Spot the Space Station

[passedpawn]

"The Apollo Guidance Computer was a marvel: As Poppy Northcutt, who calculated Apollo’s return-to-Earth trajectories, told me, the AGC had less computing power than the greeting cards today that record a personal message. Yet it worked."

https://slate.com/technology/2019/10/consequential-computer-code-software-history.html

Imagine trusting your ass to a greeting card chip
Actually, that'd be an advantage verses the SSI and discrete components used to build the AGC. A comparative bazillion points of failure...

Cheers!

Yea, it's a wonder we got to the moon. Cool article.

Line of code in that article's title looks like part of the source for C strcmp() function. BTW, if anybody wants to read an old school story of hackers infiltrating the early internet (darpanet), this is a pretty good one. Writing level is pretty low, but the story is cool and for old computer nurds it's a real blast from the past.

https://www.amazon.com/CUCKOOS-EGG-.../ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

 

[Staestc]

Finally took a look at this thread and signed up. Better late than never! lol

 

[MaxStout]

Here's a good article on the return of the AF X-37B that had spent the last 2 years in LEO.

Not too bad for a drone.

 

[day_trippr]

Saw that, and of course wondered again what everyone wonders: wth are they doing up there with that thing?

Cheers!

 

[day_trippr]

This should be pretty exciting...
https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/11/at-nasas-request-boeing-will-livestream-key-starliner-test/

Cheers!

 

[day_trippr]

So only 2 out of 3 main chutes deployed, but the landing still looked quite "soft".
Launch occurs just over 2 minutes in...



Cheers!

 

[passedpawn]

So only 2 out of 3 main chutes deployed, but the landing still looked quite "soft".
Launch occurs just over 2 minutes in...



Cheers!

Pretty cool. I need one of those under the seat on my next flight. They tell you there's a life preserver under every seat on an airplane - I really wonder if any of those have ever been used to save a life. Give me a parachute, thanks.

 

[MaxStout]

Pretty cool. I need one of those under the seat on my next flight. They tell you there's a life preserver under every seat on an airplane - I really wonder if any of those have ever been used to save a life. Give me a parachute, thanks.

My thoughts, exactly.

CSB: Back in the '80s I once flew People Express (aka Air Bulgaria) from Minneapolis to Pittsburgh for an uncle's funeral. During a rather bumpy flight the FAs were going around checking on passengers. One asked me if there was anything I would like. I said, "how 'bout a parachute?" She just gave me a funny look and handed me a Coke. Today, I'd probably earn a set of handcuffs for a remark like that.
/CSB

 

[day_trippr]

Watching Spacex stick the landing has not yet gotten old imo...

Cheers!

 

[gratus fermentatio]

Alpha Monocerotid meteor outburst Thurs. night/Fri. morning; short (only an hour long), but intense:
https://www.amsmeteors.org/2019/11/alpha-monocerotid-outburst-in-2019/
Regards, GF.

 

[Staestc]

Alpha Monocerotid meteor outburst Thurs. night/Fri. morning; short (only an hour long), but intense:
https://www.amsmeteors.org/2019/11/alpha-monocerotid-outburst-in-2019/
Regards, GF.

Bummer, cause it's going to be cloudy and rainy here

 

[passedpawn]

Bummer, cause it's going to be cloudy and rainy here

I'll be watching - it's been ultra-clear here. If I get my act together (doubtful), I will be setting up my camera for long exposures and maybe capture some of the streaks.

 

[passedpawn]

I caught the ISS overhead tonight (getting camera ready for meteors). Not sure why it's a little blurry, I used a remote to activate the shutter. This is a 97 second exposure.

 

[day_trippr]

That's cool.
Have you tried to catch any of the Starlink constellation? Apparently it doesn't take much more than a pair of high-powered binoculars to spot them, but we've been under cloud cover for days on end over here...

Cheers!

 

[passedpawn]

That's cool.
Have you tried to catch any of the Starlink constellation? Apparently it doesn't take much more than a pair of high-powered binoculars to spot them, but we've been under cloud cover for days on end over here...

Cheers!

Don't know what that is, but I'm off to find out.

I just put my camera on a tripod and use a remote to activate the shutter (on "bulb", so it stays open).

What's REALLY neat is using a pair of military NODs to look at the sky. Night vision goggles. You can see EVERYTHING through them. I'll be back out tomorrow night with my camera - I'll try to take a pic through them.

 

[day_trippr]

You'll no doubt immediately run into the Starlink controversy with classic sky observers. It's inevitable that space will be filled with objects that are gonna piss off observatories.

Anyway...have you seen this:
https://wgntv.com/2019/11/20/mysterious-comet-will-cause-a-rare-unicorn-meteor-storm-this-week/
(that was the first hit, there're plenty others).
I'm hoping we get some shot at seeing the night sky but right now it doesn't look good...

Cheers!

 

[day_trippr]

Another day, another RUD...17 seconds in (skip the rest)...



Sayonara, MK I

 

[passedpawn]

https://twitter.com/Space_Station/status/1223999520888877056?ref_src=twsrc^tfw|twcamp^tweetembed&ref_url=https://www.foxnews.com/sports/international-space-station-tweets-photo-of-miami-prior-to-super-bowl-kick-off

 

[day_trippr]

End of an era. I still have a SETI account though tbh it's been years since I would leave my system alive overnight to run it...
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/05/us/seti-home-hibernation-alien-trnd-scn/index.html

 

[jack13]

End of an era. I still have a SETI account though tbh it's been years since I would leave my system alive overnight to run it...
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/05/us/seti-home-hibernation-alien-trnd-scn/index.html

Assuming that screen shot is new, the look has barely changed since the beginning. Very cool.

 

[day_trippr]

Tonight SpaceX landed their booster successfully for the 50th time, this time with excellent pad-side video.
Should be up on Youtube soon, it was the last Dragon V1 launch...

Cheers!

 

[day_trippr]

Check out this "gigapan" pic shot inside the newest US Air Force Museum hangar at Wright-Patterson AFB outside Dayton, Ohio.
There are some cool birds that you can zoom close enough to almost touch.

http://www.gigapan.com/gigapans/194894#share-embed

Go full-screen. It's amazing how much detail is crammed in one pic...

Cheers!

 

[bob1852]

Hi-res Mars pics are so cool!

https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/curiositys-1-8-billion-pixel-panorama/?site=msl

 

[ThirstyPawsHB]

Hi-res Mars pics are so cool!

https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/curiositys-1-8-billion-pixel-panorama/?site=msl

The layered rock formations makes one ponder what Mars was like a few years back...

 

[ThirstyPawsHB]

Check out this "gigapan" pic shot inside the newest US Air Force Museum hangar at Wright-Patterson AFB outside Dayton, Ohio.
There are some cool birds that you can zoom close enough to almost touch.

http://www.gigapan.com/gigapans/194894#share-embed

Go full-screen. It's amazing how much detail is crammed in one pic...

Cheers!

Damn! That's some serious resolution! Thanks for sharing

 

[day_trippr]

SpaceX has a released a Dragon-ISS docking simulator for folks with excess time to play with

https://iss-sim.spacex.com/
Cheers!

 

[passedpawn]

First manned SpaceX Crew Dragon flight set for May 27 liftoff

I'll make sure to update this thread with links etc before the event. I'm sure gonna be watching live in the highest def stream I can find.

 

[passedpawn]

https://www.nasa.gov/specials/dm2/
NASA, SpaceX to Launch First Astronauts to Space Station from U.S. Since 2011

A new era of human spaceflight is set to begin as American astronauts once again launch on an American rocket from American soil to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley will fly on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, lifting off on a Falcon 9 rocket at 4:32 p.m. EDT May 27, from Launch Complex 39A in Florida, for an extended stay at the space station for the Demo-2 mission. The specific duration of the mission is to be determined.

As the final flight test for SpaceX, this mission will validate the company’s crew transportation system, including the launch pad, rocket, spacecraft, and operational capabilities. This also will be the first time NASA astronauts will test the spacecraft systems in orbit.

 

[day_trippr]

It's in my calendar. And nice of them to schedule it at such a civilized hour

Cheers!

 

[passedpawn]

I should be watching the launch from 19-floors up, East side of Tampa, looking across Florida. I know, you're thinking you can't see it across the state, but you can! I did it on one of the last space shuttle flights, was great! Hopefully, no clouds.