Man, it's amazing...

KGIII

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We just smashed a spacecraft into an asteroid that was 24 times the distance to the moon - and the craft was moving at 14,000 MPH.

Sure, we haven't colonized the moon like we thought we were going to in the 60s, but we've come a long, long ways.

Go Science!!!
 


1.
We just smashed a spacecraft into an asteroid

Yeah, I've heard American drivers can be dangerous

2.

...that was 24 times the distance to the moon -...

You'd think that over that distance they would have time to avoid it, or change lanes?

3.
...and the craft was moving at 14,000 MPH

That beats the crash that buggered your knee, by a long ways.

Morning David, off for my 3rd coffee. :)


Chris
 
That beats the crash that buggered your knee, by a long ways.

Femur (hip joint) but close enough.

And, well, they actually want to crash into the asteroid. The goal is to knock it into a new trajectory. It's an idea for redirecting future objects that would otherwise smash into our planet. They set out to smash the asteroid with said spacecraft. It was quite a feat!

They'll be studying this for years and paying close attention to what happens next. It should be interesting.

Also, the idea for this specific program (it's not even remotely a new idea) came from the European Space Agency. We just agreed to help and to support the mission, along with JPL's help.

Yeah, I've heard American drivers can be dangerous

That we can be. Oh man, don't our drivers tend to suck. We'll give anyone a license and then it's quite a pain to take it from them, unless they were quite outlandish. I've driven all over the globe and we're not the worst but we're not good at it. No... No, we are not...
 
I think, truly, it is fascinating, and it's a whole lot more proactive than bending over and kissing your arse goodbye and waitng. :)
 
But the question is did it move the Asteroid?
And yes U.S. Drivers can be dangerous. More so now that everyone has a cell phone. Here in Maine the says you can't talk on your cell unless you have hands off connection. But see people doing it all the time. Of course up there where David G. is located he deals with much less traffic , well for part of the year anyway :)

In any event it was a big smashup last night.
 
I don't believe that NASA knows what the extent of destruction.
It's my understanding NASA will be analyzing the data over the next few months to determine the amount of destruction which occurred.

There are unsafe drivers in every country I've been to.
Driving anywhere is hazardous from my experience.
The US ain't got the patent on unsafe drivers.
 
well for part of the year anyway

I don't really have much traffic, compared to previous areas I lived in. So, there's that.

I'll explain for those who are unfamiliar with Maine/my area.

There's ski slopes in three directions - all of which are the only real routes into civilization. That's my winter. I'm surrounded by people who can't figure out how to drive in the snow. I also have a giant plow on my truck and a broadcast sander in the bed of my truck. One of these days, I'll end up driving into an idiot that pulled out in front of me. The momentum is going to push them a long ways. It might dent the plow a little.

There's a lull right now, but the hunters will be here soon. So won't the foliage viewers. Also, it's that time of the year that moose get extra stupid.

Come spring, I still have people skiing. Then there's a lull before the black flies and mosquitoes come out. Those don't cause traffic, but I thought I'd mention it. It's right about that time that people show up to fish.

Finally, there's summer. The population of the area grows tenfold, quite literally. But, I can kinda avoid a lot of that by going down through the Sugarloaf area. Not too many of the Rangeley tourists venture up my way, but they make going into the village a bit of an ordeal, 'cause the town's infrastructure is not designed to handle that much additional traffic.

But, at the end of the day, I can't complain too much. I knew this stuff when I bought the land and the area would be in dire straits without the money made from tourism.

If you want to know why people flock to the area, do a Google Image Search. Heck, I'll do it for you...


See? That's why I live here...

I don't believe that NASA knows what the extent of destruction.

That is correct. They'll be watching with a number of terrestrial telescopes. There's bound to be some news along the way, but they'll be studying this for years to come.
 
Then there's a lull before the black flies and mosquitoes
And he's not kidding about these :)
Spent many a summer and fall in Rangley, Grew up in Farmington, (which is about 40 miles south), But my Grandfather worked as a cook up there so spent time with them. I now reside in the the south near the big city of Portland, ME a completely different world than up where David G is located.

Just to keep it on topic will be looking forward to see what the results are from the big crash yesterday. All crashes cost money but Man this one $324.5 million I'm sure glad I didn't have to pay their insurance bill.
 
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And he's not kidding about these :)

At one of the stores, there's a picture on the wall of a dude fishing. They're wearing a light colored t-shirt that looks like it's black - as in almost no t-shirt can be seen beneath the shirt. It's in black and white, so I can't be certain of the exact color, but it's a light one - and it's covered in black flies.

So, it could be worse!

The mosquitoes are horrible, about a meter wide and sucking down two liters of blood each. (That is not even remotely true, but they certainly suck - in multiple ways.)

On a positive note, spring was short and there wasn't a lot of standing water. So, we had a pretty light year as far as mosquitoes go. Summer came fast and hard, and was very hot. If you didn't venture into the shady woods, it was pretty great.

All crashes cost money but Man this one $324.5 million I'm sure glad I didn't have to pay their insurance bill.

Trivia: Payloads are insured against loss (and more) due to rocket malfunction or the likes.

PDF warning: https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/media/q42002.pdf
 
As long as they can do it when it counts.
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