The Space Thread!

[XYZviper]

It took about 200 000 years for this joke to be.

Probably because, due to international treaties banning weapons in space, they aren't allowed to take cannons up there.

 

[GRtak]

https://vimeo.com/217051213#at=369

 

[XYZviper]

The colors, the music, the grandeur!

https://vimeo.com/219216194

 

[Eye-Q]

https://www.quora.com/Even-when-pro...Apollo-mission/answer/Patrick-Germain?ref=fb#

Great read, recommended.

 

[chaos386]

C'mon, everyone knows the Saturn V launches were staged!

 

[Eye-Q]

Exactly 40 years before today the first Voyager space probe (which was called Voyager 2; Voyager 1 started 16 days after Voyager 2) launched. At a distance of about 115 AU (1.72?10[SUP]10[/SUP] km) from the Sun as of August 2017, Voyager 2 is one of the most distant human-made objects, along with Voyager 1 (~139.5 AU as of August 2017; still working), New Horizons (~39 AU as of August 2017; still working), Pioneer 10 (estimated 114 AU as of January 2016; last contact in January 2003) and Pioneer 11 (estimated around 95.3 AE as of February 2016; last contact in November 1995).

It seems the optimism of the 1970's has been lost since the probe New Horizon which started in 2006 doesn't carry any form of message to a possible alien life form.

 

[CD82]

Maybe somebody did the math and realized that finding a tiny object in interstellar space is kind of difficult, so the chances of any alien life actually finding Voyager are pretty slim.

 

[Eye-Q]

See? That's the attitude I spoke of. Of course the chances are slim, but putting some form of message into a space probe is just a drop in the ocean regarding efforts, costs and weight so the chances increase with every space probe we launch which carries a message.

 

[GRtak]

Gold plated discs are expensive.

Who is going to watch the solar eclipse tomorrow? I am not in the fancy path of totality, but I will give it a peek.

 

[CraigB]

I'll be in about a 95% area and plan to watch. I had thoughts of driving to the totality, but I'm sure traffic will be stupid, even in rural Missouri.

 

[CD82]

See? That's the attitude I spoke of.

It also stands to reason that any space faring alien race that would pick up such a message and make it here in a reasonable amount of time would be technologically superior to us. Therefore advertising where we are and the fact that we are still in the very early stages of space travel (as must be pretty evident to any alien race by Voyager using chemical rockets) might not be the best idea. Let's hope that any aliens we shall ever meet will be more Vulcan and less Klingon or Borg.

 

[Cowboy]

If they ever do show up I have always imagined they will be a kind of lifeform something so unimaginable and alien to us we cannot begin to imagine or comprehend it now.....

What I can imagine is that they will NOT be friendly, whatever and wherever you are, you don't get to the top of the foodchain by being friendly.

 

[CraigB]

Interesting experience being that close to the eclipse. Never went completely dark and didn't see the ring, but cooled off quite a bit. My dad and brother went into the path of totality. Said they could see the ring and the corona. I'll try to make it to the path on April 8th, 2024...

 

[93Flareside]

It was about as dark as a medium thunderstorm rolling in. Nothing that spectacular this far north. Still an interesting experience. Birds stopped chirping, only crickets and grasshoppers were making noise and it got cooler out.

 

[GRtak]

I got a full cloud eclipse and seen white, gray, and black clouds.

 

[Shentar]

I went to Oregon to see the eclipse and to get into the path of totality. Here are the shots I took using my telescope and a point-and-shoot digital camera. Also the rental SUV, my wife, and dog.
https://goo.gl/photos/VjVa5uBqu6qermdu7

 

[MWF]

Cool read... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/disruptors_the_new_space_race

 

[Eye-Q]

SpaceX Falcon 9 Iridium 4 Launch on December 22nd recorded from about 100 miles away from the launch pad.

 

[kunedog]

 

[GRtak]

[No message]