More Good News
 

The joint US-European mission to Saturn, Cassini-Huygens, has successfully entered into orbit around the planet!

The 95 minute main engine burn on this morning slowed it down enough to be captured by Saturn's gravity. It actually passed through a gap between two of the rings while decelerating.

Having traveled for more than six years and three billion km, it can now start a four-year study of the ringed planet and its 31 moons.

Nifty stuff!

It sure is! Absolutely fascinates me.

*Almost* went to NASA/GSFC last night to watch the live event. The Visitors Center there was open to the public from about 1930-2300 for the event. Too much other stuff to deal with in my life, though, so didn't get to do it. Ah, well, the important part is that the mission is such a success so far.

Re: More Good News
 

Very! :cool:

In addition to the technical achievement of putting a satellite into orbit around Saturn – an amazing achievement in and of itself, the project management required for such a success must itself be a challenge.

The notion that messages must be sent at least an hour and a half earlier than their earliest possible execution time is unusual. Having to allow for the speed of light as a limitation – now that is an “otherworldly” idea.

In MY opinion,it is a horrible waste of money!I,personally,can't
believe,that people,Bitch about,the cost of a war on terrorism,but
this doesn't bother them.Sure,it's a great accomplishment,but I
would rather,see the money spent on the unexplored regions,of
the sea,on our own planet.That's just my opinion! Irish

Irish,

Lessons learned in outer space help us daily living in inner space.

OldFart? You mean you think war has been done to death, (no pun………..well, pun) and you think something that doesn’t go *BOOM* could be useful?

What a novel thought. :rolleyes:

If you're lucky,my opinion & $1.00,will get you a $1.00s worth!
I'll keep my opinion tho.It's the only thing that is, truely,mine!
Irish
P.S.The only person that you have to satisfy,is the person,that
looks back from the mirror.

^----- Also very true Irish. ;)

Re: More Good News
 

Think they would've gotten there sooner if they'd asked for directions? LOL :D

or feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, setting up decent affordable health care, lowering college tuition, repairing social security, paying our service men and women better, developing more efficient forms of transportation, improving our schools by hiring top people in the fields of science & math to teach, fund more research for finding cures for cancer, AIDS & Parkinsons, make sure every town has its own library, put computers in classrooms......... etc, etc......
~just MY opinion!~ :)

Such as???

Why explore outer space? Because it's there...& because it's what's next...

Teddy Bear,

I doubt that there will ever be enough money to do everything. The toughest question might be "which ones"?

So since we can't decide what we should do we send the money into space... ohhhhh I see.

Teddy Bear,

Well, that is one way of looking at it. It is also true that almost all of the money spent on the project remains here on Earth. All the jobs which are generated throughout the economy by this mission – and all NASA missions – remain firmly on the ground. Everyone from the most humble groundskeeper who maintains the launch site facilities, through the mechanics to the engineers, and ending in the Mission managers, all remain on Earth, and spend their salaries on the same types of things you an I do.

The only bits of the mission which are gone forever are the launch vehicle and the probe itself.

Thats a unique view. :)

But aside from creating a few jobs what do we gain thats of any use from space exploration?

Velcro

WD-40


let me think on that some more

TeddyBear

Alot of the remote and micro-integrated medical sensors we now rely

on during operations were developed for space.

Micro-gravity promises medicines of unparalleled purity, crystal growth

for electronics impossible in our gravity well and fun for hundreds

of generations of kids.

PantyFanatic,

War will continue as long as two idiots want to kill each other.

All we can do is try to keep them from taking us with them.

Gentlefolk,

I hope that you are just pulling my leg, but on the off chance that you are unaware of some of the benefits of space exploration, I shall list a few.

Scratch-resistant lenses for eyeglasses are a spinoff product from something developed to protect satellites from getting nicked by space debris. Nitinol is a medical alloy which makes wearing dental braces easier. Nitinol was developed to enable satellites to “open up” more easily when deployed from the cramped confines of a launch vehicle.

Back in the 60’s Project Mercury technicians invented an automatic blood pressure measuring device. You can use the consumer edition of that device in many pharmacies for an instant check-up. Heart pacemakers communicate through electronic telemetry similar to that developed to operate satellites orbiting the earth. The implantable insulin pump that helps keep diabetics alive borrows technology from the mechanical robot arm on the first Mars Voyager probe. There’s a miniature blood pump which has been approved for use in humans. This heart pump uses technology from Space Shuttle fuel pumps.

Another spinoff from the space program comes from the HST’s Charge Coupled Device (CCD) chips. The CCD chips enable imaging that can discern between a malignant or benign tumor without the need for a biopsy. The cost for this procedure is hundreds of dollars versus thousands for a biopsy. Multiply that by the half million women each year who have one, and you are talking real money. There is also the personal avoidance of surgery with the attendant risk and scarring.

In the sphere of Earth sciences, remote-sensing technology implemented in satellites has been very valuable in areas such as disaster preparedness and mitigation, ocean health monitoring, weather prediction, forest and agricultural management and land use planning. Focusing on weather prediction alone, the American economy saves millions of dollars every year form the improved predictions provided by satellites operating in space.

I humbly bow in the presence of those with great knowledge. I seriously had no clue. I'll ease up a little bit on my negative outlook regarding the space program. But I'd still like to see more money spent at home on some of the things mentioned earlier. TY for explaining to the fluff brain bear. :)



And jseal, if I was pulling your leg you'd know it sweetie. ;) :D

No need to bow, Teddy Bear. The question you raise is a valid one.

My thought's always been that the money didn't go to space ... just some metal and plastics and stuff. The money went into the businesses that built the craft, the jobs that created, and the salaries of the people that work there ... not to mention the taxes that support the programs that help the hungry, poor, homeless, etc.

On the other side, the knowledge derived from challenging ourselves to do things that have never been done before seems to add real future value.

Probably just goofy thinking on my part ... but that's what I've always thoughtl.

Teddy Bear,

NASA has failed to communicate the vales of these space spin-offs, and needs to do a better job doing so. I stand corrected for assuming that everyone shares my interest in this subject. They are spending your tax dollars, so questions like "Why go into space when we have unsolved problems here on Earth?" and "What does the space program do for me?" are legitimate and pertinent questions. Irish expresses similar concerns in his post. Each of the goals in your post is valid, as is the “earth exploration” Irish proposes. Please accept my apologies for any implications to the contrary.

I consider it unfortunate that so few people are aware of the substantial benefits the space program provides to our daily lives. Applications on Earth of technology developed for space flight have produced many – I’m sure I can say hundreds - of different products that improve the economy as a whole, and each of our lifestyles. Collectively, these spin-off applications represent a substantial return on the investment (our tax dollars) in aerospace research.

Update
 

The Cassini-Huygens probe passed within 350,000 km of Saturn’s moon Titan, one of the mission’s primary science targets. The spacecraft has managed to image large linear features on its surface which have not been observed from Earth because of Titan's thick atmosphere. One guess is that these could be tectonic structures - areas of crust which had been shaped by movement similar to what happens on the Earth.

This is the link to the NASA site that explains more about the exploration of Saturn and also explains more about how we receive benefits from space exploration...I found this very interesting... and some really cool pictures of Saturn and its moons!!

http://www.nasa.gov/missions/highlights/index.html

Also, there is a section there where you can check up on the Mars Rovers... :D

Another good reason for space exploration.... :D Looking at things from a different view!

http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/elvnew/mission/index.htm

http://aura.gsfc.nasa.gov/

There is a spectacular set of pictures of Saturn's Rings, Titan, and Phoebe here!

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimed...atest/index.cfm

Environmental Satellites
 

Another Earth satellite, the “Aura” will be launched from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, on Tuesday. It is the third in the NASA’s series of satellites aimed at providing hard data on the global environment. The first two global environment satellites, “Terra” and “Aqua”, gather information about the ground and the oceans. Aura will concentrate on the atmosphere, looking at gases, pollutants, and chemical reactions.

The 3 ton satellite will be used to test whether the Montreal Protocol to repair the ozone layer is working. While it SEEMS to be working, Aura will provide accurate numbers one way or another. Another of Aura’s roles is to assess the role of tiny particles in the atmosphere. These particles, containing sulphur or carbon, come from natural sources, such as volcanoes, and from human sources, such as coal, oil, and gasoline burning.

If Aura can provide the data needed to by scientists to understand clearly what these aerosols are doing, the costs of effectively reducing air pollution can be minimized, or with the same amount of money, the air quality can be improved more.

Effectively using the information is a political event, not a scientific one.

People...BIG PICTURE for a moment....

We are entering an age of wonderous and HISTORIC scientific discovery. Rovers on Mars, snapping pictures of an alien landscape, discovering WATER (one of the necessary building blocks for life as we know it)....Cassini orbiting Saturn and an opportunity to land a rover on an alien moon...probes capturing material from comets and the solar wind....this is the stuff that expands our knowledge of the Universe and helps to define our place in it.

I am not saying that feeding the hungry isn't important. It's damn important. However, it is a flawed argument that suggests a choice between feeding hungry people and expanding mankind's knowledge. We cannot and must not foresake one for the other.

This is why I was buoyed by the President's proposal for the future exploration of space. Are they lofty goals? Absolutely. Can we pay for it? Sure. Should we pay for it? Not sure. But I do know that if you reach for stars but only get to the moon, you've still gone a long way.

President Kennedy was right to dream big...we should do the same.


rabbit

Aura launch delayed again!
 

The launch of Aura has been delayed for a second time. A problem with a solid-state recorder aboard the satellite stopped the countdown 30 minutes before lift-off yesterday. A launch on Sunday was delayed due to a problem with the rocket nosecone.

NASA said it will be either a 24 or 48 hour hold.

NASA finally launched the Aura satellite!
 

Liftoff was at 6 AM EDT. A problem with the rocket's battery system stopped the countdown three minutes before lift-off on Wednesday.

Cassini Update
 

Cassini has made the first direct observation of lightning in Saturn’s atmosphere.

Mars
 

Jseal what of the Mars probes/landers? Are they still going?

Catch22,

Yes they are - and doing very well. NASA has given both rovers additional operating time, but the mission will not be granted additional money. They'll have to squeeze their budget.

As many of you know,I have a 10% diability,that I recieve a Govt. Check for
every month.At the beginning of the year,I recieved a letter,saying that the
allotment amount,would be increased by $? a month.I heard on the news, lately,that(among other things)the military pay,had been given,a $?? increase.
I imagine that my check will also be increased,because everytime,that the
military,gets an increase,it also increases by the same amount as they get!
Maybe that's one of the reasons ,for the space exploration budget,not being
increased. Irish
P.S. There is ONLY a certain amount of money!I imagine that everyone,would
bitch,if the taxes,were increased!

Your on a serviice pension Irish? I am on payment as well. I care for an aged relative and it is cheaper for the govt to pay me to nurse then have them in a hospital. We have had a fair bit of cash thrown at us this year. It is a voting year for the Fed Govt.

I don't know if you'd call it a pension.I get a 10% disability check,from the Govt!I have gotten it since it was awarded to me,from VN.I don't know if
"pension" is the right terminology.Being wounded,doesn't make you a "Hero",
it just means that you were in the wrong place, at the wrong time.As far as,
I'm concerned,the heros,are the medics,that kept me from bleeding to
death.I'd do it all over again.As Mackenzie said-If you don't stand for something,You'll fall for anything! Irish
P.S.My $.02.

Yes, my father was on something the same from WW2. My mother then got a widows one after he died. She was a war widow twice. Her first hubby was killed on a Jap death march.

In MY opinion,you are to be commended for that relative.The way that,many,
in VA hospitals,are cared for,is much, worse then death.I was in one,outside
of,Hartford Conn.,for some tests.One of the "old" men,on the ward,couldn't
get out of bed,had to be fed,some concoction,thru a funnel,in his throat,&
existed,for visits from wife & family.I would rather,be dead.Imagine,existing,
for the rest of your life,like that?With my luck,I'd live to be 115.That's why a
"living will" or whatever it's called is a good idea!I would hate to know,that I was just a "burden" on my family.Yes,he served his country,but after a while,
people just feel obligated to be there. Irish
P.S.Sorry,it's a sore spot with me,& I just vented.War is hell,but as I've said before,-The only person,that you can satisfy,is the person,that looks back from the mirror!