Science - It's life Jim but not as we know it...

  • Please bear with us on the new site integration and fixing any known bugs over the coming days. If you can not log in please try resetting your password and check your spam box. If you have tried these steps and are still struggling email [email protected] with your username/registered email address
  • Log in now to remove adverts - no adverts at all to registered members!
brb said:
There are a lot of terrifying things you can find in space, from mysterious massive voids 250 to 330 million light-years across, to tiny droplets of water in your space suit that could very easily drown you. But the moniker of "most terrifying space photo" is generally given to a photo of astronaut Bruce McCandless II, taken from the space shuttle Challenger on February 7, 1984.

On that day, and again on February 9, he and fellow astronaut Bob Stewart strapped themselves into Manned Maneuvering Units (MMUs) and left the comfort of their ship to make an untethered space walk as they and Challenger hurtled along at nearly 28,900 kilometers per hour (18,000 miles per hour).

Bruce was the first to make the leap, becoming the first human in history to make an untethered spacewalk.

https://www.iflscience.com/a-nasa-a...d-the-footage-is-tense-to-say-the-least-78492

You must log in or register to see media

While terrifying, there's an overlooked NASA spacewalk which looks equally terrifying to untrained Earth-dwellers. In 1984, astronaut Dale Gardner and Joseph Allen flew untethered to recover two communication satellites which had been placed into incorrect orbits due to rocket failure.

With boosters unable to place the satellites into their correct orbits, NASA devised a plan for astronauts to don spacesuits and Manned Maneuvering Units (MMUs) to retrieve the Westar 6 and Palapa B2 satellites for return to Earth, while Anna Fisher operated a Remote Manipulator System.

Both Gardner and Allen took turns collecting satellites untethered, with Gardner flying the MMU to capture Westar.

You must log in or register to see media

"After Hauck and Walker piloted Discovery to within 35 feet of Palapa, Allen and Gardner exited the airlock to begin the spacewalk portion of the satellite capture. Allen donned the MMU mounted on the side wall of the cargo bay, attached the stinger to its arms, and flew out to Palapa. Once there, he inserted the stinger into the satellite’s Apogee Kick Motor bell and using the MMU’s attitude control system stopped Palapa’s spin," NASA explains of the first of the two satellite collections.

"Fisher then steered the RMS to capture a grapple fixture mounted on the stinger between Allen and the satellite. She then maneuvered them over the payload bay where Gardner waited to remove its omnidirectional antenna and install the bridge structure. However, Gardner could not attach the ABS to the satellite due to an unexpected clearance issue on the satellite. Using a backup plan, Allen undocked from the stinger, leaving it attached to the satellite as well as the RMS, and stowed the MMU in the payload bay. With Allen now holding the satellite by its antenna, Gardner attached an adaptor to the bottom end of the satellite to secure it in its cradle in the payload bay."

The mission was a success, with the satellite captured within 6 hours. The second satellite collection, by Gardner, went without a hitch and was completed in 5 hours and 42 minutes. Both satellites were returned to Earth, along with some of the most terrifying space footage we've seen.
Click to expand...


I've often thought of what happens in those voids, Bear with me - electromagnetism causes mass, and mass causes gravity (very simplistic, I know), so if you're in an area of no 'matter', what happens to time and space? Is there a Higgs field in the voids, or is it just like the old sailors' tales of being becalmed in the Sargasso Sea? At times like these I wish Red Hadron Collider was still about. :bandit:
 
  • Like
Reactions: duggie2000 and brb
Thus Spake Zarathustra said:
I've often thought of what happens in those voids, Bear with me - electromagnetism causes mass, and mass causes gravity (very simplistic, I know), so if you're in an area of no 'matter', what happens to time and space? Is there a Higgs field in the voids, or is it just like the old sailors' tales of being becalmed in the Sargasso Sea? At times like these I wish Red Hadron Collider was still about. :bandit:
Click to expand...

So what happened to RHC?

I tried to look but not getting a clear picture of him going missing. I know two months after he stopped posting, someone asked for a password reset for him, but he never reappeared - does @luvgonzo know....or maybe I have been told in the past and forgotten.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ivan Dobsky
brb said:
So what happened to RHC?

I tried to look but not getting a clear picture of him going missing. I know two months after he stopped posting, someone asked for a password reset for him, but he never reappeared - does @luvgonzo know....or maybe I have been told in the past and forgotten.
Click to expand...
Think he's gone mate, wasn't well and he then stopped responding to my texts which wasn't like him.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ivan Dobsky and brb
Thus Spake Zarathustra said:
I've often thought of what happens in those voids, Bear with me - electromagnetism causes mass, and mass causes gravity (very simplistic, I know), so if you're in an area of no 'matter', what happens to time and space? Is there a Higgs field in the voids, or is it just like the old sailors' tales of being becalmed in the Sargasso Sea? At times like these I wish Red Hadron Collider was still about. :bandit:
Click to expand...
The question is, are they actually voids, or are they filled with something we don't have the ability to detect?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Spurlock and Ivan Dobsky
Big Ern said:
The question is, are they actually voids, or are they filled with something we don't have the ability to detect?
Click to expand...

Dark matter? Einstein's 'Cosmological constant'? The sky between the clouds.. :emoticon-0138-think

The Webb Telescope is supposed to tell us more by looking around the voids instead of in them. I'm 64 - I don't expect to know the answer in my lifetime. I do think whatever is discovered will pose more questions than answers. :emoticon-0108-speec
 
  • Like
Reactions: Big Ern and FosseFilberto
Zhúlóng was discovered by a team led by Mengyuan Xiao, and announced in a paper submitted to Astronomy & Astrophysics on 17 December 2024, and published on 16 April 2025.[1] The discovery was surprising to astronomers, who had previously believed that spiral galaxies took billions of years to develop

You must log in or register to see images


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhúlóng_(galaxy)

I don't find it worrying, I find it exciting, maybe we just need to accept the universe isn't how we think it is, and I don't really like this big bang theory and never have, so keep challenging the theories...

You must log in or register to see media
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ivan Dobsky
brb said:
Zhúlóng was discovered by a team led by Mengyuan Xiao, and announced in a paper submitted to Astronomy & Astrophysics on 17 December 2024, and published on 16 April 2025.[1] The discovery was surprising to astronomers, who had previously believed that spiral galaxies took billions of years to develop

You must log in or register to see images


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhúlóng_(galaxy)

I don't find it worrying, I find it exciting, maybe we just need to accept the universe isn't how we think it is, and I don't really like this big bang theory and never have, so keep challenging the theories...

You must log in or register to see media
Click to expand...


My dad went to his grave as a devotee of Fred Hoyle and the Steady State universe. I mocked him. :emoticon-0114-dull:

You must log in or register to see media
 
  • Like
Reactions: brb
What comes after JWST...

Roman (Nancy Grace Roman) sometime in 2026 to 2027 - the video explains its capabilities...

You must log in or register to see media
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ivan Dobsky
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back