Nasa spacecraft makes historic flyby of Ultima Thule four billion miles away

Discussion in 'Science' started by cerberus, Jan 1, 2019.

  1. cerberus

    cerberus Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    It's five billion miles away; Pluto is four billion miles away, and this event is a billion miles beyond it. But hey, what's a billion miles, more or less.

    A breathlessly excited BBC news reader was discussing it with a talking head last night; the news reader said 'So this is going to take us back to the beginning of the universe then?', and the talking head latched onto it in such a way as to suggest she wished she'd thought of saying it herself. Then she got all jokey, as they usually do after a 'successful' PR exercise. When are you gullibles gonna wake up and smell it ffs? I mean, analyse that assertion 'this is going to take us back to the beginning of the universe then" and admit how childishly ludicrous and meaningless it is? Where TF is your intellectual self-respect?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/20...aces-historic-flyby-ultima-thulefour-billion/
     
  2. cerberus

    cerberus Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    THEY DID IT! It was meant to be on the second day of '19 but NASA somehow pulled it off and after 5 billion miles it actually happened on new year's day as I said it would. [​IMG]

    upload_2019-1-2_8-59-19.jpeg

    and

    [​IMG]

    Oh, and the obligatory high-5ing . . .

    [​IMG]

    (adults behaving like children :roll:)

    I wonder how 'Parker' is getting on though - 'he' seems to have been forgotten in all this excitement. Probably became just a molten blob of metal like I said would happen when he 'touched the sun' and this Pluto nonsense is their way of 'burying bad news'? Still it's better than working for a living I guess?
     
    Last edited: Jan 2, 2019
  3. WillReadmore

    WillReadmore Well-Known Member

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    Yes, it's quite an accomplishment.

    At the speed of light, data takes 6 hours to reach earth! And, that little satellight has to communicate at low power, making the communication speed really slow.

    It will take weeks for it to get all data sent, partly because the sun will be between the satellite and Earth for part of that time - making communication impossible.

    After that, science gets to devour what came back.
     
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  4. Durandal

    Durandal Well-Known Member Donor

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  5. jay runner

    jay runner Banned

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    They were waxing poetic on CBS this morning, then Norah O'Donnell said, "It's just a big rock."

    The precision of getting near it at extreme distance is what is impressive. Not at all the big rock.
     
    Last edited: Jan 3, 2019
  6. cerberus

    cerberus Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    It certainly would be if it actually did? Incidentally they said it looks like a snowman, but it looks more like a ghost to me . . .

    [​IMG]

    How can any sentient human being buy into this never-ending crap? And how do they know it's 'at the edge of our solar system' when they have no idea how much further there is of it? Might that be the killer question that exposes the drivel?

    "But now it’s probably more famous as the moniker of a faraway object orbiting at the furthest frontier of our solar system"

    :rolleyes: I'll bet one of the 'usual suspects' will have the answer to it at the furthest frontier of their imaginations. lol

    https://metro.co.uk/2019/01/02/nasa...istant-object-humanity-ever-explored-8301125/
     
    Last edited: Jan 3, 2019
  7. Moi621

    Moi621 Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Two Snow Balls

    Smushed Together.

    <yawn>
     
  8. cerberus

    cerberus Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    But not yet, 2 hours later? Maybe my work here is done?? :shock: 8) :roflol:
     
  9. WillReadmore

    WillReadmore Well-Known Member

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    Well, they did this for a view of the rock - not as an exercise in rocketry.

    The rock is thought to be a sample of what was around at the time of our solar system's creation.
     
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  10. cerberus

    cerberus Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    And? So? Does it improve your life or your IQ by 'knowing' that?
     
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  11. Durandal

    Durandal Well-Known Member Donor

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    What most impresses me about getting to see KBOs is just how alien they are. These things could not exist in our part of the solar system due to solar radiation; it would strip all of that frozen material away, leaving bear rock like we see with the asteroids. But these things feature all sorts of ices that just could not exist here. And then, to top it all off, Pluto has signs of surface activity beyond being hit by other objects! All in all, it is as foreign and alien a class of object as we have ever explored to date. The only thing that could be cooler would be the discovery, and hopefully prompt probe exploration, of the mysterious Planet Nine, assuming it does exist as hypothesized. Such a large KBO would be impressive indeed, especially if it was a captured object from another system. Only thing that could top that would be visiting exoplanets, and that is a long, long way away, no matter how you look at it.
     
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  12. WillReadmore

    WillReadmore Well-Known Member

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    Some tiny percent of our combined efforts should be directed to understanding our universe.

    Mankind has never been good at guessing what would come of a specific act of science.

    That's true even for the big ticket items. Would you (in the 1890's) have wanted to pay Einstein to do thought experiments concerning mass and the speed of light?

    It's not like engineering, where there is a known problem of some economic value and the objective is to create something that reduces that problem to some extent.
     
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  13. HereWeGoAgain

    HereWeGoAgain Banned

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    Yes.
     
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  14. cerberus

    cerberus Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    And? Are you gonna tell us how? [​IMG]
     
  15. HereWeGoAgain

    HereWeGoAgain Banned

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    You asked a simple yes or no question. But if you want to change the parameters after the fact, fine. :D

    The most valuable asset the current generation has or can pass on to the next, is knowledge. So by definition, increasing fundamental knowledge improves my life, as well as the lives of future generations.

    The proof is found in the best living conditions mankind has ever known, which we all enjoy today. This is a result of science and the pursuit of knowledge. Were it not for our reservoir of knowledge provided by science, many of us wouldn't even be alive. And life would be much, much harder. And we would die younger.

    There is no way to know the value of any specific piece of information. That can only be determined with time. For example, Leibniz discovered the binary numbering system in the 17th century. Until recent decades it was nothing more than an academic exercise. Its value was not recognized until computers came along. Now the entire planet runs on binary.
     
    Last edited: Jan 9, 2019
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  16. cerberus

    cerberus Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    That has bugger-all to do with 'the pursuit of knowledge', it's to do with a rise in living standards thanks to developments and improvements in engineering, and societal expectations and demands. Then you start waffling about binary this and binary that - are you taking the piss?
     
  17. bigfella

    bigfella Well-Known Member

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    You are wasting your time, but kudos for having the patience. You would have more luck with my pet cats.

    One of my favourite science stories, probably a bit apocryphal, is about the great Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe. He was given an island by the Danish King where he could build an observatory. For almost 20 years he observed the skies every night and recorded his findings in over 90 volumes. One day men turned up from the new King, demanding to know what he was doing on the island. Tycho showed them the 90+ volumes of observations. Confused, they asked what the point was. Tycho replied "one day I hope to have over one hundred volumes". When they asked why he said "one day someone else will want to understand the heavens, and I will have saved them 20 years".

    Science in a nutshell. A never ending investment in the future.

    The coda to this is that the new King did not understand, so Tycho left his island, taking his volumes with him. They revolutionised our understanding of astronomy. There are always people who cannot understand the value of science. Fortunately the work continues.
     
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  18. cerberus

    cerberus Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    I don't believe a word of it! :roflol:
     
  19. bigfella

    bigfella Well-Known Member

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    And apparently you don't understand the value of binary numbering systems. its like you are having a competition with yourself each day to say the most foolish thing possible....and every day you win.
     
  20. cerberus

    cerberus Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    'foolish' beats 'gullible' in my book.
     
  21. UK_archer

    UK_archer Well-Known Member

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    So now you don't think binary is real either or just has no value?
     
  22. bigfella

    bigfella Well-Known Member

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    Foolish usually is gullible, as we see daily on this forum.

    I'm happy to be 'gullible' about the value of binary numbering. better than being so foolish as to not understand it.
     
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  23. WillReadmore

    WillReadmore Well-Known Member

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    Ultima Thule is a provisional name - it hasn't yet been accepted by the International Astronomical Society, which holds naming rights.

    The name does meet the naming restrictions of that organization.

    But, that name was used by Nazis for a while to refer to some sort of Nazi paradise.

    Is that enough to kill that name?

    I guess we'll see when it comes up for a vote.

    Until then, some groups are switching back to 2014 MU69.
     
  24. cerberus

    cerberus Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Don't I? Okay, if you say so! Unfortunately whether I do or not has zero bearing on this particular matter (dark matter? lol); I've already said I have no scientific training, but as usual you're totally missing the point viz. the BS which accompanies this drivel.
     
  25. cerberus

    cerberus Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    :roll: It's an Old Boy's Club, Will, the members of which will accept anything to keep the show on the road. Good idea about switching back to 2014 MU69 though. Count me in on that.
     

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