What's happening in space (that's interesting)

Alistair · February 5, 2021, 2:25pm

Agile, man.

ReptileHouse · February 5, 2021, 6:10pm

I’m starting to think that Elon is Mr. Torgue in disguise.

Strollen · February 6, 2021, 8:59am

Damn I forget to check this thread and 2 weeks of good posts.

This was depressing bit of trivia to learn today. Although, I do remember a time when Lou Dobbs wasn’t a complete dofuss.

fire · February 9, 2021, 2:59pm

UAE Mars orbiter, “Hope,” is completing Mars Orbit Insertion in just over half an hour. Live broadcast here: https://www.emiratesmarsmission.ae/live

Pyperkub · February 9, 2021, 6:53pm

Yeah, Saturn’s B-ring has 2-mile high ice peaks!

Ginger_Yellow · February 9, 2021, 7:51pm

The funny thing is 2 miles is absolutely tiny in the context of Saturn. It’s kind of astonishing how thin the rings are, yet they’re visible with not much assistance from Earth.

Also, Cassini was f’ing amazing.

fire · February 10, 2021, 4:22pm

The UAE orbiter “Hope” was successful in reaching Mars orbit!

And so was China’s mission, Tianwen-1, which joined Mars this morning.

Next up… NASA/JPL’s mission, next week.

fire · February 10, 2021, 5:06pm

Want to join your QT3 friends in watching the entry, descent, and landing for the NASA/JPL Perseverance rover on Mars? Check out this thread: https://forum.quartertothree.com/t/nasa-jpl-qt3-perseverance-landing-watch-party-zoom/

ineffablebob · February 10, 2021, 8:55pm

More company coming on Mars.

jpinard · February 11, 2021, 6:48pm

Is there a party I don’t know about on Mars?

RichVR · February 11, 2021, 8:40pm

You didn’t get your invit… oops. Nevermind.

YakAttack · February 11, 2021, 9:27pm

Not until Feb 18. Can you get to Olympus Mons in time? Do you need a ride?

fire · February 11, 2021, 10:15pm

Because of how Mars and Earth align, the best Earth-to-Mars launch window comes around once in two years per the Hohmann Transfer orbit. That’s why everyone launched around the same time and now everyone’s arriving around the same time.

YakAttack · February 11, 2021, 10:17pm

What if two satellites bump into each other en route?

schurem · February 11, 2021, 10:19pm

Strollen · February 11, 2021, 10:31pm

I’m sure I read about Hofman Transfer orbits scores of times, in the many books I’ve read about space travel over the decades. But I never, actually understood how it worked until I played Kerbal Space Program.

I’m curious how many people play KSP where you work @fire?

fire · February 11, 2021, 10:32pm

Probably lots… but I don’t know how many of those are any good!

fire · February 11, 2021, 10:33pm

Luckily there’s a lot of space in space.

Strollen · February 11, 2021, 10:50pm

I always wondered if the terrific xkcd cartoon, was true. Glad to hear it is. KSP 2.0 can’t come soon enough.

Matt_W · February 12, 2021, 4:00am

That’s what happens when you try to go to the closest planets. There are more launch opportunities for just about anything else.