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NASA STEREO Spacecraft Set to Launch
An anonymous reader writes "As first reported on last year, NASA's
STEREO mission is set to launch tonight at 8:38pm EST. The two near-identical spacecraft will give us unprecedented stereoscopic views of the Sun-Earth system, hopefully leading to the creation of the first
3-D movies of the Sun! Launch can be watched live on
NASA TV with coverage starting at 6:30pm EST."
I thought that when I look at the sun, since I see it with two eyes, I see it in 3D.
Oh! My eyes! Well, so much for that...
Who says there is no sound in space?
Fascism is the greatest political ideology ever conceived. Sorry.
They do realize there isn't sound in space, right?
NASA could upgrade from stereo to the googlephonic system with the moonrock needle - it'll still sound like shit but this is basically a car stereo right?
"Would you, could you, with a goat?" Dr Seuss
...how great inventions discovered while making pornography are now carried on space missions?
Gentoo Linux - another day, another USE flag.
I want to qualify this first.. I am definitly not a scientist. But I am able to logically think things through.
While it is to be exploring different items in our solarsystem would it not be better to use the billions of dollars it costs to create/launch a mission such as this in researching better propulsion or life support systems for actually supporting true space stations or colonization of planets in other solarsystems. I honestly can't justify wasting my tax dollars on a simultaneous multi picture view of the sun. How could this be used to further any relivant research?
Alot of NASA's projects definitly bring "ooh's and ahh's" but are they really helping? Wasn't the last major breakthrough landing a person on the moon? Everything after it seems to be akin to how M$ keeps repackaging the NT kernal with a new interface.
. . . for those who haven't figured out the trick of fusing images by crossing their eyes.
* * *
Funky fictional anecdote.
Olaf Stapledon's science fiction "novel" (more like a future history) Last and First Men covers the evolution of humanity from us poor demi-apes to a hyper-evolved species living on a terraformed Neptune two billion years from now.
These "last men" are not only telepathic (and have 96 genders and look like anthropomorphic animals), but they can communicate with themselves across time.
Stapledon describes the "last men" astronomers staring at the sky, sending a telepathic impression of the sight one-half of a Neptune year in the future, where their future selves integrate it with their own observation of the sky to create a wide-baseline 3D parallax image of the heavens.
No. I don't know what Stapledon smoked.
Stefan
Yeah right.. like we've actually been into space!! More NASA fraud and lies.
But... why did they do this?
. . . for those who haven't figured out the trick of fusing images by crossing their eyes.
My eyes got stuck that way. Sigh. Mom warned me...
Which one uses metric?
Dolby surround sound?
I'll bask in its spherical glory.
I can literally feel the vitamin D oozing from my pores, all I need now is a virtual sun burn.
Task Mangler
Hate to be pedantic, but the launch time is 8:38 p.m. EDT (Eastern Daylight Time), not EST (Eastern Standard Time).
Given the love/hate most have about NASA....Shuttle Problems, lack of clear direction, etc. I for one think they are doing a great job at getting information out. Podcasts, Mission data, NASA TV......and as a bonus we get real hardcore data about the giant fusion ball on which all of us depend for...well everything. I hope everybody with kids is letting them stay up and watch the lift, with only a 5% chance of a weather delay, she should go. This is some great stuff....dynamic, real-time model of our solar system here we come. (Well ok so maybe we will need a few more cpu cycles to get there but you gotta have goals).
From the BBC: "Nasa will launch its Stereo mission this week to study huge eruptions from our star known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs)."
So, in other words, they are filming the Sun while it's ejecting something called coronal mass. I don't know what that is, but it sounds like they are making Sun porn.
CLICK!
"Man in the Moon and other weird things" - wfmh.org.pl/thorgal/Moon/
I'm definitely not a scientist either, but let me help you logically think this through.
You ask how the 3d view of the sun could be used in further research, implicitly in the pursuit of space colonization. Well, seeing as the sun is a pretty big deal in our solar system (I mean, it's the solar system), I think all of humanity would really benefit from understanding how and why it does the things it does.
In relation to space colonization, the radiation given off by the sun (and other celestial bodies) is only one of a ridiculous multitude of environmental factors to deal with (nevermind the logistics) in any spaceflight, manned or unmanned.
Besides, it's just frickin' cool to get a better look at the sun.
Is a 3-D movie of the sun really a good idea? Could someone name a single "3-D movie" that wasn't a catastrophic failure at the box office?
Let's stick with other fancy acronyms for this thing. HDR's a good choice... it'll be blindingly good. *rimshot*
How are sites slashdotted when nobody reads TFAs?
Here I am, minutes before I have to head out to work listening to the webcast and being happy that the T minus time for launch is less than my T minus time for work. Then their talking head mentions being a couple minutes away from a planned twenty minute hold. If they are planning on pausing for twenty minutes, why not just add twenty minutes to the clock and keep it counting?
Is there a better quality web-based video available than 320x240?
"Man in the Moon and other weird things" - wfmh.org.pl/thorgal/Moon/
Go blind in both eyes!
Furry porn alert!
Furry porn alert!
Furry porn alert!
The planned holds allow launch personnel an opportunity to ensure that the vehicle's status is nominal. NASA does not expect staff to evaluate information as complex as rocket science with a time contstraint; that is, scientists cannot work with a ticking clock in front of them as would be required if it were kept running.
At the end of holds often comes the "Go, no-go" sequence immortalized by Apollo 13. Or at least an implicit "Go, no-go" indication.
In space, no one can hear you rocking out...
"Life in every breath... that is bushido"
You'd hope they'd at least be using surround sound by now.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
0_0
96 genders, eh? He was definitely on crack. Just because they get 512-bit address spaces doesn't mean you get to have more genders. I mean, dude
Stapeldon: Taking Fetish to New Heights!
...how great inventions discovered while making pornography are now carried on space missions?
Wait...it's not for making pornography?
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
Went up without a hitch, the satellites are separating from the spacecraft and all is well.
Very clear skies tonight over Florida so looked great, could see the boosters dropping off as well. Thanks for the fireworks show, NASA!
Its good to see that NASA is still one organisation that believes in fighting the man. Rock on boys, rock on.
Jesus Saves
When you don't know the size of something, it's hard to tell if it's coming at you. And even if you could tell if it's approaching, and not just standing still, as it's changing in size, you can't tell how quickly it's moving 'till it actually hits you. (which is where we're at now)
With a single point of observation that's not in the path, you can tell it's moving to the left or right -- but you still don't know how close it is, so although you can tell how quickly it's moving across your field of view, you can't tell if or when it's going to hit something (eg, the earth) -- so you need the second frame of reference.
Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
Dolby 5.1 surround is the way to go these days.
Infinity is overrated, Infinity+1, now that's cool!
If you don't know all of the details, it's impossible to draw an accurate conclusion.
... why's it important? Well, read the FAQ. I mean, hell, wasn't just waiting for the hurricane to hit good enough? Why do we need to spend money on radar and doppler radar to actually give us advanced warning?
First, NASA has different classes of missions, such as the Discovery Programs, which are intended to be lower cost, and more science focused. (I think STEREO falls under this, but I'm not sure). The cost is claimed to be $500mil, not the 'billions' that you claimed. Yes, it's still a lot, but not all of it comes from the US.
As for the 'movie' aspect -- the satellites will be able to generate 3D movies, but it's not what you think -- only for a limited time will the satellites be at an angular seperation that's similar to the human eyes trying to look at something. For the other times, it's still useful to the scientists, but not the general public looking for pretty movies.
So
As for what NASA's been doing -- just read their website. (and there's lots of other breakthroughs that aren't even hard science -- technology to perform better science, etc.)
Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
It sounds a lot like Triana to me, except for a somewhat different view.
Venus would undoubtly be more interesting to see in 3D.