Starship Asterisk*

I understand why there's a guardrail around the joystick, but I'm having a hard time visualizing how the joystick could be handled effectively with the guardrail in place - and the guardrail looks very securely bolted on. I guess it's not meant to be gripped.... Here's a short video with Chris Hadf...

I understand why there's a guardrail around the joystick, but I'm having a hard time visualizing how the joystick could be handled effectively with the guardrail in place - and the guardrail looks very securely bolted on. I guess it's not meant to be gripped....

This truly jaw-dropping image is the most amazing one I've seen this year in APOD - and that's saying something.

starsurfer wrote:

metamorphmuses wrote:What would cause it to be greenish?

The colour is due to different gases in the comet.

Yes, that much I figured, but I was hoping someone might say which element or compounds specifically might be responsible....

What would cause it to be greenish?

Compared to most asteroids I've seen images of (except for Itokawa, the "rubble pile"), the surface has a varied, interesting texture -- to me, it looks like parts have been melted. Maybe it's just because I have been prompted to think that way, with everything I have read about comets in ...

I can't wait until the James Webb Space Telescope points at this and takes a nice sharp view of it. As to the phenomenon itself, on a gut level I feel like it might have something special to say about Dark Matter, too. I can't help but try to picture how the Dark Matter halos of the galaxies are mer...

@Hookedonfishing, RTGs are safe enough you could be standing right next to one and be fine. http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_ ... tor#Safety
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I think future robotic explorers of the surface of Mars are going to need a way to dust themselves off....

Although 500 million years distant is relatively close in astronomical terms, when the light we are now seeing from the Hercules cluster left it, here on Earth the Cambrian period was at its height. That was when some of the most basal forms of our vertebrate ancestors were flourishing. Humbling and...

"Mr. Sulu, give me warp six to Kepler 186f." "Captain to crew: Our mission is to explore the region in and around the Kepler 186 system, looking for new life forms. We are finally going to see what is out there". At 500 ly, I think it is going to be awhile until we have anything...

I wrote:{snip}it's actually for farthest perihelion.{snip}

... a while back, and then it had to be hashed out back and forth anyway...

@ WolfmanSF, yes, I needed to check on that myself but it was because I thought the claim was for farthest aphelion, but it's actually for farthest perihelion. 2012 VP113 has a perihelion of roughly 80AU and an aphelion of about 461AU, whereas Sedna has a perihelion of roughly 76AU and an aphelion o...

Cool, that is by far the biggest and most detailed picture that I've seen so far of Yutu on the Moon.

This thing is so addictive!

Congratulations to the Chinese. Anytime any country reaches a spaceflight and exploration milestone such as this one, I celebrate. These achievements are for all of us, not any one nation, in the end. I hope we'll be getting better imaging soon. I also hope that China is working up to joining the ot...

Yes, indeed... Welcome Back!

What a great shot. As much as I love all things Russian in the arena of space travel, all too often I think of the Soyuz descent module as a lump of metal falling unceremoniously to the ground with only the parachutes to keep the ride survivable. This image reminds me that, small as it is, it still ...

It seems to me that given the extent of the fire in Yellowstone, the editors decided to highlight the aspect of large fires in regard to planetary science. APOD has many times delved more into planetary science rather than sticking religiously to astronomy. In short, it's not that much of a stretch ...

Great video! I assume the simulation is a result of a highly refined algorithm that, once ready, they simply "turned on" and "let run" without interference. In that case, getting such a close match between the model and the documented observations must be very difficult and is to...

Getting it there would be easy- no more difficult than any number of flyby probes we've operated in the past. And the control system would be pretty simple, as well- not what anybody would call AI, just a simple servo system. All the tug does is orient itself on one side and maintain a fixed distan...

The whole point is that it isn't manned, and isn't serviceable- both of which make for a prohibitively difficult and expensive mission. Manned would be absurd, since we're talking about a mission likely to be in deep space for a decade or more. Serviceable with robots might be considered, depending...

This is much, much cheaper and easier to manage than manned expeditions around the Solar System. Really? If that were the case, then all the better. I suppose it would be nice to see some cost estimates. I assumed the vessel would be manned or at least crew-serviceable. Sure its expensive, and sure...

^ You're welcome to present a proof to the contrary. Seriously, do we all not think this idea is hard enough to realize as it stands? Imagine how much money, resources, and potential for error would be involved in this project. If we had the capability to pull this off, we'd also have no trouble sen...

"Diving" - typo or some kind of intentional play on words I'm not getting...?

Anyway, I always love this perspective. Lunar driving was so important to making a higher quantity of geological fieldwork, and of greater significance in the quality of the discoveries. Plus, it's just cool!

I loved it! This is how I want my video edits to be: artistically austere. Prior to seeing this video, I had discounted Nine Inch Nails as merely pop EBM. Thanks to this video, I came to appreciate Trent Reznor's other side - more ambient and textural. I always like being proved wrong in my assumpti...