Scientists Set Bold Plan For Future Exploration of the Sun 140
coondoggie writes "Our understanding of space weather and the impact of space around Earth has greatly increased in the last 10 years and if the ambitious plan the National Research Council can be implemented, the next 10 years will generate tons more scientific insight. The National Research Council issued its second research recommendation report, 'Solar and Space Physics: A Science for a Technological Society,' which represents 18 months of research by more than 85 solar and space physicists and space system engineers and lays out major scientific goals for solar exploration on the next 10 years."
They need to step their game up... (Score:5, Funny)
They've figured out how to not get burnt (Score:5, Funny)
They're going to land at night.
Re:They've figured out how to not get burnt (Score:5, Funny)
That is really a dumb idea. Of course they couldn't go at night.
They wouldn't be able to see anything.
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That is really a dumb idea. Of course they couldn't go at night.
They wouldn't be able to see anything.
But we have LED flashlights !!
Re:They've figured out how to not get burnt (Score:4, Funny)
That is really a dumb idea. Of course they couldn't go at night.
They wouldn't be able to see anything.
But we have LED flashlights !!
...which are, unfortunately, solar powered.
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That is really a dumb idea. Of course they couldn't go at night.
They wouldn't be able to see anything.
But we have LED flashlights !!
...which are, unfortunately, solar powered.
Shine the flashlight at the solar panels. Problem solved.
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Worse than that - the sun isn't even there at night.
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...and leave behind an asbestos-flag.
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That's silly. The sun is still shining at night, but the Earth has turned.
What they have to do is land on the *dark side of the sun*.
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OK. I'm behind you, right here. You go first!
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Straight to the heart.. Set the controls
Re:They've figured out how to not get burnt (Score:4, Funny)
Syd? Is that you?
Wish you were here...
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Syd? Is that you?
No, it's Hotblack Desiato.
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No longer with Disaster Area. Now selling a Disaster Area [hotblackdesiato.co.uk].
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Albedo [wikipedia.org] actually, but that is one HELL of an amusing mixup! I think that if we could calculate libido accurately via simple observation we'd be able to put dating websites out of business ;)
Re:They need to step their game up... (Score:5, Funny)
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Our local community area name starts with a B, there is a also a local "school" for retarded citizens, called the "Association of Retarded Citizens". Their sign reads "B'ARC" you can't make this up, I just tried to look it up on google street view, but the map is a few years out of date and still shows them at their old location with the sign that spells out the community name.
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Manned exploration of the sun.
Manned exploration of the sun is the dumbest idea I've ever heard of. It would be far more cost-effective to explore by sending robotic rovers to drive around on the surface of the sun.
Oldy but goody (Score:1)
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I bet Sarcastic Rover's feeling much better about Mars now: http://twitter.com/SarcasticRover [twitter.com].
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For those who don't remember this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haAhdtDmsOw [youtube.com]
I vote (Score:5, Funny)
The first person to make the "go at night" joke should be permabanned.
Re:I vote (Score:5, Funny)
The first person to make the "go at night" joke should be permabanned.
That sounds a little dark.
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Well... anybody that'd rush in here thinking they'd be the first to say that couldn't be very bright.
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"I don't always go on manned missions to explore the Sun.
But when I do, I go at night."
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I'm staying out of this; I feel saturnine enough as it is.
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Well that's silly. They'd completely miss the thing at night, and go hurtling off into the screaming void of space.
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They're gonna go blind from lookin' at the sun, just like Mom said. Or wazzat somethin' else?
Re:I vote (Score:5, Funny)
They're gonna go blind from lookin' at the sun, just like Mom said. Or wazzat somethin' else?
That's from looking at page three of the Sun.
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The first person to make the "go at night" joke should be permabanned.
Calling the "go at night" proposal a joke, can only mean you didn't grow up in a Creationist state.
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Of course, everyone knows it's much easier to wait on the horizon and jump on as it comes up in the morning. Then you have all day to run tests/take pictures, before jumping off again in the evening.
Bold? Bah! (Score:1)
You ain't seen bold until someone funds my manned mission to the Sun.
As a cost saving measure, we'll go at night. As well as reduced insulation expenses, it's downhill all the way.
As expected (Score:5, Funny)
4 posts: 2 "at nights", 2 "manned expeditions".
Carry on, Slashdot.
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And now one post that actually made me chuckle :)
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You mean like with a submarine?
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4 posts: 2 "at nights", 2 "manned expeditions".
Carry on, Slashdot.
As you were! [youtube.com]
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Halfway down these 155 comments and all I've seen is lame jokes, every one of which should have been modded -1, not stale, obvious, not funny, OVERRATED.
Please, slashdot, change it back so trying for a +1 funny is dangerous to your karma again. Since changing funny from karma-neutral to gaining karma, it seems that way too many threads are like this one.
See you guys in the next thread, I'm done with this one.
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I'm a fiend for humor as well, but some of the lamest stuff is getting modded funny.
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I propose going during winter.
And just to make it more interesting, I'll let the crowd decide if it's winter in Earth or the Sun.
India (Score:5, Funny)
In other news, India has just announced a manned landing on the Sun by 2019.
Re:India (Score:5, Funny)
Re:India (Score:4, Funny)
I would support a manned mission to the Sun if that man was Larry Ellison.
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Congrats; first slashdot post to make me actually laugh out loud in about a week. Should have seen an Oracle joke coming, but I did not. Bravo.
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Tons of scientific insight (Score:2)
I look forward to the day when American scientific research can generate tonnes more scientific research.
And how many tons are there per Library of Congress?
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Oh dude, you should totally check out this thing known as a "figure of speech".
Its a real hoot, you don't actually *have* to take it literally. Novel idea huh?
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staff proposal: (Score:4, Interesting)
I propose that we send select delegates from both the house and senate on this noteworthy mission, so that they can see for themselves how silly it was to scrub the "return stage" construction budget.
We of course, need to supply them with 2 way radio contact so thay can debate the matter via telepresence with their peers in washington.
Re:staff proposal: (Score:4, Funny)
The fifth overarching goal: fulfill basic yearning (Score:3)
"Since the beginning of time man has yearned to destroy the sun."
(Excellent. [snpp.com])
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
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You must be joking. The Sun has about 1.988E30 kg, while the Earth has only 5.97E24. That means the Sun has about 300,000 times Earth's mass. A small human-made machine can't even scratch the Earth, if we threw it against a giant ball of fire that burns anything that even thinks of coming close it wouldn't stand a chance. You can't simply accidentally break the Sun (and, currently, not even intentionally). You're better off worrying about the Earth, that's something we can't completely break but we can make
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If you like something a bit more scientific. Try Sunshine the movie:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunshine_(2007_film) [wikipedia.org]
I'd say bit more scientific than Star Trek because the premise sounds a bit preposterous. A mission is sent to reignite a sun that's started to grow cold. The tool of choice is a "star bomb" to start a solar chain reaction. As the GP pointed out, we're smaller than ants compared to sun, and we can't accidentally "break" the sun, what more fix it, when it breaks.
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Aha! Never misunderestimate Science. My first thought upon hearing about this for example, was "I hope they included an antimatter mass production facility in close orbit around the sun there, we shouldn't need to wall off too much of it to be zipping around the solar system in jig time".
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Don't fix it!!!
Are you kidding! We have great scientists these days.
They can double the sun's output in no time.
Then we'll have all the solar power we'll ever need.
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No need for manned exploration (Score:1)
NASA will send a pair of rovers, the "Damn, that's hot" and the "Ouch, it burns" to explore the photosphere. Expected mission lengths after arrival are expected to be measured in the femtoseconds.
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Corona is way hotter than photosphere, so it will not arrive.
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I know, whoosh.
Anyone actually read the article yet? (Score:1)
No? Just wondering. Thanks.
four goals (Score:2)
*Determine the origins of the Sun's activity and predict the variations in the space environment.
* Determine the dynamics and coupling of Earth's magnetosphere, ionosphere, and atmosphere and their response to solar and terrestrial inputs.
* Determine the interaction of the Sun with the solar system and the interstellar medium.
* Discover and characterize fundamental processes that occur both within the heliosphere and throughout the universe.
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* ???
* Profit!
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I R on Sun (Score:2)
I R on Sun [dailymotion.com], first manned mission to the Sun.
Being serious for a minute... (Score:2)
Joe Biden (Score:1)
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
Sundiver (Score:2)
Now THAT would be bold. Laser cooled, laser propulsion manned solar exploration vehicle. Until they can match David Brin's dream, nothing about solar exploration will feel "bold" to me. Sigh. I'm spoiled.
US can only fund one percent of great ideas (Score:2)
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OK. I have poster's regret. Can I delete this now? ;-)
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OK. I have poster's regret. Can I delete this now? ;-)
Good news! The delete comes with the permaban!
Hooray! Everyone wins!
Re:Maybe this will kill Man made global warming (Score:4, Informative)
you're a fucking idiot.
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*your
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Re:Maybe this will kill Man made global warming (Score:5, Informative)
If you honestly don't think that an atmosphere has something to do with it you really need to work on that science education.
Take the moon, for instance. Given its distance from the sun it should be able the same temperature on the surface as on Earth. But is it? No. During the day it's 125C. At night? -150C. Also see Venus, which, due to its atmosphere, has an average surface temperature more than double that of Mercury despite being twice the distance from the sun and receiving less than 25% of the solar output.
The sun provides the heat. The atmosphere keeps it there and distributes it around. Different gasses have different absorption properties. Carbon dioxide, methane and water vapor are all high on the list for trapping heat energy.
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You are wasting your time if you are trying to convince the wilfully ignorant by educating them with the facts and using logical deductive reasoning.
You will have more luck convincing the Pope that indeed, god does not actually exist.
Re:Maybe this will kill Man made global warming (Score:5, Insightful)
You will have more luck convincing the Pope that indeed, god does not actually exist.
I'm sure his holiness is fully aware. The idea is to not let the proletariat catch on.
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You are wasting your time if you are trying to convince the wilfully ignorant by educating them with the facts and using logical deductive reasoning.
You will have more luck convincing the Pope that indeed, bears do not shit in the woods.
FTFY. Yer welcome.
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A dyslexic neurotic now wonders if there really is a dog.
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Because your joke is even older than mine.
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Further, we have direct satellite measurements of solar output since 1978. There's been no clear trend to it while temperatures on Earth have gone up steadily.
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It's an interesting point that due to its size, its power output has been very consistent (presumably areas of higher output than the norm are cancelled out by alternate areas of lower output).
Alas regarding Global Warming, we pay more attention to areas of lower temperature than the mean as proof that GW doesn't exist, than the average itself which is steadily rising higher. Which is strange since the energy entering the system isn't rising to a similar degree at all.
Re:Maybe this will kill Man made global warming (Score:4, Funny)
What a coincidence, I was just talking with some of my colleagues at the research lab the other day: "Hey, you know what's really hot?" ... after an awkward 15 minute silence where we realize we couldn't name a single chick in recent popular culture to pretend like we were still cool, some smart ass finally says, "I know what's really hot, the Sun. It's so hot you can probably feel its heat all the way on Earth."
I replied with great excitement, "Holy shit Dr. Jones, you might be on to something big there."
We all rushed to the library to find our favorite table unoccupied. After ten hours of heavy literature searching, and many trips by our grad students to fetch us coffee, we finally had to quit when the library started to close. We tried to buy some time by having Dr. Adler flirt with the librarian. Despite breaking his personal record, he only got us another 14.3 seconds.
So despite our exhaustive efforts, we had to give up and had to conclude: no one has ever measured the Sun's output before. We thought we were onto something there, but without any data we couldn't corroborate our idea that the Sun heats the Earth. At first it came as such a shock to us, not only was it an amazing idea, but we could be the first scientists to ever think of it. In retrospect it seemed so simple, as all amazing research does.
But eventually we felt like giving up, becoming depressed after arguing whether measuring the Sun's output could be done for only a few million dollars or if we would need at least a few tens of millions of dollars. It clearly was a project that would require a large team and infrastructure, well beyond anything achievable by past scientists, or a single person. I think the guys lost their motivation to pursue such novel work, but not any more. Just wait until I tell them there is someone on Slashdot that supports the new theory too.
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If we kick the shit outta all of them, we'd be able to fit 'em all in a matchbox and save fuel for the mission...
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"Is there any reason for a manned mission to the solar system?"
Probably not - analysis of the transmissions from the third planet reveal no signs of intelligence..