February 2016 - 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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Gunlock Reservoir Tues night?
by astrodeb＠beyondbb.com 01 Mar '16

01 Mar '16

My buddy and I are talking about going to Gunlock Reservoir tomorrow night for some winter/spring stargazing. I drove out there Sunday and the bathrooms are open. I may eat dinner out there and watch the sun set over the lake. If anybody in Southern Utah is interested in coming out there, let me know. I'll be on the blacktop near the boat ramp with my 15 in. Obsession telescope. Clear Skies, Debbie

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L & O last Saturday
by Chuck Hards 29 Feb '16

29 Feb '16

A big Thank You to everyone who came to the Liver & Onions luncheon! Kelly and I had great time and it was good to see all of you again. I'll be posting possible days for the next meeting, I want to check the SLAS calendar first, although it seems they have grown to the point where they have something going every weekend now. The chef told us it was calf's liver this time- it was the most tender piece of liver I have ever had. Hope to see you all again next time!

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Off-Topic: Lagoon in the old days
by Chuck Hards 26 Feb '16

26 Feb '16

OK, nobody here at work believes me that Lagoon used to have a Beer Garden. It was close to the miniature golf area. Alas, today they have neither beer nor putt-putt. Who on this list remembers when Lagoon sold beer, besides me?

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L & O Reminder
by Chuck Hards 25 Feb '16

25 Feb '16

Just a reminder that the Liver & Onions Subcommittee will be having a luncheon this Saturday, February 27th, starting at noon. Where: The Left Fork Grill 68 East 3900 South, SLC. Just a block east of the Trax Station, and plenty of on-site parking. Please RSVP if you plan to attend, so I can reserve our table. Good food, good conversation with like-minded friends. If the sun is out, we might have an impromptu sun party in the parking lot afterwards. Hope to see you there!

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Guy Consolmagno Vatican Astronomer
by Joel Stucki 23 Feb '16

23 Feb '16

I have not seen anyone promoting on this list yet but we have a famous astronomer hitting town and lecturing at BYU, UVU, and a Draper Catholic High School. Information is below. All events are free and open to the public. The UVU event has him as keynote for a larger conference exploring science and religion with an emphasis on Mormon perspective but obviously Brother Consolmagno and others will be speaking from their own religious perspectives as well. http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/8.5x11flyer.jpg http://cpms.byu.edu/project/director-of-vatican-observatory-to-deliver-byus… http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/events/2016-second-interpreter-science-mor…

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Paging Wayne Sumner
by Chuck Hards 23 Feb '16

23 Feb '16

Fiji was decimated by the recent hurricane, I was wondering if anyone has heard from Wayne since? Wayne, if you by chance can access email, please check in and let us know if we can help in any way, and how you and your wife are doing. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and the people of Fiji!

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Future SLAS speakers
by Joan Carman 18 Feb '16

18 Feb '16

It was great to see Rich at the presentation by Ben Bromley last night. Bromley was terrific. Rich suggested I post upcoming SLAS speakers on this board for anyone interested in attending. The general meetings are open and free to the public. SLAS General Meetings are always on the 3rd Wednesday of the month, starting at 7:30 p.m. March - Jonathan Barnes, Professor of Physics at the Salt Lake Community College, Taylorsville Campus. Subject not yet determined. Room 207 Calvin T. Rampton Technology Building, f ree parking in lot "R" directly north of the building. April - Everyone set aside this meeting because this board's moderator extraordinaire and infamous/famous Chuck Hards will be the guest speaker on the Moon Watch Program. He is promising to bring vintage scopes to show as well. Room 203 Calvin T. Rampton Technology Building. May - TBD I might have a speaker on the Cassini mission, but not sure yet. June - Tim Parker, Jet Propulsion Labora tory - Mars geology September - Kyle Dawson, Ph.D., University of Utah - back by popular demand - Where we are in the universe and how we know it. I'll try to remember to post changes and new information when available. Joan

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Gravitational Waves
by Joan Carman 14 Feb '16

14 Feb '16

I would think this board would be abuzz with the news. http://www.seeker.com/gravitational-waves-discovery-1598074959.html Dale caught it first, but IMHO the link he provided to an astronomy.com article was probably the most poorly written scientific announcement ever written . This is really exciting news. Wonder what Stephen Hawkings is thinking righr now

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Digital cameras on clearence
by Jamie Bradley 13 Feb '16

13 Feb '16

Just FYI, I saw a bunch of digital camera bodies on clearance at Walmart in Centerville, lots of other stuff also. Might be at other Walmarts also.

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