Starship Asterisk*

stephen63 wrote:14 full moons ago:
I'm going to go way out on a limb and guess Supermoon?
6May2012 03:33 Moon at Perigee: 356954 km

Oh, is it that time again? The time for everyone to overhype the “Supermoon”?

Yup.

You’ve probably heard about this: on June 23, the full Moon will be the biggest and brightest of the year, so it’s called the Supermoon. Let me be clear: While this is technically true, you’d never notice the difference in size or brightness by eye. The full Moon will look pretty much like every other full Moon you’ve ever seen. Which is to say, big, bright, beautiful, and completely worth your time to outside and see! But Supermoon? Not so much. ...

Heck, the difference between the two extremes of apogee and perigee is only about 40,000 km (25,000 miles)—about a 10-15 percent difference overall, making the Moon look 10-15 percent bigger at perigee. Even that wouldn’t be spotted by eye, especially with two weeks separating the two observations (not to mention the change in the phase of the Moon throwing your sense of scale off). Also, the Moon is a lot smaller in the sky than you think, so a small change is even harder to spot.

stephen63 wrote:
Heck, I wonder if we'd notice about a 10-15 percent difference overall of apogee and perigee in our orbit of the sun?

Ann wrote:

Water for aliens? Heck, there's water everywhere! Here... and here...and here...and here...

Pass the straw, the alien wants a drink!

Beyond wrote:
It doesn't take long to wash your hair when you don't have any.

• Apparently Luca didn't spend enough time drying, however:

http://www.universetoday.com/103503/spacesuit-water-leak-aborts-space-station-eva/#more-103503 wrote:

[b][color=#0000FF]ISS Astronauts had to scramble to get Luca Parmitano out of his spacesuit after water leaked inside the suit, covering his face. Via NASA TV.[/color][/b]

---

Spacesuit Water Leak Aborts Space Station EVA
by Nancy Atkinson, Universe Today, July 16, 2013

<<Today’s spacewalk at the International Space Station was cut short due to a water leak inside astronaut Luca Parmitano’s spacesuit. At one point, there was so much water inside Parmitano’s ears and around his face that he couldn’t hear or speak to communicate with the other astronauts. “Squeeze my hand if you’re fine,” fellow EVA member Chris Cassidy said to Parmitano. The water inside Parmitano’s helmet literally surrounded and clung to his face and head.

What was supposed to be a 7-8 hour spacewalk only lasted 1 hour and 2 minutes after the leak occurred.

NASA TV says the cause of the leak in the helmet was “not readily identifiable,” but Parmitano appeared to be examining the drink bag that was inside his helmet shortly after the two astronauts got inside and were removed from their suits. However, just a short time later, Cassidy told Mission Control that Parmitano said the “water tasted really funny,” so it was likely not from the drink bag, and was perhaps the iodinated water from the crew’s liquid-cooled undergarments. But Cassidy also said Parmitano’s torso was essentially dry, and that the source of water seemed to be in the back of his head.>>

bystander wrote:
How would you explain that one to the folks at home?

"Umm, he was on a spacewalk and he drowned."

neufer wrote:
Spacesuit Water Leak Aborts Space Station EVA
by Nancy Atkinson, Universe Today, July 16, 2013

bystander wrote:

How Did That Spacesuit Water Leak Spread?
Universe Today | Elizabeth Howell | 2013 Jul 30

neufer wrote:
Where is Luca? (Does he sleep with the )

bystander wrote:
How would you explain that one to the folks at home?

"Umm, he was on a spacewalk and he drowned."

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57599513/astronaut-luca-parmitano-describes-near-drowning-experience-in-space/ wrote:
Astronaut Luca Parmitano describes near-drowning experience in space
By Danielle Elliot / CBS News/ August 21, 2013, 11:27 AM

<<The Italian astronaut who nearly drowned when his helmet filled with water during a July 16 spacewalk took to his blog this week to describe the experience. Luca Parmitano, 36, started the post by recounting his excitement in the moments immediately preceding the mission. "I'm not tired -- quite the reverse! I feel fully charged, as if electricity and not blood were running through my veins. I just want to make sure I experience and remember everything," he wrote.

After releasing the door and securing their safety cables, Parmitano and NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy set out on separate routes towards the same part of the International Space Station, Parmitano taking the more direct path. He completed his first two tasks more than 40 minutes ahead of schedule. That's when the mission started to veer off track. "At this exact moment, just as I'm thinking about how to uncoil the cable neatly ... I 'feel' that something is wrong. The unexpected sensation of water at the back of my neck surprises me -- and I'm in a place where I'd rather not be surprised."

Something was indeed wrong. Very wrong. NASA would later link the malfunction to his spacesuit backpack, but at the time the only thing on Parmitano's mind was reaching safety. After Parmitano alerted mission control, Cassidy came over to attempt to figure out where the water is coming from. Parmitano says he could tell the liquid was too cold to be sweat, and didn't see anything leaking from his drinking water valve, so mission control told him to head back to the airlock.

With water already obscuring his vision, he had to turn upside down in order to release his safety cable. "Two things happen: the Sun sets, and my ability to see -- already compromised by the water - completely vanishes, making my eyes useless; but worse than that, the water covers my nose -- a really awful sensation that I make worse by my vain attempts to move the water by shaking my head. ... I can't even be sure that the next time I breathe I will fill my lungs with air and not liquid. To make matters worse, I realise that I can't even understand which direction I should head in to get back to the airlock."

Frantic, he started feeling his way along the safety cable, finding the handles that lead to the airlock along the way. Looking through a "curtain of water before my eyes," he worked his way into the airlock. Cassidy soon followed, and they started the repressurization process. As they repressurized, Parmitano lost audio contact. The water filled his ears. It takes several minutes to repressurize, and he says that he considered opening his helmet during the process. This would've left him unconscious, but, as he says, he figured that fainting would be better than drowning. "Finally, with an unexpected wave of relief," as repressurization ended, the other crew members rushed in to remove his helmet.

NASA has suspended all spacewalks as it continues to investigate the equipment malfunction. Parmitano will return to Earth in November. In the meantime, he has had plenty of time to reflect on the near-drowning experience. He closes the blog post with this thought: "Space is a harsh, inhospitable frontier and we are explorers, not colonisers. The skills of our engineers and the technology surrounding us make things appear simple when they are not, and perhaps we forget this sometimes. Better not to forget.">>

bystander wrote:
How would you explain that one to the folks at home?

"Umm, he was on a spacewalk and he drowned."

http://www.universetoday.com/104687/astronaut-does-a-moon-walk-in-the-sea-better-yet-its-just-one-of-many-recent-underwater-missions/#ixzz2ebXT10eI wrote:

[b][color=#0000FF]European Space Agency astronaut Jean-François Clervoy recreates the first moon landing mission, Apollo 11, underwater. Credit: Alexis Rosenfeld [/color][/b]

---

Astronaut Does A ‘Moon’ Walk In The Sea. Better Yet,
It’s Just One Of Many Recent Underwater Missions
by Elizabeth Howell on September 11, 2013

<<The black-and-white tones of this photo evoke a famous Moon walk of 1969, but in reality it was taken in Mediterranean waters just a few days ago. For the “Apollo 11 Under The Sea” project, European Space Agency astronaut Jean-François Clervoy (pictured above) and ESA astronaut instructor Hervé Stevenin took on the roles of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, the first two men to walk on the moon during Apollo 11. A major goal was to test the Comex-designed Gandolfi spacewalk training suit (based on the Russian Orlan spacesuits) during the sojourn. The mission was considered the first step (literally and figuratively) to figuring out how Europeans can train their astronauts for possible Moon, asteroid and Mars missions in the decades to come. “The Gandolfi suit is bulky, has limited motion freedom, and requires some physical effort – just like actual space suits. I really felt like I was working and walking on the Moon,” Clervoy stated.>>

Beyond wrote:
Night at the drive-in.(2013 Sept. 20)
Sounds like a thriller.

But for part of what drive-ins are noted for...
APOD couldn't show that kind of thrill.

APOD: 2013 Sept 25 wrote:Tomorrow's picture: M31 versus M33

geckzilla wrote:
And then BAM. Happy people dancing.

• A.K.A., Matt Harding versus the World.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interacting_galaxy wrote:

[b][color=#FF0000]NGC 3169 (left) and NGC 3166 (right) display some curious features, demonstrating that each member of the duo is close enough to feel the distorting gravitational influence of the other. Image from the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory.[/color][/b]

---

<<Interacting galaxies (colliding galaxies) are galaxies whose gravitational fields result in a disturbance of one another. A giant galaxy interacting with its satellites is common. A satellite's gravity could attract one of the primary's spiral arms. Or the satellite could dive in to the primary (e.g. Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy). This could trigger a small amount of star formation.

Colliding galaxies are common in galaxy evolution. Due to the extremely tenuous distribution of matter in galaxies, these are not collisions in the normal sense of the word, but rather gravitational interaction. Colliding may lead to merging. This occurs when two galaxies collide and do not have enough momentum to continue traveling after the collision. Instead, they fall back into each other and eventually merge after many passes through each other, forming one galaxy. If one of the colliding galaxies is much larger than the other, it will remain largely intact after the merger; that is, the larger galaxy will look much the same while the smaller galaxy will be stripped apart and become part of the larger galaxy. Through-passes are less disruptive of galaxy shapes than mergers in that both galaxies largely retain their material and shape after the pass.

Galactic cannibalism refers to the process by which a large galaxy, through tidal gravitational interactions with a companion, merges with that companion, resulting in a larger, often irregular galaxy. The most common result of the gravitational merger of two or more galaxies is an irregular galaxy of one form or another, although elliptical galaxies may also result. It has been suggested that galactic cannibalism is currently occurring between the Milky Way and the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. Streams of gravitationally-attracted hydrogen arcing from these dwarf galaxies to the Milky Way is taken as evidence for this theory.

Galaxy harassment is a type of interaction between a low-luminosity galaxy and a brighter one that takes place within rich galaxy clusters such as Virgo and Coma, where galaxies are moving at high relative speeds and suffering frequent encounters with other systems of the cluster due to the high galactic density of the latter. According to computer simulations, these interactions convert the affected systems into disturbed barred spiral galaxies and produces starbursts on them followed, if more encounters occur, by loss of angular momentum and heating of their gas. Their result would be the conversion of (late type) low-luminosity spiral galaxies into dwarf spheroidals and dwarf ellipticals. Evidence for this hypothesis has been found studying early-type dwarf galaxies of the Virgo Cluster and finding on them structures such as disks and spiral arms suggesting they are former disk systems transformed by the mentioned interactions.>>