March 2015 - Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

Re: [Utah-astronomy] Last night's lecture
by Joe Bauman 11 Dec '18

11 Dec '18

Brent, speaking of the ISS, I have wondered if it could be put into an orbit that continuously cruised between Earth and Mars. When it swung by Mars it could drop off and retrieved crews. I don't see how the radiation would be any worse than the ISS crews are already exposed to. ------------------------------ On Wed, Feb 25, 2015 8:18 AM MST Brent Watson via Utah-Astronomy wrote: >I attended the lecture last night on trajectories. It was really a good, stimulating talk. Thanks for passing the word along. >There were some interesting side comments made about our launch capabilities and the Mars One effort. Mr. Adamo was not at all enthusiastic about the Mars One effort. His opinion is that the effort is doomed because there is not really a way to assure that folks going there would be safe - primarily from radiation. He has done some work with a former flight surgeon on designing a spacecraft to go to Mars. Their result is that in order to get sufficient shielding (using a water jacket), the spacecraft's mass would be around 380 metric tons. That is for a small crew, probably only about 5 members. For a point of comparison, the ISS mass is 400 metric tons. He made the comment that an astronaut who made this trip could only go to space once in this craft, and then he would be at the limit of radiation exposure for his life. The NASA limit is an increased risk of developing cancer of 5%. >That brings us to our current launch capability. Our latest heavy lift rocket - the one we are currently developing - will have the capability to lift 130 metric tons to a very low earth orbit. So low, in fact, that it would burn up at perigee. The Apollo 17 Saturn 5 rocket lifted 140 metric tons into earth orbit -- higher than the new rocket will go. (I am sorry, but my mind will not allow me to recall the name of our currently being designed rocket.) Recall that it took several dozen shuttle launches to assemble the ISS. The Mars One vehicle would require either a hugely more massive launch rocket or a similar effort to build the craft. >As I mentioned, it was a very intellectually stimulating lecture and did involve several ordinary differential equations. They were nicely explained in English by Mr. Adamo. This was the first time I have seen some real math put to Kepler's laws. There were many charts showing what it takes to leave the earth and go to the moon or Mars. It was a very well done lecture. >The above is my recollection of the lecture, and may not actually represent the opinions of Mr. Adamo. It is only my interpretation of what he said. He knows his stuff, that is apparent. Thanks Patrick and Dr. Sohl for passing the word along. >_______________________________________________ >Utah-Astronomy mailing list >http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy > >Send messages to the list to >Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com > >The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club. > >To unsubscribe go to: >http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy >Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options".

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SPOC Announcement
by Dale Wilson 30 Mar '15

30 Mar '15

I am setting up a Grim scope refresher class for this Thursday night. Will start around 7:00 pm. Any interested parties, let me know.Thanks,Dale Wilson 801-518-7859

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Lunar Eclipse
by Jamie Bradley 30 Mar '15

30 Mar '15

Anyone doing anything for the lunar eclipse Saturday morning? Jamie B _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Send messages to the list to Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com <mailto:Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club. To unsubscribe go to: http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options".

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Nova
by Dave Gary 29 Mar '15

29 Mar '15

Looked at the nova yesterday morning and this morning. There was supposed to have been a brightening the last couple of days and yesterday the nova appeared to be about as bright as when I last reported (I guess about a week ago). This morning it looked considerably dimmer. Hopefully, Wednesday morning, I may be able to get a photo of it and a spectrum. Maybe. Dave Sent from my iPad

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Need radio?
by Wiggins Patrick 26 Mar '15

26 Mar '15

This is sort of on topic since I'm guessing what I'm giving away could be used by observers in the field. :) I'm having some electrical work done in my garage and while cleaning out a path for the new conduit I came across a CB radio I've not used in years. Anyone want it? It's free to whomever asks for it first. Comes with a car power adapter, a couple of microphones and 3 antennas (antennae?). patrick p.s. The electrician says the 20 amp circuit breakers he's removing to make room for the big breaker are just going to get tossed. Anyone have any use for them?

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Barrel
by Brent Watson 25 Mar '15

25 Mar '15

I need to eliminate my mirror grinding barrel from my hangar. Anyone interested? If not, it will go to the dump.

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Tried my hand at some astrometry
by david 25 Mar '15

25 Mar '15

I was blinking some images I captuted of M106 and found a faint asteroid. Used asteomertica to figure out what it was. http://www.rankinstudio.com/Asteroid_2000_WA67 Fun process, going to start hunting for more. Cheers, David Rankin www.rankinstudio.com

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John A. Brashear Time Capsule found and opened
by Chuck Hards 25 Mar '15

25 Mar '15

Especially for those interested in the history of American telescope manufacturers, check out this new thread at Cloudy Nights: http://www.cloudynights.com/topic/495402-john-a-brashear-time-capsule-found… Be sure to click on the link to the photos in the first post.

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Humor: Nikola Tesla vs Thomas Edison
by Wiggins Patrick 23 Mar '15

23 Mar '15

Sort of science related, just not astronomy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJ1Mz7kGVf0 Grins, patrick

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Off-Topic: Blast from the Past
by Chuck Hards 21 Mar '15

21 Mar '15

Our friend Joe Bauman reminisces about an early assignment in his career as a journalist, with a weird twist, about a weird celebrity. Interesting article, thanks for taking the time to work with KSL on this piece, Joe! http://www.ksl.com/?sid=33908472&nid=148&title=andy-warhols-lecture-at-the-…

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