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Space

Posted: 11 Sep 2019, 17:10
by Phil_G
Anyone else following Chandrayaan-2 and the news that isro have found the Vikram lander in one piece, without visual damage ('unscathed' is the word they used)? I'm getting my updates from isro (whose reports are as infuriatingly infrequent as nasas) and the science pages of india today, they're talking about ways to establish comms and possibly get the rover out, which would be fantastic.

https://www.indiatoday.in/science/chandrayaan-2-mission

https://www.isro.gov.in/chandrayaan2-latest-updates

Background, well out of date now: https://www.indiatoday.in/science/story ... 2019-09-07


Edit: two weeks on, it seems they were not being quite honest. Vikram has yet to be found.

Re: Space

Posted: 12 Sep 2019, 12:58
by Colonel Blink
Fascinating stuff - I've always been a bit of space geek since the days of Apollo (I was a bit too young to have followed the Gemini programme). Don't know if they have changed the articles under pressure from ISRO, but I couldn't find the 'unscathed' reference - they seem to now only be saying that it is in one piece?

I am in awe of the teams that can produce a machine which can do so much autonomously, and also in awe of human ability to problem solve on the hoof - like in the Apollo 13 mission (which was the first time I had ever insisted on watching the News on TV - I was 8).

The other space-related happening which I am still amazed by was when the Mars 'Curiosity' rover parachute was photographed during its descent by a satellite. That is still a photo which I can stare at!

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/de ... d=PIA15978

Re: Space

Posted: 12 Sep 2019, 14:34
by Stew
It always amazes me how something as essentially 'locked down' as these space probes seem to have any amount of work-arounds that are possible once things go wrong. We can 're-route this' and 're-configure that' and suddenly they're away doing science again after near disaster. Incredible. It gives me the goosebumps thinking of the sheer brilliance, creativity, and can-do attitude of the teams that make all this possible.

I remember reading an article, I think it was by Chris Hadfield, and he was doing an EVA I believe, and a tiny droplet of some visor anti-fog agent was overlooked floating around inside the helmet, anyway, during the EVA it got into his eye, and wicked over his eyeballs, nearly temporarily blinding him. One simple tiny mistake like that in such a harsh and unforgiving environment could easily be fatal.