now planning an interplanetary mission, with organisation etc, Nasa have been discussing this for decades, it's quite a feat.

Future Historian

Then again, in the Worldbuilding SE chat, I already mentioned that an extraterrestrial spacecraft first spotted in 2021 entering our Solar System and having initiated a transfer burn in 2025 for Earth, after setting up shop on Saturn's moon of Titan and slowly expanding to the rest of the Saturn Moon System (later the Solar System), had destroyed the base, so.......

Edlothiad

You lost me there.

Future Historian

1:51 PM

Oh. Right.

Musk Outpost, as it is called at the time of contact being lost, had previously noticed an extraterrestrial spacecraft spotted in 2021 flying by Mars.

Assuming....of course, that the spacecraft's trajectory passes by Mars.

PearsonArtPhoto

I wouldn't expect people on Mars until closer to 2030. Not sure about the exact date, but...

Future Historian

@Edlothiad. 2025 is when the spacecraft makes the transfer burn to Earth. A question I wanted to know is.....would Mars be in the spacecraft's trajectory?

Assuming a Hohmann Transfer Orbit burn, is Mars within the trajectory of such a 10 km long and 6 km in diameter extraterrestrial spacecraft?

The transfer burn originates from Saturn. Destination: a 1,500 km altitude in Low Earth Orbit.

Edlothiad

On this topic, I've been reading "Mars Direct" and in it he discusses all the flaws with the 90 day plan and how they wanted to do in-orbit assembly, but Robert Zubrin and David Baker had extensively mapped out the flaws with that and the benefits of the "Direct/Semi-direct" approach, yet when I looked up the Boeing/Nasa plan it discussed building a star cruiser in orbit and pushing that over to mars orbit and doing short term science missions from there

Which seems like they've just gone straight back to the original, flawed and expensive 90 day plan.

Is that right or am I missing something?

Future Historian

@Edlothiad. Interesting.

And actually, the spacecraft in orbit that Boeing's IMIS design had in mind was basically an NTR design.

But they had to use upgrated Saturn Vs to assemble it in orbit first.

So, it was basically a mobile ISS.

But @Edlothiad. In an unrelated note, I calculated that a transfer burn from Saturn's moon of Titan (using a trusty MS Excel calculator) would mean an arrival date by 2031.

Where would Mars' position be relative to Saturn by the time the 2025 transfer burn begins and would the Hohmann Transfer Orbit's trajectory pass through Mars?

Edlothiad

I'm not the right person to ask about any such things (As I said above, I'm a newbie here)

Future Historian

2:02 PM

Oh.

@PearsonArtPhoto? You are new on this as well?

Edlothiad

No, Pearson is a moderator, and the highest rep user, on the site, much better person to ask

Future Historian

Oh.

That makes sense.

So.........@PearsonArtPhoto? So, throughout a six year Hohmann Transfer Orbit from Saturn to Earth, would a Mars flyby be possible?

Assuming 2 March, 2025 as the day of the transfer burn, and arrival on 19 March, 2031.

PearsonArtPhoto

I would have to do the math, and I'm trying to fix a different problem at the moment.

But I would doubt it.

Future Historian

And NOTE: I am assuming a fusion engine design of either the electric or nuclear pulse kind and an extraterrestrial spacecraft in origin.

@PearsonArtPhoto? So, when you are done, feel free to calculate and see if a Mars transfer orbit burn would have to happen first or not.

Just asking as a favour.

:P

PearsonArtPhoto

Three, I think I unbroke whereisroadster.com

More accurate numbers, including fixing a bad unit conversion.

Future Historian

2:14 PM

@PearsonArtPhoto? So, now can we try to calculate if the transfer orbit would allow a Mars flyby?

Or still busy?

I am just asking as a favour.

PearsonArtPhoto

trajbrowser.arc.nasa.gov

Play with that tool, and see what you come up with.

Edlothiad

While you wait, there must surely be some online resource to do it

There you go.

PearsonArtPhoto

Now that I have the Tesla ephemeris, there's a lot of questions that can be answered on the site.

Future Historian

Well, there IS one problem.

I have to start from Saturn and then head for Earth.

And I want to see if a Saturn transfer orbit to Earth means a Mars flyby is possible.

PearsonArtPhoto

Wow, I'm averaging 25 visits/minute to my site...

That tool is the best there is. Short of that, you have to do some pretty hard modeling, which I'm not even sure where to start with.

If you have specific needs, feel free to ask a question on the site.

Future Historian

2:22 PM

Oh. Fair enough.

It may have a relationship to Worldbuilding, though since.....WARNING: extraterrestrials included.

And Worldbuilding SE is a bit short on this (I think), so............

PearsonArtPhoto

Eh, just don't include that bit here, and you are probably fine.

If you keep to the pure trajectory, we can probably help you here.

Future Historian

Oh. Fair enough.

Done!

:P

@PearsonArtPhoto? In a somewhat related note to a hypothetical Musk Outpost, 0.205 on crude birth rate is bad, right?

I am assuming 1.23 births per every 100 people a year divided by a 2030 population of 600 times 100.

Because the conventional equation for such calculations is not going to work on this one.

PearsonArtPhoto

2:38 PM

No idea really, I haven't thought about it.

Future Historian

Well, I am assuming 1.23 births for every 100 colonists.

Rory Alsop

@PearsonArtPhoto feature request: please please please have a diagram of the inner solar system, with at least Earth and Mars and Roadster. Leaving a line so we can see where in its orbit it is...

Future Historian

^ @RoryAlsop

I would also like to see a solar system simulator that can be useful for calculating transfer orbits and launch windows that is BETTER than the one NASA has.

Especially for those playing KSP with the Real Solar System mod.

The current CBR = 18.2 on Earth.

PearsonArtPhoto

@RoryAlsop That is absolutely planned. I just wanted to get something out there ASAP, I'll work on improving it with time.

Future Historian

By comparison, Musk Outpost's is 0.205.

Rory Alsop

2:40 PM

@FutureHistorian does KSP have a roadster model yet?

PearsonArtPhoto

By the weekend I'm hoping to have an orbital graph, and the distance to Mars.

Future Historian

Not yet, but they better mod it in there.

:P

PearsonArtPhoto

I'm sure there is a mod that does it.

Future Historian

^

PearsonArtPhoto

@RoryAlsop I think the next thing I'll do is add the distance to Mars. And then next is the map of the inner solar system, complete with the planned trajectory and current location on the map.

Rory Alsop

2:43 PM

@PearsonArtPhoto superb!

PearsonArtPhoto

I'm a bit unsure how to tackle that, but hopefully I can get that far over the weekend.

The next task will be to show where the Roadster is in the Earth sky, which should be fairly easy.

And next should be showing what the Roadster sees, which will be harder.

Future Historian

Oh oh............

PearsonArtPhoto

I'm getting really close to having paid for the domain name already.

Future Historian

Well, turns out the early Martian colonists have a population problem.

As in: in terms of mortality rate vs birth rate, the Musk Outpost colonists are going to rely mostly on migrants until they pass a certain amount of people.

Right?

No wait.

I read the numbers wrong.

The first variable is deaths reported in 1 year. So, two deaths per year divided by 600 * 100 = 0.35 on the crude mortality rate.

This is modified for a small Martian colony, by the way.

Well, gentlemen. Ping me when I get an answer. Alright?

:P

Edlothiad

The system should ping you

Future Historian

2:49 PM

Oh.

Future Historian

4:11 PM

Well, great..........

@PearsonArtPhoto? Is NASA's GMAT tool useful for the kind of trajectory I need?

As in: extraterrestrial spacecraft on a Hohmann Transfer Orbit from Saturn?

PearsonArtPhoto

It might be.

Future Historian

Well, then. I will see what I can do.

PearsonArtPhoto

There, just added the distance and speed towards Mars.

Future Historian

:D

Russell Borogove

4:26 PM

I think you’ll be hard pressed to find a statement from Musk that he intends to place a permanent outpost in 2024.

kim holder

@PearsonArtPhoto i'd vote for a placeholder orbit image, from the one Spacex released

Russell Borogove

It’s remarkable how often his statements are misinterpreted. In the press conference the other day he was asked about BFR and said he thought hopper flights (meaning short VTVL tests) of the upper stage could happen within two years. The follow up question interpreted that as flying to Mars within two years.

PearsonArtPhoto

Yeah, probably not a bad idea. Will try and do something like that soon.

kim holder

kudos on snagging that domain name.

PearsonArtPhoto

At best, BTW, is a ~2 year visit to the surface of Mars.

I tried whereisstarman.com first, but it was taken.

Russell Borogove

4:29 PM

Musk says “reusability has the potential to reduce launch costs by two orders of magnitude” and people interpret that as “Falcon 9 launche cost will drop to $500k”

kim holder

@PearsonArtPhoto ah, yes. that could be an issue.

PearsonArtPhoto

When I get home I'll try and get a placeholder graphic, if not sooner.

Russell Borogove

Musk says “I think humanity needs to become a multi planet species as insurance against cataclysm, so we should colonize mars” and it’s interpeted as “I will save humanity”

PearsonArtPhoto

I think I've paid for the domain name already.

kim holder

@RussellBorogove but he is going to save humanity...

i suppose it is what happens when people start wrestling with big topics they really don't understand.

Future Historian

4:39 PM

@RussellBorogove. Speaking of saving humanity..........

I actually have something that may (I hope) be something of interest.

In Worldbuilding SE, I have been working on this hard science fiction universe (at least I am trying to) where I attempt to depict how a realistic scenario would unfold for an extraterrestrial invasion of Earth.

And much of the content is in Worldbuilding SE, but I am going to need some H-E-L-P regarding orbital mechanics and spacecraft design.

Mainly because this is humanity in the 2020s - 2030s timeframe running into an expeditionary force for a faction of semi-nomadic space warlords that is basically K1.25 on the Kardashev Scale, and the overall species is K1.6 on average (it varies depending on the independent system, confederation/federation, minor nomadic group or small space "empire" quote, unquote), with Kepler 442 itself being the home of a K1.8 civilisation that has 1% of a Dyson Swarm complete.

So, do you mind if I post the concept art for their spacecraft? SPOILER ALERT: Although small by their standards, it is kind of big for us.

NOTE: This is a modular design, with a structure surrounding most of the modules, EXCEPT for the rotating habitats.

In this image, it is basically separating one of the rotating habitats in orbit around Titan.

Mainly to assist in the process of setting up shop in the Saturn Moon System.

This thing is powered by an antimatter engine, with the propellant tanks storing hydrogen from interstellar space, and the fuel tanks storing antimatter to use when propelling the spacecraft.

It has a magnetic scoop to collect interstellar hydrogen and a total capacity (both organic and robotic) of 20 million total personnel. It is 10 km long and 6 km in diameter, with each of those spikes being hardpoints for point defence lasers, the black squares being RCS thrusters, and the sides including four railguns. It also contains two nuclear "torpedo" launchers, which in reality are more suicide drones with MIRV warheads for long range combat.

kim holder

4:58 PM

We rarely discuss speculative stuff here. Your set of posts is a bit overwhelming as well. (and hi. you probably remember me...)

Future Historian

Oh, yes, I do.

And sorry about what happened, kim.

Russell Borogove

Regarding project schedules, the best way to complete a massive R&D project in 5 years is to set a goal to complete it in 2 years.

kim holder

:P

Future Historian

But as I was trying to say, this thing can reach a velocity of 0.25 c, though I originally planned this thing to include antimatter beam core rocket stages to accelerate the Leviathan to 0.75 c.

@kimholder? Antimatter Bussard Ramjets have the same problems as regular fusion Bussard Ramjets, right?

Or do they have some advantage compared to their regular fusion counterparts?

kim holder

what i'm trying to say is, we aren't the crowd you want for discussion of fictional systems. it would be easier if your background in the science was strong, but that isn't the case. It just gets tiring. It's nothing personal about you, it just isn't 'our thing'.

Future Historian

5:02 PM

@kimholder. At least I am trying.

Besides, I only want to know about the Bussard Ramjet concept applied to antimatter rockets instead of fusion rockets.

After all: conventional Bussard Ramjets have a drag problem, right?

What if you can get around that with an antimatter variant?

kim holder

sure. just not the most effective approach, not here. if you want to make progress here, take your time to learn the background science and work hard to not dominate the conversation.

Future Historian

Hmmmmmmmm. Atomic Rockets is not a good place to start, is it?

kim holder

atomic rockets is largely solid, but it covers a lot of concepts that are very far in the future and little can be said about them now.

Future Historian

Hmmmmmm. I should probably ask Nyrath about it.

Speaking of which, where is he normally, outside of Reddit?

kim holder

don't know him.

Future Historian

5:06 PM

Well, I will try to search for him, then.

And let me guess: no Mars flyby for a 2025 transfer burn from Titan to Earth?

I am assuming that the transfer burn happens on 2 March, 2025 (thanks to a calculator/spreadsheet from MS Excel), and the arrival on Earth being on 19 March, 2031.

PearsonArtPhoto

To really do that, you'd likely need to play with something like STK I imagine.

Future Historian

So, GMAT is not appropriate for that, is it?

@PearsonArtPhoto? GMAT is not useful for that, is it?

PearsonArtPhoto

I've never used GMAT actually, so don't know.

Future Historian

Well, this is bad.

@PearsonArtPhoto? Bussard Ramjet is a fusion electric design or nuclear pulse fusion design?

The original, I mean.

PearsonArtPhoto

The truth is, a flyby of Mars isn't likely to help much for a flyby of anywhere.

Future Historian

5:13 PM

So, basically, the spacecraft needs to make a Mars Transfer Burn first, and THEN head for Earth?

PearsonArtPhoto

Ramjet is Fusion, but again, I remind you that kind of question is allowed here.

You might be able to use a flyby slightly, but it won't ever be the best trajectory.

Future Historian

@PearsonArtPhoto. Which one? Fusion electric or nuclear pulse fusion?

I know it is fusion. I just mean what is the engine type.

PearsonArtPhoto

I think the idea is more of a continual fusion system, but I can't remember off the top of my head.

Future Historian

Well, can you replace the fusion engine with an antimatter engine?

Basically, use the hydrogen as the reaction mass/propellant, and the antimatter as the actual fuel.

Russell Borogove

It's neither electric nor pulse. Magnetic field compresses the oncoming hydrogen into direct, continuous fusion

PearsonArtPhoto

5:16 PM

Yeah, that's what I had thought.

Future Historian

Oh.........

So, what happens if the fusion engine is replaced by an antimatter engine for a Bussard Ramjet?

Russell Borogove

If you're using interstellar hydrogen as the reaction mass, you still have the same drag problem regardless of where the energy to accelerate it is coming from.

Future Historian

Well, the point is basically to use the magnetic scoop as a GIANT BRAKE with a terminal velocity of 0.25 c.

Russell Borogove

The drag problem is that you're encountering relatively stationary stuff, and need to accelerate it up to your own relative speed

Future Historian

For the spacecraft.

Russell Borogove

5:17 PM

oh, using it as a brake is easy

so yeah, either fusion or AM should work.

Future Historian

Basically, as it slows down, it gathers interstellar hydrogen for use as reaction mass once the antimatter begins to use it as propellant.

Russell Borogove

Have you read everything at project rho?

Future Historian

Yes.

Wait a minute.

Russell Borogove

You could basically just make a big conical magnetic field and use it as a hydrogen parachute

Future Historian

@RussellBorogove? To get this RAIR design to 0.06 c, do I need to make this monster multi-staged?

Or is there a way to get it that fast without going down the multi-stage route?

Hmmmmmmm. Wait a minute.

Russell Borogove

5:23 PM

As far as I'm concerned, to get to any velocity that's more sensibly measured in c than in km/s, you need either (a) unlimited fuel (Bussard ramjet) or (b) unreasonably large exhaust velocity (handwavey fusion engines). N stages can multiply delta-v by N, but as long as you're just making shit up it's easier to just multiply the exhaust velocity by N.

Future Historian

Well, this is basically a 10 km long and 6 km in diameter spacecraft of extraterrestrial origin, though I am trying to go hard science on this one.

Even if technologically superior ETs are included.

:/

Russell Borogove

i.e. if you think you can get 100000m/s exhaust velocity, you may as well decide to go for 300000m/s

Future Historian

In other words........1 c.

Not good.

Russell Borogove

m/s not km/s

Future Historian

Oh.

I misread it as km/s.

Oops.

Russell Borogove

5:26 PM

Regarding size, most of this stuff scales linearly with mass, so for theoretical feasibility it doesn't matter if your spacecraft is 100m or 10km

kim holder

5:40 PM

does anyone here know where to upload images that go in community ad proposals?

PearsonArtPhoto

I don't think we get those until we graduate?

kim holder

yeah, it's actually for Academia. one of their mods asked me to resubmit the ad i posted there last year.

but there isn't much activity in their chat room at the moment.

PearsonArtPhoto

8

Q: Ideas for off-site Space Exploration community promotion ads

This is not a thread for community ads that would rotate on our own main site, those banner rotations are reserved for already graduated Stack Exchange webistes. However, nobody is stopping us from posting advertising banners promoting our own site and its features on other such Stack Exchange si...

That what you are looking for?

kim holder

yeah, but this is the issue i'm having:

when i try to go to that address, it won't load

PearsonArtPhoto

Just upload them like a normal image?

kim holder

5:50 PM

tried that. it spit it out and gave me that error.

PearsonArtPhoto

I can't remember, look at the example...

Or file a bug report.

As that seems like it might be a bug.

kim holder

i don't have enough rep there to edit things :] maybe i can try to find an example on blender.se, they must have ads...

because it gives you a template, which i tried to use, so, i tried to look at the formatting of one of the others, but i can't.

PearsonArtPhoto

What is the link?

kim holder

7

Q: Community Promotion Ads - 2018

It's almost February in 2018, which isn't supposed to be the proper time to cycle these, but for this year it'll be once again, so we'll be refreshing the Community Promotion Ads for this year now! What are Community Promotion Ads? Community Promotion Ads are community-vetted advertisements tha...

discussion community-ads featured

PearsonArtPhoto

Okay, so not a bug.

You will have to upload the image, using the URL or saving it to your computer.

Could just replace it with i.stack.imgur.com/qIjvZ.png too.

kim holder

5:56 PM

oh, that'll work? because i can't seem to get to i.stack.imgur.com, and then my small familiarity with the whole thing runs out.

let me try that

ooh - hah... um, at the moment, i'm trying to post an image for march for science.

doing the thing for space.se is also a good idea, but probably more on physics or something like that

PearsonArtPhoto

Oh, LOL.

Sorry, didn't realize that.

You have to upload it via a post. You can upload to a URL, that should work.

kim holder

oh, oh, oh - use the image button from the editor... riiiiight...

i'll have to edit TW's image to be the right dimensions.

Feeds

7:39 PM

Information Architecture for All: Navigating Stack Overflow, Enterprise, and Stack Exchange Sites

Donna Choi on February 08, 2018

This post is part of a series on how we’re making Channels, the thinking behind the product, and insight into the process. Read “How We’re Designing Channels” and “Why Channels” for more background info.

In his post, How We’re Designing Channels, Kurtis wrote that this project required a change to Stack Overflow’s information architecture. We created several prototype navigations, narrowed to two, and tested with a group of users. This brought us to the following design direction, with content navigation on the left side: …

8:03 PM

:D

9:27 PM

@Edlothiad I think you wanted a source for mission patches? Try this link: thespacestore.com/collections/spacex-patches

Edlothiad

Wow thanks a lot, that's got everything I was looking for!

kim holder

9:38 PM

@PearsonArtPhoto i wish to pass along a request that you add km/s to whereisroadster.com. For us properly nerdy types.

also i realize i didn't mention before how jealous i am about your 25 hits per minute on that site.

PearsonArtPhoto

9:57 PM

@kimholder it has actually gone up. Sure, I can do that, will do that when I can.

Who made the suggestion, out of curiosity?

kim holder

MolbOrg, the other denizen of the Moonwards chat room. He actually wanted me to say 'for us snow flakes'. He's in St Petersburg.

PearsonArtPhoto

LoL. Sure thing.

uhoh

Roadster Spotted!

elecnor-deimos.com/deimos-sky-survey-spacex-starman-tesla

DEIMOS imaging of Tesla - can you spot it moving across the center of the field? http://www.elecnor-deimos.com/deimos-sky-survey-spacex-starman-tesla/ https://t.co/6VKC0NUehu

Tweeted by planet4589 on February 8, 2018 at 8:39 PM

Edlothiad

Wow I was staring straight at that and would never have seen it without the tweet...

uhoh

"To better understand the pointing process of DeSS Tracker2 sensor (in red) towards the predicted position of SpaceX’s Starman Tesla Roadster / Falcon Heavy Upper Stage, the following image taken from DeSS all-sky camera shows all the visible sky from the observatory at the time of the observation. It can be observed how the moonlight covers the South East. “Close to the morning twilight, and pointing close to the Moon, at a very low elevation over the horizon of about 20 degrees..."

"...the observation conditions were really challenging” affirms Jaime Nomen, director of Deimos Sky Survey."

Edlothiad

10:07 PM

Out of interest, does anyone know what those bigger blobs are casting shadows?

uhoh

Quote from elecnor-deimos.com/deimos-sky-survey-spacex-starman-tesla

also: "The following animation shows the images taken by Deimos Sky Survey’s sensor Tracker2 as the object crossed the sky. The variation observed in the brightness of the object indicates a quick rotation spin."

PearsonArtPhoto

10:19 PM

I'm sitting closer to 40 views/minute at the moment.

Edlothiad

Wow @geoffc this store is awesome, unfortunately shipping to me is rather expensive :(

geoffc

@Edlothiad Shipping is a pain. How bad?

Edlothiad

Well its about $12 just to get it here, and I'd have too pay $16 or so in customs fees

PearsonArtPhoto

Okay, just pushed the kps update.

Edlothiad

I got a couple of patches that will hopefully satisfy my desire for a long time, and luckily a friend is visiting the US so I sent it to him and he's bringing back cutting that ~$30 to ~$4

kim holder

10:24 PM

@PearsonArtPhoto jeeeez

@PearsonArtPhoto thanks

PearsonArtPhoto

Yeah, I've actually doubled my investment already on the site.

PearsonArtPhoto

10:47 PM

Of course, I hardly invested anything into the site, but...

PearsonArtPhoto

11:18 PM

I need to fix a few things, but progress!

Oh, and show markers of the current position of items.

Now getting the correct locations for today will be a bit tricky. Should I add that to the site right now?

Or wait until I've finished it?

uhoh

Why not add it now? You can mention the aesthetics will be improved, but as long as the data is reasonable, definitely share it with the world!

1

A: When will SpaceX Falcon Heavy Tesla cross Mars orbit?

That map seems to be quite wrong now. See this answer and this comment and Jonathan McDowell's tweet. Until there is a better resource for finding Roadster on the internet (and there is one coming! (mentioned here) I'll post this answer. Using Horizons and a short Python script to plot as discu...

@PearsonArtPhoto I've just plugged your website in this answer. Feel free to edit to mention your site, and/or post a new answer once you get intersections (or milestones or whatever) added.

PearsonArtPhoto

I'll get there, eventually...

uhoh

Maybe just dots every seven days apart

PearsonArtPhoto

I could probably reduce the data in the table.

Wow, it took the page from ~8 kb to 185 kb, but... I guess that's okay.

I could reduce it some if I wanted to.

kim holder

11:42 PM

@PearsonArtPhoto i'd say put it in as it stands until you have the current marker. I think that is what will really interest people

PearsonArtPhoto