Space News thread

[harrybarracuda]

I'm telling you, we're doomed.

Professor Stephen Hawking, often condemned and acclaimed in equal measure for his doomsday theories, has now asserted that the 'God Particle' or the Higgs boson discovered by scientist in 2012, had the potential to destroy the entire universe.

This comes as just another of his bombshell theories after the physicist had in the past, gone to the extent of warning that aliens might destroy the world and also worried that artificial intelligence might do the same. But this time, Hawking has offered a bizarre scenario where the Higgs Boson would not just merely put an end to Earth, but to the whole Universe.

Stephen Hawking's New Doomsday Theory: 'God Particle Could Destroy Entire Universe'

[VocalNeal]

said that at very high energy levels the Higgs boson could become unstable

I know on the ship I was on the bosun could become very unstable at high alcohol levels. "off duty" of course.

[thaimeme]

I'm telling you, we're doomed.

Professor Stephen Hawking, often condemned and acclaimed in equal measure for his doomsday theories, has now asserted that the 'God Particle' or the Higgs boson discovered by scientist in 2012, had the potential to destroy the entire universe.

This comes as just another of his bombshell theories after the physicist had in the past, gone to the extent of warning that aliens might destroy the world and also worried that artificial intelligence might do the same. But this time, Hawking has offered a bizarre scenario where the Higgs Boson would not just merely put an end to Earth, but to the whole Universe.

Stephen Hawking's New Doomsday Theory: 'God Particle Could Destroy Entire Universe'

Looking forward to it...

[Necron99]

I'm telling you, we're doomed.

Professor Stephen Hawking, often condemned and acclaimed in equal measure for his doomsday theories, has now asserted that the 'God Particle' or the Higgs boson discovered by scientist in 2012, had the potential to destroy the entire universe.

This comes as just another of his bombshell theories after the physicist had in the past, gone to the extent of warning that aliens might destroy the world and also worried that artificial intelligence might do the same. But this time, Hawking has offered a bizarre scenario where the Higgs Boson would not just merely put an end to Earth, but to the whole Universe.

Stephen Hawking's New Doomsday Theory: 'God Particle Could Destroy Entire Universe'

Looking forward to it...

You would never know it happened...

[DaveS]

the universe cannot end until the Question, for which the answers is 42, is determined.

[palexxxx]

I'm telling you, we're doomed.

Professor Stephen Hawking, often condemned and acclaimed in equal measure for his doomsday theories, has now asserted that the 'God Particle' or the Higgs boson discovered by scientist in 2012, had the potential to destroy the entire universe.

This comes as just another of his bombshell theories after the physicist had in the past, gone to the extent of warning that aliens might destroy the world and also worried that artificial intelligence might do the same. But this time, Hawking has offered a bizarre scenario where the Higgs Boson would not just merely put an end to Earth, but to the whole Universe.

Stephen Hawking's New Doomsday Theory: 'God Particle Could Destroy Entire Universe'

If the universe collapsed as a result of 'whatever' would it take just as long for it to collapse as it has to expand to the size that it is now?

[Takeovers]

If the universe collapsed as a result of 'whatever' would it take just as long for it to collapse as it has to expand to the size that it is now?

According to the article if such an event happens it spreads at light speed. So it would take a long time to affect the whole universe. If it has happened anywhere we would never see it coming. We would just be dead the instant it arrives.

So no worries.

[palexxxx]

^ So that means, however many billion years old that the universe is now, it'll take the same number of years for it to collapse.

I won't try to time it with a stop-watch then.

[Necron99]

^ So that means, however many billion years old that the universe is now, it'll take the same number of years for it to collapse.

I won't try to time it with a stop-watch then.

No, it depends on where the epicenter is.
Those nutters in Switzerland might set it off tomorrow.

[Takeovers]

No, it depends on where the epicenter is. Those nutters in Switzerland might set it off tomorrow.

I don't think so. To my knowledge CERN is not going to cause a universe destroying phase change. Only a black hole that destroys the earth.

[BaitongBoy]

Thinking of Hiroshima and Nagasaki...They never heard a thing...Just a brilliant flash of light and then vaporized...

[Ozcol]

I'll get my camera ready,

[ENT]

No, but by your own evidence, you ARE :

https://teakdoor.com/the-teakdoor-lou...insane-17.html

https://teakdoor.com/the-teakdoor-lou...insane-23.html

Of course you and harry still think you can't be tracked in real time,....dipshits.

[harrybarracuda]

No, but by your own evidence, you ARE :

https://teakdoor.com/the-teakdoor-lou...insane-17.html

https://teakdoor.com/the-teakdoor-lou...insane-23.html

Of course you and harry still think you can't be tracked in real time,....dipshits.

I didn't realise you were illiterate as well as stupid.

[Takeovers]

Let's get this thread back on track now, please.



Here a satellite photo of a new experimental radio frequency satellite that is able to pinpoint the location of a large number of ships. These are radio signals coming from the ships, not some kind of radar. Each red dot represents a ship, a total of 52.000 ships show nicely how they are distributed all over the world. Notice also, how some of the large rivers show up with plenty of ships.

[Takeovers]

A picture from the launch of the latest SpaceX rocket with Asiasat 6, that will serve Thailand and other asian regions.

It is a long time exposure showing the flight path of the rocket. It was a launch at 1.00 AM in the night. The long time exposure plus the moonlight make it look almost like a daytime shot.

[Neo]

This timelapse video was made from images taken by ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst orbiting Earth on the International Space Station.

The video is offered in Ultra High Definition, the highest available to consumers. Be sure to change the settings in YouTube if your computer or television can handle it for the full effect.

The montage is made from a long sequence of still photographs taken at a resolution of 4256 x 2832 pixels at a rate of one every second. The high resolution allowed the ESA production team to create a 3840 x 2160 pixel movie, also known as Ultra HD or 4K.

Playing these sequences at 25 frames per second, the film runs 25 times faster than it looks for the astronauts in space.

The artistic effects of the light trails from stars and cities at night are created by superimposing the individual images and fading them out slowly.

Alexander Gerst is a member of the International Space Station Expedition 40 crew. He is spending five and a half months living and working on the ISS for his Blue Dot mission.

[Takeovers]

Cats and pigeons in zero g. I wonder how cats and birds would adjust to extended zero g. Maybe we will find out when colonists take them to Mars soon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTkFIE_-kL8

[OhOh]

Well done India.

http://rt.com/news/190096-india-mars-orbiter-probe/

"India has become the first nation to reach Mars on its maiden attempt after its Mars Orbiter Mission completed its 10-month journey and successfully entered the Red Planet’s orbit. bit."

[galaxytrash]

the satellite has a "please sound horn" sign on the back. (if you've never been to india, you won't get my attempt at humor.)

amazing that india is capable of this. if they can send a rocket to mars, maybe they will learn how to build a decent sidewalk someday....

but i have to also say "well done, india."

plus they did it at a fraction of the cost of the americans. (not slagging u.s.a., just stating a fact)

[Takeovers]

plus they did it at a fraction of the cost of the americans. (not slagging u.s.a., just stating a fact)

True, but NASA flies really brilliant scientific payloads, that's what they are good at. Though usually some of the experiments come from Europe or Japan. The achievement of India is getting there.

Feats like this are meant to attract young professionals to spaceflight and young students into technical and scientific courses at their universities instead of business courses. Usually they are successful and advance the country long term.

[harrybarracuda]

The real achievement of India is getting someone else to pay for it.

[kmart]

Well done India.

http://rt.com/news/190096-india-mars-orbiter-probe/

"India has become the first nation to reach Mars on its maiden attempt after its Mars Orbiter Mission completed its 10-month journey and successfully entered the Red Planet’s orbit. bit."

Looks like the call centre of any Helpline no you might dial.

[harrybarracuda]

Mars Orbiters Safely Parked and Poised for Ringside View of Comet Flyby
By Jayalakshmi K
October 19, 2014 09:35 BST



MARS COMET
On Sunday, October 19, Comet C/2013 A1, also known as comet Siding Spring, will pass within about 139,500 km of Mars - less than half the distance between Earth and our moon and less than one-tenth the distance of any known comet flyby of Earth.

Space agencies of America, Europe and India have shifted their Mars orbiters to the far side of the planet to avoid any risk from the debris field of Comet Siding Spring.

The Comet C/2013 A1, also known as comet Siding Spring, will fly past Mars late on Sunday in one of the closest planetary approach by a comet, giving scientists an invaluable opportunity to learn more about the materials, including water and carbon compounds, that went into the formation of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago.

Passing within about 139,500 km of Mars, it will be at less than half the distance between Earth and our moon from the Red Planet, and less than one-tenth the distance of any known comet flyby of Earth, says Nasa.

Siding Spring's core will be closest to Mars around 2:27 pm EDT (6.27 pm GMT), hurtling at about 56 km per second.

The period of greatest risk to orbiting spacecraft will start about 90 minutes after this and last about 20 minutes, when Mars will come closest to the centre of the widening trail of dust flying from the comet's nucleus.

Siding Spring comes from the Oort Cloud, a spherical region of space surrounding our sun and occupying space at a distance between 5,000 and 100,000 astronomical units. It is composed of a swarm of giant icy objects left over from the formation of the solar system.

Siding Spring is the first comet from the Oort Cloud to be studied up close by spacecraft.

Nasa's three orbiters will gather information before, during and after the flyby about the size, rotation and activity of the comet's nucleus, the variability and gas composition of the coma around the nucleus, and the size and distribution of dust particles in the comet's tail.

India's orbiter MOM will also take shots of the comet before and after the encounter. Indian space scientists hope to get a peek into the composition of the gases in the comet's tail.

Isro expects the earliest pictures to be processed by Monday afternoon while the science data will take longer to interpret.

The comet is near the Sun for the first time and probably started its travel into the solar system nearly 4.6 billion years ago when man first appeared on earth, say experts.

This also means conditions on the comet are unaltered from that time and could give an idea about the materials that went to build the solar system.

"Siding Spring probably got knocked into the inner Solar System by the passage of a star near the Oort Cloud," Carey Lisse, from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, explained to BBC.

"So think about a comet that started to travel probably at the dawn of man and it's just now coming in."

The steep angle of its descent to the planetary ecliptic and its speed of more than 50 km per second are what points to its origins from the Oort.

Travelling at that velocity, if the comet strikes an object like a planet, the energy released would be immense.

This is why scientists like University of Maryland's Jessica Sunshine point to the need to be vigilant for these types of comets which tend to announce themselves with only a few months' warning.

Siding was first seen in January 2013.

Nasa manoeuvered its Mars Odyssey orbiter, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), and the latest in its fleet the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN), in order to reduce the risk of impact with high-velocity dust particles coming off the comet.

India's space agency Isro likewise manoeuvred its MOM spacecraft's orbit to ensure it avoids the comet debris.

Koteswara Rao, Isro scientific secretary, told Times of India, "We are planning to use all our scientific payloads to study the comet. At the time of its fly past, MOM will be at a distance of 1.35 lakh kilometre from the comet, thereby avoiding any damage."

Europe's orbiter too is poised for capturing some interesting ringside data on Siding.

The Mars Express will also be looking at Mars' atmosphere during the flyby besides studying the comet's composition and the interaction between the planet, comet and solar wind. The spacecraft will operate under normal conditions and will not be in the safe mode planned earlier.

Initially, the comet and its debris of gas and dust were predicted to pass much closer to Mars, posing a serious risk to the fleet of orbiting spacecraft. Later observations confirmed that the miss distance will, in fact, be more comfortable, says ESA.


Links (with pretty pictures):

Mars Orbiters Safely Parked and Poised for Ringside View of Comet Flyby

Comet Siding Spring To Have 120,000mph Near Miss With Mars Today

[Takeovers]

It is a really lucky coincidence that the newest NASA Mars orbiter MAVEN that arrived only days ago has just the right scientific equipment to analyze the thin material of the comet tail. It has been built and sent out to analyze the outer atmosphere of Mars that spreads out wide into space.