There is a lot of activity in space at the moment ....
Around the planet Mercury, the resilient probe of the Messenger mission, that has circled that planet since 2011, has crashed into Mercury at a very great speed (8,750mph or 14,000km/h - covering 2.4 miles (3.9km) every second), sometime yesterday. I say resilient, as it was never expected to last more than a couple of years, but somehow, through clever use of fuel (despite orbiting on the ecliptic, which means it has to use fuel to keep in that orbit), it has managed to orbit over 3,000 times, and in the process, thrown much of what we thought we knew about this planet into the garbage bin .... perhaps the most surprising fact is that it found water ice in the dark polar craters (which perhaps suggests that Mercury started life much further out from the Sun).
Meanwhile, much closer to home, in fact in near Earth orbit, the Russians have lost control of an unmanned ferry for the International Space Station ..... its expected to crash back to Earth also in the next few days. When we say 'crash', there's no need to duck as it predicted to burn up when it hits the atmosphere .... well mostly.
However on a brighter note ... NASA's New Horizon's probe to Pluto is now within its earliest visual range, and man's first visit (or flyby as it will be ... its travelling too fast to enter orbit), to the last of the 'classical planets' to be visited is underway. Pluto of course is now classed as minor-planet for a variety of reasons, and in fact is smaller than its close neighbour Cere's, which is another minor planet.
But still what an achievement ... from Mercury way out to Pluto, inside the lifetime of a human being (and with something to spare on that front. I hope!!). Humanity, when it hasn't got its head up its arse in greed, selfishness, wars, conquests and perhaps most absurdly religious disputes, is capable of almost anything.
If the daydreams of the Victorian 'steam-punk' Sci-Fi writers had ever been true, and man had travelled into space via Jules Vernes rockets, maybe we would already have had the first space colonies ..... no doubt driven by the same colonial empire urges that sent the Victorian Europeans into Africa.
I don't suppose the first space colonies will be in my lifetime, but I'm still confident that man will colonise out solar system within the next century, although barring 'Warp Drive' or 'Wormhole Technology', I suspect we will never send a human deliberately to another star system.
Around the planet Mercury, the resilient probe of the Messenger mission, that has circled that planet since 2011, has crashed into Mercury at a very great speed (8,750mph or 14,000km/h - covering 2.4 miles (3.9km) every second), sometime yesterday. I say resilient, as it was never expected to last more than a couple of years, but somehow, through clever use of fuel (despite orbiting on the ecliptic, which means it has to use fuel to keep in that orbit), it has managed to orbit over 3,000 times, and in the process, thrown much of what we thought we knew about this planet into the garbage bin .... perhaps the most surprising fact is that it found water ice in the dark polar craters (which perhaps suggests that Mercury started life much further out from the Sun).
Meanwhile, much closer to home, in fact in near Earth orbit, the Russians have lost control of an unmanned ferry for the International Space Station ..... its expected to crash back to Earth also in the next few days. When we say 'crash', there's no need to duck as it predicted to burn up when it hits the atmosphere .... well mostly.
 |
| Mercury Rising |
However on a brighter note ... NASA's New Horizon's probe to Pluto is now within its earliest visual range, and man's first visit (or flyby as it will be ... its travelling too fast to enter orbit), to the last of the 'classical planets' to be visited is underway. Pluto of course is now classed as minor-planet for a variety of reasons, and in fact is smaller than its close neighbour Cere's, which is another minor planet.
 |
| There May Be Other Objects Out There ..... |
But still what an achievement ... from Mercury way out to Pluto, inside the lifetime of a human being (and with something to spare on that front. I hope!!). Humanity, when it hasn't got its head up its arse in greed, selfishness, wars, conquests and perhaps most absurdly religious disputes, is capable of almost anything.
If the daydreams of the Victorian 'steam-punk' Sci-Fi writers had ever been true, and man had travelled into space via Jules Vernes rockets, maybe we would already have had the first space colonies ..... no doubt driven by the same colonial empire urges that sent the Victorian Europeans into Africa.
I don't suppose the first space colonies will be in my lifetime, but I'm still confident that man will colonise out solar system within the next century, although barring 'Warp Drive' or 'Wormhole Technology', I suspect we will never send a human deliberately to another star system.
Fantastic stuff!
ReplyDeleteI had high hopes for Interstellar but it disappointed : Isn't it enough, said Douglas Adams, to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too? Interstellar had too many fairies.
We all dared to dream of Dan Dare and his exploits, when both we and the Earth were younger, but increasingly it looks like the laws of physics mean we are locked into our own solar system. Maybe we will learn to look after it a bit better.
DeleteNot all Science Fiction dreams of leaving the solar system. Many writers realised a while ago that we could never leave the suns warm embrace in manned ships. Joss Whedon's Firefly series was set in side the solar system and there are others. Leviathan Wakes, by James S. A. Corey, is to be turned into a TV series and again is solely in the solar system.
DeleteHowever space elevators are possibly do able now and if not now within 30 yrs, if we wanted to. So while we may no longer be reaching for the stars, we may be reaching for our star.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefly_(TV_series)
Sadly, 30 years plus build time is too late for me, if not Vroomfondel. If my memory hasn't failed me, the space elevator featured in an Isaac Asimov book set in the 22nd century, not 30 yrs from now. I don't dispute your science, 30 yrs may be possible for the technology (nano tubes, graphene etc) but as for the politics, maybe it will be another century. Thanks for the comment.
Delete