Space Shuttle Endeavour Heads To Space Station 79
RobGoldsmith writes "The STS-127 crew began its journey to the International Space Station at 6:03 p.m. EDT Wednesday when space shuttle Endeavour lifted off from Kennedy Space Center, Fla. The shuttle crew will complete construction of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory and deliver a new crew member, astronaut Tim Kopra, to the orbital outpost."
Space news (Score:5, Interesting)
In other news, 40 years ago, in 30 minutes Apollo 11 lifted off for the first moon walk. I remember it like it was yesterday ... okay, maybe a month ago.
Re:Space news (Score:4, Funny)
No. In other news, 40 years ago, NASA staged the Apollo 11 liftoff as part of a big effort to fool the Ruskies, and then secreted Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong to a sound stage to film the moon landing. Get it right!
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The moon landings were REAL. It's the moon that is fake. They went to change the batteries.
Re:Space news (Score:4, Informative)
The other day, I saw some scientist on TV saying that during mission Apollo 11, they installed mirrors on the moon and that he is still using them today by shooting LASER beams at them from the Earth in order to gather data from the reflection (moon distance etc. )
Now some Slashdot reader must have a powerful enough LASER beam around in order to shoot at the moon. Could this good Samaritan please test if those mirrors are really there and report back to us so we can close this case ?
Thanks in advance ;-))
The scientist said that none of the conspiracy theorists ever went to see him so he could show them the beam reflecting on those mirrors. I am wondering how many people are aware of those mirrors on the moon...
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The other day, I saw some scientist on TV saying that during mission Apollo 11, they installed mirrors on the moon and that he is still using them today by shooting LASER beams at them from the Earth in order to gather data from the reflection (moon distance etc. )
Now some Slashdot reader must have a powerful enough LASER beam around in order to shoot at the moon. Could this good Samaritan please test if those mirrors are really there and report back to us so we can close this case ?
Thanks in advance ;-))
The scientist said that none of the conspiracy theorists ever went to see him so he could show them the beam reflecting on those mirrors. I am wondering how many people are aware of those mirrors on the moon...
Every child who grew up watching Mr Wizard.
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Mythbusters found a laser big enough to do this. Video clip here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orvMZn8L1f0
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Don't count on debunking the conspiracy theories quite so easily. All you would prove is that there is something there which reflects the light back at the Earth. Now, that is almost definitely an artificial, human made something (though conspiracy theorists might even argue that) but it certainly doesn't prove that we landed people there.
The best proof is, arguably, the fact that the Russians never disputed it. They had the tracking necissary to see the ship heading out, the recievers necissary to recie
Re:Space news (Score:4, Funny)
The best proof is, arguably, the fact that the Russians never disputed it. They had the tracking necissary to see the ship heading out, the recievers necissary to recieve the transmissions coming back, and the motivation to destroy the US's reputation; but not once did the Russian government ever dispute the facts of the moon landing.
Nah, that's just proves they were in on the conspiracy. I bet they had a hand in helping the Jews stage 9/11 and the US Navy shoot down TWA Flight 800 too.
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Even though I know it won't be enough, Mythbusters shined a laser at the moon [youtube.com]. Of course any committed moon hoaxer will say 'hey you just faked the computer output' to that I would say
aaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Even though I know it won't be enough, Mythbusters shined a laser at the moon. Of course any committed moon hoaxer will say 'hey you just faked the computer output' to that I would say
aaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, I wouldn't. I'd prefer to point out that, as with most scientific and/or engineering data, you don't have to depend on some remote authority to verify this. Lasers are for sale lots of places, and it's quite within the capabilities of a "backyard
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Actually, it used to be L.A.S.E.R. for "Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation".
Thanks for the update ! ;-))
It's is still good to know where the now word "laser" comes from I would assume...
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The problem is, the crackpots believe the "bounce back" from the moon to be faked via whatever instrument is indicating a signal is being received.
Crackpots are crackpots. You can't rationalize with the irrational. You can't fix stupid.
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The problem is, the crackpots believe the "bounce back" from the moon to be faked via whatever instrument is indicating a signal is being received.
Ah, see, and I thought the crackpot rebuttle would be that obviously we could send unmanned probes to the moon, and one could have easily dropped a mirror there which then The Man claims was put there by a human.
I guess you're right, my attempt to imagine what a rational moon conspiracy theorist would think was doomed to failure in the first place.
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and then secreted Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong to a sound stage to film the moon landing
Was OJ Simpson involved or did that only come later [wikipedia.org]? ;)
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I learned a tremendous amount by watching "In the shadow of the moon" as posted on YouTube. Despite walking on the moon, for real, these astronauts are really down to earth about it, many times really funny too. Perhaps it is due to 40 years of dealing with publicity and telling their stories. In any event, I highly recommend this documentary. It is 90 or 100 minutes in 10 minute segments and well worth it. (I'd post the link, but cannot get to YouTube from work. Google search only brings up the trailer, bu
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Canadian footprint (Score:5, Interesting)
Incidentally, this is the first time in history that there will be two Canadian astronauts working aboard the ISS simultaneously.
Aikon-
p.s. Better work quick if they've only got 'til 2016 =P
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And they'll make them stop at a Tim's along the way.
Foam fell off and struck the shuttle (Score:5, Informative)
This article [msn.com] says about 9 pieces fell off of the fuel tank and struck the shuttle.
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In case of irreparable damage, the astronauts could move into the space station for two to three months and await rescue by another shuttle
If they're decommissioning the shuttle fleet, why not leave it up there and use it to extend the space station?
Rocketships to the MOOOON!! (Score:1)
Each one is dedicated to finishing the space station -- now 81 percent complete -- and hauling up supplies and big spare parts that are too big to fly on any other rocketship.
Apparently the author of your linked MSN article has been reading a bit too much 1950's Sci Fi lately.
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This article [msn.com] says about 9 pieces fell off of the fuel tank and struck the shuttle.
It's not a bug. It's an undocumented feature.
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Put the foam on the INSIDE of the ET.
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More ECO friendly Foam fell off and struck the... (Score:1)
NASA was granted a waiver by the EPA on the old foam but continued its implementation of this new foam.
It has now been found to be a mistake.....STOP ALREADY.... Go back to the old stuff.
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Seriously..., "Kibo"? (Score:5, Funny)
James Parry must be doubled over with laughter right about now.
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No. Get it right.
'kibou' (ãã¼ã) or åOEæoe, is something along the lines of 'hope', or 'aspiration'.
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Does it have "K++++++" on its outside?
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I had the exact same thought, when the first part of Kibo went up a while back.
Please, please, please... (Score:2, Troll)
This is one colloquialism that deserves to die.
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what's so bad about it?
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Besides it sounds insincere, and schmaltzy.
Re:Please, please, please... (Score:5, Funny)
But that's even faster than Ludicrous Speed!
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The shuttle will be lucky if they hit Plaid...
Re:Please, please, please... (Score:4, Interesting)
Holy hell, did you know they made a 13-episode Animated Series of Spaceballs [wikipedia.org]? :O
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How fast is "God Speed" anyway?
Is it faster than Plaid?
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How about "Gods peed"?
Re:Please, please, please... (Score:5, Interesting)
"Godspeed" is a GREAT word, with a near-optimum combination of tone, rhythm, and history to convey the notion of hope for a successful journey. As an atheist, you will pry "Godspeed" out of my cold, dead, not-going-to-Heaven hands, along with "god dammit", Christmas and Bach.
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One could also use "Please, God, don't let them screw up"
Re:And this is news? (Score:5, Insightful)
You know, I like my iPhone. It's nice. But compared to reporting on mankind's efforts in space I really don't think we're talking about the same level of importance...
Cheers,
Ian
no research, no results (was Re:And this is news?) (Score:5, Insightful)
The irony of your wondering ``What have we gotten from all the experiments done in space since the sixties anyway? Do these expenses justify the cost?'' and then posting a story about smart (cell) phones has pegged my bogometer, actually bending the needle.
Here's a clue --- all interesting smartphone capabilities are intricately tied into satellites --- which are the result of space exploration and experimentation.
William
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Here:
http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/spinoffs2.shtml [nasa.gov]
or here:
http://www.thespaceplace.com/nasa/spinoffs.html [thespaceplace.com]
Also, how does the GPS in a smartphone work w/o a satellite?
William
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The real news is, that that piece of shit called the "space shuttle" got to orbit at all, without breaking into its parts and killing everybody.
(You people convinced me that the space shuttle is this crappy, so you can call yourselves trolls if you disagree. ^^ Apparently it is discontinued for a reason, and is way below the usual reliability standards.)
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I do not agree that the Space Shuttle's heading to the space station qualifies to be on Slashdot's front page and here's why: This news is so much like yesterday...move on. We've had decades of shuttle launches, that this is now routine.
Ok, then the following topics should also not be slashdot news as they have also happened so many times before it is routine
- any announcement of a new operating system - this has been happening every few years since the 1980s
- any announcement of a new coding language - same reason as for operating system
- any announcement of a new phone/ipod/crackberry/whatever. This also happens too frequently to care about anymore
- any virus attack. This happens all the time and will happen again
- any news s
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You mean you rather want to see yet another article of the two dwarfs of the cell phone industry having a mud fight to death with each other, while Nokia and some east-Asian companies laugh at them?
This is not comedy wrestling, sir! ^^
Re:And this is news? (Score:5, Insightful)
> We've had decades of shuttle launches, that this is now routine.
It stopped being routine when Challenger blew up. It became even less "routine" when Columbia disintegrated.
Oh well, I guess people risking their lives (there's a current story that large pieces of foam struck the shuttle on launch) isn't news, but rather some uninspiring BS about phone "communities" is.
I know, I have been trolled, but this made me rage.
--
BMO
Re:And this is news? (Score:4, Informative)
This is, however, why I love slashdot. I come on here one morning on a low-gumption thursday and find a tart complaining about the importance of smart phone communities only to see him doubly rebuked for being such a short-sighted self-obsessed fiend. Thanks to you and the others that have put that tool in his place for continuing to remind a young up and coming space-industry worker bee just how much intelligent people really do care about this realm of progress.
Cheers.
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Why? Driving to work is routine. Yet people die every day doing it. Routine doesn't make it risk-free. It has happened enough that there is a lack of interest. That's what the statement means, and based on people's reaction, it was a correct statement. So the question becomes, why do you rage at someone making such a statement? Why are you so personally offended that others don't share your priorities?
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I know, I have been trolled, but this made me rage.
Why? Driving to work is routine. Yet people die every day doing it. Routine doesn't make it risk-free. It has happened enough that there is a lack of interest. That's what the statement means, and based on people's reaction, it was a correct statement. So the question becomes, why do you rage at someone making such a statement? Why are you so personally offended that others don't share your priorities?
I'd guess it has less to do with sharing priorities than it does with some pretentious ass stating that virtual communities built around silly-assed devices is in any way newsworthy.
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"We've had decades of shuttle launches, that this is now routine."
Call it routine all you want. Watching something the size of a building lift off to space has always, is, and will continue to be an impressive technical achievement for the foreseeable future.
The shuttle is an expensive, impractical, fragile, dangerous, whatever vehicle, but it is still a remarkable machine. It may not be the best solution to place stuff in LEO, or not even a very good one, but it's beautiful and inspiring and that counts.
As
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Nothing compares to the sensation of being there. You can *feel* the immense power required to lift that huge piece of machinery up to space.
I saw it once as a kid. I will never forget. I won't say that made me an engineer, as I joke this is an innate condition, but it certainly helped.
Just sayin (Score:2)
Pretty cool to see. (Score:4, Informative)
The icing on the cake was seeing the ISS as well about 20 minutes later at about the same real speed but much slower across the sky given its distance.
I'm looking forwards to seeing the Shuttle play catch-up over the next few nights!
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They named a lab after Kibo? (Score:1)