Latest Space Missions (& Other Science Stuff)

So that’s how they faked the moon landings. They moved the moon until it was 50 miles away. Sneaky rascals.

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July 20 8am CDT/13:00 UTC

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I like the reusability and the (friendly) competition.
Does „Opening space to all“ mean people can buy a ticket to be in zero g for a bit, like those rich dudes? I scanned the linked page and it doesn’t give any details.
When people (children) say they want to become an astronaut, don’t they mean, work in space, as in, produce something useful and get paid? Maybe mine and their definition of astronaut diverge. :slight_smile:

PS: I enjoy watching launches (e.g. via DasValdez on Twitch) and reading space news, but I have to admit, the “rich white men in space” stories are the least interesting and I skipped watching them. Sure, somebody has to be first, and they prove they trust their own technology, fine, now get on with it please. :woman_shrugging:

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Thing is, who else is going to explore / exploit space travel? Democratic governments can’t do it, because their electorates won’t pay the necessary taxes any more. Poor countries can’t afford to do it.

For space travel to progress, there has to be a way of making the necessary technological advances pay for themselves. And if that means vanity trips for the boys, well, they’re the ones with the money.

Following the Montgolfier Brothers’ success with manned balloon flight in 1783, there was an explosion (in the case of hydrogen balloons, quite literally) of interest in ballooning, much of which was financed by paid-for sightseeing and demonstration flights. The willingness of the public to pay for this 18th century thrill ride financed technological developments which, arguably, led directly to the aviation industry we have today.

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I know… you’re right… Guess I‘m just still waiting for the international cooperation and idealistic scientific exploration and hoverboards that my sci-fi stories promised me for the 2000s… sigh :innocent:

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The ISS is the closest thing so far.
“It is the result of unprecedented scientific and engineering collaboration among five space agencies representing 15 countries.”

Of course, a Star Trek future would be ideal but, money would have to be abolished. Sadly, many people are motivated by money more than scientific advancement. First, people have to care more about others than they care about themselves. Sadly, money-makers are motivated by self- interests…been watching too much of the series, The Men Who Made America. Greed and being on top was what motivated them and they (Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Carnegie, Ford, etc…) are the role-models most entrepreneurs follow today.
In the meantime,

Digital Trends: How to watch the ISS relocate a Crew Dragon to make room for a Starliner.

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Tasmin Archer sang a very nice song about it.

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So today it’s Blue Origin’s turn!

Commercial rocket flight to ‘space’

Jeff Bezos, Mark Bezos, Wally Funk, and Oliver Daemen

Max Apogee: 351,210 ft ≈ 107,049 m
T+ 10m18s Touchdown!

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Ok. So that was fun. At least they rode a rocket to space at over mach3. Exciting! …until everyone disembarked and then you remember you’re watching a (b)millionaires club… :money_mouth_face:
If this ever becomes something everyday people can enjoy, then we will have something special.

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Well said ! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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TIME: Forget the Bezos and Branson Spaceflights. The Real Deal Happens This Fall.

:open_mouth: my 4 year anniversary today. Time flies…

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Boeing Starliner Friday July 30 2:53 EDT
Will dock with ISS on Saturday

Boeing will launch its Starliner spacecraft on its second uncrewed test flight to the International Space Station on Tuesday (Aug. 3), at 1:20 p.m. EDT (1720 GMT).
Update
Boeing postponed the test launch of its uncrewed Starliner astronaut capsule on Tuesday, the company said in a statement. The delay was caused by a technical issue that popped up after lightning storms on Monday. Mission teams are determining whether the issues can be resolved in time for Starliner’s next launch opportunity on Wednesday around noon.
UPDATE: scrapped again and may miss the window

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“Remastered” is a somewhat unfortunate description. It just begs the addition “Recreated in the Hollywood studio where the originals were made”.

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Remastering doesn’t imply recreation at all, though, quite the contrary…

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I know. But the use of the phrase is an invitation to those who say the moon landings were faked.

And for the record, no, I don’t think the moon landings were faked. The signals from the NASA craft were independently tracked by radio telescopes all over the world. The signals can be triangulated. You can’t fake it. The astronauts brought back samples of moon rock - and you can’t fake that, either.

On the other hand, there was an awful lot of pride, prestige, and politics riding on the moon landings. The cold war was at its height, and the United States and the Soviet Union were locked in an ideological conflict that stopped only just short of nuclear war.

It was, and still is, very common in commerce, public relations, and advertising, for photographs to be edited, tweaked, or downright staged. Whilst I believe that the moon landings were real, it would not surprise me to learn that some of the photographs were fabricated. Fashion photographers do it all the time.

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I would think remastering them would expose that since the images are much sharper, cleaner and therefore show much more detail.
I am a classic movie fan and if available, I always opt for the remastered edition.
Film deteriorates so quickly. Remastering can save film( and photos) from a complete loss.
But of course, I get your point. People have a very poor grasp of words and their meanings, especially in recent years. And it seems very few take the time to do legitimate research.

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