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NASA STEREO Spacecraft Set to Launch

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the bring-yer-3d-glasses dept.

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."

2 of 82 comments (clear)

  1. it IS research by SnoopJeDi · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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.

  2. planned holds by slarabee · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Can anyone explain the purpose of a preplanned hold of a predetermined time not being added into the 'T minus' countdown?

    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?