The Universe is AWESOME!

EmmetSpiceland · 20-02-2021 7:35pm

Adyx wrote: »

I really wish they wouldn't anthropomorphise the rovers. I always think of that depressing XKCD comic.

Capt'n Midnight · 20-02-2021 11:14pm

Adyx wrote: »

I really wish they wouldn't anthropomorphise the rovers. I always think of that depressing XKCD comic.

We all remember those famous first words spoken by an astronaut on the surface of Mars: "That's one small step fo- HOLY **** LOOK OUT IT'S GOT SOME KIND OF DRILL! Get back to the ... [unintelligible] ... [signal lost]"

steddyeddy · 20-02-2021 11:48pm

Carl Sagan's star stuff quote was "stellar" (pun intended), however, I'm far more impressed with Neil deGrasse Tyson's "most astounding fact".

“The most astounding fact.. is the knowledge, that the atoms that comprise life on Earth – the atoms that make up the human body – are traceable to the crucibles that cooked light elements into heavy elements in their core, under extreme temperatures and pressures.

These stars, the high mass ones among them, went unstable in their later years. They collapsed and then exploded, scattering their enriched guts across the galaxy: guts made of Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen, and all of the fundamental ingredients of life itself. These ingredients become parts of gas clouds that condense, collapse, form the next generation of solar systems – stars with orbiting planets – and those planets now have the ingredients for life itself.

So that when I look up at the night sky and I know that, yes, we are part of this universe, we are in this universe, but perhaps more important than both of those facts is that the universe is in us. When I reflect on that fact, I look up, many people feel small – ’cause they’re small and the universe is big – but I feel big. because, my atoms came from those stars.

There’s a level of connectivity. That’s really what you want in life. You want to feel connected, want to feel relevant. You want to feel like you’re a participant in the goings on of activities and events around you. That’s precisely what we are, just by being alive.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9D05ej8u-gU

auspicious · 21-02-2021 12:27am

Detritus70 wrote: »

The universe is still awesome, but this planet isn't, because it's entirely inhabited by people.

And cows.

Kermit.de.frog · 22-02-2021 9:29pm

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

https://twitter.com/NASAPersevere/status/1362948845944987648

Great video of the landing

https://twitter.com/NASAPersevere/status/1363929492138254340

Kermit.de.frog · 21-03-2021 3:46pm

https://twitter.com/AFP/status/1373539876025425925

storker · 21-03-2021 3:56pm

pnecilcaser wrote: »

"Humans are actually made from stardust"

... or "nuclear waste" if you look at it another way.

Kermit.de.frog · 23-03-2021 2:33pm

Whom ever can tell us who delivered that "nuclear waste" line gets a cookie

NIMAN · 02-04-2021 12:02am

Always feel in awe of it all when outside in nights like this.

I live rurally, and next to no light pollution.
I just went a walk around the house, and its so dark I have to walk slowly in case I bang into the car as you can literally see nothing except the odd light from the neighbours.

But just standing for a few minutes and looking at the night sky is amazing. Makes you feel so small!

Kermit.de.frog · 03-04-2021 11:54pm

Nice vid re super massive black hole at the center of our galaxy showing stars orbiting the singularity at phenomenal, unimaginable speeds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRCD-zx5QFA

Your Face · 04-04-2021 2:56am

“You develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something about it. From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, ‘Look at that, you son of a bitch.”

― Edgar Mitchell

Kermit.de.frog · 08-04-2021 11:03pm

The small helicopter 'Ingenuity' has been deployed on Mars. First flight in a few days around the 11th

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Kermit.de.frog · 17-04-2021 10:53pm

Big deal for SpaceX

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1383160370248896512

Kivaro · 19-04-2021 8:02am

Absolutely fascinating watching animation earlier of "our" drone/helicopter that will be taking flight in about 1/2 hour on Mars. It was only just over 100 years ago that we managed powered flight on Earth, and now we are doing it on another planet. Mind-boggling, and a testimony to what humans can do in a collective effort.
You can watch it live here: