Starship Asterisk*

ta152h0 wrote:
I could get banned from APOD if I reveal the first thing that came to mind.

ta152h0 wrote:
I am aware of the early astronauts commentary in regards to having windows on Mercury spacecraft. Very courageous crowd.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury-Redstone_3 wrote:
<<Mercury-Redstone 3, or Freedom 7, was the first United States human spaceflight, on May 5, 1961, piloted by astronaut Alan Shepard. It was the first manned flight of Project Mercury, the objective of which was to put an astronaut into orbit around the Earth and return him safely. Shepard's mission was a 15-minute suborbital flight with the primary objective of demonstrating his ability to withstand the high g forces of launch and atmospheric re-entry. The secondary objective was to make observations of the ground from the spacecraft; returning the spacecraft to automatic control, Shepard found that he was able to distinguish major land masses from clouds easily, and could make out coastlines, islands and major lakes, but had difficulty identifying cities. He had problems working with the spacecraft periscope – early Mercury capsules had a small periscope rather than a viewing window – and had to abandon an attempt to change optical filters on it after noticing that a pressure gauge on his wrist kept bumping the lever that would have activated the Launch Escape System. Although the escape tower was long gone and pressing on the lever probably wouldn't do anything, Shepard still didn't want to risk it in case something unexpected happened.>>

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirit_of_St._Louis wrote:
<<The Spirit of St. Louis is the custom-built, single engine, single-seat monoplane that was flown solo by Charles Lindbergh on May 20–21, 1927, on the first solo non-stop transatlantic flight from Long Island, New York, to Paris, France, for which Lindbergh won the $25,000 Orteig Prize. At Lindbergh's request, the large main and forward fuel tanks were placed in the forward section of the fuselage, in front of the pilot, with the oil tank acting as a firewall. This arrangement improved the center of gravity and reduced the risk of the pilot being crushed to death between the main tank and the engine in the event of a crash. This design decision meant that there could be no front windshield, and that forward visibility would be limited to the side windows. This did not concern Lindbergh as he was used to flying in the rear cockpit of mail planes with mail bags in the front. To provide some forward vision as a precaution against hitting ship masts, trees, or structures while flying at low altitude, a Ryan employee who had served in the submarine service installed a periscope which Lindbergh helped design. It is unclear whether the periscope was used during the flight. The instrument panel housed fuel pressure, oil pressure and temperature gauges, a clock, altimeter, tachometer, airspeed indicator, bank and turn indicator, and a liquid magnetic compass. The main compass was mounted behind Lindbergh in the cockpit, and he read it using the mirror from a women's makeup case which was mounted to the ceiling using chewing gum.>>

neufer wrote:Imperial Probe Droid

Frink's Frog wrote:

Visual_Astronomer wrote:

illexsquid wrote:
So wait, if the two glowing circles are not camera lenses, in what way are they eyes? Seems to me the eye is the camera located in the middle. Which begs the question, what are the glowing circles?

Robots with humanoid features are considered friendlier and easier to interact with. I speculate that those "eye" features are there for the benefit of the astronauts.

From Wikipedia, "The simulated "eyes" modeled on the exterior of the ball represent the direction of the "gaze" of the Int-Ball..." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Int-Ball

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyespot_(mimicry) wrote:

[b][color=#0000FF]Pygmy owl (Glaucidium californicum) showing eyespots behind head[/color][/b]

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<<An eyespot (sometimes ocellus) is an eye-like marking. They are found in butterflies, reptiles, cats, birds and fish. Eyespots may be a form of mimicry in which a spot on the body of an animal resembles an eye of a different animal to deceive potential predator or prey species; a form of self-mimicry, to draw a predator's attention away from the most vulnerable body parts; or to appear as an inedible or dangerous animal. In larger animals, eyespots may play a role in intraspecies communication or courtship. Eyespots are not necessarily adaptations, but may in some cases be spandrels, accidental artefacts of pattern formation.

Some members of the cat family Felidae, such as the leopard cat and leopard, have ocelli, white circular markings on the backs of the ears. Ocelli serve social functions, such as signaling to kittens, and communicating the cat's mental state to conspecifics in the gloom of dense forest or in tall grass.

The eye-like markings in some butterflies and moths, like the Bicyclus anynana, and certain other insects, as well as the Sunbittern (a bird) do not seem to serve only a mimicry function. In some other cases, the evolutionary function of such spots is also not understood. There is evidence that eyespots in butterflies are antipredator adaptations, either in deimatic displays to distract, startle or scare off predators, or to deflect attacks away from vital body parts. Butterfly eyespots may also play a role in mate recognition and sexual selection.

Some species of caterpillar, such as many hawkmoths (Sphingidae), have eyespots on their anterior abdominal segments. When alarmed, they retract the head and the thoracic segments into the body, leaving the apparently threatening large eyes at the front of the visible part of the body.

Many butterflies such as the blues (Lycaenidae) have filamentous "tails" at the ends of their wings and nearby patterns of markings on the wings, which combine to create a "false head". This misdirects predators such as birds and jumping spiders (Salticidae). Spectacular examples occur in the hairstreak butterflies; when perching on a twig or flower, they commonly do so upside down and shift their rear wings repeatedly, causing antenna-like movements of the "tails" on their wings. Studies of rear-wing damage support the hypothesis that this strategy is effective in deflecting attacks from the insect's head.

Some reptiles, such as the sand lizard of Europe, have eyespots; in the sand lizard's case, there is a row of spots along the back, and a row on each side.

Male birds of some species, such as the peacock, have conspicuous eyespots in their plumage, used to signal their quality to sexually selecting females. The number of eyespots in a peacock's train predicts his mating success; when a peacock's train is experimentally pruned, females lose interest. Several species of pygmy owl bear false eyes on the back of the head, misleading predators into reacting as though they were the subject of an aggressive stare.

Some fish have eyespots. The foureye butterflyfish gets its name from a large and conspicuous eyespot on each side of the body near the tail. A black vertical bar on the head runs through the true eye, making it hard to see. This may deceive predators into attacking the tail rather than the more vulnerable head, and about the fish's likely direction of travel: in other words, the eyespot is an example of self-mimicry. For the same reason, many juvenile fish display eyespots that disappear during their adult phase.>>

illexsquid wrote:

sees with a camera located between its two dark eyes

So wait, if the two glowing circles are not camera lenses, in what way are they eyes? Seems to me the eye is the camera located in the middle. Which begs the question, what are the glowing circles?

illexsquid wrote:

sees with a camera located between its two dark eyes

So wait, if the two glowing circles are not camera lenses, in what way are they eyes? Seems to me the eye is the camera located in the middle. Which begs the question, what are the glowing circles?

sees with a camera located between its two dark eyes

http://iss.jaxa.jp/en/kiboexp/news/170714_int_ball_en.html wrote:
Objectives of Int-Ball

• Acquiring the capability to move anywhere at any time via autonomous flight and record images from any angle.
  
  Realizing "zero" photographing time by the onboard crew in the end, which amounts to about 10% of their working hours at present.
  
  Enabling flight controllers and researchers on the ground to check the crew's work from the same viewpoint as the crew. The effective cooperative work between in space and on the ground will contribute to maximized results of "Kibo" utilization experiments.
  
  Striving to further improve Int-Ball's performance, enhance its functions, and promote the automation and autonomy of extra- and intra-vehicular experiments, while seeking to acquire the robotics technology available for future exploration missions.

• Lip reading

CMatisse wrote:Looks more like Felix the Cat! https://www.bing.com/images/search?view ... ajaxhist=0

minkfarms wrote:Next space walk Int-ball will discover fans don't work in a vacuum.

Case wrote:
It seems fitting that JAXA provides a small spherical assistant, as previously featured in sci-fi manga and anime.

http://www.starwars.com/databank/imperial-probe-droid wrote:

• Imperial Probe Droid

<<Specially designed for deep space exploration and reconnaissance, probe droids are employed in science and military applications. Tenacious hunters and searchers, probe droids (or probots) have a variety of sensors, and the ones employed by the Empire are armed with powerful blasters and, in some models, shields. Upon arrival at their target location, they gather information. If confronted after their main mission has been completed these droids can self-destruct. Imperial probes are vaguely arachnid in shape, with a dark metal finish, bulbous sensor "eyes" and spindly manipulator arms.>>