Space news topic and space related news

Started by Tsanten Eywa 'eveng, September 23, 2011, 03:31:21 PM

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`Eylan Ayfalulukanä

Back to Chris Nsamba's aircraft for a moment....

There is only one other aircraft that has regularly flown as high as that Chris's aircraft, and that is the SR-71. The SR-71 uses conventional air-breathing jet engines that convert from turbojets to essentially ramjets at those altitudes. Supersonic speeds are necessary to ingest enough air to create thrust, and just the speed of flight is enough energy to compress the air for the engines (The compressor inlet air temperature reaches nearly 400 degrees F at full speed and altitude from the speed-induced compression). Aircraft skin temperatures at those speeds necessitated construction with materials like titanium. The SR-71 is an extremely complex aircraft, and unless Mr. Nsamba's aircraft is some sort of boost glider, I doubt it has the sophistication to fly very long at 80,000 feet.

But then, sometimes innovation comes from the strangest places....

BTW, I saw the Kepler mission announcement as well. This is good news, and shows that we are able to find smaller and smaller exoplanets.

Yawey ngahu!
pamrel si ro [email protected]

Irtaviš Ačankif

His aircraft is going to use conventional jet engines. Conventional jet engines do work at high altitudes. The reason why the SR-71 didn't use them is because they don't work at high altitude PLUS HIGH SPEED.

I think that a good way might be to build up speed at low altitude and do a zoom climb. Or maybe use rocket engines! However, how that plane is going to survive the descent and the cabin pressurization issues could be a serious problem.

If his plane goes slow enough, it will work. Maybe a weather balloon can tow it up and let it glide down :P
Previously Ithisa Kīranem, Uniltìrantokx te Skxawng.

Name from my Sakaš conlang, from Sakasul Ältäbisäl Acarankïp

"First name" is Ačankif, not Eltabiš! In Na'vi, Atsankip.

`Eylan Ayfalulukanä

Quote from: Uniltìrantokx te Skxawng on December 06, 2011, 08:22:46 PM
His aircraft is going to use conventional jet engines. Conventional jet engines do work at high altitudes. The reason why the SR-71 didn't use them is because they don't work at high altitude PLUS HIGH SPEED.

Good answer. I hadn't thought of that scenario. However, flying at high altitude also means you have to fly at a high speed. There are two reasons: 1.) You have to come up with enough air for the engines to breathe, and 2.) You need enough air over the wing to create lift. Both of these are hard to do in the stratosphere at slow speeds. Most jetliners top out at around 50,000 feet. The SR-71 can be flown 'shirtsleeve' (no spacesuit) up to about 50,000 feet.

Quote from: Uniltìrantokx te Skxawng
I think that a good way might be to build up speed at low altitude and do a zoom climb. Or maybe use rocket engines! However, how that plane is going to survive the descent and the cabin pressurization issues could be a serious problem.

This is kind of what I meant by a 'boost glider'. If you can accelerate to a high enough speed, you might be able to fly like a glider, and this may explain the glider like wings on Nsamba's aircraft. Descent from those asltitudes should not be a problem, as you can still easily fly there. Cabin pressurization is a fairly minor problem.

Quote from: Uniltìrantokx te Skxawng
If his plane goes slow enough, it will work. Maybe a weather balloon can tow it up and let it glide down :P

Now, THAT is a very interesting idea......

Yawey ngahu!
pamrel si ro [email protected]

Irtaviš Ačankif

Cabin pressurization AFAIK on jetliners may never exceed 5 psi, or else the cabin will explode. Going into the stratosphere would need much more pressure differential than 5 psi, and his plane looks kind of ... flimsy... Maybe he can use low-pressure pure oxygen. Or even don a scuba suit!
Previously Ithisa Kīranem, Uniltìrantokx te Skxawng.

Name from my Sakaš conlang, from Sakasul Ältäbisäl Acarankïp

"First name" is Ačankif, not Eltabiš! In Na'vi, Atsankip.

`Eylan Ayfalulukanä

Quote from: Uniltìrantokx te Skxawng on December 06, 2011, 10:13:37 PM
Cabin pressurization AFAIK on jetliners may never exceed 5 psi, or else the cabin will explode. Going into the stratosphere would need much more pressure differential than 5 psi, and his plane looks kind of ... flimsy... Maybe he can use low-pressure pure oxygen. Or even don a scuba suit!

The cabin on that aircraft is relatively small and somewhat spherical. Spherical is the best shape for a pressure vessel.

Airliner cabins are pressurized to 10,000 feet. Military aircraft (and the SR-71) are pressurized to 20,000 feet. All these aircraft use oxygen systems. I know that the pressure at sea level is about 14.7 PSIA. Do you know the pressure at 20,000 feet?

Yawey ngahu!
pamrel si ro [email protected]

Tsanten Eywa 'eveng

A lot of material on the surface on the Moon is in high danger to be blowed away, cause of CME(solar flares) according to new study

So it is not safe to be on the Moon, since it is not protected, and the Moon can lose more of it's atmosphere, the same with Mars too. Mars is not so protected

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111207000851.htm


So what I wonder, what if the space program is going to be cancelled? NASA has newly started Space Launch System. And the missions is manned missions to the Moon, to an asteroid and to Mars

`Eylan Ayfalulukanä

Quote from: Tsanten Eywa 'eveng on December 07, 2011, 02:54:19 PM
A lot of material on the surface on the Moon is in high danger to be blowed away, cause of CME(solar flares) according to new study

So it is not safe to be on the Moon, since it is not protected, and the Moon can lose more of it's atmosphere, the same with Mars too. Mars is not so protected

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111207000851.htm


So what I wonder, what if the space program is going to be cancelled? NASA has newly started Space Launch System. And the missions is manned missions to the Moon, to an asteroid and to Mars

Scientists are quite aware of the harsh conditions on the moon, and are working on ways to deal with them.

The material that is being removed, according to the article, are volatile materials, and not physical dust.

At Mars, the atmosphere that is there now will still substantially be there 10,000 years from now. The air is thin and cold enough there that spacecuits will still be required to be out in it.  By then, I kind of doubt if humankind will have survived earth, let alone Mars.

Yawey ngahu!
pamrel si ro [email protected]

Tsanten Eywa 'eveng

Quote from: `Eylan Ayfalulukanä on December 08, 2011, 02:25:56 AM
Quote from: Tsanten Eywa 'eveng on December 07, 2011, 02:54:19 PM
A lot of material on the surface on the Moon is in high danger to be blowed away, cause of CME(solar flares) according to new study

So it is not safe to be on the Moon, since it is not protected, and the Moon can lose more of it's atmosphere, the same with Mars too. Mars is not so protected

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111207000851.htm


So what I wonder, what if the space program is going to be cancelled? NASA has newly started Space Launch System. And the missions is manned missions to the Moon, to an asteroid and to Mars

Scientists are quite aware of the harsh conditions on the moon, and are working on ways to deal with them.

The material that is being removed, according to the article, are volatile materials, and not physical dust.

At Mars, the atmosphere that is there now will still substantially be there 10,000 years from now. The air is thin and cold enough there that spacecuits will still be required to be out in it.  By then, I kind of doubt if humankind will have survived earth, let alone Mars.

Earth is protected of solar flares, the magnetic field watching the Earth, that is what making auroras(northern lights)

So Earth will probably survive a lot longer than Mars and the Moon.

Irtaviš Ačankif

Solar flares do NOT damage the planet. They kill life on the planet (that's part of the reason why there is no life on the Moon), but they do not physically make holes in the planet or anything. Earth's magnetic field protects life, NOT the ground.
Previously Ithisa Kīranem, Uniltìrantokx te Skxawng.

Name from my Sakaš conlang, from Sakasul Ältäbisäl Acarankïp

"First name" is Ačankif, not Eltabiš! In Na'vi, Atsankip.

Tsanten Eywa 'eveng

Quote from: Uniltìrantokx te Skxawng on December 08, 2011, 05:22:57 PM
Solar flares do NOT damage the planet. They kill life on the planet (that's part of the reason why there is no life on the Moon), but they do not physically make holes in the planet or anything. Earth's magnetic field protects life, NOT the ground.

And it destroys the atmosphere. And it will only destroy the surface of the Moon

Irtaviš Ačankif

It doesn't destroy the surface of the Moon! Repeat, it doesn't destroy the surface of the Moon!  ;)

It can't destroy atmospheres easily. It will probably take a solar flare constantly blowing at the Earth or at Mars for a few thousand years to do that, and solar flares last a few hours, not a few thousand years.
Previously Ithisa Kīranem, Uniltìrantokx te Skxawng.

Name from my Sakaš conlang, from Sakasul Ältäbisäl Acarankïp

"First name" is Ačankif, not Eltabiš! In Na'vi, Atsankip.

Tsanten Eywa 'eveng

Quote from: Uniltìrantokx te Skxawng on December 09, 2011, 02:38:37 AM
It doesn't destroy the surface of the Moon! Repeat, it doesn't destroy the surface of the Moon!  ;)

It can't destroy atmospheres easily. It will probably take a solar flare constantly blowing at the Earth or at Mars for a few thousand years to do that, and solar flares last a few hours, not a few thousand years.

It can do it easily, for the planets who have a thin atmosphere and have a weak magnetic field, but it will still take possibly hundreds, or maybe thousands of years

Tsanten Eywa 'eveng

climate change can rise very much faster than originally thought

100, or 1000 "fountains" with methane erupting in the arctic, and that saying that climate on Earth can be in big danger


Current average methane concentrations in the Arctic average about 1.85 parts per million, the highest in 400,000 years. Concentrations above the East Siberian Arctic Shelf are even higher.

The shelf is shallow, 50 meters or less in depth, which means it has been alternately submerged or above water, depending on sea levels throughout Earth's history.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2073686/Fountains-methane-1-000m-erupt-Arctic-ice--greenhouse-gas-30-times-potent-carbon-dioxide.html


Kamean

Tse'a ngal ke'ut a krr fra'uti kame.


Tsanten Eywa 'eveng

2 Earth-sized planets been found today by Kepler telescope.

They orbits around Kepler-20, 950 light years away


Keper-20 has a total of 5 planets, 2 of them are Earth-sized

Two planets orbiting a star 950 light-years from Earth are the smallest, most Earth-size alien worlds known, astronomers announced today (Dec. 20). One of the planets is actually smaller than Earth, scientists say.

These planets, while roughly the size of our planet Earth, are circling very close to their star, giving them fiery temperatures that are most likely too hot to support life, researchers said. The discovery, however, brings scientists one step closer to finding a true twin of Earth that may be habitable.


picture of Kepler-20e(Artists interception)

picture of Kepler-20f(Artists interception)

Size-comparison of Kepler-22e, Kepler-22f, Earth and Venus

Kamean

Tse'a ngal ke'ut a krr fra'uti kame.


Tsanten Eywa 'eveng

A new supercontinent will probably be formed in the Arctic, says geologists

Geologists have long predicted that North and South America will eventually fuse together and merge with Asia, forming a new supercontinent along the lines of the ancient Pangea — the precursor to today's great land masses, which separated about 200 million years ago.

In the past, researchers had guessed that the new continent, often called Amasia, would form either in the same location as Pangea, closing over the Atlantic near present-day Africa, or 180 degrees away, on the other side of the world.


http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/14/science/amasia-supercontinent-will-form-in-the-arctic-geologists-predict.html?_r=1

Tsanten Eywa 'eveng

Not only Earth has quakes, Mars has also big quakes, marsquakes

A magnitude greater than 7

Images of a martian landscape offer evidence that the Red Planet's surface not only can shake like the surface of Earth, but has done so relatively recently. If marsquakes do indeed take place, said the scientists who analyzed the high-resolution images, our nearest planetary neighbor may still have active volcanism, which could help create conditions for liquid water.

With High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) imagery, the research team  examined boulders along a fault system known as Cerberus Fossae, which cuts across a very young (few million years old) lava surface on Mars. By analyzing boulders that toppled from a martian cliff, some of which left trails in the coarse-grained soils, and comparing the patterns of dislodged rocks to such patterns caused by quakes on Earth, the scientists determined the rocks fell because of seismic activity. The martian patterns were not consistent with how boulders would scatter if they were deposited as ice melted, another means by which rocks are dispersed on Mars.

The team compared the pattern of boulder falls, and faulting of the martian surface, with those seen after a 2009 earthquake near L'Aquila, in central Italy. In that event, boulder falls occurred up to approximately 50 km (31 miles) from the epicenter. Because the area of displaced boulders in the marsscape stretched across an area approximately 200 km124-miles) long, the quakes were likely to have had a magnitude greater than 7, the researchers estimated.


http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-02-mars-quakes-volcanism-red-planet.html

Seze Mune

Quote from: Tsanten Eywa 'eveng on February 08, 2012, 02:15:48 PM
A new supercontinent will probably be formed in the Arctic, says geologists

Geologists have long predicted that North and South America will eventually fuse together and merge with Asia, forming a new supercontinent along the lines of the ancient Pangea — the precursor to today's great land masses, which separated about 200 million years ago.

In the past, researchers had guessed that the new continent, often called Amasia, would form either in the same location as Pangea, closing over the Atlantic near present-day Africa, or 180 degrees away, on the other side of the world.


http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/14/science/amasia-supercontinent-will-form-in-the-arctic-geologists-predict.html?_r=1

100 million years is a LONG time.  I might not be here then.   :(

Tsanten Eywa 'eveng

picture:
Alien planet to have a water-like atmosphere:


Scientists have discovered a new type of alien planet — a steamy waterworld that is larger than Earth but smaller than Uranus.

The standard-bearer for this new class of exoplanet is called GJ 1214b, which astronomers first discovered in December 2009. New observations by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope suggest that GJ 1214b is a watery world enshrouded by a thick, steamy atmosphere.

"GJ 1214b is like no planet we know of," study lead author Zachory Berta of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass., said in a statement. "A huge fraction of its mass is made up of water."

The surface gravity of GJ 1214b is almost the same as Earth, it is 91% of the Earth's gravity

The planet is too hot to host life, the temperature is 446 degrees Fahrenheit(230 degrees Celsius)

Scientists first reported in 2010 that GJ 1214b's atmosphere is likely composed primarily of water, but their findings were not definitive. Berta and his team used Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 to help dispel the doubts.

Hubble watched as GJ 1214b crossed in front of its host star, and the scientists were able to determine the composition of the planet's atmosphere based on how it filtered the starlight.

"We're using Hubble to measure the infrared color of sunset on this world," Berta said. "The Hubble measurements really tip the balance in favor of a steamy atmosphere."

Berta and his colleagues report their results online in the Astrophysical Journal.

http://www.space.com/14634-alien-planet-steamy-waterworld-gj1214b.html