New Horizons: Nasa spacecraft speeds past Pluto • Hacker News Board

Re: New Horizons: Nasa spacecraft speeds past Pluto

#281

Post by EarthLaunch » Tue, Jul 14, 2015, 11:41 PM UTC

vilmosi wrote: post #85

adventured wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You already have that exact same patriotism there. Enter any thread, on any major forum online, and bring up any of the following topics: healthcare, crime rates, gun control, two party systems, standard of living, inequality, conservative religiousness. You'll be rapidly overwhelmed by bragging from Europeans, about how they're superior. You can't get away from the boastfulness out of Scandinavia, Germany, France, t…

>>> You'll be rapidly overwhelmed by bragging from Europeans, about how they're superior. Very few of those people are actually European. For one, nobody introduces themselves as European :) I heard they're just American teenagers trying to troll people.

I have a habit of checking the profiles of people who brag about how Europe is superior - such as by saying Europeans aren't posting such comments. You can try it; most are European. Such as yourself.

Re: New Horizons: Nasa spacecraft speeds past Pluto

#282

Post by InclinedPlane » Tue, Jul 14, 2015, 11:46 PM UTC

Splendor wrote: post #153

Mahn wrote: post #106

Apparently it snows on Pluto: Pluto has an atmosphere. It snows on Pluto and the snow sublimates back into the atmosphere. https://twitter.com/OSIRISREx/status/620932748824285184

With a 248-year orbit around the sun those must be some long winters.

The long winters aren't so bad, although sometimes it's a bit disconcerting when the commander thinks aloud.

Re: New Horizons: Nasa spacecraft speeds past Pluto

#283

Post by kijin » Wed, Jul 15, 2015, 12:50 AM UTC

umeshunni wrote: post #272

murbard2 wrote: post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't have to crash/land the entire probe, you could land a lightweight sensor that was carried by the probe and which requires little fuel to decelerate.

The sensor will need to send data back, so it can't be too light weight.

The signal only needs to reach the mothership, not Earth.

Example: Philae communicated with Earth via Rosetta.

Re: New Horizons: Nasa spacecraft speeds past Pluto

#284

Post by developer1 » Wed, Jul 15, 2015, 12:57 AM UTC

manachar wrote: post #223

kartikkumar wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I realise that I made an unexplained logical leap to get to the last comment. Basically, based on my professional experience as a planetary scientist, it's my belief that the reason we don't have more satellites cruising through the Solar System is that we (and I mean scientists, engineers, administrators etc.) continue to fail in communicating their true value to the average person on the street. I think that media…

I used to think it was a failure to communicate, but I've increasingly come to the conclusion that the "average person on the street" really just doesn't care. You can be the best speaker in the world, but you'll still only end up communicating to a small sliver of the average people. I think changing the cultural attitudes towards science will do far more good in the long run, but it's very difficult. Ultimately, I…

Typical fallacy wherein one person believes strongly in something - in this case science - and believes that those who don't share the belief are somehow missing out on something important.

If you have a passion about anything at all, good for you. Preaching its importance to the world at large means very little to those who don't share your interest. You might introduce a few new people to a topic which they will then grow into themselves, but the majority of your words will fall of deaf ears.

Fanatics of science are especially prone to this problem, because of this idea that it's all based on facts and improving life, and so surely every single damn person on the planet HAS TO CARE.

Not to mention that the real science buffs typically can't even begin to understand that _not everyone thinks the way they do_. Brainy people tend to think everyone else alive must be as curious and obsessed with details about every aspect of life. You know what, some people are very happy living without daily intellectual bombardment.

Re: New Horizons: Nasa spacecraft speeds past Pluto

#285

Post by kijin » Wed, Jul 15, 2015, 1:00 AM UTC

duskwuff wrote: post #271

aunty_helen wrote: post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They were also first to test the characteristics of a lens cap on another planet in one of their most infamous science experiments.

In an infamous series of science experiments, no less: * One of the two cameras on Venera 9 failed to function because the lens cap didn't come off properly. * Ditto for Venera 10. * Venera 11 broke the trend by having lens caps fail to come off of BOTH cameras. * Venera 12... same thing. * Venera 13, ironically, broke the curse. The lens caps came off properly, and both cameras functioned. * Venera 14 had both camer…

Holy crap. I hope the guy who designed those lens caps didn't get exiled to Siberia or something.

Re: New Horizons: Nasa spacecraft speeds past Pluto

#286

Post by moron4hire » Wed, Jul 15, 2015, 1:10 AM UTC

kohanz wrote: post #111

ringshall wrote: post #101

Interesting note, as of today, the US is the first country to have successful spacecraft missions visit all of the classical planets. There is one big exception, of course: the Soviet Union was the first to have a spacecraft visit Earth, with Spunink. This category is completely arbitrary, especially given that Pluto is now considered a minor planet. Still, it's an achievement of note. Mercury - 1974, Mariner 10 Venu…

Not to shoot the messenger, but it annoys me when these things are viewed through the lens of artificial divisions such as nations. I understand that space exploration has been used as a tool to further many political machines, but it seems silly to me, especially when staring at a picture as beautiful as this from a distance that makes Earth seem so small, to think about the people living on this planet as anything…

Right, cuz competition sucks and never did no good for nobody, man!

Would we have ever gotten to the Moon at all if it weren't for the competition between the USA and the USSR?

Re: New Horizons: Nasa spacecraft speeds past Pluto

#287

Post by nightcracker » Wed, Jul 15, 2015, 1:13 AM UTC

kartikkumar wrote: post #89

Quote from a friend of mine on the team: "After 9.5 years and 6 billion km, we made it to Pluto 72 seconds ahead of schedule." Amazing! The views of Pluto and Charon already reveal how incredibly fascinating this system is. The dichotomy of their surface colours will most definitely lead to further insight into formation processes in the Kuiper Belt. Just such a shame that we can't land this time around. With the vol…

Just to put it in perspective, 72 seconds on 9.5 years is 0.000024% tolerance.

Re: New Horizons: Nasa spacecraft speeds past Pluto

#288

Post by nightcracker » Wed, Jul 15, 2015, 1:14 AM UTC

moron4hire wrote: post #286

kohanz wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to shoot the messenger, but it annoys me when these things are viewed through the lens of artificial divisions such as nations. I understand that space exploration has been used as a tool to further many political machines, but it seems silly to me, especially when staring at a picture as beautiful as this from a distance that makes Earth seem so small, to think about the people living on this planet as anything…

Right, cuz competition sucks and never did no good for nobody, man! Would we have ever gotten to the Moon at all if it weren't for the competition between the USA and the USSR?

Yes.

Re: New Horizons: Nasa spacecraft speeds past Pluto

#289

Post by yellowapple » Wed, Jul 15, 2015, 1:22 AM UTC

Trombone12 wrote: post #148

Does anyone know of a KSP mod or similar that reproduces the current status of interplanetary probes in the solar system?

I don't know about reproducing statuses, but between the KASA pack and the Real Solar System mod, I'm sure one could have a blast recreating quite a few real missions (though I think KASA focuses more on manned missions than unmanned).

Re: New Horizons: Nasa spacecraft speeds past Pluto

#290

Post by yellowapple » Wed, Jul 15, 2015, 1:28 AM UTC

pluma wrote: post #119

kale wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What continent are you referring to that has two countries? North America has 23 countries, with the U.S.A., Canada, and Mexico being the largest countries.

Most of them are tiny island nations, everything south of Mexico is generally considered "Central America" by everyone else and everybody ignores Greenland (which is technically still kinda part of Denmark). Comparing the 41(!) countries of North America[0] with the 58 countries of Europe[1] is really comparing apples and oranges. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_North_American_countri... [1]: https://en.wi…

> everything south of Mexico is generally considered "Central America" by everyone else

Define "everyone else", because I certainly don't. "Central" America is part of North America; the dividing line is between Panama and Colombia.

Claiming that Central America isn't really North America is like claiming that the Middle East isn't really Asia. It's a geographically-ignorant statement.