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1500 questions
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Is the Skylab 4 mutiny just a myth?
Within the space history community, it is commonly known [citation needed] that the rookie Skylab 4 crew was over-aggressively scheduled by ground control. As they fell further & further behind the 24-hour schedule, the relationship between the crew…
Anton Hengst
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Was there really a shuttle toilet training device with a "boresight camera"?
Was there really a shuttle toilet training device with a camera looking up at the user's fundament? This seems a bit undignified to say the least.
Organic Marble
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How often is duct tape used during crewed space missions?
It seems Apollo missions carried some variety of gray tape, likely Duct Tape or similar. There's the scene in the movie Apollo 13 and the reality behind it discussed in the video below.
Question: How often has duct tape or similar gray tape been…
uhoh
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How did NASA prevent third parties from spoofing Apollo communications?
The Apollo crews transmitted footage to Earth using SSTV, a ham radio technique that amateurs and pirates can use to send similar messages around the world.
Did NASA have any technical countermeasures in place to ensure that the signal they received…
user26171
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Why wasn't an RTG used on the Juno spacecraft?
When I first heard about the Juno spacecraft, I was surprised that it would be using solar panels to generate power throughout the mission. Why wasn't a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) used instead of solar panels?
Is it because RTGs…
Hyperdrive Enthusiast
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What caused all the dust on Mars?
The surface of Mars has vast quantities of dust. It is everywhere. Even hard rocky areas are covered with dust.
I am aware of the mechanisms for dust formation, including wind velocity abrading rocks, biological actions, freeze/thaw cycling, and…
tckosvic
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What led Yuri Gagarin to believe his hatch was not properly sealed?
While still on the launchpad for his historic first human spaceflight, Yuri Gagarin radioed that the spacecraft's hatch was not correctly sealed:
Following a series of tests and checks, about forty minutes after Gagarin entered the spacecraft, its…
DrSheldon
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Does NASA have an end-of-the-world policy?
If an asteroid were detected, shooting towards earth with enough speed and certainty that it would all but guarantee a sequel of the end of the dinosaurs. Observatories and space agencies would almost certainly be first to know.
In such an event…
TheEnvironmentalist
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In what state are satellites left in when they are left in a graveyard orbit?
I had this idea for a fictional scenario in which a forgotten satellite, like a communications satellite that was decommissioned because it was replaced by a newer model, was hacked into and then smashed into another satellite.
And then I realized I…
Greg
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"Pillars of Baikonur" What is the purpose of the hundreds of short, white posts near the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch pad?
The caption given in the third image included in the Space.com page Expedition 56: The Space Station Mission in Photos reads as follows:
At the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch pad, remote-controlled cameras are set up to capture every angle of the Soyuz…
uhoh
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Why are spacecraft computers obsolete at launch?
One might think that spacecraft would be on the cutting edge of technology. However, when looking over details of spacecraft, it seems their computer systems are often very much behind the times. For example, the Curiosity rover was launched in…
GreenMatt
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What would NASA have done if they knew Columbia was catastrophically damaged?
When the Columbia Shuttle broke apart in 2003, it was known after the launch that a piece of foam had fallen and hit the Shuttle. NASA apparently chose not to investigate it as well as they could have. If they had known (or even suspected) the…
duzzy
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Why don't the Space Shuttle's tires explode in the vacuum of space?
According to this NASA article the tires are inflated to 340 psi (main gear) and 300 psi (nose gear). At landing, there is significant strain, but what about in space? Are the tires exposed to vacuum or are they in a pressurized compartment?
It…
James Jenkins
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Shouldn't space junk fall back to Earth on its own? How long will take for a ~1 cm piece of junk in LEO to fall back to Earth on its own for example?
I'm a noob in this subject and know little about space exploration, but I wonder about this every time I read the news:
Wouldn't drag make all space junk fall back to Earth after some time?
I'm reading about several projects to get rid of space junk…
Joe DiNottra
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Is it legal to steal the American flag from the moon?
I'm not quite sure whether the question is correctly answered here or whether it belongs to Law Stack Exchange.
Assuming I can fly into space, more precisely to the moon and back again.
What laws forbid me to collect the American flag (regardless of…
Anton Hinkel
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