APOD: Roadster, Starman, Planet Earth (2018 Feb 10)

[Guest]

I'm curious about this:

in this final image of the payload

What makes this "final?"

The camera/transmitter batteries ran down, as expected. No other power source.

Well, what can you expect from a used car with that many miles on it?

[Antony Rawlinson]

Is there a teapot in the trunk? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell%27s_teapot
It'd be nice to finally get this Russell conundrum out of the way.

I already raised this point (with the link to Wikipedia). But to satisfy (or confound) Russell, it would need to be in free orbit IMO.

[eaglekepr]

This might be the time for some enterprising person to set up a clearing house, seeking room on launches and offering them to universities and businesses. For a fee, of course.
John

There are several, this is one of the first search responses:
http://spaceflight.com/services/launch-services/
Tagline: "Buy a seat, not a rocket"

FWIW, I'm firmly in the camp of "Launching a Tesla = Awesome!" To launch a satellite or science payload on this, the owner-operator would have needed a self-sufficient spacecraft (not requiring more from the launch provider other than a "lift") that was OK with being put into an as-yet unknown orbit/trajectory (probably not conducive to the science they were seeking) which was launching at an unknown time (+/- a few weeks) and would be cool with watching their payload explode over the Cape and crash into the Atlantic.

I could potentially see a cubesat launcher as part of that payload, but that's about it.

[sillyworm2]

My opinion may differ from most...all I see is a tacky piece of Space debris/flotsam.Yes..I loved the movie HEAVY METAL.

[JohnD]

Excellent, eaglekepr!
It was the cubesat market I was mostly thinking of.

I did a search, using 'clearing house' and 'sorting' but was inundated by Harry Potter and the Sorting Hat references.
What was your search?
John

[ta152h0]

no NASA Clean Room required for private endeavours

[Chris Peterson]

no NASA Clean Room required for private endeavours

Perhaps not. But lets see what happens if a private enterprise decides to place a lander on something that could be biologically contaminated (Mars or a Jovian moon) without following all the decontamination protocols. Getting to space, and operating in space, are governed by law. It's not the Wild West.

[FLPhotoCatcher]

Photoshopped!! jk

But it really does look a little fake. Why the 'halos' around bright objects? Did they use an iPhone to take the photo?

Kind of scary to think that in 10 years or so, even videos will be able to be faked with such believability that it would take an expert to verify their authenticity.

[geckzilla]

Photoshopped!! jk

But it really does look a little fake. Why the 'halos' around bright objects? Did they use an iPhone to take the photo?

Kind of scary to think that in 10 years or so, even videos will be able to be faked with such believability that it would take an expert to verify their authenticity.

The halos/glare/haze aren't what make it look fake. There's some kind of sharpening applied afterward. Glare is perfectly natural in optical systems, including your own eyes, as people are apt to notice especially at night. This is a little fuzzy, and there may be some moisture somewhere in or on the camera.

[Guest]

My opinion may differ from most...all I see is a tacky piece of Space debris/flotsam.Yes..I loved the movie HEAVY METAL.

I agree. At the earliest opportunity, commercial space showed its true colors. Easy to laugh this off and give "Ol' Musky" two thumbs up for sticking it to stuffy old NASA protocols. For most of the great unwashed, space is a concept they hold no reverence for. A billionaire flamboyantly displaying his lack of reverence is so verifying for them. And Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic will doubtless have to outdo SpaceX. All while the dimbulbs cheer and clap.

[DrFaustus]

Reminds me of the intro to the movie "Heavy Metal"

[puhbrox]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lERqGULWxs

[Franky Baby]

I think Musk just pulled off the perfect murder!
With millions of witnesses!

[eaglekepr]

Excellent, eaglekepr!
It was the cubesat market I was mostly thinking of.

I did a search, using 'clearing house' and 'sorting' but was inundated by Harry Potter and the Sorting Hat references.
What was your search?
John

Just "satellite launch service", a few links down

[eaglekepr]

But it really does look a little fake. Why the 'halos' around bright objects? Did they use an iPhone to take the photo?

These 'halos' are an artefact of the the exposure limits of the camera trying to balance a mostly dark (space!) field of view with very brightly lit planets and spacesuits. Also it's a screen grab from a video, so there's almost always a reduction in quality. I would have liked to have seen this taken with HDR techniques, but then more people would accuse them of being fake.

[bystander]

Elon Musk explains why he launched a car toward Mars