Outer space thread

[billy.pilgrim]

Wow.

That's huge.

Even more momentous:

Star Trek makes Stacey Abrams president of United Earth – and stokes conservative anger
National Review says candidate for governor in Georgia and self-confessed superfan does not deserve fictional title

Good for Star Trek: Discovery, and cons.

She's a better politician than actor.

But as a "trigger" she's Oscar worthy.

[GoCubsGo]

Wow.

That's huge.

Even more momentous:

Star Trek makes Stacey Abrams president of United Earth – and stokes conservative anger
National Review says candidate for governor in Georgia and self-confessed superfan does not deserve fictional title

Good for Star Trek: Discovery, and cons.

She's a better politician than actor.

But as a "trigger" she's Oscar worthy.

Yep.
https://conservativepoliticalforum.com/ ... #msg485023

[GoCubsGo]

Pretty brave.

Apparently there are other explanations, but c'mon.

Russian cosmonauts spark speculation after arriving at International Space Station in Ukraine's colors



Bunch more here.
https://mobile.twitter.com/i/events/1505107225446133760

[Vrede too]

Pretty brave.

Apparently there are other explanations, but c'mon.

Bunch more here.
https://mobile.twitter.com/i/events/1505107225446133760

It's a great thought, but I can also see cosmonauts being clueless about the real world. We may never know for sure.

[Ulysses]

A true sign of international cooperation.

Too bad Putin isn't up there, too.

[Vrede too]

Space tourism: Huge balloon with a bar to take tourists to space for $125,000 a ticket

Unless the bar has strippers, a trivia contest, karyoke and several sports stations on TV, I ain't going.

[Vrede too]

Pretty brave.

Apparently there are other explanations, but c'mon.

Russian cosmonauts spark speculation after arriving at International Space Station in Ukraine's colors

Bunch more here.
https://mobile.twitter.com/i/events/1505107225446133760

It's a great thought, but I can also see cosmonauts being clueless about the real world. We may never know for sure.

The Russian cosmonauts who wore the colors of Ukraine's flag to the ISS were blindsided by speculation that they were protesting the war, US astronaut says

The Russian cosmonauts who wore yellow and blue — the colors of Ukraine's flag — to the International Space Station were "blindsided" by speculation that they were protesting the war, NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei said Tuesday.

Vande Hei landed in Kazakhstan last week after spending 355 days in space....

"All three of them happened to be associated with the same university, and I think they were kind of blindsided by it," Vande Hei said of his Russian crewmates, CNN reported.

Artemyev, Matveev, and Korsakov were graduates of Bauman Moscow State Technical University, which has a blue and gold coat of arms.

Vande Hei said the Russians "had no idea that people would perceive that as having to do with Ukraine," The Washington Post reported....

But Artemyev shut down the speculation on the Russian space agency's Telegram channel several days later, saying: "There is no need to look for any hidden signs or symbols in our uniform," the Associated Press reported.

"A color is simply a color. It is not in any way connected to Ukraine. Otherwise, we would have to recognize its rights to the yellow sun in the blue sky," he said. "These days, even though we are in space, we are together with our president and our people!"

During the press conference, Vande Hei declined to comment on how his Russian crew members felt about the invasion of Ukraine....

[O Really]

Also today at Balboa Park, we went back to the Air and Space Museum. There's always a "back", because there's way too much to see in one trip. It's really interesting to see the progression from pre-glider to Mars Rover. Here's part of what they have on display https://sandiegoairandspace.org/collection/aircraft
When they say "replica" or "reproduction," I had expected a maybe life size model, but actually they are exact working replicas that can or could fly. F'rinstance, the only difference in the original Spirit of St. Louis and the one here is the size of the fuel tank. And of course most of the displays are "real."

[Vrede too]

Jupiter and Venus will seem to nearly collide in rare celestial spectacle
Stargazers will have to wait years for repeat performance with four planets also appearing in straight line

Jupiter and Venus, two of the solar system’s brightest planets, will appear to almost touch in a rare celestial spectacle this weekend.

Although in reality they will be millions of miles apart, for stargazers on Earth they will appear to be close enough to almost collide in a planetary conjunction that occurs once a year.

However, this year Jupiter and Venus will look much closer together than usual and should be visible with just a pair of binoculars or even the naked eye. If you miss it, you will have to wait another 17 years for a repeat performance.

As well as the extraordinary planetary conjunction on display, Saturn and Mars will also appear to be in a straight line with Jupiter and Venus.

Venus and Jupiter to nearly touch in the night sky

How you can view Venus and Jupiter
in the northern hemisphere (top pic)
(southern hemisphere is the bottom pic)
Look east before sunrise
30 April and 1 May



...

[Vrede too]

There's a reason why aliens haven’t visited Earth yet, say scientists

Pure guesswork, but more interesting guesswork than I usually engage with.

[GoCubsGo]

There's a reason why aliens haven’t visited Earth yet, say scientists

Pure guesswork, but more interesting guesswork than I usually engage with.

There's far more plausible reasons.

Such as they've watched Tucker Carlson.

[Vrede too]

There's a reason why aliens haven’t visited Earth yet, say scientists

Pure guesswork, but more interesting guesswork than I usually engage with.

There's far more plausible reasons.

Such as they've watched Tucker Carlson.

Alien or terrestrial viewer:


May 15–16, 2022 Total Lunar Eclipse (Blood Moon)

All of the continental US: "The entire eclipse is visible from start to end."

EDT:
Penumbral Eclipse begins May 15 at 9:32:05 pm
Partial Eclipse begins May 15 at 10:27:52 pm
Full Eclipse begins May 15 at 11:29:03 pm
Maximum Eclipse May 16 at 12:11:28 am
Full Eclipse ends May 16 at 12:53:55 am
Partial Eclipse ends May 16 at 1:55:07 am
Penumbral Eclipse ends May 16 at 2:50:49 am

Partly Cloudy here, 46% Cloud Cover at MN.

I never knew this:

An Eclipse Never Comes Alone!



A solar eclipse always occurs about two weeks before or after a lunar eclipse.

Usually, there are two eclipses in a row, but other times, there are three during the same eclipse season.

All eclipses 1900 — 2199

This is the second eclipse this season.

First eclipse this season: April 30, 2022 — Partial Solar Eclipse

[GoCubsGo]

Anyone ever seen the space station flying overhead?

I've seen it a couple of times.

[GoCubsGo]

First images from Webb coming up.

[Vrede too]

First images from Webb coming up.

Thanks! >13B years ago.

6:24 pm edit: Aww, over now, I only caught a couple of minutes and one image.

[GoCubsGo]

First images from Webb coming up.

Thanks! >13B years ago.

6:24 pm edit: Aww, over now, I only caught a couple of minutes and one image.

You can replay it.

The stars shown go back almost to the beginning of the freaking universe!

I'm not sure I can wrap my head around that.

[Vrede too]

You can replay it.

Cool, but it sounds like just the 1 image.

The stars shown go back almost to the beginning of the freaking universe!

I'm not sure I can wrap my head around that.

Those are thousands of galaxies. (GoCubsGo head explodes)

[GoCubsGo]

[billy.pilgrim]

https://www.npr.org/sections/picturesho ... mages-nasa

[Vrede too]

https://www.npr.org/sections/picturesho ... mages-nasa

Nearly impossible question. Well, they say you never forget your Webb’s First Deep Field:



And the Cosmic Cliffs in the Carina Nebula are breathtaking:



But I'll go with the sea turtle's egg called the Southern Ring Nebula:



They all make me want to cry over their beauty and the outstanding success of the mission, a telescope parked 1M miles away.