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1500 questions
21
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2 answers
How is Voyager 1 still operating?
I watched a documentary on Voyager 1 and 2 last night and wondered "how is the digital equipment on them still operating"?
I work in IT, and decided to look up what the longest running servers were - recently there have been servers that ran 17…
e_i_pi
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21
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Why does NASA intentionally spin space probes?
In several NASA animations of missions, I've noticed that the spacecraft is rotating while traveling in deep space. This was true of Curiosity when that video came out. Now the Juno mission demonstrates the same behavior.
I saw one related…
AlanSE
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21
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Is it safe to observe the ISS with the naked eye?
As far as I understand, when we view the ISS, it is because the sunrays get reflected from the solar panels of the ISS and reach us at the appropriate angle. So that would be equivalent to viewing the Sun through a mirror except that solar panels…
User Not Found
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What's the (particle) density of the asteroid belt?
Obviously the asteroid belt is pretty sparsly populated. But how sparsly exactly?
What is the state of knowledge regarding how many particles are there in a given size bracket and a volume, what would be typical distances between asteroids in a…
mart
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21
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What exactly causes stranded upper stages to explode?
Usually if an upper stage experiences a failure before it can "passivate" itself (empty tanks, drain batteries, etc.), it's only a matter of time before it explodes. For recent examples, see any of three Breeze-M upper stages (pictured below),…
user29
21
votes
2 answers
What is the cost of keeping the ISS in orbit
The plan for the ISS upon decomissioning is to deorbit the structure and let it fall into the ocean.
I get that we do not want extra debris in orbit but I would think that leaving the structure in a stable orbit may provide an opportunity to…
Chad
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What was the first programming language in space?
Sputnik 1 was the first satellite in space. Did it have a programming language on board or was it purely analog?
in 1949 Von Neumann released the language Short Code.
Fortran was invented in 1957.
Sputnik launched in 1957.
Dennis Ritchie created the…
CodingMatters
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Could an Apollo LM land uncrewed?
I believe that Apollo mission control had the ability to upload data and commands to the LM's guidance computer as long as they had an operational communications link. I'm wondering if, from the point of separation from the CSM, there was any…
Russell Borogove
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Why aren't the 'bedrooms' aboard the ISS also the escape pods?
If ISS was designed this way, couldn't the astronauts have a quick escape if the ISS is destroyed (severe meteor shower, re-entry, uncontrollable fire, explosive decompression, etc.) while they are asleep.
The crew cabins are also centralized on…
Zach
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4 answers
Why doesn't the ISS start to spin if people walk inside?
I have read that prior to launch all people and tools are fastened down to prevent a rocket from losing the balance. Why doesn't the ISS begin to spin as astronauts are walking inside of it? Or is there some compensation mechanism for it to maintain…
Denis Kulagin
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How can Mars have dust storms with such a thin atmosphere?
Mars, as I understand, has a very thin atmosphere. However, it still has weather like this:
What causes the thin atmosphere to move fast enough to cause such a monster wave of dust?
user12
21
votes
4 answers
Did the soft-landing rockets malfunction in the Soyuz (expedition 50 crew) landing?
I just watched the live feed of the Soyuz capsule landing in Kazakhstan. All the way down the narrator was describing the expected sequence of parachutes and how retro-rockets would fire approximately 3 seconds before touchdown to soften the…
Caleb
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Does SpaceX use any of Falcon-9's camera data for engineering or status information, or are they "just for PR"?
I've previously asked Roughly how many self-viewing cameras are present in a Falcon 9 LEO mission? asking if it's closer to a dozen or a hundred on a log scale, because I have a hunch there's probably three dozen imaging devices present altogether,…
uhoh
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Can you buy land on the moon?
The two primary documents regarding legal niceties on the Moon and often mentioned are:
Outer Space Treaty of 1967, which according to Wikipedia is essentially ratified by any country with a chance of getting there
Moon Treaty which according to…
James Jenkins
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21
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How was fuel crossfeed achieved, between the main tank and the Shuttle?
Whenever a fan of Kerbal Space Program mentions the super-efficient 'asparagus staging' in any professional context, the automatic response is 'That won't work. KSP fuel pipes are pure magic.'
The idea of 'asparagus staging' is that external…
SF.
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