Space Chat | Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known. - General

Please do take pictures if possible.

[quote] [B]On the afternoon of Monday, April 14, SpaceX is set to launch its third Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) mission to the International Space Station. The Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft are targeted to launch at 4:48 pm EDT from SpaceX’s Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.[/B][url]http://www.spacex.com/news/2014/03/11/upcoming-mission-falcon-9-and-dragon-launching-space-station[/url] [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/Jn1xxN4.png[/IMG] [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/E2c10Or.png[/IMG][IMG]http://i.imgur.com/da7K7Da.png[/IMG] [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujX6CuRELFE[/media] [quote] The private spaceflight company SpaceX will forge ahead with a Dragon cargo ship launch to the International Space Station on Monday (April 14) despite a backup computer failure on the station that will force NASA to perform a spacewalk repair, possibly as early as next week. The NASA decision sets the stage for SpaceX to launch a Falcon 9 rocket carrying the robotic Dragon spacecraft from a pad on Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Liftoff is set for 4:58 p.m. EDT (2058 GMT) on Monday, with the Dragon due to arrive at the station two days later. You can watch the SpaceX's Dragon launch live on Space.com, courtesy of NASA TV. The webcast will begin Monday at 3:45 p.m. EDT (1945 GMT). SpaceX's Dragon will deliver nearly 5,000 lbs. (2,268 kilograms) of food, experiments and other vital supplies for the station's crew when it arrives on Wednesday. [See photos of SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch preparations for Dragon] In a press conference Sunday (April 13), NASA station program manager Michael Suffredini said the decision to move forward with the SpaceX launch came after an in-depth analysis of the Friday failure of a backup computer for the station's solar arrays, robotic arm rail car and other systems. The system's primary computer is working fine, and engineers devised workarounds that would safeguard the station's power and robotic systems in case of another failure, he added.[/quote] [url]http://www.space.com/25477-spacex-dragon-cargo-ship-launch-monday.html[/url] Launch can be seen live from here: [url]http://www.spacex.com/webcast/[/url] [url]http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html#.U0tkaFdKZK4[/url] [url]http://new.livestream.com/spacex/events/2833937?query=spacex&cat=event[/url] Information on the Falcon 9 vehicle can be seen here: [url]http://www.spacex.com/falcon9[/url] Information on Dragon can be seen here: [url]http://www.spacex.com/dragon[/url] [B]COUNTDOWN TO WEBCAST HERE:[/B] [url]http://timeanddate.com/s/2p2j[/url] [B]Why is this news?[/B] Glad you asked! This flight will be the first time ever SpaceX or anyone else for that matter has attempted to land a rocket stage at sea from suborbit. They're doing this as a proof of concept before attempting to land the stage back at Cape Canaveral. They have had much success with their Grasshopper test vehicle, and the past few Falcon 9 v1.1 stages have successfully reentered earths atmosphere. Now it's just a matter of putting the two together and splashing down at sea. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZDkItO-0a4[/media] This is the first in a long mission to make a fully reusable rocket for safe and secure manned launches, and cheap and easy access to space with cargo launches. If all the goals of this mission are successful, it will truly be a historical flight. This will be the end result: [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_1WJ7UUm8I[/media] [B]Payload:[/B] Payloads gonna be some[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OPALS"] fancy laser communication thing[/URL], some commercial HD Cameras for viewing earth, [URL="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/robonaut.html#.U0trFFdKZK4"]the legs to that creepy astro-bot[/URL],[URL="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/veggie/#.U0trKldKZK4"] a veggie garden[/URL], a shinny new EVA suit, a [I]shitload[/I] of nano-satellites, and probably more. I leave you with some media. Hope you can join the party. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ofOQUG8zAWI[/media] [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/NczlVzk.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/lWabFop.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/silVyOk.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/Ur8M0Jp.jpg[/IMG] [/quote]

[img]https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/t1.0-9/10151260_10154147972595131_6525489559422255062_n.jpg[/img] [I]"Falcon 9 and Dragon have gone vertical in advance of today’s launch to the ISS! Launch is targeted for 4:58pm ET."[/I] - [url=https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10154147972595131&set=a.10153653764765131.1073741827.353851465130&type=1&theater]SpaceX Facebook Page[/url] Soon! [editline]14th April 2014[/editline] Might interest some of you: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Enm-14rQTwY[/media]

[QUOTE=Daniellynet;44539799]Please do take pictures if possible.[/QUOTE] It didn't turn out good at all. Larparnar got some awesome pics though, wait for him to post them. [img]http://i.imgur.com/1PNY2Mo.png[/img]

O hi. [img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2668640/stellar/maers.jpg[/img] I don't think it's perfectly in focus, but pretty happy with how it turned out regardless. Recorded a video of it and used Registax to stack it. Also the sun: [t]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2668640/stellar/sol.jpg[/t]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP7K9SycELA[/media]

So, I decided to try to take a picture of Jupiter with my telescope without the proper adapters. [t]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4249868/ShareX/2014-04/_DSC2838.jpg[/t] Graceful.

Received my motors! Long exposure shots here I come! [t]http://i.imgur.com/dbmIeS6.jpg[/t]

Don't think I've seen this find before: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ndpxuf-uJHE[/media] (From [url]http://www.spacex.com/about[/url]) Interesting stuff in it: [img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/41041550/spacexfind/pic1.PNG[/img] [img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/41041550/spacexfind/pic2.PNG[/img]

The motors really work. Although I still need to align it more properly to the Polar star. But it has managed to reduce a significant amount of star trailing during long exposures. Took a few pictures and stacked them. A bunch of stars, and loads of light pollution. I was trying to take a picture of the Milky Way, but had to aim towards central Stockholm. [t]http://i.imgur.com/g0UTubH.jpg[/t] [editline]23rd April 2014[/editline] [t]http://i.imgur.com/GL3fkWe.jpg[/t] Plane interrupting me.

[QUOTE=dije;44626079]Don't think I've seen this find before: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ndpxuf-uJHE[/media] (From [url]http://www.spacex.com/about[/url]) Interesting stuff in it: [img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/41041550/spacexfind/pic1.PNG[/img] [img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/41041550/spacexfind/pic2.PNG[/img][/QUOTE] i think the current understanding of a mars mission is a bit nuts actually... take the orion for example, senators like to say it'll take us to possibly the moon and mars, but they don't realize that taking the orion anywhere besides the moon would be a suicide trip since its a very small capsule compaired to say the space shuttle or the roomy ISS, theres no room to workout in orion, same with the dragon capsule, everybody's looking at the transport vehicle without really talking about the ship that'll take us to these planets and serve as a station for those astronauts

[QUOTE=Sableye;44628821]i think the current understanding of a mars mission is a bit nuts actually... take the orion for example, senators like to say it'll take us to possibly the moon and mars, but they don't realize that taking the orion anywhere besides the moon would be a suicide trip since its a very small capsule compaired to say the space shuttle or the roomy ISS, theres no room to workout in orion, same with the dragon capsule, everybody's looking at the transport vehicle without really talking about the ship that'll take us to these planets and serve as a station for those astronauts[/QUOTE] Hm. Wouldn't it theoretically be possible to fit the ISS with some rockets, other things needed for the Mars long term trip and send that to Mars? I know it's completely unrealistic, but this is assuming we suddenly got a replacement for the ISS and the current ISS would be expendable for whatever purpose is needed.

[QUOTE=Daniellynet;44629188]Hm. Wouldn't it theoretically be possible to fit the ISS with some rockets, other things needed for the Mars long term trip and send that to Mars? I know it's completely unrealistic, but this is assuming we suddenly got a replacement for the ISS and the current ISS would be expendable for whatever purpose is needed.[/QUOTE] Lots of things are theoretically possible.

[QUOTE=Daniellynet;44629188]Hm. Wouldn't it theoretically be possible to fit the ISS with some rockets, other things needed for the Mars long term trip and send that to Mars? I know it's completely unrealistic, but this is assuming we suddenly got a replacement for the ISS and the current ISS would be expendable for whatever purpose is needed.[/QUOTE] [t]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Nautilus-X_Main_Dimensions.png[/t] we need to seriously revisit the nautilus-x concept, now with the SLS, launching the thing in pieces isn't all that expensive when you consider that its [I]a space ship that you're not throwing away[/I], use dragon capsules to ferry people to it, and comercial services to supply it, leaving NASA with the problem of running it, fueling it, and building it we could build it using ISS-type hardware instead of one giant module, and we could use a modified SLS top stage as the engine module ala skylab, we don't need the centrifuge which simplifies it, and i was even thinking last night, what if bigelow made an inflatable fuel tank, they could put it out in orbit somewhere and it could be remotely fueled so its not dangerous, and then this thing could just pull up along side it and grab some fuel basically instead of wasting the SLS for missions that don't exist yet, we devote the first couple launches to putting togather the heavy pieces of the ship, we can use the falcon then to lift up the pieces that don't need an SLS such as solar wings and expandable modules. NASA even developed a space-tug and power supply back when the ISS was first starting off because they were worried the russian zavada module might not have made it to orbit, they still have the plans sitting around [editline]23rd April 2014[/editline] im worried whomever goes into office next be it a democrat or republican, will look at NASA as a further drain on our economy and slash its "bloated" anerexic budget even further, or worse, just slash NASA's funding in spite because the SLS was obama's idea, the Comercial crew program itself has only gotten 1/3rd of its promised budget, and NASA has seen its funding slashed every year while they are tasked with doing more and more each year. NASA is perhaps the most transperant goverment agency out there, when they spend money people can see exactly where it goes, but it seems like that only encourages people to think NASA wastes cash im in a philosophical mood tonight i guess

I think any serious mars mission will have some sort of module attached. It would be insane to go on a Dragon or Orion alone. A Bigelow attached to it might work.

I think a future Mars mission should be an international effort. Also astrometry.net is cool. If you have picturs of stars and stuff you can get them annotated. [img]http://i.imgur.com/oARqN0x.jpg[/img]

You should try taking pictures of some DSOs while the night sky is still dark. How big is your telescope anyways?

Quite big. I have some unboxing picture on the first page. [img]http://i.imgur.com/8AP8gLs.jpg[/img] 20cm mirror and 1 meter focal length.

Mars in center on the southern sky. [t]https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5498/14024920465_960f678b8b_o.jpg[/t] Jupiter left on the western sky. [t]https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7416/14001830846_f580536bb3_o.jpg[/t] It's kinda cool though, how in pretty much every image you take of the sky, there's most likely gonna be a satellite in it.

Been a while since I've posted in here. Still looking for a telescope but when your looking to do deep space viewing things get pricey quickly. Any suggestions?

The best viewer of deep space is google images sadly. Even if you buy a powerful scope you can't see any slightly faint galaxies with your eyes, and would have to use a camera and long exposures.

Large dobsonian telescopes aren't really that expensive. Most of then allows you to see deep sky objects.

[QUOTE=Swebonny;44657008]Large dobsonian telescopes aren't really that expensive. Most of then allows you to see deep sky objects.[/QUOTE] This. But don't expect things to pop out and look like they do in the typical photos you see around. Things are pretty much always going to be very faint lookng, especially if you're anywhere near light pollution. And in most cases you're going to have to let your eyes adapt for a little while + let the telescope optics cool down to ambient temperature for the best views.

I prefer telescope apertures to be in inches for some reason.

What is it with all the coolest DSOs being below horizon at this time of the year...

Apparently road lights turn off at 1AM. Looks nice when the biggest light pollution source is gone :) Trying Whirlpool galaxy again. Temperature outside is about 3°C and dew point is -1.7°C, so I hope it means no dew this time.

I managed to do a quite precise polar alignment, but then comes the second problem, to actually find stuff. At least I managed to get a nice picture of a star. Amazingly Astrometry has problem identifying it, but I'm pretty sure it's Capella. [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/R2EX2Zq.png[/IMG]

I use Google SkyMaps and Stellarium to find targets.

[img]http://i.imgur.com/9vOjNpL.jpg[/img] [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/NOG9AEt.jpg[/IMG] [editline]28th April 2014[/editline] Yeah I use them too, but I need to learn to use the RA and DEC ring better, I get close to my targets, but trying to find them with the eyepiece is hard as hell.

[img]http://4st.me/xbYB3.png[/img] Polar alignment too bad this time, I should really get a bubble level to make sure everything is nice and straight, cause I'm pretty sure I got the polar star where it was supposed to be. Gotta retry tomorrow night. I really wanna see how much the drizzle feature of DSS makes it better. Here's a test shot I took of the north-eastern sky. [t]http://nova.astrometry.net/image/581948[/t] [editline]28th April 2014[/editline] Also I was thinking about getting a better lens, maybe for a graduation gift.