Spaaaaace (Part 1)

ETA

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Mark your calendars!

https://archive.ph/6U34x

If Bennu were to hit the Earth, it would slam into the surface at about seven miles per second. It is so big that it could release 1,400 megatons of energy, per a NASA calculation — which is at least 24 times as powerful as the nuclear weapon, the Tsar Bomba.

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Well, l’d say let’s pencil it in.

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So I’m trying to decide if it’s worth it for my family to drive about 9 hours to witness the annular solar eclipse on Saturday October 14. Has anyone here seen one? Was it a transcendent, life-changing experience?

If I stay at home I’ll still see about a 75% eclipse, which would still be neat, I guess.

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I couldn’t possibly comment.

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I’ve seen a number of partial eclipses, one with close to 99% coverage (Germany 1998), and it was a fairly “that’s interesting” experience. But a total eclipse is a truly amazing experiance. That additional 1% is huge.

I haven’t seen an annular eclipse though.

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The folks near San Antonio TX sit at the intersection of the 2023 and 2024 eclipse paths so we’ll have to ask them how they compare next April.
20230922_090445

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FAA wants rocket jockeys to clean up after their space launch parties

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has proposed rules for commercial space launch companies to address orbital debris, a growing threat to spacecraft and satellites.

Detailed this week in a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) [PDF], the FAA wants commercial space operators to take responsibility for disposing of the upper stages of their launch vehicles, and offers them five options to implement this.

[…]

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NASA is bringing an asteroid sample back to Earth – here’s when, how and why – Spaceflight Now

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Future religious artifact.

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okay, but how many squirrels clapping is that?

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Noooooo! There won’t be any disks, it’ll just be a rabbit!

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