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Physics and astronomy thread (2 Viewers)

matttyl said:
Don Quixote said:
roar_lions said:
SFBayDuck said:
Astronomers Are Keeping an Eye on This Asteroid’s Odds of Hitting Earth: Researchers say there’s a 1.3 percent chance that the space rock 2024 YR4 could strike our planet — but not until December 2032.

Get the drilling crew ready.
Click to expand...

Lots of reports today that the odds have increased to 3.1 percent.

www.cbsnews.com

Odds of asteroid YR4 2024 hitting Earth in 2032 go up, then down again, in latest NASA analysis

The asteroid 2024 YR4 has a very small chance of striking Earth when its orbit briefly intersects our planet's in December 2032.
www.cbsnews.com www.cbsnews.com
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NASA took it back down to 1.5%

blogs.nasa.gov

Planetary Defense Archives - NASA Science

blogs.nasa.gov blogs.nasa.gov
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If I’m understanding the science here - they’ll be able to see this asteroid for roughly another 2 months - at which point it will be outside our view until 2028 or so. That means the potential impact timeline when we’re able to view it again will only be 4 years out. That’s a bit unnerving.
Click to expand...

The latest report puts the chance of hitting Earth at 1 in 59,000, leading astronomers to conclude we are no longer in danger.
 
El Floppo said:
stunning video from Blue Ghost orbiting low as it prepares to land on the moon, Mar 2.

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
youtu.be youtu.be
Click to expand...

plus.nasa.gov

Firefly Blue Ghost Mission 1 Lunar Landing

With a suite of NASA science and technology on board, Firefly Aerospace is targeting no earlier than 3:34 a.m. EST Sunday, March 2, to land their Blue Ghost
plus.nasa.gov plus.nasa.gov

Blue Ghost is slated to touch down near Mare Crisium, in the northeast quadrant on the near side of the Moon, as part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign to establish a long-term lunar presence. Live coverage of the landing, jointly hosted by NASA and Firefly, will air on NASA+ starting at 2:20 a.m. EST, approximately 75 minutes before touch down on the Moon’s surface.

For anyone who will be up at 2-3 am.
 
Perhaps the most difficult, nail-biting stretch of Blue Ghost’s mission is over with. The vehicle is sitting on the moon’s near side, within an ancient crater filled with volcanic material.

Here’s what still lies ahead:

  • Blue Ghost will unfurl its X-band antenna, which can beam troves of data and video down from the moon. That should be happening right now.
  • NASA and Firefly will verify all 10 science and tech demonstrations are in working order. Over the next two weeks, mission teams will collect information on everything from how the lunar soil behaved during descent to studying the heat flow from the moon’s interior.
  • Blue Ghost will experience an eclipse on March 14 as Earth casts a shadow on the landing site.
  • Just before lunar nightfall, Blue Ghost will aim to capture photos of a “lunar horizon glow,” a phenomenon during which moon dust will briefly levitate.
  • About 14 days into the mission, Blue Ghost’s landing site will be plunged into lunar night. The lander will then need to rely on battery power as the company aims to keep it functioning in temperatures as cold as minus 250°F (minus 130°C).
  • At the end of its operations, Blue Ghost will stay put, destined to remain on the moon’s surface indefinitely.
 
GregR said:
Perhaps the most difficult, nail-biting stretch of Blue Ghost’s mission is over with. The vehicle is sitting on the moon’s near side, within an ancient crater filled with volcanic material.

Here’s what still lies ahead:

  • Blue Ghost will unfurl its X-band antenna, which can beam troves of data and video down from the moon. That should be happening right now.
  • NASA and Firefly will verify all 10 science and tech demonstrations are in working order. Over the next two weeks, mission teams will collect information on everything from how the lunar soil behaved during descent to studying the heat flow from the moon’s interior.
  • Blue Ghost will experience an eclipse on March 14 as Earth casts a shadow on the landing site.
  • Just before lunar nightfall, Blue Ghost will aim to capture photos of a “lunar horizon glow,” a phenomenon during which moon dust will briefly levitate.
  • About 14 days into the mission, Blue Ghost’s landing site will be plunged into lunar night. The lander will then need to rely on battery power as the company aims to keep it functioning in temperatures as cold as minus 250°F (minus 130°C).
  • At the end of its operations, Blue Ghost will stay put, destined to remain on the moon’s surface indefinitely.
Click to expand...
Quite an achievement for Firefly. I almost applied there about six years ago. I’m not sure I was qualified, but it would’ve been cool to be a part of that.
 
Meanwhile... Athena (Intuitive Machines), another private lander with robotic rover was scheduled to land (eta: on the moon) about 30 minutes ago.

Nobody sure if it landed successfully or not- conflicting info with some telemetry issues on landing, but also sent a message saying things ok.

News conference at 4pm EST
 
Looks like they lost attitude control and ultimately total contact with the Starship 8 vehicle. Did however successfully retrieve the booster once again on the tower.
 
El Floppo said:
Meanwhile... Athena (Intuitive Machines), another private lander with robotic rover was scheduled to land (eta: on the moon) about 30 minutes ago.

Nobody sure if it landed successfully or not- conflicting info with some telemetry issues on landing, but also sent a message saying things ok.

News conference at 4pm EST
Click to expand...
Looks like they landed, and then ended up on its side... Again.
 
IM-2 update:
www.intuitivemachines.com

IM-2 | Intuitive Machines

www.intuitivemachines.com www.intuitivemachines.com

"3/7/25 | 0829 Intuitive Machines Executes Southernmost Lunar Landing and Operates Payloads
HOUSTON, TX – March 7, 2025 – Intuitive Machines, Inc. (Nasdaq: LUNR, LUNRW) (“Intuitive Machines”) (“Company”), a leading space exploration, infrastructure, and services company, has announced the IM-2 mission lunar lander, Athena, landed 250 meters from its intended landing site in the Mons Mouton region of the lunar south pole, inside of a crater. This was the southernmost lunar landing and surface operations ever achieved.

Images downlinked from Athena on the lunar surface confirmed that Athena was on her side. After landing, mission controllers were able to accelerate several program and payload milestones, including NASA’s PRIME-1 suite, before the lander’s batteries depleted.

With the direction of the sun, the orientation of the solar panels, and extreme cold temperatures in the crater, Intuitive Machines does not expect Athena to recharge. The mission has concluded and teams are continuing to assess the data collected throughout the mission."
 
Phil Elliott said:
IM-2 update:
www.intuitivemachines.com

IM-2 | Intuitive Machines

www.intuitivemachines.com www.intuitivemachines.com

"3/7/25 | 0829 Intuitive Machines Executes Southernmost Lunar Landing and Operates Payloads
HOUSTON, TX – March 7, 2025 – Intuitive Machines, Inc. (Nasdaq: LUNR, LUNRW) (“Intuitive Machines”) (“Company”), a leading space exploration, infrastructure, and services company, has announced the IM-2 mission lunar lander, Athena, landed 250 meters from its intended landing site in the Mons Mouton region of the lunar south pole, inside of a crater. This was the southernmost lunar landing and surface operations ever achieved.

Images downlinked from Athena on the lunar surface confirmed that Athena was on her side. After landing, mission controllers were able to accelerate several program and payload milestones, including NASA’s PRIME-1 suite, before the lander’s batteries depleted.

With the direction of the sun, the orientation of the solar panels, and extreme cold temperatures in the crater, Intuitive Machines does not expect Athena to recharge. The mission has concluded and teams are continuing to assess the data collected throughout the mission."
Click to expand...
WTH with that company and landers going sideways...
 
The Z Machine said:
Phil Elliott said:
IM-2 update:
www.intuitivemachines.com

IM-2 | Intuitive Machines

www.intuitivemachines.com www.intuitivemachines.com

"3/7/25 | 0829 Intuitive Machines Executes Southernmost Lunar Landing and Operates Payloads
HOUSTON, TX – March 7, 2025 – Intuitive Machines, Inc. (Nasdaq: LUNR, LUNRW) (“Intuitive Machines”) (“Company”), a leading space exploration, infrastructure, and services company, has announced the IM-2 mission lunar lander, Athena, landed 250 meters from its intended landing site in the Mons Mouton region of the lunar south pole, inside of a crater. This was the southernmost lunar landing and surface operations ever achieved.

Images downlinked from Athena on the lunar surface confirmed that Athena was on her side. After landing, mission controllers were able to accelerate several program and payload milestones, including NASA’s PRIME-1 suite, before the lander’s batteries depleted.

With the direction of the sun, the orientation of the solar panels, and extreme cold temperatures in the crater, Intuitive Machines does not expect Athena to recharge. The mission has concluded and teams are continuing to assess the data collected throughout the mission."
Click to expand...
WTH with that company and landers going sideways...
Click to expand...
Yes, I think they have the sideways landing down pretty good. Looking at the design it appears to be kind of top heavy with the vertical design and prone to tip over with any horizontal movement as it's landing.
 
I put these links in the "are aliens visiting us" thread, but it's probably better here. This feels like kind of a big deal, but getting little to no traction (I understand there's a lot going on in the news cycle). Maybe I'm missing something, but if there's really signs of ancient life on the planet next door it seems to question just how rare life elsewhere (everywhere) really is.


 
The Longtime Lurker said:
I put these links in the "are aliens visiting us" thread, but it's probably better here. This feels like kind of a big deal, but getting little to no traction (I understand there's a lot going on in the news cycle). Maybe I'm missing something, but if there's really signs of ancient life on the planet next door it seems to question just how rare life elsewhere (everywhere) really is.


Click to expand...
The gist is that there's "biosignatures", meaning that there are compounds present that are "most likely" produced by microbial life. That doesn't mean that they found fossilized microbes, or DNA, or anything else directly showing biology. The compounds *could* have been produced by other, non-biological means. We won't know until we can really analyze these Martian rocks in a more detailed analysis in a better equipped laboratory on Earth.

That said, this is a pretty big deal as it adds yet one more piece of evidence that there was microbial life present on Mars a long time ago. That's pretty cool.
 
The Z Machine said:
The Longtime Lurker said:
I put these links in the "are aliens visiting us" thread, but it's probably better here. This feels like kind of a big deal, but getting little to no traction (I understand there's a lot going on in the news cycle). Maybe I'm missing something, but if there's really signs of ancient life on the planet next door it seems to question just how rare life elsewhere (everywhere) really is.


Click to expand...
The gist is that there's "biosignatures", meaning that there are compounds present that are "most likely" produced by microbial life. That doesn't mean that they found fossilized microbes, or DNA, or anything else directly showing biology. The compounds *could* have been produced by other, non-biological means. We won't know until we can really analyze these Martian rocks in a more detailed analysis in a better equipped laboratory on Earth.

That said, this is a pretty big deal as it adds yet one more piece of evidence that there was microbial life present on Mars a long time ago. That's pretty cool.
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Right, signs of life, not necessarily fossils until/unless closer inspection of returned samples show that. As it stands life is the most plausible explanation, but unproven as of yet.

And I fully agree this is super cool and a bigger deal than it appears to be given credit.
 
I dont recall...and my memory sucks, so caveats etc...but i dont recall in my many readings of JPL and NASA communications over the years the director preempting the info by giving credit to the president in whose term the event happened.

The news itself *could* be really game changing, the *could* contain part remains exciting....although i generally nip my excitement in the *could/maybe/possibly* part of news.
 
El Floppo said:
I was sooo gungho on Artemis and manned moon missions (originally scheduled iirc for 2024 :kicksrock: ) but then lost track.

Artemis 1 went unmanned around the moon in 2022.
Artemis 2 scheduled to follow suit as early as Feb 2026- this time manned! they released the 4 astronaut crew info recently.
Artemis X maybe sorta possibly for 2030 with a manned landing.
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A friend here just moved to Louisiana to work on Artemis.
 
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