MoonJupiterVenus.jpg (17.28 KiB) Viewed 1448 times
Moon, Jupiter and Venus
This was taken at 7:01 PM on February 23rd from a dive boat near Ao Kuerk Bay (Donald Duck Bay) at Similan Island #8. The two planets appeared closer together a few days later, but this was the best shot I could get. Taken with an iPhone 14 Pro.
Not a huge surprise after recent events and with Elon Musk's SpaceX seemingly streets ahead - Virgin Galactic still there though: -
Virgin Orbit: Richard Branson's Rocket Firm Files for Bankruptcy
"British billionaire Sir Richard Branson's rocket company Virgin Orbit has filed for bankruptcy in the US after failing to secure new investment.
The satellite launch company halted operations weeks ago but it hopes to find a buyer for the business.
The company, based in California, announced last week that it would cut 85% of its 750-strong workforce.
Earlier this year, a Virgin Orbit rocket failed to complete its first-ever satellite launch from UK soil.
Virgin Orbit's boss Dan Hart said that although the company had "taken great efforts" to address its finances and secure more funding, "we ultimately must do what is best for the business."
He said that Virgin Orbit will now concentrate on finding a buyer for the business "to provide clarity on the future of the company to its customers, vendors, and employees".
Virgin Orbit was founded in 2017 and is a spin-off from Sir Richard's space tourism company Virgin Galactic."
Dannie Boy wrote: ↑Fri Apr 07, 2023 6:22 pm
I’m not sure I can get my head around some of this - puts our tiny little place called Earth into perspective!!
Have to say, looking forward to this - it's another real step in Space Travel. Travel to Mars (for humans) is decades away, but travel to and building of Lunar Bases on our near neighbour is going to happen in my lifetime I believe. The knowledge gained from this will get us to Mars one day.
"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things" - Yma o Hyd.
An interesting read, the next Space Telescope - The Nancy Grace Roman or Roman Space Telescope is due to launch in 2026 or 2027 and is hoped will operate in conjunction with Hubble and James Webb Telescopes helping Astronomers see Space in a way it has never been seen before.
On this day (April 12), 1961 - Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin carried out the first human Space Flight. In 2011, the UN declared April 12 the "Day of Human Space Flight".
"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things" - Yma o Hyd.
There are three Apollo missions, 11,13 and 17 that you can watch from launch to splash down with all video, still photographs and all audio and transcripts from space and all the desks of mission control accessed from one screen.
I had some dead time the other night and watched about four hours of Apollo 17 moon walk.
I was fascinated by Apollo as a child and it's great to be able to experience it all again.
STEVE G wrote: ↑Fri Apr 14, 2023 12:24 pm
For anyone interested in the history of space flight, this website is pretty amazing; https://apolloinrealtime.org/
There are three Apollo missions, 11,13 and 17 that you can watch from launch to splash down with all video, still photographs and all audio and transcripts from space and all the desks of mission control accessed from one screen.
I had some dead time the other night and watched about four hours of Apollo 17 moon walk.
I was fascinated by Apollo as a child and it's great to be able to experience it all again.
Just had a quick look - looks superb! Ta muchly Steve
"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things" - Yma o Hyd.
Aa apparent success despite the "Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly" (RUG)!
SpaceX Starship: Elon Musk's Big Rocket Explodes on Test Flight
"Elon Musk's SpaceX company's mammoth new rocket, Starship, has exploded on its maiden flight.
No-one was hurt in the uncrewed test that lifted off from Texas' east coast on Thursday morning local time.
After two or three minutes into the flight, the rocket - the biggest ever developed - started to tumble out of control and was then destroyed, most probably by onboard charges.
Mr Musk has said his company will try again in a couple of months.
SpaceX engineers still class Thursday's mission as a success. They like to "test early and often" and are not afraid to break things. They will have gathered a mass of data to work towards the next flight. A second Starship is almost ready to take flight.
"Congrats @SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship! Learned a lot for next test launch in a few months," Mr Musk tweeted."
dtaai-maai wrote: ↑Fri Apr 21, 2023 2:31 am
^^A tricky one for me. I can't abide the man, but I'd also like to see mankind moving forward in terms of space travel.
Yes, I'd agree - he's an incredible entrepreneur and visionary IMHO, but also "quite the shite" ......
"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things" - Yma o Hyd.
I guess he shoulda stuck to electric cars and rockets. I love to see the leaps and bounds of progress he's made with space flight. I think the "test early and often" mantra is a good one. I look forward to the next attempt.
On another topic: I was sorry we weren't able to observe yesterday's solar eclipse from here. My daughter, who lives on Saipan, was able to view it with her sons who were given viewing glasses at school. I still have my welder's glass (อ๊อกกระจก - if you ever need to buy some) that I used during the last visible eclipse.
An absolutely incredible feat of science quite frankly.... Let's hope it can gain a little more to reach it's 50th!!
NASA Voyager 2 Spacecraft Extends Its Interstellar Science Mission For 3 More Years
A technical trick will keep the 46-year-old mission collecting science for a little longer.
"Voyager 2 can keep sending science back from interstellar space a little longer.
NASA's long-running Voyager 2 mission will postpone an instrument shutdown three years to 2026 thanks to a technical feat by engineers. The change will allow the mission, which launched in 1977, to gather valuable science in deep space.
"We are definitely interested in keeping as many science instruments operating as long as possible," Linda Spilker, Voyager's project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in southern California, said of the decision in a statement(opens in new tab) Wednesday (April 26.)
Voyager 2 and its twin, Voyager 1, will thus continue to gather valuable data deeper in space than any probes have before them. Ongoing investigations, NASA says(opens in new tab), include examining the sun's magnetic field, the energy of the solar wind emanating from our sun and radio emissions in interstellar space.
The Voyagers are both powered by nuclear energy, as the sun's rays are too weak for solar power so far out in deep space. The radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTG) they use decay over time, meaning the plutonium produces a little less power every year."
