« first day (76 days earlier)      last day (3850 days later) » 

TildalWave
TildalWave
12:18 AM
@Chris link please
 
Chris
Chris
SpaceX: "..we do know its common that the first measurements from Space-Track are not always accurate and sometimes mixed up...
Tweeted by spacecom on September 30, 2013 at 5:56 PM
that's one of a series of tweets comprising spacex's comment to the tweet's author
 
TildalWave
TildalWave
@Chris cheers, I'll read them all now
@Chris well SpaceX replied they "don't know, have no proof based on previous launches experience"... I thought that's rather funny
that reported fuel cloud glowing on sunset could as well have been a product of an explosion, i.e. a violent uncontrolled "leak"... and from videos I saw, it doesn't look like a controlled fuel release at all, it would be a really long and thin stream, not a circle... which is exactly how it would look like from the ground if there was an explosion
 
Chris
Chris
@TildalWave right
 
TildalWave
TildalWave
unless SpaceX thinks that we think there's an atmosphere to contain it
 
Chris
Chris
also, the timing: it seems unlikely to me that they would immediately send the "vent" command after the anomaly was encountered, instead of taking their time to try and get it resolved
"immediately" being on the order of minutes
 
TildalWave
TildalWave
12:36 AM
yup that's too pretty odd... and one more thing about that video... there seems to be a slightly stronger glow in the middle, not really sure if it's the camera's zoom triangle tho, but it could be pure and simple combustion... which you don't really want while releasing the fuel, so my guess would be that the LOX tank exploded and caused a leak in the RP1 tank, or the other way around
 
 
1 hour later…
TildalWave
TildalWave
2:03 AM
Has anyone else noticed we have a new beta icon, saying SX and not any more SE?
 
TildalWave
TildalWave
2:22 AM
The only way is SX :)
The Only Way Is Essex
The Only Way Is Essex (often abbreviated as TOWIE) is a British BAFTA Award-winning structured reality television show based in Essex, England. It shows "real people in modified situations, saying unscripted lines but in a structured way." The show is filmed just a few days in advance. It is narrated by Denise van Outen, who is from Basildon, Essex. The show has been described by the Daily Mirror as Britain's answer to The Hills and Jersey Shore. Series 1 ran initially for four weeks, and currently airs every Wednesday and Sunday at 10pm on ITV2. Series 2 began on 20 March 20...
lots of glitter everywhere ... how convenient :)
they're officially sexing us up
 
 
1 hour later…
TildalWave
TildalWave
3:38 AM
I don't know, maybe I'm stupid or just not seeing something, but...
If this is supposed to be the Curiosity's self-portrait, then how come it looks like someone else took it?
there's no sign of the arm on which the camera is supposed to be, no shadow, nothing...
 
TildalWave
TildalWave
4:10 AM
0
Q: Who took the Curiosity rover's self-portrait photo from the surface of Mars?

TildalWaveCuriosity is missing an arm, can you help us find it? The self-portrait photograph of the Curiosity rover from the Gale Crater is probably one of the most well known ones of this particular rover of the NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission:                                                       

mars rovers curiosity myth-busting photography
There you go... fun question. Have fun answering it! ;)
 
 
7 hours later…
RhysW
RhysW
10:55 AM
Hehe i appear to have made it to dead on 1k rep,
 
 
2 hours later…
PearsonArtPhoto
PearsonArtPhoto
1:19 PM
I love how we have a tag for myth-busting
space.stackexchange.com/q/2233/25 has real potential to be a blockbuster question.
4
Q: Will the foot print of Neil Armstrong erode?

HashThe Moon has a very thin (practically non-existent) atmosphere so the foot print left by Neil Armstrong won't be eroded for centuries. But there are solar winds. Is it possible that solar wind would have enough strength to erode the legendary foot print? If so how many years will it take to compl...

the-moon astronauts history apollo-program
It might be interesting if someone wrote another answer that compared the decay rates of, say, Mars and a high earth desert, for instance.
We need to convince some NASA people to come here, as it looks like they have the day off.
 
 
1 hour later…
RhysW
RhysW
2:37 PM
@TildalWave thanks for the edit on that answer, nice table!
 
TildalWave
TildalWave
@RhysW Sure, no problem... thought you might be on some tablet or something
Some are really killjoys :( I wanted to post a fun question and have it be an Opportunity to satisfy our Curiosity (yes, pun there), maybe make it a bit more interesting that dismissing it: "Yes, this is what it was done and here's a link"... Can't even say anything to to go into discussion if it answers the darn question or not. Yes, it does.... and I wish I haven't asked it too.
 
RhysW
RhysW
3:02 PM
@TildalWave nope, just plain old ignorance
@TildalWave some of my most popular answers, across sites, are the ones that have humour in them
 
TildalWave
TildalWave
@RhysW well yes, there's possibly some observational humor to be had with that question of mine too, and then there's quite many interesting facts that wouldn't really need much explaining or references, a few photos would do the trick... and yes, I did try to be a bit humorous already in the question, not sure it was seen as such by all tho
 
RhysW
RhysW
@TildalWave buncha prudes? :P
 
TildalWave
TildalWave
Like that it isn't the most well know photo of the Curiosity, for example... why not? Because we have dozens of nearly exactly the same ones with only the ground being a bit more or a bit less rocky LOL
and that some fans couldn't wait so they stitched a full portrait out of raw images coming from Curiosity, before NASA managed to do it
NASA, that has a software fully automating that for them, all they need is a set of images... and fans did it weeks faster
granted, with better color fidelity because they were still doing calibrations ... but yeah, there's some fun facts that could be converted into even funnier comments about it
 
RhysW
RhysW
:D dedication
fun fact
on the picture where he says you cant see the arm you can see the arm
bottom right corner of the rover, it extends outwards
then is cut off by the stitching
 
Hash
Hash
4:02 PM
@TildalWave i like your answer in meta.SO
 
Stack Exchange
Stack Exchange
astrobites: Last Day to Apply to Write for Astrobites!
posted on October 01, 2013 by Courtney Dressing

Astrobites is looking for new authors and today is the last day to apply! Don't forget to submit an application to join the team if you are a current graduate student.

 
TildalWave
TildalWave
4:32 PM
@Hash cheers
 
called2voyage
called2voyage
5:02 PM
@PearsonArtPhoto Ouch...
 
PearsonArtPhoto
PearsonArtPhoto
@called2voyage Sorry, I couldn't help myself...
 
called2voyage
called2voyage
lol, I found it funny.
I reposted it on Astronomy chat.
 
PearsonArtPhoto
PearsonArtPhoto
I think this is the first government shutdown of the internet age. The last one the internet was still in its infancy, at least.
But in any case, the point was to be funny, not anything serious.
 
called2voyage
called2voyage
yeah, first of the social media age
 
TildalWave
TildalWave
haha I love how Twitter is really busy on a gov't closedown
JPL website:
> Due to the lapse in federal government funding, this website is not being updated. We also cannot respond to comments/questions. We sincerely regret this inconvenience.
Their own site maybe, but all of their stuff seems to be on Twitter
 
called2voyage
called2voyage
5:16 PM
The gov't Twitter pages are all down.
 
Donald.McLean
Donald.McLean
We're not affected (yet).
 
called2voyage
called2voyage
Posts have to be approved by gov't salary employees, so they cannot continue during shutdown.
 
TildalWave
TildalWave
@called2voyage no I mean individuals, I follow many
 
called2voyage
called2voyage
Neither are we (LM) yet.
@TildalWave oh, that's true.
 
TildalWave
TildalWave
dunno how the weather is like throughout US, but if it's anything close to how it's here that's a lot of really bored folks right now... I say let the humor ensue :)
 
called2voyage
called2voyage
5:20 PM
weather is decent where I am
was rainy yesterday, but just misty today
 
TildalWave
TildalWave
no science on LADEE ... which is a short term mission, so that'll be a lot of damage
 
called2voyage
called2voyage
yikes
 
TildalWave
TildalWave
You think we could get a few of all these bored folks to have a look at our site? I'd love Emily here... well, I'd love her anywhere close really, but that's another matter :D
 
called2voyage
called2voyage
you might not want to say that if you want to get her here ;)
 
PearsonArtPhoto
PearsonArtPhoto
I'd be surprised if NASA science missions really shut down.
 
called2voyage
called2voyage
5:24 PM
They said they won't this week.
 
PearsonArtPhoto
PearsonArtPhoto
I lost my link in to a NASA mission, so I'm not sure how it's going there...
 
called2voyage
called2voyage
Monday they will make a decision if nothing has changed.
 
PearsonArtPhoto
PearsonArtPhoto
I could well imagine that some things might change, but talking to spacecraft is a 24/7 ops, you can't really take a break from it.
 
called2voyage
called2voyage
Some people have their heads screwed on straight: wjla.com/articles/2013/10/…
 
TildalWave
TildalWave
@called2voyage was just a jokey remark, tho she is one helluva interesting woman, there's no denying that
 
called2voyage
called2voyage
5:26 PM
I know
I like to make fun of your jokes. ;P
 
PearsonArtPhoto
PearsonArtPhoto
They actually closed the monuments? That NEVER happens... Wow...
 
called2voyage
called2voyage
yep all national parks and monuments are closed
tourists are furious
 
PearsonArtPhoto
PearsonArtPhoto
The national parks, I can understand, but the monuments? Really? There isn't 24/7 coverage of them anyways, what would the harm be in letting people go there?
You might as well close the Washington Monument too while you're at it, good luck at getting people to not see that...
 
called2voyage
called2voyage
I don't know. Let's just hope it doesn't last long.
 
PearsonArtPhoto
PearsonArtPhoto
I'm surprised you can even do that. The National Mall isn't really made to close down.
 
called2voyage
called2voyage
5:29 PM
I'd love to be a fly on the wall in DC right now.
Just a fly, though.
Being there in person has to be crazy right now
Even the Navy-Air Force football game might get canceled
 
PearsonArtPhoto
PearsonArtPhoto
You can call me your fly in DC. I live fairly close.
About 25 miles or so.
 
called2voyage
called2voyage
I'm just saying I would like to see the buzz on the streets.
See how it's affecting the general populace
 
PearsonArtPhoto
PearsonArtPhoto
Well, I've had hopes that traffic would be less, but I haven't see that yet.
Aside from that, I don't have much to report.
 
PearsonArtPhoto
PearsonArtPhoto
5:50 PM
I decided if I've been beating my head on a question for 2 hours, it might be a good candidate for this site.
1
Q: What is the math behind Magnetorquers?

PearsonArtPhotoI'm trying to better understand the mathematics behind how torque rods work. I know that even if you have 3 axis of magnetic torquers, in effect there is only 2 axis of control, and I'm trying to figure out how all of this works exactly. Specifically, let's assume the following hypothetical situa...

artificial-satellite attitude magnetic-fields magnetorquer
 
 
1 hour later…
Chris
Chris
6:57 PM
SpaceX (again) says no explosion: spacenews.com/article/launch-report/…
So... pieces of insulation are now the most likely culprits?
Those will be easy to identify based on decay rates, at least
 
PearsonArtPhoto
PearsonArtPhoto
Yeah, if that's the case, they should show up really soon.
I have no doubt that JSPOC knows what most of them are.
The answer to my question I think can be found at nasa.gov, but the site is down today. Sigh.
 
called2voyage
called2voyage
7:16 PM
Have you tried google cache and the wayback machine?
 
Everyone
Everyone
monuments closed? that's ... momentous
 
PearsonArtPhoto
PearsonArtPhoto
Yeah, that's the next step.
Google won't give me the exact address, thus it's making it a bit tricky for wayback, but google might have it in cache...
I bet the wayback machine is getting a lot more hits than normal today.
 
Everyone
Everyone
what's a wayback machine?
 
David Freitag
David Freitag
@Everyone It's a website
It has a cache of the internet
 
Everyone
Everyone
@DavidFreitag: blinks
a cache of the internet? taken when?
 
PearsonArtPhoto
PearsonArtPhoto
7:23 PM
@Everyone Constantly
Got to love it, they are closing the National Monuments, that cost almost nothing to run, at great expense because they have no money... foxnews.com/politics/2013/10/01/…
2
 
Everyone
Everyone
@PearsonArtPhoto: I don't get it. If they cost no money to run ... why is it a great expense to close them?
constantly??
 
PearsonArtPhoto
PearsonArtPhoto
@Everyone That's the joke.
 
Everyone
Everyone
Hm. Sort of like "I died with ma boots on" ... ?
 
David Freitag
David Freitag
@Everyone I'm not sure what the poll rate is, but i think it's at least a few times a minute.
 
called2voyage
called2voyage
New stack proposal, help me flesh it out:
 
Everyone
Everyone
7:26 PM
@DavidFreitag: That's still a lot of data
 
PearsonArtPhoto
PearsonArtPhoto
It depends on the site.
 
David Freitag
David Freitag
According to them:
> Storing the Archive's collections involves parsing, indexing, and physically encoding the data. With the Internet collections growing at exponential rates, this task poses an ongoing challenge.

Our hardware consists of PCs with clusters of IDE hard drives. Data is stored on DLT tape and hard drives in various appropriate formats, depending on the collection. Web data is received and stored in archive format of 100-megabyte ARC files made up of many individual files. Alexa Internet (currently the source of all crawls in our collections) is proposing ARC as a standard for archiving Interne…
 
PearsonArtPhoto
PearsonArtPhoto
@called2voyage You could ask that question on MSO just as easily, you know.
Or ask it on Web Apps, for that matter.
 
Everyone
Everyone
that's putting it mildly ... ongoing challenge ...
 
PearsonArtPhoto
PearsonArtPhoto
The proposal's DOA, I doubt it'll last long.
 
called2voyage
called2voyage
7:28 PM
You could, but I'm imagining a whole class of questions.
I could be wrong.
But I want to see if it gathers any interest
 
Everyone
Everyone
OK, I've got the ephemeris file for Cruithne; now let's see how it is imported into GMAT
 
David Freitag
David Freitag
> October 2012 update: Total used storage: 10 Petabytes
=o
 
PearsonArtPhoto
PearsonArtPhoto
 
Everyone
Everyone
@DavidFreitag: How much cooling would indexing a peta require??
 
David Freitag
David Freitag
> Power consumption: 6 KW / PetaByte
> No Air Conditioning, instead use excess heat to help heat the building.
 
TildalWave
TildalWave
7:31 PM
@DavidFreitag that's not even much at all
 
Everyone
Everyone
6KW per hour? per day?
 
David Freitag
David Freitag
Doesn't say
 
TildalWave
TildalWave
as long as it takes?
 
Everyone
Everyone
pretty expensive in my currency, imo
'o @TildalWave
 
David Freitag
David Freitag
I imagine the 6kW must be per day, they are using mostly extremely high density tape drives to store and read everything which would explain the extremely low power consumption.
 
TildalWave
TildalWave
7:38 PM
@DavidFreitag Watt is not defined in time... it's power. If you want work, then you add time per power to it. So 6 kW must be continuous / average power draw... in an hour that's 6 kW/h ... in a day, that's 144 kW/h, e.t.c.
 
David Freitag
David Freitag
@TildalWave Right. But like i said they don't say..
 
TildalWave
TildalWave
here, about 30 Euro per day worth of electricity
 
David Freitag
David Freitag
$40 a day... man, i pay that a month.
 
Everyone
Everyone
But you don't have a 10x multiplier for commercial use of energy, do you? q+:
 
TildalWave
TildalWave
@DavidFreitag I suspect you don't have petabytes of data with data redundancy, backups, e.t.c.?
 
David Freitag
David Freitag
7:42 PM
@TildalWave I have a few terabytes with redundancy though... :|
 
Everyone
Everyone
Does anybody still use tapes in real life? For data-storage/back-up, I mean
 
TildalWave
TildalWave
well yes, me too... and who doesn't, but let's say on average one workstation has 4 TB storage and it uses up 100 W of continuous power (which is not much, but let's say we don't count the monitor and periphery) ... so that's 0.6 kW / day per TB ... and that wayback machine uses 0.144 kW / day per TB
 
Everyone
Everyone
I know it's OT ... a colleague is possessed of a 1TB USB external drive. His hardware people gave him a copy time of around 6H for 300GB; he flipped.
 
TildalWave
TildalWave
@Everyone I still have DAT yes... but don't really use it any more for fresh backups. I do have a lot of backups on tapes tho, that I'd want every now and then to restore, so yup... still using it.
 
Everyone
Everyone
Weren't there several types of tape? density difference, and stuff?
Uh. To get back on-topic, any suggestion on how to import the ephemeris for Cruithne into GMAT2012?
 
RhysW
RhysW
7:53 PM
eyoo :D
 
Everyone
Everyone
'o Rhys
 
RhysW
RhysW
whats up everyone
ive had too much sugar and im in a chatty mood :D
 
Everyone
Everyone
Candyman!
 
PearsonArtPhoto
PearsonArtPhoto
Finally hit outspoken. Whew!
 
Everyone
Everyone
or was that The riddler?
 
RhysW
RhysW
7:58 PM
@PearsonArtPhoto which one is that one again?
 
Everyone
Everyone
@RhysW: Recommendation? Importing the ephemeris for Cruithne into GMAT2012?
 
RhysW
RhysW
@Everyone errrrr, whoosh thats the sound of it going right over my head
 
Everyone
Everyone
sigh
 
PearsonArtPhoto
PearsonArtPhoto
10 stars in chat by 10 different users.
 
Everyone
Everyone
@PearsonArtPhoto: How's that again?
 
PearsonArtPhoto
PearsonArtPhoto
8:01 PM
 
RhysW
RhysW
ahhh that one,
 
PearsonArtPhoto
PearsonArtPhoto
If 10 different people have starred at least one of your posts in a site chat room, you receive the award.
 
Everyone
Everyone
This should make @JamesJenkins' day
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/nasa-finds-plastic-ingredient-on-saturns-moon/425749-2.html
 
RhysW
RhysW
how do i not have that xD not enough varied people i think is my issue
 
PearsonArtPhoto
PearsonArtPhoto
That's what makes the badge difficult, different people.
 
Everyone
Everyone
8:03 PM
Right. I'm off to bed. 'night
 
RhysW
RhysW
@Everyone cya!
@PearsonArtPhoto yeah, would help if i was more active here, im working on that
 
Chris
Chris
8:39 PM
 
Stack Exchange
Stack Exchange
9:13 PM
astrobites: Detecting the Quantization of Gravity
posted on October 01, 2013 by Nick Hand

The authors raise a key point about the detection of gravitational waves from the early universe. Not only would such a detection verify the theory of inflation, but it would also prove the quantization of gravity.

 

« first day (76 days earlier)      last day (3850 days later) »