Recent comments in /f/space

rostov007 t1_jdgby4f wrote

Reply to NASA delays Boeing Starliner's debut crewed voyage by mustafar0111

I saw the Starliner trainer during tests at Johnson SC during a tour and Boeing was flipping their shit about us being there. Unnaturally skittish and secretive for a project that is over budget, long-delayed, and rife with issues.

I mean, thanks for Apollo but don’t act like you’ve discovered perpetual motion or anything, jeez.

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mustafar0111 OP t1_jdg8145 wrote

Reply to NASA delays Boeing Starliner's debut crewed voyage by mustafar0111

Looks like the crux of it was related to concerns about the batteries. Boeing thinks they are safe, NASA doesn't.

>Boeing software engineers are running tests with Starliner's manual flight system used as a backup in case the spacecraft's automated flight software fails, Stich said.
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>A Boeing spokesman said the focus for that testing is for "added redundancy in cases of emergency."
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>Deliberations about mission-critical lithium ion batteries and the low chance they overheat while the spacecraft is docked to the station also took more time than expected, Stich said.
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>In a recent pre-flight technical meeting with Boeing and NASA officials, the space station's chief safety officer and representatives from NASA's astronaut office disagreed with Boeing's plans to proceed with the mission citing concerns over the batteries, according to a person who attended the meetings.
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>But those NASA officials eventually agreed with Boeing and others at the federal space agency that the chances of a battery mishap that would endanger the crew were low, said the person who requested anonymity to discuss preflight deliberations.
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>Boeing also is weighing battery redesigns and a plan to add shielding in case one overheats, Stich said. SpaceX, which has already flown seven crewed missions for NASA since 2020, redesigned its spacecraft's batteries at one point, he said.

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T_Funky t1_jdg3sqi wrote

Reply to comment by cascade_olympus in The Northern Lights could dazzle the skies from Washington to New York on Friday, blown by winds from a giant 'hole' on the sun by thisisinsider

Just came back inside and you can sort of see them in Montana, light pollution is pretty brutal where I’m at but the sky to the north definitely looks a little more green than the rest of the sky! Excited for the chance that it’s better tomorrow, I’ve actually never seen them in person!

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Exano t1_jdfuwdz wrote

Reply to comment by EarthInteresting9781 in So from what I understand Sagittarius a is in the Center of Milky Way. If any planets orbit this black hole would there be time dilation? by EarthInteresting9781

You will always age the same relative to you.

So, assuming you could live on such a massive world, you turning 30 would take the same amount time as here on Earth, so far as how "long" it feels to you.

However if you were to somehow leave and come to earth, you'd find it "older". So like the twin on Uranus example posted here, if you and your clone were born at the same time, black hole you would be "younger" - although - if your clone was now 60 (to your 30) - you'd have "experienced" half as much time as he has.

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ThrowawayPhysicist1 t1_jdfrf7g wrote

Reply to comment by deluchas15 in I am 27 years old! Am I missing out on being an astronomer? by [deleted]

This simply isn’t true. Your chances are bad but not because you are slightly older but rather because it is unlikely for any given person to get a research job. If you are passionate and do well in your studies, you’ll get into a great PhD program and then you’re odds are still against getting a research position.

What you can do is try to increase your odds as much as possible. What that means at this point for OP is trying to get into a good PhD program. This will be best accomplished through decent grades and some research experience. Keep going and you have as much a chance as anyone. But understand that these are competitive jobs that usually require 4 years of college+5 for PhD+a few postdoctoral positions+a bunch of good luck-all competing against people who are passionate about the topics and generally intelligent.

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SomeKindOfAdult t1_jdflv3u wrote

Reply to comment by cheatme1 in So from what I understand Sagittarius a is in the Center of Milky Way. If any planets orbit this black hole would there be time dilation? by EarthInteresting9781

Time dilation due to gravity wells has been well tested by satellites in Earth's orbit. They aren't as deep in Earth's gravity well and experience less time dilation. It's very tiny, but measurable.

Even more, specific, the orbit of Mercury is affected by time dilation due to how close to the Sun it is in a very noticeable way. This was a real mystery - people speculated there had to be another planet pulling on it, named Vulcan - until Einstein proposed Relativity as the correct answer.

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s1ngular1ty2 t1_jdfkvuz wrote

Reply to comment by dungisdangit in So from what I understand Sagittarius a is in the Center of Milky Way. If any planets orbit this black hole would there be time dilation? by EarthInteresting9781

Not really. Our solar system is not orbiting the black hole. We are orbiting the center of mass of the galaxy, and it's dark matter, not the black hole. The black hole is insignificant as far as orbits of the galaxy are concerned. The dark matter of the galaxy dictates the orbits because it is 5x more massive than all the other matter combined.

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