# The Great Ongoing Space Exploration Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Tags:** science-math\ **Created:** [November 16, 2020, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703 "2020-11-16T12:18:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 65
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1282 "2024-03-28T21:37:42Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > > [@xtenkfarpl](#): > > > > From what I’ve read, it was never expected to survive through the lunar night anyway? > > But it did. > > [SLIM lives! Japan's upside-down lander is online after a brutal lunar night | Popular Science](https://www.popsci.com/science/slim-moon-lander-reboot/) And it did again. > **[Still alive! Japan's SLIM moon lander survives its 2nd lunar night (photo)](https://www.space.com/japan-slim-moon-lander-survives-second-lunar-night)** > > SLIM continues to buck the odds. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2024, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1283 "2024-03-29T17:21:49Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > And it did again. Splendid. Hopefully with this as a demonstration case, future designs will improve. It always seemed to be a bit of a waste to go to all that trouble to land a probe that would only work for a few days… ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2024, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1284 "2024-03-29T20:37:45Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > They say they measured an increase in thrust… but that’s almost certainly just due to the extra propellant. Injecting stuff into hot exhaust increases thrust–that’s not a surprise. The trick is to do it while increasing specific impulse. Indeed. Maybe the Air Force missed a trick by not calling their aircraft powered by a water-injected Pratt & Whitney J57 engine “fusion powered”. I’m sure someone could have come up with some exotic physics to hand-wave it. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2024, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1285 "2024-03-29T20:46:54Z")
that was b/c it already was categorized as steam-engine ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2024, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1286 "2024-03-30T04:59:58Z")
> [@xtenkfarpl](#): > > It always seemed to be a bit of a waste to go to all that trouble to land a probe that would only work for a few days… Obviously, the way to make space probes last longer is to have them land upside down… ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2024, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1287 "2024-03-31T14:40:22Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Wombat pouches are rear-facing Wow, thank you. I thought all marsupials were forward facing. Another useless but interesting fact to cram into my memory. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2024, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1288 "2024-04-02T02:31:39Z")
Hey, remember [those batteries that got ejected from the ISS](https://www.space.com/old-batteries-re-enter-atmosphere)? They might have caused some damage: [![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/dn556qi.png "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/dn556qi) > **[Trash from the International Space Station may have hit a house in Florida](https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/04/trash-from-the-international-space-station-may-have-hit-a-house-in-florida/)** > > NASA collected the item to confirm whether it came from the International Space Station. Of course, this is Florida. Space debris is hardly the worst thing they’re exposed to. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2024, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1289 "2024-04-02T12:09:15Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Space debris is hardly the worst thing they’re exposed to. Yeah, Florida Man is right next door. 😱 FTR, I live in Greater Miami. Florida Man is everywhere; including [whisper] _right behind you!_ [/whisper] I like the idea in McDowell’s cited Xit that the flying time between Cancun-ish and Ft. Myers is 2 minutes. Talk about makin’ good time. Wow! 😁 ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2024, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1290 "2024-04-02T13:49:06Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > FTR, I live in Greater Miami. A move up from Worse Miami? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2024, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1291 "2024-04-02T14:15:18Z")
I know you’re kidding … Like any major urban area there’s the average, the nice, the _tres snootáy_, the tolerable, and the flat horrid. The odd shape and history of the whole metroblob produces some odd juxtapositions between the categories. I’ll suggest the antonym of “Greater Miami” is “Lesser Miami”. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2024, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1292 "2024-04-02T16:29:07Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I’ll suggest the antonym of “Greater Miami” is “Lesser Miami”. Completely off topic, but rural England is full of town names like this. - Little Piddling - Middle Piddling - Upper Piddling etc. Ficticious, and inspired by Bill Bryson, but you get the point. OH, on examination, there really IS a ‘Little Piddle’! ‘[https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1019410](https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1019410)’ ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2024, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1293 "2024-04-02T21:04:59Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Lesser Miami _Meh_ami ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2024, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1294 "2024-04-08T18:40:41Z")
The latest Mars fantasies from Elon: > **[Elon Musk just gave another Mars speech—this time the vision seems tangible](https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/04/elon-musk-just-gave-another-mars-speech-this-time-the-vision-seems-tangible/)** > > "These are unthinkable numbers, but we’re not breaking any physics to achieve this." ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2024, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1295 "2024-04-14T16:57:31Z")
A big question is the scientific value of manned vs unmanned space flight. The U.S. spends a lot of money on Artemis and it crowds out unmanned space activities. [Obviously both have value; the question is which has the most bang for the buck.] The latest example of this is the Chandra X-ray space telescope which will be unfunded in a very few years: > **[The Chandra X-ray spacecraft may soon go dark, threatening a great deal of...](https://www.space.com/chandra-x-ray-observatory-nasa-fy2025-budget)** > > Astronomers might face layoffs, a key observatory might be forced to shut down and precious cosmic details might start to fade from view. > **[US astronomers slam cuts to the Chandra X-ray observatory – Physics World](https://physicsworld.com/a/us-astronomers-slam-cuts-to-the-chandra-x-ray-observatory/)** > > NASA says that increasing management costs means it cannot afford to the keep the “great observatory” operational **NASA budget woes could doom $2 billion Chandra space telescope [Washington Post]** [https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/nasa-budget-woes-could-doom-2-billion-chandra-space-telescope/ar-BB1lB9qH](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/nasa-budget-woes-could-doom-2-billion-chandra-space-telescope/ar-BB1lB9qH) ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2024, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1296 "2024-04-22T20:23:52Z")
Voyager 1 resumes sending info: > **[NASA’s Voyager 1 Resumes Sending Engineering Updates to Earth](https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-voyager-1-resumes-sending-engineering-updates-to-earth)** > > After some inventive sleuthing, the mission team can — for the first time in five months — check the health and status of the most distant human-made object in existence. Brian ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2024, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1297 "2024-04-23T02:31:20Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > Voyager 1 resumes sending info: These are the unsung heroes of science. Little to no fanfare, just miraculous solutions to impossible problems from 24.3B km away (162.6AU!). ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2024, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1298 "2024-04-23T03:23:26Z")
If Starship achieves its goal of routine and comparatively cheap space launch, would that relieve some of the financial pressure on space missions? Or is their cost mainly determined by how expensive they are to build and operate, with launch cost a minor factor? Would two less-capable but cheaper to build packages return the science more economically than one all-or-nothing mission if launch was less of an issue? ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2024, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1299 "2024-04-23T03:27:17Z")
Fantastic! ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2024, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1300 "2024-04-23T04:05:07Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Or is their cost mainly determined by how expensive they are to build and operate, with launch cost a minor factor? It’s difficult to know right now since for the past 60 years of so, launch has been exquisitely expensive and so the payloads have been expensive to match. With few exceptions, no one has tried to make cheap payloads. Cubesats are one partial exception, though they’re mainly cheap because they’re small and don’t do much rather than really improving the state of the art in satellite manufacturing (they’re probably more expensive per kg than typical commercial sats all told). SpaceX themselves would be the main exception with Starlink. They’re the first to truly mass-produce satellites, and use a number of techniques to reduce cost. For example, instead of expensive Spectrolab solar cells, they use commercial grade ones. They lose a few percent efficiency but are probably 1/20 the cost. They also use argon instead of xenon for their electric thruster. Again, they lose some efficiency… but argon is basically free compared to xenon. When we see other manufacturers taking the same attitude here, we’ll be able to reevaluate how much of these costs are really inherent. I don’t think this sort of optimization will help one-shot missions very much. But maybe we can have a common platform that sacrifices performance but enables manufacturing at a greater scale. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2024, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1301 "2024-05-04T04:19:11Z")
I take it all back. Bill Nelson (NASA Administrator) is an imbecile after all. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/14jS9fHRhtg/maxresdefault.jpg "Idiotic Discoveries of NASA's Chief Decision Maker Bill Nelson #nasa #billnelson #governmentidiots") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14jS9fHRhtg) (The video is only 36 seconds long. Just watch it.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703.md?page=64) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703.md?page=66)