Your Trip Is Short.....

[runawayjimbo]

Starting on PBS right now (where I live at least  :-P )

http://www.pbs.org/program/catch-comet/

To Catch A Comet

About the Program

Billions of kilometers from Earth, a spacecraft the size of a car traveled towards an icy rock 2.5 miles across hurtling through space at tens of kilometers per second. It has been in space for ten years, but on Nov. 12, 2014 it did something no other spacecraft had ever attempted — orbit and land on a comet.

Sneak Peek

Rosetta, the European Space Agency's (ESA) orbiter and Philae, the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) lander are not short of ambition. It has taken a generation, 30 years, to get to this point along a rocky road besieged by technological challenges, faulty launch vehicles and budget constraints, all of which have conspired to stop the mission in its tracks.

The idea behind Rosetta is awesome, but a daunting list of challenges awaited the team at mission control. Unable to carry enough fuel owing to weight restrictions, the Rosetta scientists devised a delicate cat and mouse trajectory to reach their distant destination. In the ten years Rosetta has been in space she has flown around the Earth three times, Mars once and the asteroid belt twice, to gain the momentum she needs to reach her destination. In the months before landing, the team navigated Rosetta safely to a world never before observed at such distances or accuracy. Rosetta orbited the comet before releasing Philae onto the surface. With little gravity from the comet, the team at mission control orbited manually.

Collectively Rosetta and Philae carry a remarkable 21 scientific instruments designed and manufactured globally by hundreds of engineers and visionaries. Each has a purpose, to chip away at the comet's secrets retrieving invaluable data and beaming it back to Earth — promising to unlock the secrets from the formation of the solar system 4.5 billion years ago and even the origins of life itself.

Not only that, Rosetta will follow this colossal comet as it blasts toward and around the Sun.

Rosetta, along with its passenger Philae, are guaranteed to provide a treasure-trove of scientific data and an unforgettable ride.

[mbw]

Starting on PBS right now (where I live at least  :-P )

they have PBS in Donttreadonmeville?

[runawayjimbo]

Starting on PBS right now (where I live at least  :-P )

they have PBS in Donttreadonmeville?

:hereitisyousentimentalbastard

Indeed. I'm a contributor. Voluntary exchange is the shit. The doc was pretty goddamned good too.

[rowjimmy]

Click to embiggen.
source: http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=3548#comic

[PIE-GUY]

That's hilarious. Had to share on fb.

[rowjimmy]

Images have been released from cameras near the launchpad of that Orbital Sciences launch that blew up a few weeks back.
The word "hellish" appears numerous times on the page.

http://www.universetoday.com/116580/antares-doomed-descent-into-hellish-inferno-up-close-launch-pad-photo-exclusive-pt-1/



Follow that link for more pics.

[Superfreakie]

Whoa! The trip was indeed very short.

[rowjimmy]

Seriously.

[rowjimmy]

Amazing video.

[Superfreakie]

How awesome is Carl Sagan?

Such a great mind and wonderful human being. Love the pale blue dot narration......posted for those who have not seen it (it is possible I have already posted it here at the paug)

[gah]

Sagan is great. And you HAVE shared that before elsewhere I think on the paug. But thanks for sharing it again. It was good to watch again. Both that and your vid rj above that. Both cool.

[PIE-GUY]

Sedimentary rocks found on Mars:

http://www.nasa.gov/press/2014/december/nasa-s-curiosity-rover-finds-clues-to-how-water-helped-shape-martian-landscape/index.html#.VIXwmaTF8yz

[Superfreakie]

Whoa! Have fun!

http://www.shnflac.net/redirect.php?url=http://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/surface/level/orthographic=50.92,29.56,675

[Superfreakie]

A little complex but very interesting.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/2-futures-can-explain-time-s-mysterious-past/

[gah]

A little complex but very interesting.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/2-futures-can-explain-time-s-mysterious-past/

heady reading for a saturday afternoon.