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The Humble Space Telescope
frank249 writes " How would you like to do your own astronomy research with a space-based telescope? Sounds unlikely? Perhaps today, since there's only one available, and NASA has it booked pretty solid. However, this is about to change. The Canadian Space Agency just signed a contract to launch Canada's first space telescope, is scheduled to be launched in October 2002. If successful, millions of astronomers worldwide will have access to a more humble version of NASA's Hubble via the internet. It is scheduled to be launched in October 2002 as part of a multiple payload mission from Plesetsk, Russia, on an SS-19 based launch vehicle called Rockot. The SS-19 was supposed to be destroyed as part of an Arms reduction treaty so why not get some use out of it?" And it's so cute, it looks like mod furniture.
Oh, and first poast bit too. (dedicated to all fallen trolls)
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o \ \// ((> \ o
a \ . C ) ((> / a
t /\ C )/ \ (> / t
s / /\ C) (> / \ s
e ( C__)\___/ // _/ / \ e
x \ \\// (/ x
* \ \) `---- --' *
g \ \ / / g
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a / \ \ a
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Amazing... the same stuff that keeps us polite make satellites small! Wonders never cease...
Diapers rule!
mg
Talk about viewing heavenly bodies. Yummmm.
The above post is an editorial, the poster cannot and will not be held responsible for all or in part for it's contents
Great. Now you now a troll is going to 'script-kiddie' the telescope to point to a photo of goats.cx for everyone to enjoy.
I'm against picketing, but I don't know how to show it.
You can get an hour for a bowl of poutine and a few strips of back-bacon.
Fair warning, of course, this is just a small part of the grand Canadian master plan to take over the world.
...I'm sure that is one Application Service Provider for the net that will actually make a profit...
BlackNova Traders
Saint-Hubert, Quebec, November 20, 2001 - The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and Eurockot Launch Services of Bremen, Germany, today announced the signing of a Launch Service Agreement for Canada's MOST (Microvariability & Oscillations of STars) microsatellite.MOST, carrying Canada's first space telescope, is scheduled to be launched in October 2002 as part of a multiple payload mission from Plesetsk, Russia, on an SS-19 based launch vehicle called Rockot.
"MOST is a unique and exciting space astronomy mission involving Canadian government, scientists and industry," said Mr. Barry Wetter, Director General of the CSA's Space Science Branch. "The signing of this launch agreement with Eurockot is a major step toward seeing this project to fruition."
The MOST project uses innovative Canadian technology to enable a cost-effective space science mission involving a small telescope no bigger in diameter than a pie plate, carried on a microsatellite about the size of a small suitcase. The total weight is only 60 kilograms.The telescope will help set a limit on the age of the Universe and probe the properties of planets around other stars.
Funded and managed by the CSA's Space Science Branch under its Small Payloads Program, the MOST project is a co-operative Canadian scientific partnership. Dynacon Enterprises Limited of Mississauga, Ontario, is the prime contractor. The telescope is being developed by the University of British Columbia (UBC) while the satellite is being assembled at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS). Other key partners include the Centre for Research in Earth and Space Technology (CRESTech) of Toronto, Spectral Applied Research of Concord, Ontario, the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) and the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC).The Principal Investigator, Prof. Jaymie Matthews of UBC, leads a team of scientists from across Canada, the United States and Austria.
The Canadian Space Agency is providing $8.5 million to fund the development of the satellite and ground control station, the launch and operations. An additional $1.2 million in support to UTIAS was provided by the Ontario government through its Ontario Research and Development Challenge Fund.
Gnuyen
If anyone's interested there's a great article in last month's Wired that talks about how Russia is using their rockets to make some ca$h launching other people's satellites. Seems to be working pretty well too!
Have a Happy.
The Following people are fucking bastards!
[EMPTY]
If you annoy me then you will be added to the list! List updated every day!
$ Version 0.0.1 $
Of course it's humble you dolts, it's Canadian!!
Thank you.
Sorry if I offended anyone.
--
"Remember, any tool can be the right tool." -- Red Green
Hahahaha, that's like "Polish Academy", or "French Warrior".
Ummm, is it me or does this thing look like one of those 126 cartridge cameras Kodak sold to everyone with a paper route in the seventies?
Wow, THAT brings back some memories...
"Lawyers are for sucks."
- Doug McKenzie
Guys, this isn't going to be rented by the hour to amateur astronomers (or amateur spy satellite operators). And this isn't going to be competing with Hubble either.
I think the story submitter spent too long as a moderator.
Tarsnap: Online backups for the truly paranoid
As a former HST employee, I just wanted to let you know that the astronomical data from the Hubble Space Telescope is available online to anyone who wants access! Of course, astronomers have a certain time period before their data becomes available to give them a chance to analyze it first. It used to be a year, I believe. After that, it's available from http://archive.stsci.edu/hst/search_retrieve.html. That page should have all the info needed to start.
Happy stargazing!
"from the again-canadians-show-us-how dept."
Yeah, we Americans are a useless lot. We've shown the world nothing...
Ah, well, there is Slashdot. A self-coded site that crashes regularly, has self-hating, righteous, illiterate editors that double-post with regularity and do about as much fact checking as your average Arabian newspaper. And it's run by Americans.
You may have a point, you complete fucking jackass.
Knunov
Why do users with IDs under 100,000 or over 700,000 usually have the most worthwhile comments?
Oh, and did I hear "scientific" space telescope? Well, space telescope, orbital missile defence platform, same thing, right?
The rest of the world will soon learn the virtues of putting cheese curds on french fries! BWAHAHAHA!
I heard they are going to have to keep it in geo-sync orbit with Canada so they can finally begin studying Celine Dion's giant camel toe.
BOSTON SUCKS!
Only so long as we do not get the equivalent of the Holy Grail in Outer Space. Although that could be fun in itself.
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
Just kidding, my frosty neighbors to the north...
Random Musings at Rum Smuggler
Come on guys, while humility is one of the christmas virtues space telescopes ain't.
Instead of using the internet and sitting alone in front of your computer you should sit around a christmas tree with friends and do a singsong a eat some roasted goose.
So get some priorities and change your life !
Get your poles and speak out your grievances here.
Rockot? Rawkawt!
I was born in a small hospital outside Portland in 1974. I was a rather large newborn, about 14 pounds. My mother thought I would grow to be 300 pounds by age 10. She was right. Now that I am 27, I weigh in at 715 pounds. My height is 4 feet 8 inches. Sometimes I try hiring a prostitute to play "games" with me, but they often decline my job offer. This has caused me great anguish since I first met a hooker at age 11. Now, I no longer attempt to find hookers to please my sausage. The internet has fulfilled my dreams. In 1999, I was introduced to Slashdot. There I met great people just like me: Rob "CmdrTaco" Malda and Jon Katz. I gained great encouragement from them as they bore their testimony to me. I learned they too had a difficult time hiring hookers simply because of their massive, gravitational weight.
Rob explained how he overcame his desire to buy hookers by learning the technique of "kernel compiling." This advanced Native-American sexual act is performed by compacting handfuls of corn grain into the anus. After a few moments of settling, the corn grain begins to stimulate the prostate. Eventually, the grain will begin expanding due to the moisture of the anus. Often the sensation of gerbeling (inserting a rodent into the anus) is described as the feeling. Rob said he performed a kernel compile "every other day" until a hooker was the last person on his mind. Corn became his new play toy. Unfortunately, Rob began having violent erections at the mere thought of vegetables. His friend Jon "Vegan" Katz, came to the rescue by offering to desensitize him with man-sausage. (You know what I mean by man sausage.) Now Rob is neither attracted to hookers nor vegetables.
Katz is a great guy. He offered me support too. As a teenager, he started gaining weight. By the age of 20, Katz weighed 500 pounds! But he learned that weight doesn't affect sexual desire one bit!! He still continued to attend all the gay "movie parties" at the local theatre. During matinee showings of Rock and Roll High School, he would make out with all the hot fat guys in the back of the theatre. Sometimes Katz even had "bathroom breaks." This really intrigued me that a guy who weighed 500+ pounds didn't feel ashamed about his homosexuality. I had the chance to meet Katz at a Portland book signing last year. We had dinner together and discussed my issues with female hookers. He persuaded me to try man-sausage for just one night. I agreed. It wasn't what I expected, though. Without going into many details, Katz just thrusted his tool down my throat until he was gratified. Then, he went down on my tool. I never ejaculated because I was just plain horrified at the time. Katz apologized for his straightforwardness. I apologized for not really being "gay enough" for his taste of men. But we talked more after that. Now we correspond occasionally and plan to meet again in Las Vegas at Comdex 2002. Though I never turned to the hardcore gay lifestyle of Katz, my desire for cheap hookers declined after we met. I owe Katz a big debt for his help.
I LIVE IN GMT +08:00
IT'S 25TH DECEMBER
MERRY X-MAS
To save costs, this thing was designed and built by students at Canadian universities. At the University of Toronto, a graduate student taking AER 1520H would have directly participated in the design of MOST. I have some friends who worked on this project ...
Toronto-area transit rider? Rate your ride.
My complaint about John Ashcroft:
May I be cynical for a bit? I hope you don't mind,
but with Ashcroft's latest barrage of
malodorous notions, I can't resist the urge to make a few cynical comments. To get right
down to it, some of the facts I'm about
to present may seem shocking. This
they certainly are. However, it's time that a few
facts had a chance to slip through the fusillade of hype.
What's my problem, then? Allow me to present it
in the form of a question: Where are the people
who are willing to stand up and acknowledge
that Ashcroft, in his infinite wisdom, has decided
to destroy the natural beauty of our parks and forests? On the surface, it would seem to have something to do with the way that his whole approach is repugnant.
But upon further investigation, one will find that
by allowing Ashcroft to put mephitic thoughts in our children's minds, we are allowing him to play puppet master. As for the lies and exaggerations, Ashcroft's epigrams are rife with contradictions
and difficulties; they're entirely maladroit,
meet no objective criteria, and are unsuited
for a supposedly educated population.
And as if that weren't enough, if Ashcroft is going to obstruct important things, then he should at least have the self-respect to remind himself of a few things: First, a true enemy is better than a false friend. And second, many people respond to his debauched vituperations
in much the same way that they respond to television dramas. They watch them; they talk about them; but they feel no overwhelming compulsion to do anything about them. That's why I insist we pronounce the truth
and renounce the lies.
Even people who consider themselves scornful
foolhardy-types generally agree that Ashcroft's slurs symbolize lawlessness, violence, and misguided rebellion-- extreme liberty for a few, even if the rest of us lose more than a little freedom. One might conclude that Ashcroft is incapable of writing a letter without using
such phrases as "crapulous pop psychologists", "loquacious exhibitionists", "oppressive personae non gratae", or some combination thereof. Alternatively, one might conclude that Ashcroft has a different view of reality from the rest of us. In either case, if you're not part of the solution, then you're part of the problem. His historical record of fickle pleas is clearer than the muddled pronouncements of his apple-polishers for a variety of reasons. For instance, the worst sorts of inconsiderate Neanderthals there
are must be treated with political justice, not with civil justice, as they are sincerely not real citizens. Let me rephrase that: I wonder if he really believes the things he says. He knows they're not true, doesn't he? A complete answer to that question would take more space than I can afford, so I'll have to give you a simplified answer. For starters, if we let him cause riots in the streets, then greed, corruption, and tribalism will characterize the government.
Oppressive measures will be directed against citizens. And lies and deceit will be the stock and trade of the media and educational institutions. Even Ashcroft's bedfellows couldn't deal with the full impact of Ashcroft's refrains. That's why they created "Ashcroft-ism," which is
just a garrulous excuse to force square pegs into round holes. He plans to drag everything that is truly great into the gutter. He has instructed
his votaries not to discuss this or even admit to his plan's existence. Obviously, Ashcroft knows he has something to hide. Most of you reading this letter have your hearts in the right place. Now
follow your hearts with actions. I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people. I can therefore assure you that Ashcroft's artifices cannot stand on
their own merit. That's why they're dependent on elaborate artifices and explanatory stories to convince us that Ashcroft's warnings can give us deeper insights into the nature of reality. We can and we must protect ourselves by any means
necessary against the unrestrained bestiality
of stupid, quasi-macabre paper-pushers. And that's the honest truth.
Beautiful:
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J. Wipo Troll, Esq.
Crapflooder Associates
Slashdot.org
...as opposed to the old Canadian attitude control technology, viz. the excellent products made by Molson, Labatts, etc.
:)
I never objected to the previous generation, but one must salute progress I suppose.
-- We all have enough strength to endure the misfortunes of other people. La Rochefoucauld
IMO comparing this and the HST is misleading. They may be both telescopes, they may both be on satellites and they may both be in orbit (or, eventually be) but they are very different devices.
The diffraction limit of a telescope is proportional to the size of it's aperture - the size of the 'end' where the light goes in. Basically, the more light you can capture the more you can see: generally, very faint things are hard to see. The resolving power of a telescope is believed to be limited by the diffraction limit. (I may of course be wrong, I'm not a qualified astronomer - I've only just began.)
Ground based telescopes are considerably larger and, if there wasn't kilometres of air between it and the near-vacuum of space, would have much greater resolving power than the HST.
At the time the HST was launched, there was a need to 'see' without the atmosphere being in the way. It has been useful. Modern ground based telescopes using things like adaptive optics can see things which the HST can't - don't underestimate the resolving power of a telescope on the ground compared to the HST. The HST is still very useful, even AO doesn't correct 'perfectly', but then the HST optics are not perfect either: those spikes that come off the center of the stars aren't supposed to be there. They're called diffraction spikes and I'm lead to believe they're caused by the telescopes structure.
The MOST will be a useful tool, but it's a tool for a purpose and as a general telescope I'm not confident that it would compare well to the HST or ground based telescopes.
At the rate ground based telescopes are improving, don't expect the additional cost of producing general telescopes like the HST to be met often - but I'd expect more devices with specific purposes (for instance, X-Ray astronomy which is quite scary - I've been told that a handful (5) of photons is a good detection!)
Ian Woods
There have been many space telescopes... depending on which wavelength range you are talking about. The author seems to be writing about visible wavelengths... even there, there was a telescope flown on the shuttle and there are plans for one on the space station. But Chandra, SIRTF (space infrared telescope facility), COBE, Hipparcos (sp?), and the CGO (Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory) were all space-based telescopes.
Of more interest to us astronomy-types is the latest go-ahead given by NASA to Kepler which is a space-based telescope that will look for Earth-like planets around other stars.
Joe from berkeley.
Slashdotters should get involved and use Open Source to help make it happen.
Offto metamod I go.
-1 Redundat is what the parent post should be at.
it will be perfect:
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a hoax.
This may be somewhat off-topic.
But China is planning a "SETI" kinda project - and search for the LGM.
Can anyone tell me if the project would be opened for everyone to participate?
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
How to Sex Small Mammals
Quit snickering! Figuring out the gender of a hamster, guinea pig, or other small mammal who comes into your shelter is no laughing matter. After all, if your little tenants get busy lovin', it can result in even more unwanted small pets, and pretty soon your shelter will look like a Little-Critter Free-Love Commune. When examining creatures this small, it's all in the details. Read on to find out how you can easily tell the boys from the girls.
1. Determining Gerbil Gender
You can sex a gerbil starting at the age of four to six weeks by peering at the animal's underside. To minimize stress on the animal and also make handling easier, place the gerbil in a large clear box to search for a pair of large testicles; if you spot them, you've got your answer to the gender question. Since the sexual and urinary openings of female gerbils is much less obvious to the naked eye, it helps to look for small nipples on the underside. Still stumped? The distance between sexual and anal organs is longer on the male than it is on the female.
2. Holding Off Hamster Hanky-Panky
Using the clear box trick, look for large testicles on the underside of the hamster. In males, there will also be a bigger gap between the urinary and anal openings. The perineal area (or the area between the genitals and the anus) comes to a point at the base of the tail in females, but this area looks more rounded in males.
3. Is This Mickey or Minnie Mouse?
As with the other small mammals, the distance between the anus and genitals of mice is longer in males. In addition to the closer spacing, female mice have a small teardrop-shaped vagina extending down from the anus. Both openings are very close together and appear to be connected. Female mice also have two rows of nipples running vertically down their bellies.
4. Playing Rat Roulette
Since you don't want to say, "Oh, rats," after making a mistake in gender distinction, remember that male rats have a stronger odor than female rats. As with other rodents, male rats have a greater distance between sexual and anal openings, and their testicles are no shrinking violets.
5. No Guinea Pig Guessing
Male guinea pigs have obvious scrotal pouches and large testes. The sexual organ of a male guinea pig will look more like a belly button right above the anal opening. Very little space separates these parts; if you are looking at a young guinea pig, gentle manual pressure can help you distinguish between them. The organs of female guinea pigs are also close together and look something like the letter "Y"; this Y-shaped depression can be seen even in immature females.
6. Making Rabbit Rulings
Figuring out the sex of young rabbits can be tricky, but it gets a little easier as they mature to about 10 weeks old or so. Put your hand under the rabbit and feel around for furry testicles; keep in mind that testicles in rabbits move freely from the scrotum to the abdomen. On male rabbits, you will also see a tubular protrusion, whereas the female reproductive area will simply look more like a slit even when pressure is applied.
Animal Sheltering, Jul-Aug 2000 Issue
Proof of the gay-linux conspiracy!
So how about a large array telescope based on a million web cams and small telescopes linked together over the internet? Give it a shot and let me know.
Hmm. I remember watching a story on the local news about canadas `first science sat.` a few days ago. However, it was NOT a telescope. Was a sat. to investigate the ozone layer depletition over primarily northern canada.
The articals linked seem rather old? hmm. Not sure if someone has mentioned, but something here isn't right.
First off, the MOST (Microgravity and Oscillations of Stars) telescope is not "a more humble version of Hubble". The Hubble space telescope is a more-or-less general purpose intrument. By contrast, MOST has a narrow focus: to make photometric measurements of tiny stellar oscillations. This is something that Hubble may not actually be properly equipped to do, and even if it is, its science mission is much more generic, and no observer could get so much HST time for a such a narrow-focus subject as MOST's.
Secondly, there are not "millions of astronomers" in the world! (at least not professional astronomers...) There are a few thousands at most...