Space - The Final Frontier

[MuirWannabe]

Data anomalies reported from Voyager 1, the most distant man-made object. I am quite fond of the Voyager spacecraft, so I hope this can be overcome.



https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/engineers-investigating-nasas-voyager-1-telemetry-data

That’s very interesting. Hope they can resolve it as well. Or perhaps it won’t matter. I’m fascinated by Voyager also. The distance and time it’s been traveling are so impressive. I think it’s benefited from the simplistic nature of the technology used at the time it was launched.
I remember the energizer bunny. It’s got nothing on this Voyager workhorse.

 

[Freedom56]

Data anomalies reported from Voyager 1, the most distant man-made object. I am quite fond of the Voyager spacecraft, so I hope this can be overcome.

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/engineers-investigating-nasas-voyager-1-telemetry-data

It's making it's transformation to the sentient and massive entity V'Ger.

https://www.startrek.com/database_article/vger

 

[Chuckanut]

Voyager One has recently sent all of us a message via its Twitter account which it shares with Voyager Two. I'm glad to see the two spacecraft are keeping up changes here on Earth. It reads as follows:

NASA Voyager
@NASAVoyager
May 18

Do you ever feel misunderstood? My team is investigating an issue with my data. Even though I’m sending signals and operating normally, some data readouts don’t exactly match what’s happening out here. While they investigate, I’ll keep doing my thing.

It's worth mentioning that Voyager One was meant to explore Jupiter and Saturn and their rings, and was designed for a five year useful life.

 

[Chuckanut]

For more current information on Voyager One you might listen to Steve Gibson's Security Now! podcast of 5/24 #872. Yes, he's a geek and often includes other interesting information besides IT Security news.

https://twit.cachefly.net/audio/sn/sn0872/sn0872.mp3

Start at the one hour mark, just after they finish talking about security flaws in high tech wireless door locks, and ad-block software for the Safari browser.

 

[KCGeezer]

Just saw this article on a possible meteor storm tomorrow night. Apparently they’re not sure exactly how much of the debris field Earth will pass through but I’ve set a reminder for myself.

https://www.amsmeteors.org/2022/05/possible-meteor-outburst-on-may-3031/

 

[CaptTom]

Seeing a meteor storm and seeing the Northern lights are high on my bucket list. The meteor storm is the one I really have no control over. Forecast is for partly cloudy here, but you can bet I'll be watching!

 

[JoeWras]

As a kid, a picture of this old engraving inspired me to science. I studied astronomy a bit, ultimately deciding on the applied science of engineering.

Wouldn't something like this be cool?

 

[GalaxyBoy]

As a kid, a picture of this old engraving inspired me to science. I studied astronomy a bit, ultimately deciding on the applied science of engineering.

Wouldn't something like this be cool?

From what I’ve read that engraving is no exaggeration. The Leonid storm of 1833 was so intense it woke people up (no artificial lights) and supposedly inspired several new religious sects. It made it obvious that meteor showers appear to radiate from a point and are therefore extraterrestrial in origin, not an atmospheric phenomenon (which is where the term meteorology originated).

Tonight’s potential storm may or may not happen and if it does the meteors may or may not be bright. Luckily the moon is new and the radiant will be high for those in North America. Go look up; it don’t cost nothin.

Oh, and despite the fact it’s called the Tau Herculids, the radiant is near the star Arcturus in Bootes. Here’s a chart.

https://spaceweather.com/images2022/31may22/skymap.png

But don’t just look at the radiant.

 

[KCGeezer]

So I only saw a few small trails and some pinprick flares (maybe?) in about 40 minutes of watching last night. No cool videos that I can find online. Anybody have a different report?

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Yeah, no storm this time. Reports are of Maybe 20 or 25 meteors per hour in a dark sky.

 

[Gumby]

Glad I didn't wait up for it. We certainly don't have a dark sky around here.

 

[CaptTom]

Cloud cover here. Good thing, otherwise I might have stayed up and been disappointed.

 

[braumeister]

Now for something completely different

In the desert of New Mexico, a centrifuge taller than the Statue of Liberty is being tested as an energy-efficient way to send satellites to space...

It looks like a flying saucer on its side, a huge circle 4 metres taller than the Statue of Liberty. This is SpinLaunch’s suborbital accelerator, a colossal centrifuge built to practice throwing satellites into space.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Now THAT is cool! Your link is behind a paywall, but the Spinlaunch website has a lot of good info.

https://www.spinlaunch.com/

 

[Tetto]

In the desert of New Mexico, a centrifuge taller than the Statue of Liberty is being tested as an energy-efficient way to send satellites to space...

I cant imagine the G forces the satellite will have to endure...Kind of like the GPS guided artillery and the electronics on the shell; the G forces when fired are ginormous.

 

[braumeister]

Sorry about the paywalled link. When I saw this, all I could think was "Now that's the kind of gadget Wile E. Coyote would order from Acme."

 

[ERD50]

I cant imagine the G forces the satellite will have to endure...Kind of like the GPS guided artillery and the electronics on the shell; the G forces when fired are ginormous.

I'm no physicist, but wouldn't there be no change in G force when it is launched? All the g-forces would be as it is spinning, and resisting the (centripetal?) force? But those would seem to be "ginormous".

I'll have to catch up on reading those sources later.

-ERD50

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

I'm no physicist, but wouldn't there be no change in G force when it is launched? All the g-forces would be as it is spinning, and resisting the (centripetal?) force? But those would seem to be "ginormous".

I'll have to catch up on reading those sources later.

-ERD50

I believe you have the right idea. I will quibble and say that there WILL be a large change in force on the object when it is released: It would go from the ginormous centripetal force you noted (plus gravity) to only the 1 g due to the Earth's gravity.

 

[ERD50]

I believe you have the right idea. I will quibble and say that there WILL be a large change in force on the object when it is released: It would go from the ginormous centripetal force you noted (plus gravity) to only the 1 g due to the Earth's gravity.

OK, so Tetto was correct then (edit - well, the G-forces *change* on release, but the G-forces are highest while it is spinning, right?) ? I guess the way to look at it is, while it is spinning, it is being held, so it is working against the forces. But once it is let go, it is no longer resisting that force (now just gravity and drag).

So if we pictured an object free floating inside that projectile, it would be smashed against the outside as the projectile is spinning. What happens at the moment it is released? Does the object tend to float to the middle? Or does it get smashed against the other side?

I'm also wondering how they deal with the imbalance as they release the projectile. I assume they need to pull a counterweight towards the center, as quickly as the projectile is released? Otherwise, I would think the 'spinner' would want to go flying off-center?

Or they could use two projectiles released at the same time, and run the other one through a tunnel that goes through the center of the Earth and comes out the other side! Easy!

-ERD50

 

[Chuckanut]

Maybe they have mastered inertial dampers?

 

[Walt34]

I dunno either, the math and physics involved are admittedly over my head. But I am sure that I don't want to be anywhere nearby when things go south with that gizmo....

 

[ERD50]

Maybe they have mastered inertial dampers?

Thinking about that, I realize that whole spinner would have a *lot* (SI units) of inertia. It's a huge gyroscope, so maybe would not be thrown off center so quickly. Though the spinner would probably have a lot more mass than the projectile, the projectile is on the outer rim, so more effect. But maybe a counterweight or some other damper (the real kind, not the Sci-Fi kind) would have time to bring it under control. Obviously, they solved the problem, I'm just curious how it's done.

I dunno either, the math and physics involved are admittedly over my head. But I am sure that I don't want to be anywhere nearby when things go south with that gizmo....

Yes, anything with that amount of stored energy is scary. That better be a very heavy-duty chair you're hiding under. Like the ones they told kids to get under in case of nuclear attack!

-ERD50

 

[GalaxyBoy]

The payload would be at zero g at the instant of release. Or maybe a bit of negative g since drag would slow the vehicle while what’s inside (if not secured) would continue at the original release velocity.

I wouldn’t want to stand anywhere in line with the centrifuge in case of a catastrophic failure. But that’s a good reason it’s in the middle of the desert.

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

OK, so Tetto was correct then (edit - well, the G-forces *change* on release, but the G-forces are highest while it is spinning, right?) ?

Yes, the acceleration (g-force) on it is highest when spinning, then it greatly decreases upon release. I still think that you had the essence correct and that Tetto was misunderstanding (or I misinterpret his/her comment).

So if we pictured an object free floating inside that projectile, it would be smashed against the outside as the projectile is spinning. What happens at the moment it is released? Does the object tend to float to the middle? Or does it get smashed against the other side?

If we neglect air drag, an object would appear to float freely inside the projectile, as both the projectile and the object would be decelerating (due to gravity) at the same rate. However, the effect of air resistance would be to make the projectile decelerate at a greater rate than the object, so it would tend towards the "ceiling."

I'm also wondering how they deal with the imbalance as they release the projectile.

I wondered about that too! I don't know. Maybe I will watch the video again for clues.

The payload would be at zero g at the instant of release.

Well, it will experience 1 g towards Earth. Can't get around that. But it will "feel" weightless, which may be what you meant.

 

[Tetto]

GPS guided artillery shells see G-forces at firing in the range of 45,000 to 60,000 G’s. It’s massive and the higher the mass of the object the higher the G loading apparently. Missiles, artillery, pretty much anything that is being launched at a tremendous velocity is G hardened. Pretty cool stuff.

https://scholar.colorado.edu/downloads/sj139231c

OK, so Tetto was correct then (edit - well, the G-forces *change* on release, but the G-forces are highest while it is spinning, right?) ? I guess the way to look at it is, while it is spinning, it is being held, so it is working against the forces. But once it is let go, it is no longer resisting that force (now just gravity and drag).

So if we pictured an object free floating inside that projectile, it would be smashed against the outside as the projectile is spinning. What happens at the moment it is released? Does the object tend to float to the middle? Or does it get smashed against the other side?

I'm also wondering how they deal with the imbalance as they release the projectile. I assume they need to pull a counterweight towards the center, as quickly as the projectile is released? Otherwise, I would think the 'spinner' would want to go flying off-center?

Or they could use two projectiles released at the same time, and run the other one through a tunnel that goes through the center of the Earth and comes out the other side! Easy!

-ERD50