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Hubble Finds New Neptune Moon

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Re: Hubble Finds New Neptune Moon

#21

Post by ekianjo »

brigade wrote: post #18
CodeCube wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As soon as we can make some new advancements in energy generation and storage, I think that we'll see this happen. Think about it, we're already practically bursting at the seams here on earth; I can totally see the human race expanding to other parts as soon as it's sustainable (food, acquisition of new materials for fabrication, etc.) Who knows if it'll happen in my lifetime, but I'm pretty pumped about it :)

we're already practically bursting at the seams here on earth Not especially - developed countries have had declining birth rates for a while now, with several below the replacement rate. Plus you have to consider that both Antarctica and the Sahara Desert are more habitable than any known extraterrestrial location, yet hardly anyone is living in either.

> Plus you have to consider that both Antarctica and the Sahara Desert are more habitable than any known extraterrestrial location, yet hardly anyone is living in either.

WHat's the incentive to live there where there are better places to live, still available ?

Re: Hubble Finds New Neptune Moon

#22

Post by venomsnake »

ecto wrote: post #17
T-hawk wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, Neptune is in the top three most likely places to find more moons. Jupiter and Saturn have been pretty well mined out by the orbiters Galileo and Cassini, and we can see the inner solar system pretty well from right here on earth. But Uranus and Neptune were visited for just one quick flyby each, and Pluto never yet until 2015, so there's plenty of opportunities to have missed stuff there.

I didn't know about the Pluto mission until your comment prompted me to search for it. Link for the curious: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Horizons

It is good to see NASA getting back in shape. Moving science and technology forward just for the sake of it is rare and noble.

Re: Hubble Finds New Neptune Moon

#23

Post by venomsnake »

melling wrote: post #7
mkhaytman wrote: post #4

With Earth-like planets being discovered in far off star systems and HD cameras roving about on Mars, it's easy to forget how much of our own solar system is still an unexplored frontier. It may not be a ground breaking discovery, but the fact that there are Moons we haven't found as of yet, is really exciting to me!

When you consider that the solar system is the only part of the universe that humans will explore for many generations, if ever, I'm not really sure why its exploration really isn't a higher priority. Everything else is too far away.

I tend to disagree about the many generations (mostly because I really hope for a breakthrough in my lifetime) but if you describe to someone in the 1930s what the computer will be just 80 years later ... we are living in science fiction right now. And accelerating.

Re: Hubble Finds New Neptune Moon

#24

Post by hkolek »

nostromo wrote: post #11

This little guy has a width less than the length of Manhattan, so I was surprised to hear it being called a moon. But Wikipedia says there isn't really a lower limit to the size of a moon -- if it orbits a planet, it's a moon. Unless we put it there, in which case it's a satellite. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_satellite#The_definitio...

> This little guy has a width less than the length of Manhattan, so I was surprised to hear it being called a moon.

Phobos and Deimos are far smaller.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phobos_(moon) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deimos_(moon)

Re: Hubble Finds New Neptune Moon

#25

Post by andyhmltn »

ekianjo wrote: post #21
brigade wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

we're already practically bursting at the seams here on earth Not especially - developed countries have had declining birth rates for a while now, with several below the replacement rate. Plus you have to consider that both Antarctica and the Sahara Desert are more habitable than any known extraterrestrial location, yet hardly anyone is living in either.

> Plus you have to consider that both Antarctica and the Sahara Desert are more habitable than any known extraterrestrial location, yet hardly anyone is living in either. WHat's the incentive to live there where there are better places to live, still available ?

That's the point. We aren't nearly at the point where we can no longer sustain growth here on earth. I think in the event that that did happen, we'd soon explore living in Antarctica than on Mars.
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