There's no way the HST has enough resolving power to find something so small. Especially with Mars now well past opposition. A better idea is to use the Mars Orbiter to try to find it, which I believe they are doing. But even that is a long shot.
I haven't used any (graphical) installers other than RH, but I know that it does in fact fall back to the old text installer if something goes wrong with the graphical one (like funky video h/w, eg). I can't speak for the others, but I'd be surprised if they don't as well.
That sounds a little extreme just because of some launch delays (which have *always* been the norm with the space program). But if you want to look at a commercial reusable launch platform, take a look at this site.
I first read this book while taking a class in college on science fiction lit. It instantly became one of my favorites and I re-read it every few years. Even though it's somewhat dated, it's still a great read, though somewhat grim.
It was my understanding that this was the only book he ever wrote, but Katz mentions a sequel. I assume it was published posthumously? Have any of you guys read it and did you like it or not? If it's any good at all I'll probably get it out of curiosity.
It's not the ones in the asteroid belt that we should be worrying about. It's the ones that cross our orbit, of which there are many known and probably many more unknown.
You seem to be more concerned about the Earth deflecting an object into its own path, but I think the more likely problem is an asteroid (or comet) that is already on a collision course with us. In other words, the angle i in your calculations is very, very small.
The whole point of this exercise is to find all the Earth-crossers we can, measure their orbits as accurately as possible and extrapolate them into the future to find out if they're going to go 'bonk'. If they are, I'm not sure what we'd do given present technology, but maybe in the future we could do something about it.
There are several reports on sci.astro.amateur about a large bolide in the midwest travelling NW->NE and being visible for 10-15 (some said 20) seconds. It was apparently an Earth-grazer, which accounts for its long duration. Whether it was a Leonid is in question (one observer puts the origin in Serpens Caput), but who cares - sounds spectacular from all accounts. I'm jealous.
First of all, that probably was a satellite (possibly an Iridium). 20-30 seconds is a long time for a meteor. Secondly, if it was a meteor, it was probably a sporadic and not associated with the Leonids since Leo doesn't rise until about 1am. Thirdly, it was moving in the wrong direction to be a Leonid.
I don't know the current status but the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope was launched in '95. Haven't heard much about it lately, so it could be kaput for all I know. Then again there's been so much talk about Chandra lately, maybe the UIT has just become passe.
Well, yeah, if most of the debris was sand-sized you'd be right, but in that case it would rip everything to shreds regardless which way it was pointed. Not to make light of micrometeorite impacts, but the HST is built to withstand that type of abuse. (However, wasn't one of the items on the servicing mission to repair some of the outer coating?)
But your point is taken - these things are hauling ass. Particularly in the case of the Leonids b/c our orbit points almost head-on into the orbit of Temple-Tuttle, iirc. Personally, I'd be more worried about debris the size of sand (and larger) than the microscopic stuff.
They were (still are!) going to point it at the antiradiant to reduce the cross-section and thus the chance of getting hit by a rock. Most comet debris (which is what the Leonids are) is microscopic, but there are a few big chunks that could do some damage.
I'm not sure what radiation you are referring to. The danger is physical debris, not radiation.
No, you missed the point of my response. HST remains under ground based control, ie, they can point it, but they can't do fine control necessary for taking exposures (autoguiding). In this mode, the HST shuts the door so that there is no way it can expose the CCD to the Sun.
It's kind of a moot point anyway since the door's shut so it doesn't really matter which way it points wrt the Leonids.
HST remains under full control of the ground-based operators. It's just that it won't open the pod-bay doors if the gyros aren't working right. Otherwise it would risk getting pointed at the Sun. That would be bad.
My mind is getting a bit fuzzy with age, but I think the Hubble mirror is 200".
I'll say. The HST mirror is 2.4m (a little less than 94"). That was the largest mirror that would fit into the Space Shuttle cargo bay. I think I heard somewhere that it is actually a surplus Keyhole mirror - can anybody confirm this?
But you're right that it would have been way difficult to replace the mirror in space, thus COSTAR.
Gravitational lensing has been observed many times in astronomy - the canonical example is Einstein's Cross (a quasar split into 4 images by an intervening galaxy). However, the fact that light is bent by gravity does not imply that it has (rest) mass.
All those transmitters would need to have a unique modulation frequency, otherwise what I do on my term might affect your terminal.
Not necessarily, they could be (and probably are) using spread spectrum radios. But I doubt that it would be allowed in hospitals because, as someone else pointed out, hospitals are very picky about RFI.
I know, we've all read the strips probably more than once, and your personal favorite is very likely not in there. But it's UF for cryin' out loud! No geek's coffee table is complete without it.
Got my copy at ALS last month and when Illiad signed it, he put "To Greg: Thanks for all the support". Thought that was pretty cool even tho I don't work in tech support.
I second that notion. Actually, I'd settle for plain ol Quicken. That's about the only reason I boot up Winders any more. Anybody know if it works w/ WINE? If so, I know what I'm doing tonight.
O man, tell me about it! I'm in the same boat. It's even worse than you outlined: If you get a new mobo, it'll have to be an ATX so that means a new power supply, but if you do that you may as well pop for new case too.... aarrgh. We just need a whole new box.
This confirms what we were able to decypher from the patent document. They are building a sort of universal processor capable of translating instructions of other machines into an internal native format and then executing them. The processor also includes a large cache, so that once instructions are translated, they can be executed natively without the need to re-ranslate. At least until they are no longer in the cache.
Anybody wanna guess what they'll call it? Babelchip maybe?
When SOHO got lost they used the Aricebo radio telescope to find it by bouncing radar beams off of it. However, that won't work this time around because Mars is currently near -24 degrees declination, which is outside of Aricebo's coverage area.
The folks in the space program are some of the most resourceful people in the world and excel at thinking outside of the box. Let's hope they come up with something creative once again.
Perhaps, but would it be asking too much to just proofread it once before he posts? Right below this box where I'm typing it says, "Use the Preview Button!" He should practice what he preaches.
Slashdot Mirror
There's no way the HST has enough resolving power to find something so small. Especially with Mars now well past opposition. A better idea is to use the Mars Orbiter to try to find it, which I believe they are doing. But even that is a long shot.
I haven't used any (graphical) installers other than RH, but I know that it does in fact fall back to the old text installer if something goes wrong with the graphical one (like funky video h/w, eg). I can't speak for the others, but I'd be surprised if they don't as well.
...does anybody have any good suggestions for post-apocalyptic type movies to watch over the next couple of weeks?
"A Boy and His Dog", but just don't take it too seriously.
That sounds a little extreme just because of some launch delays (which have *always* been the norm with the space program). But if you want to look at a commercial reusable launch platform, take a look at this site.
I first read this book while taking a class in college on science fiction lit. It instantly became one of my favorites and I re-read it every few years. Even though it's somewhat dated, it's still a great read, though somewhat grim.
It was my understanding that this was the only book he ever wrote, but Katz mentions a sequel. I assume it was published posthumously? Have any of you guys read it and did you like it or not? If it's any good at all I'll probably get it out of curiosity.
It's not the ones in the asteroid belt that we should be worrying about. It's the ones that cross our orbit, of which there are many known and probably many more unknown.
You seem to be more concerned about the Earth deflecting an object into its own path, but I think the more likely problem is an asteroid (or comet) that is already on a collision course with us. In other words, the angle i in your calculations is very, very small.
The whole point of this exercise is to find all the Earth-crossers we can, measure their orbits as accurately as possible and extrapolate them into the future to find out if they're going to go 'bonk'. If they are, I'm not sure what we'd do given present technology, but maybe in the future we could do something about it.
as it breaks up near Cincinnati.
click here
There are several reports on sci.astro.amateur about a large bolide in the midwest travelling NW->NE and being visible for 10-15 (some said 20) seconds. It was apparently an Earth-grazer, which accounts for its long duration. Whether it was a Leonid is in question (one observer puts the origin in Serpens Caput), but who cares - sounds spectacular from all accounts. I'm jealous.
Hate to rain on your parade, but ...
First of all, that probably was a satellite (possibly an Iridium). 20-30 seconds is a long time for a meteor. Secondly, if it was a meteor, it was probably a sporadic and not associated with the Leonids since Leo doesn't rise until about 1am. Thirdly, it was moving in the wrong direction to be a Leonid.
I don't know the current status but the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope was launched in '95. Haven't heard much about it lately, so it could be kaput for all I know. Then again there's been so much talk about Chandra lately, maybe the UIT has just become passe.
Anybody else have info on this?
Well, yeah, if most of the debris was sand-sized you'd be right, but in that case it would rip everything to shreds regardless which way it was pointed. Not to make light of micrometeorite impacts, but the HST is built to withstand that type of abuse. (However, wasn't one of the items on the servicing mission to repair some of the outer coating?)
But your point is taken - these things are hauling ass. Particularly in the case of the Leonids b/c our orbit points almost head-on into the orbit of Temple-Tuttle, iirc. Personally, I'd be more worried about debris the size of sand (and larger) than the microscopic stuff.
They were (still are!) going to point it at the antiradiant to reduce the cross-section and thus the chance of getting hit by a rock. Most comet debris (which is what the Leonids are) is microscopic, but there are a few big chunks that could do some damage.
I'm not sure what radiation you are referring to. The danger is physical debris, not radiation.
No, you missed the point of my response. HST remains under ground based control, ie, they can point it, but they can't do fine control necessary for taking exposures (autoguiding). In this mode, the HST shuts the door so that there is no way it can expose the CCD to the Sun.
It's kind of a moot point anyway since the door's shut so it doesn't really matter which way it points wrt the Leonids.
HST remains under full control of the ground-based operators. It's just that it won't open the pod-bay doors if the gyros aren't working right. Otherwise it would risk getting pointed at the Sun. That would be bad.
My mind is getting a bit fuzzy with age, but I think the Hubble mirror is 200".
I'll say. The HST mirror is 2.4m (a little less than 94"). That was the largest mirror that would fit into the Space Shuttle cargo bay. I think I heard somewhere that it is actually a surplus Keyhole mirror - can anybody confirm this?
But you're right that it would have been way difficult to replace the mirror in space, thus COSTAR.
Sorry, but I couldn't resist seeing how it would run q3demo. Not very well apparently. My bad.
Gravitational lensing has been observed many times in astronomy - the canonical example is Einstein's Cross (a quasar split into 4 images by an intervening galaxy). However, the fact that light is bent by gravity does not imply that it has (rest) mass.
All those transmitters would need to have a unique modulation frequency, otherwise what I do on my term might affect your terminal.
Not necessarily, they could be (and probably are) using spread spectrum radios. But I doubt that it would be allowed in hospitals because, as someone else pointed out, hospitals are very picky about RFI.
I know, we've all read the strips probably more than once, and your personal favorite is very likely not in there. But it's UF for cryin' out loud! No geek's coffee table is complete without it.
Got my copy at ALS last month and when Illiad signed it, he put "To Greg: Thanks for all the support". Thought that was pretty cool even tho I don't work in tech support.
I second that notion. Actually, I'd settle for plain ol Quicken. That's about the only reason I boot up Winders any more. Anybody know if it works w/ WINE? If so, I know what I'm doing tonight.
O man, tell me about it! I'm in the same boat. It's even worse than you outlined: If you get a new mobo, it'll have to be an ATX so that means a new power supply, but if you do that you may as well pop for new case too.... aarrgh. We just need a whole new box.
This confirms what we were able to decypher from the patent document. They are building a sort of universal processor capable of translating instructions of other machines into an internal native format and then executing them. The processor also includes a large cache, so that once instructions are translated, they can be executed natively without the need to re-ranslate. At least until they are no longer in the cache.
Anybody wanna guess what they'll call it? Babelchip maybe?
When SOHO got lost they used the Aricebo radio telescope to find it by bouncing radar beams off of it. However, that won't work this time around because Mars is currently near -24 degrees declination, which is outside of Aricebo's coverage area.
The folks in the space program are some of the most resourceful people in the world and excel at thinking outside of the box. Let's hope they come up with something creative once again.
Perhaps, but would it be asking too much to just proofread it once before he posts? Right below this box where I'm typing it says, "Use the Preview Button!" He should practice what he preaches.