|
||||||||
Space and Astronomy Thread |
![]() |
|
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
|
|
#1376 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Storbritannia
Posts: 28,916
|
Quote:
Question for the space and astronomy people: can you recommend me a good general, factual book about space travel? A mix of techy stuff and biography would be great, if such a thing exists.
I've looked on Amazon and the books I found all seem to be speculative, astrophysics textbooks, or only relating to certain missions. Starting off with the history of space travel, l can recommend both Tom Wolfe's The Right Stuff about the devlopment of the US space programme and Andrew Chaikin's A Man on the Moon which specifically deals with the Apollo project. ln terms of what's ahead, Licence to Orbit http://www.amazon.co.uk/License-Orbi...5949245&sr=8-1 from Apogee Books http://www.cgpublishing.com/Books/SPACE_SPLASH.html might do the trick but l've not read it myself. Some interesting faster ways of getting around the Solar System are being developed such as the NERVA fission rocket engine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NERVA and the VASIMR [vassimir] plasma rocket engine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variabl...oplasma_Rocket However, in order to escape this Solar System, it's going to take something like an advanced helium-3 fusion pulse rocket or similar which could theoretically get up to 50% of the speed of light http://www.newscientist.com/article/...ce.html?page=1. Even using that last option, it would still take at least 40 years to get to the newly discovered Gliese 581g planet! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11444022 |
|
|
|
|
Please sign in or register to remove this advertisement.
|
|
|
#1377 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 19,567
|
Quote:
I was thinking of Enterprise's test flights... but they were off the back of that wild 747! I hadn't realised until I just read up on it that Enterprise was supposed to have been the second operations shuttle after Columbia but some re-designs after the maiden flight made that impossible. And that they considered refiting Enterprise after the Challenger disaster but decided to build Endeavour instead.... out of spares!
Trivia answer -
Spoiler
|
|
|
|
|
|
#1378 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 19,567
|
China launches its second lunar mission. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11453384
|
|
|
|
|
|
#1379 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Storbritannia
Posts: 28,916
|
Quote:
China launches its second lunar mission. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11453384
Whilst the Chinese are developing more powerful launchers such as the Long March 5 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-10762634, that rocket is certainly not sufficient in itself to launch a command module/lunar module combination to the Moon. The best they can possibly hope for is to do an Apollo 8/Zond figure of 8 loop around the Moon and back. They certainly aren't yet spending enough of their national income on a Moon landing programme to indicate that they are serious about that objective. |
|
|
|
|
|
#1380 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: DTG Bunker
Posts: 5,044
|
Quote:
Well done. I guess you also know the reason for the change?
|
|
|
|
|
|
#1381 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Pembrokeshire, Wales
Posts: 607
|
Quote:
Less money/bother?
|
|
|
|
|
|
#1382 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 19,567
|
Quote:
It was for weight. By not painting the external tank they saved about 270kg.
|
|
|
|
|
|
#1383 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: DTG Bunker
Posts: 5,044
|
Quote:
Well, Mallaha, l have two recommendations and a suggestion for you.
Starting off with the history of space travel, l can recommend both Tom Wolfe's The Right Stuff about the devlopment of the US space programme and Andrew Chaikin's A Man on the Moon which specifically deals with the Apollo project. ln terms of what's ahead, Licence to Orbit http://www.amazon.co.uk/License-Orbi...5949245&sr=8-1 from Apogee Books http://www.cgpublishing.com/Books/SPACE_SPLASH.html might do the trick but l've not read it myself. There's also a "50 Years of Nasa" book in Waterstones that looks like quite a nice entry-level one. |
|
|
|
|
|
#1384 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Derby
Posts: 27,577
|
Quote:
Thanks for this. I've already read The Right Stuff - that's how I got interested in space. I'll look up that Andrew Chaikin one.
There's also a "50 Years of Nasa" book in Waterstones that looks like quite a nice entry-level one. |
|
|
|
|
#1385 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Storbritannia
Posts: 28,916
|
Quote:
Thanks for this. I've already read The Right Stuff - that's how I got interested in space. I'll look up that Andrew Chaikin one.
There's also a "50 Years of Nasa" book in Waterstones that looks like quite a nice entry-level one. Their store locator is here: https://theworks.co.uk/storelocator.asp and they have a couple of books on their online bookstore https://theworks.co.uk/index.asp. |
|
|
|
|
|
#1386 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: My Dukedom
Posts: 3,110
|
New X-Prize developments:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/20...ace-moon-rover The first X-Prize led to the creation of Virgin Galactic and other similar companies, and 'space' travel for potentially thousands of people - what will the new X-Prize lead to? Commercial exploration/mining/water finding on the moon? ETA: short deadline for such a project
|
|
|
|
|
|
#1387 |
|
Inactive Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: ♫ At The Keyboard ♫
Posts: 11,556
|
New Evidence Suggests Icebergs in Frigid Oceans on Ancient Mars
Ancient Mars once had surprisingly frigid primeval oceans complete with their own icebergs, new evidence suggests. |
|
|
|
|
|
#1388 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 19,567
|
This seems cool. See space age.
|
|
|
|
|
|
#1389 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 19,567
|
Oh of course the space age began 53 years ago today. on October 4th 1957 with the launch of Sputnik I
|
|
|
|
|
|
#1390 |
|
Inactive Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: ♫ At The Keyboard ♫
Posts: 11,556
|
This is very weird
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/image...ture_1774.html Scientists have yet to discover what caused the strange spiral structure. Nor do they know why it glows. The glow may be caused by light reflected from nearby stars. |
|
|
|
|
|
#1391 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: London
Posts: 5,858
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#1392 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 19,567
|
Quote:
|
|
|
|
|
|
#1393 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 19,567
|
Great LRO pictures here. See LRO
Mind you they are probably all faked in a TV studio! ![]() ![]() ![]() Great analysis on Apollo XIV |
|
|
|
|
|
#1394 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Storbritannia
Posts: 28,916
|
MAVEN Mars mission cleared for take off...
...and there's more details here: http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/gener...pheric%20Probe.
According to Aviation Week, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (Maven) project has now been approved for launch in 2013. This space probe will look at Mars' atmosphere to study its interactions with the solar wind with a view to learning more about the disappearance of Mars' atmosphere over eons. Early geolical activity supplied Mars with a thicker atmosphere than it has now and the cessation of that activity plus the freezing out of the atmosphere into the soil and polar caps has left a thin atmosphere left which can be more easily eroded away by the solar wind. |
|
|
|
|
|
#1395 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 19,567
|
Nice docking of the Soyuz with the ISS. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhAjFjDGfbs
|
|
|
|
|
|
#1396 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 19,567
|
Astroid passes close to earth. See here
|
|
|
|
|
|
#1397 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 19,567
|
Landing men on an Asteroid? See here
|
|
|
|
|
|
#1398 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Lancashire
Posts: 25,819
|
A couple of more stories here:
Manned flight around Moon considered Virgin Galactic's spaceship makes solo flight |
|
|
|
|
|
#1399 |
|
Inactive Member
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Above the clouds
Posts: 22,453
|
The most massive conglomeration of galaxies ever spotted in the early universe has been found, astronomers say.
This behemoth galaxy cluster contains about 800 trillion suns packed inside hundreds of galaxies. And it's not even finished growing. The newfound cluster, called SPT-CL J0546-5345, is about 7 billion light-years from Earth, meaning that its light has taken that long to reach us. Thus, astronomers are seeing this clump as it was 7 billion years ago. By now, it likely will have quadrupled in size, researchers said. The universe is about 13.7 billion years old. Sauce - http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/mostma...ersediscovered |
|
|
|
|
#1400 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Storbritannia
Posts: 28,916
|
Huge hidden alien galaxy...
Quote:
The most massive conglomeration of galaxies ever spotted in the early universe has been found, astronomers say.
This behemoth galaxy cluster contains about 800 trillion suns packed inside hundreds of galaxies. And it's not even finished growing. The newfound cluster, called SPT-CL J0546-5345, is about 7 billion light-years from Earth, meaning that its light has taken that long to reach us. Thus, astronomers are seeing this clump as it was 7 billion years ago. By now, it likely will have quadrupled in size, researchers said. The universe is about 13.7 billion years old. Sauce - http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/mostma...ersediscovered Your post reminds me of a little local galactic mystery. Those who watch the skies are familiar with the M33 Triangulum galaxy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:M33HunterWilson09.jpg which is 3 million light years away and the M31 Andromeda galaxy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:M31bobo.jpg which is even nearer at 2.5 million light years away. It is also visible in the autumn sky right now and it's larger than our own Milky Way galaxy and the M33 galaxy. However, very few people have either seen or heard of the great Maffei 1 galaxy. It is a huge elliptical galaxy 10 million light years away and it would also be visible in the night sky but for the fact that the centre of our very own galaxy gets in the way and obscures it. There's a pic of it here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Maf1atlas.jpg and an article here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maffei_1. |
|
|
|
![]() |
|
All times are GMT. The time now is 18:34.





