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Cassini Alters Path. Phoebe Now In Sight!
Anonymous Explorer writes "This week the Cassini-Huygens
Spacecraft finally entered
the Saturn system and made its first
main-engine burn in five years in preparation of for the Phoebe flyby. This long
journey
has been one filled with much promise and peril. Launched in 1997,
Cassini is expected to have a rendezvous with
the moon Phoebe
on June 11. For those of us who are lazy, that's just a tad under two
weeks away. After the Phoebe flyby, it's on to the ringed planet, with an
anticipated July 1
ground orbit insertion. The ESA's
Huygens probe will descend into the atmosphere of Titan a few months
after Cassini is inserted into orbit. This mission
promises to be
one that brings a very psychedelic and beautiful area of our solar
system into clearer focus. This multinational
mission is one the
most ambitious scientific explorations yet undertaken and promises some
truly otherworldly images in the near future. With 31 moons/natural
satellites thus far discovered orbiting Saturn, there should be a lot
to keep us occupied. Anyone else excited about the journey
to a ringed world? Lets all enjoy this ride. It promises to
be a unique one as much as for the scenery as for the science. Informal
discussion regarding the Cassini-Huygens mission can be found at
#cassini on irc.freenode.net."
on the grounds that if it somehow falls back to earth, it will spread nuclear disaster o'er the surface of the world.
to look for the ring of Uranus!!!!!! :)
And in a related news item, the aunt of Britney Spears' new man has given the couple her blessing, insisting he was single when the pop superstar fell for him.
For shame, for shame.
What do you mean?
AI funds and supports communist rebels in nepal. I lost my village to them this winter.
The war with islam is a war on the beast
The war on terror is a war for peace
Some guy posted this in the last article and I want to add to it.
[start other guy]
What happens to these massive space structures when a 3 inch rock or space junk going at hyperspeed punches through them. If I were building a space station I wouldn't be building windows, I would be thinking submarine with a thick hide. One day those guys in the space station are going to hear this *THONG* *THONG* as a rock enters and then exits the station punching through the walls and they are subsequently sucked up against the hole in the wall and have the flesh torn from their bones.
Same problem applies to getting places real fast, lets just say you can approach the speed of light, and that you can go into a cryogenic sleep or whatever. What happens when you plough through the ever-so-faint tail of a comet that consists of metalic rocks and the like.
Sure, you replace people with robots, and most systems with redundant and backup systems.
But for all those people blowing their load over commercial and civilian/tourist space flight. There isn't much you are going to do, or see. It will be just as viable as commercial and civilian/tourist submarines. Some, yes, but not that many. And not many things that aren't based around science and/or money making commercial ventures.
I wish people would realise that we are hundreds of years away from being a viable space faring race (should we so desire) and that there are some problems at home that we have to think through first.
Global warming - I don't care whether we caused it or if it's a natural cycle.... it's real we have to deal with it.
The carrying capacity (longterm sustainable population to resource ratio) of the earth is being exceeded and we aren't doing squat. There is no rationale to have more people, there is no reason why 500 million people in europe or america is better than 300 million... these numbers are meaningless. We need to halt population growth, big time. Population to resource ratio inequality usually leads to death, either by starvation or by war. Not a good future
Other climate effects we don't understand like currents in the sea that affect the whole global climate, errosion, salinity etc.
We have a million and one problems down here, and floating we monkeys into space doesn't solve ANY of them. I hate this romantic notion that it will be all like star-trek when we forge out into space. It WONT, it will be exactly like it is down here. The only way things are going to change is if they change down here first.
I don't want to troll to badly here. But tons of people are starving, our global political order is on the brink (brought there by a "peace loving" democracy no less), at home in liberal democracies we cover up the fact our education systems suck, our environment is polluted, we don't look after our sick and ill properly and we don't care about the homeless.
We need fewer great minds to be looking into the sky and more great minds to bent their will towards these problems. I'm sorry, but until that time... people looking through telescopes will always be immature little boys who are in a fantasy world and ignoring the problems at hand.
I suppose the same could be said for any technology enthusiast. Think about that. THAT, my freinds, is stuff that matters.
[end other guy]
In response to it was a whole heap of posts which I will defend him from quickly here because I can, and because I want to for the sake of the community and public debate (whatever).
"you're an environmental loonie"
Asides from the fact he was talking about more than that, the environment is a major issue. Its a system like any other, well not like any other because not understanding it could lead to our deaths. So it doesn't matter about tree hugging, it's a matter of survival, or at least quality of life. And he has a point, there is tons of stuff we don't know about planet earth yet. And it is generally agreed in the scientific community that global warming is happening
Is that you Patrick?
If not, I have a buddy you HAVE to meet.
My version of "Mother" by Pink Floyd.
Mother give me a hit from the bong
Mother do you think this high will last very long?
Mother do you think they will try to smoke my bowls?
Oooh-ahhh
Mother should I hide it all?
Mother, Clinton smoked and he's our president
Mother it's outlawed by our government
Mother will they put me in jail to do some time?
Oooh-ahhh
Am I just wasted and high?
Hush now baby baby don't you cry
Mama's gonna make all your hemp dreams come true
Mama's gonna share all of her drugs with you
Mam's gonna keep you flying high as if you had wings
She'll get you high, inhale and feel it's sting
Mam's gonna keep baby TOASTY and STONED
Oooh baked
Oooh baked
Oooh baked
Of course mama's gonna help pack the bowl
Mother do you think the weed's good enough...for me
Mother do you think the weed's dangerous.....to me
Mother will it tear my little brain cells apart?
Oooh-ahhh
Mother can I get it at K-Mart?
Hush now baby baby don't you cry
Mama's gonna weigh all your 60 bags for you
Mama won't let any oregano get through
Mama's gonna light up when you get in
Mama will always find the new shipments come in
Mama's gonna keep the pot seed-free and clean
Oooh baked
Oooh baked
Oooh baked
You'll always be baked with me
Mother surely meant to be so HIGH...
- Criminal Minded -
She was my favourite female 'Friend'.
...it was Phoebe Halliwell. Mmmmm... sexy witch... drools...
What the hell was wrong with them? They rolled out of the helicopter (which seemed to have trouble landing anyway) like fat turds and then moved sluggishly towards a staircase. It was like watching a bunch of couchpotatos trying to act professional.
more cool images