Starship Asterisk*

Trifecta at Twilight

Explanation: On February 18, as civil twilight began in northern New Mexico skies, the International Space Station, a waning crescent Moon, and planet Mars for a moment shared this well-planned single field of view. From the photographer's location the sky had just begun to grow light, but the space station orbiting 400 kilometers above the Earth was already bathed in the morning sunlight. At 6:25am local time it took less than a second to cross in front of the lunar disk moving right to left in the composited successive frames. At the time, Mars itself had already emerged from behind the Moon following its much anticipated lunar occultation. The yellowish glow of the Red Planet is still in the frame at the upper right, beyond the Moon's dark edge.

<< Previous APOD

This Day in APOD

Next APOD >>

And when you win the Trifecta, you get your shot on APOD...

Wonderful idea...

:---[===] *

Wonderful shot! Humans in outer space, plus the two possible places for people to really GO TO in outer space: our own Moon, and the planet Mars. I was born in 1940 and I dreamed of humans colonizing the galaxy eventually. I don't LIKE to be old gloomy and dismal, but tell me, am I wrong in thinking that there is no possible real future for humans out there? The particle environment we never suspected would be horribly dangerous. And no possible colony can surely ever be more than a gesture, given lack of adequate water. Outer space, for me, has in the end been very disappointing, in terms of human expansion. Tell me I'm wrong?

This reminds me of the time I happened to be out in the back garden at dawn, and I saw the ISS coming up over the horizon. Very bright, much brighter than it usually looks in an evening pass, and I think a bit brighter than an Iridium flare.

To "fly" manned to the ISS is one thing, to the moon another - to Mars something completely different.

But I hope it will happen soon.

Nice catch by the photographer!

I saw a thin crescent of the moon this morning about 5:30AM! Just over my neighbors house ant through the branches of the trees!

heehaw wrote: ↑Thu Feb 20, 2020 10:09 am Wonderful shot! Humans in outer space, plus the two possible places for people to really GO TO in outer space: our own Moon, and the planet Mars. I was born in 1940 and I dreamed of humans colonizing the galaxy eventually. I don't LIKE to be old gloomy and dismal, but tell me, am I wrong in thinking that there is no possible real future for humans out there? The particle environment we never suspected would be horribly dangerous. And no possible colony can surely ever be more than a gesture, given lack of adequate water. Outer space, for me, has in the end been very disappointing, in terms of human expansion. Tell me I'm wrong?

I don't think you're wrong. There is much to be done is space... but none of it requires a human presence. That may change in a few centuries, but for now, there's really no use case for humans in space, outside, perhaps, of some very limited special cases.

Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Thu Feb 20, 2020 2:28 pm

heehaw wrote: ↑Thu Feb 20, 2020 10:09 am
Humans in outer space, plus the two possible places for people to really GO TO in outer space: our own Moon, and the planet Mars. I was born in 1940 and I dreamed of humans colonizing the galaxy eventually... Outer space, for me, has in the end been very disappointing, in terms of human expansion. Tell me I'm wrong?

I don't think you're wrong. There is much to be done is space... but none of it requires a human presence. That may change in a few centuries, but for now, there's really no use case for humans in space, outside, perhaps, of some very limited special cases.

The World will never know.

heehaw wrote: ↑Thu Feb 20, 2020 10:09 am Wonderful shot! Humans in outer space, plus the two possible places for people to really GO TO in outer space: our own Moon, and the planet Mars. I was born in 1940 and I dreamed of humans colonizing the galaxy eventually. I don't LIKE to be old gloomy and dismal, but tell me, am I wrong in thinking that there is no possible real future for humans out there? The particle environment we never suspected would be horribly dangerous. And no possible colony can surely ever be more than a gesture, given lack of adequate water. Outer space, for me, has in the end been very disappointing, in terms of human expansion. Tell me I'm wrong?

You're wrong.

... At least there's plenty of water out there.
I'm optimistic we'll figure out a way to mitigate radiation exposure, though I'm not saying it will be easy.