Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Athena spacecraft declared dead after toppling over on moon

theguardian.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

341–350 of 360 posts

Re: Athena spacecraft declared dead after toppling over on moon

#341

Post by mistrial9 »

dreamcompiler wrote: post #324
astar1 wrote: post #280

These 2 failures could have been easily avoidable both times. I really wish there was a push in the US government to create and stockpile plutonium-238 and ensure it's readily available, subsidized, and offered for all US probes/rovers/other scientific instruments in space (whether it be for NASA's use who currently has to ration because of how little they have left, or for private use after approval). Like, why aren…

One reason all space scientific instruments are not powered by RTGs is that prior to each launch NASA has to run a very involved and time-consuming risk analysis program to determine just how much of the state of Florida becomes uninhabitable for the next 10,000 years if the rocket blows up on the launch pad. I used to conduct said risk analysis.

I had a Look Magazine cover from the early 1950s .. It showed oil barrels full of radioactive waste, with a guy moving one on a handcart, with heavy gloves on! The point of the photo was "radioactive material must be handled very carefully" .. the guy had thick gloves .. for a fifty gallon drum of radioactive waste, among many of them.. Things change

Re: Athena spacecraft declared dead after toppling over on moon

#342

Post by mistrial9 »

fusionadvocate wrote: post #302
WillPostForFood wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We spend vastly more on projects on Earth, any way you measure. Time, money, manpower. The US Federal Govt spent $6.9 Trillion last year, Nasa's budget was $25 billion, so about 0.3% of spending. https://www.planetary.org/space-policy/nasa-budget

Every cent counts. "An estimated 63,600 deaths were attributable to air pollution in the United States in 2021." 0.3% means 190 lives were lost because we prioritize moon toys over cleaning our own environment.

Gil Scott Heron tends to agree

Re: Athena spacecraft declared dead after toppling over on moon

#343

Post by tekla »

hombre_fatal wrote: post #313
astar1 wrote: post #280

These 2 failures could have been easily avoidable both times. I really wish there was a push in the US government to create and stockpile plutonium-238 and ensure it's readily available, subsidized, and offered for all US probes/rovers/other scientific instruments in space (whether it be for NASA's use who currently has to ration because of how little they have left, or for private use after approval). Like, why aren…

Reading the title and then your first sentence is the most HN experience. All they had to do was just...

Clearly HN is smarter than an entire team of Aero/Mechanical/Electrical engineers who have not thought of the obvious solution.

Re: Athena spacecraft declared dead after toppling over on moon

#344

Post by foxglacier »

KennyBlanken wrote: post #277
foxglacier wrote: post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The first one tipped over because a sensor failed. I suppose we don't know why this one did yet but why do these sorts of failures bring out the caveman in everybody suggesting completely giving up on the whole concept and doing something "dumb" that doesn't require control systems? Just because control systems feel scary and you might not personally know how to design them yourself doesn't mean they aren't great whe…

> I suppose we don't know why this one did yet but why do these sorts of failures bring out the caveman in everybody suggesting completely giving up on the whole concept and doing something "dumb" that doesn't require control systems? Just because control systems feel scary and you might not personally know how to design them yourself doesn't mean they aren't great when they work. Because $150M was/is at stake and "b…

But at some point we're going to want to do it more efficiently or upright, especially if it's got people on it. Why not work that out now?

Re: Athena spacecraft declared dead after toppling over on moon

#345

Post by kristianp »

itishappy wrote: post #213
kristianp wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That artemis III date is very old. Artimis II is now scheduled to take place no earlier than April 2026 [1]. III is scheduled for mid 2027, and will be delayed further as time passes [2]. 1. https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/ 2. https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-iii/

Am I crazy or is the SLS system is actually the most timely component? Edit: Yeah, I'm crazy. SLS might be ready now, but it was delayed about 6 years. Starship and Orion both have a bit to catch up.

No SLS II isn't ready now. Its launching mid next year, but there are concerns about Orion's heat shield. Also, II isn't planned to land on the moon. And it may be delayed further.

Re: Athena spacecraft declared dead after toppling over on moon

#346

Post by gerdesj »

vulcan01 wrote: post #308
gerdesj wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You use the word intuit as a verb where I would go old school and use "understands it intuitively". You slap a letter s on the end to make the word sound correct to your ear. I will eventually use the word intuits in the same way you do but it will jar for a while. However it is concise and conveys the same meaning as "understand intuitively". As you say, language is insane. Now, adjective ordering. I think there is…

> I would go old school and use "understands it intuitively" I wonder if this is a regional difference. The OED claims that intuit as a verb has been in continuous use since the 1860s (at least) and I've heard it used as a verb my entire life (various areas in the US).

"The OED claims that intuit as a verb has been in continuous use since the 1860s"

That's a fair source but I went to a pretty posh school in Oxfordshire! Oxford was about 90p return away by bus from Abingdon in the mid to late 1980s. I studied English to O (Ordinary) level (both language and literature) and bagged a pair of Bs.

I might also point out that I also attended schools in Devon, Manchester and multiple places in West Germany (UK Army brat).

Obviously, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence and I have only my own recollections to go by but I have never knowingly heard intuit as a verb. I have only ever seen it written by Americans (for a given value of America)!

I do like it and will fall in line forthwith!

Re: Athena spacecraft declared dead after toppling over on moon

#347

Post by ncallaway »

somenameforme wrote: post #279
jimbokun wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well that’s a big improvement because the humans can climb out and push the rocket upright again!

Hey, no mocking Jeb and Bill. They brought many a scientific advancement to humanity.

I’m a be honest: Jeb and Bill have done great work for us, but when it comes to getting a tipped over rocket upright… they haven’t always come through for me.

Re: Athena spacecraft declared dead after toppling over on moon

#348

Post by bitwize »

dr_orpheus wrote: post #260
BugsJustFindMe wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only slightly less well known.

I spent the last few years building up an immunity to lunar dust powder

"And guess what? Ground up moon rocks are pure poison. I am deathly ill."

Re: Athena spacecraft declared dead after toppling over on moon

#349

Post by ForOldHack »

criddell wrote: post #152
doodlebugging wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hopefully someone at Intuitive Machines pores over the data and and design plans and makes significant changes that minimize the opportunity for this to happen the third time around, assuming NASA gives them that opportunity. If their lander is indeed top-heavy then they have some design issues to overcome. Perhaps adding a set of outriggers that deploy just before touchdown and detach or fold up on command once the…

> minimize the opportunity Or design it assuming it will tip over on landing.

Go home lunar probe! You're drunk. ( I am kidding ).

More seriously outside the box. This one is going to scratch my head for a couple of days. It's gonna fall - make use of that fall. Not useful if you need light for solar panels and you are stuck in a crater.

I am going to hunt down pictures of Surveyer III.

Re: Athena spacecraft declared dead after toppling over on moon

#350

Post by ForOldHack »

modeless wrote: post #169

I was confused because I saw a picture taken from the private moon lander and it was upright. Turns out two private moon landers recently landed and the first one was successful.

https://science.nasa.gov/resource/view-of-surveyor-iii-in-it...

NASA did it right, but that surface looks like a no-joke bed of razors. Thank you NASA.

When do we launch the lunar tow truck? Cash or charge?

Post reply on HN