Jack William Bell @jackwilliambell@rustedneuron.com

> When a Mars Simulation Goes Wrong. A recent mission atop a Hawaiian volcano shows humans still have much to learn before they set foot on another world. https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/06/mars-simulation-hi-seas-nasa-hawaii/553532/

People love the idea of colonizing Mars; often either ignoring or hand waving away the dangers of living on a planet inhospitable to life as we know it, six or more months away from help if things go wrong.

Thing is? We can't even figure out how to *pretend* we are living on Mars safely…

#space

> SpinCalc, an artificial-gravity calculator in JavaScript. https://www.artificial-gravity.com/sw/SpinCalc/

Useful little #webtool for those of us who write #ScienceFiction

#writing #apps #space

Yesterday a very brave man passed away. RIP Allan McDonald.

https://www.npr.org/2021/03/07/974534021/remembering-allan-mcdonald-he-refused-to-approve-challenger-launch-exposed-cover

#space #history

> The Challenges of Building Human Habitats in #Space. https://interestingengineering.com/the-challenges-of-building-human-habitats-in-space

> NASA’s Mars Perseverance Rover Provides Front-Row Seat to Landing, First Audio Recording of Red Planet. https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-s-mars-perseverance-rover-provides-front-row-seat-to-landing-first-audio

Literally the first time any human being has heard what it sounds like to be on another planet. How cool is that?

#space

Encyclopedia Astronautica. http://www.astronautix.com/

There's a lot of great information here! History of #space flight, specs and data for space vehicles, details on propellants and engines, and more.

> A newly discovered space object called 'Farfarout' is the most distant thing in our solar system. https://www.businessinsider.com/astronomers-discover-solar-system-most-distant-object-farfarout-2021-2

Far out, man!

#space

> Where Are All the Tiny Black Holes? The discovery of a celestial “unicorn” that’s just a slim 2.9 solar masses may help unravel a mystery that has long puzzled astronomers. https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/01/tiny-black-holes-mass-gap/617866/

#science #space

The One Place on the #Space Station Astronauts Aren’t Supposed to Clean. https://www.universetoday.com/149727/the-one-place-on-the-space-station-astronauts-arent-supposed-to-clean/

> Humans could move to this floating asteroid belt colony in the next 15 years, astrophysicist says. Should we build a 'megasatellite' of human habitats around the dwarf planet Ceres? It's more plausible than it sounds. https://www.livescience.com/megasatellite-colony-ceres-oneill-cylinder.html

I'm a longtime fan of colonizing asteroid instead of Mars. After all, why fight your way out of a deep gravity well, only to go back down into another one? And the engineering challenges are nearly equivalent.

#space

Seven minutes of terror. https://gizmodo.com/watch-the-seven-minutes-of-terror-awaiting-nasas-persev-1845940371

#space

Holy Fuck!

> There Is No Secret Underground Base on Mars. https://slate.com/culture/2020/12/mars-base-haim-eshed-galactic-federation-debunked-no-need-to-look-into-it-further.html?via=recirc_recent

Oh, wait… They said 'no'. 'No Secret Underground Base…'

Sorry. Please return to your previous Fediversing.

#Space #Aliens #Humor

> Spent Rockets Are Dangerous Space Trash, but They Could Be the Future of Living and Working in Orbit. “It’s remarkable how little we still know about #manufacturing in #space after 70 years.” https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2020/11/spent-rockets-are-dangerous-space-trash-but-they-could-be-the-future-of-living-and-working-in-orbit/

Mystery of Interstellar Visitor ‘#Oumuamua Gets Trickier. Aliens? Or a chunk of solid hydrogen? Which idea makes less sense? https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/mystery-of-interstellar-visitor-oumuamua-gets-trickier/

It appears the 'natural object' explanations for Oumuamua aren't passing the Occam's Razor test; instead getting more and more complicated in order to support the known facts.

Cool, cool… I've been team "Discarded Solar Sail' for a long time now anyway.

#space

Crash course in #hacking satellites. https://nyan-sat.com/chapter0.html

Lot's to read here. Looks interesting as hell.

#space #hardware

After 30 years of searching, astroboffins finally detect the universe's 'missing matter' – using fast radio bursts. https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/05/29/fast_radio_matter/

This isn't 'dark matter', but rather detritus left over from the Big Bang which never coalesced into stars and galaxies.

If they can get a good measurement of how much there is out there in the universe's 'wastelands', they could possibly confirm current theories of the Big Bang.

#astronomy #science #space #physics

ESPRESSO confirms the presence of an Earth-sized planet around the nearest star. https://phys.org/news/2020-05-espresso-presence-earth-nearest-star.html

It's sort of in the habitable zone, albeit with a far different kind of sun than our own and very likely the planet is also bathed in hard radiation much of the time.

There may even be a second planet as well. So much more information to come.

#astronomy #space #science

Here's your weird #COVID19 news of the day: a ham radio operator in lockdown had the time to look for an old military satellite in geosync 'graveyard' orbit. This is a great read. https://www.npr.org/2020/04/24/843493304/long-lost-u-s-military-satellite-found-by-amateur-radio-operator

#space

70,000 years ago, a nomadic star came within a light-year of the Sun, likely sending dozens of comets and asteroids tumbling out of the solar system. http://www.astronomy.com/news/2018/03/wandering-star-shook-up-the-prehistoric-solar-system

"… researchers analyzed the orbital evolution of 339 known minor objects (like asteroids and comets) with hyperbolic orbits that will eventually usher them out of the solar system."

More: http://www.astronomy.com/news/2015/02/a-close-call-of-08-light-years

#relaventtomyinterests #space

A Rare Meteor Shower May Grace The Skies Tonight. https://www.npr.org/2019/11/21/781738197/a-rare-meteor-shower-may-grace-the-skies-tonight

"With a bit of luck, people in the Eastern United States will be able to witness a rare meteor shower known as the Alpha Monocerotids late Thursday night. Two astronomers predicted the outburst will last less than an hour and could even yield more than 400 #meteors in that time."

#relevanttomyinterests #space