For Those Astronomically Inclined...

[Guest Brumagem Phil]

Just to be pedantic me old mate you really mean the Orbiter, not the Shuttle. The Shuttle is what takes off from Kennedy Space Centre. The Shuttle consists of The Orbiter, 2 SRBs (Solid Rocket Boosters) and the ET (External Tank). The only time NASA refers to the system as "The Shuttle" is when all 4 components are together.

 

[corydoras]

Officially it's not even called "The Shuttle" Phil. Its official name is the Space Transportation System or just STS.

[Guest Brumagem Phil]

Officially it's not even called "The Shuttle" Phil. Its official name is the Space Transportation System or just STS.

 

D'ya know, I used to like you! ..................

[corydoras]

D'ya know, I used to like you! ..................

Well I still like you.

 

Here's a link to the New Orion CEV (Crew Exploration Vehicle). You can bone up on all the officila jargon before it even takes off

 

 

Here's a vid of ATK (Thiokol) doing a SRB test at night. That 'flame is 600 ft long. Bring your own marshmallows and an extremely long toasting fork

 

Youtube Video ->

[Bobj]

This is what a star looks like when it explodes.

 

 

Taken from APOD.

Edited March 17, 2009 by Bobj

[corydoras]

This is what a star looks like when it explodes.

 

Taken from APOD.

That's Tycho Brahe's Supernova. He was quite a character was old Tycho. He had a falling out with another Danish noble at a Christmas p!ss up and it ended up in rapiers at midnight (it's not just today's youth that use blades to settle scores) Tycho came of the worse, he lost half of his nose. After that he used to wear a false nose made of copper.

 

He also kept a pet elk and a dwarf called Jepp as his Court Jester. I'm not sure what happened to Jepp, but the elk got p!ssed at dinner one night, fell down the stairs and broke it's neck.

Edited March 17, 2009 by corydoras

[corydoras]

Phil, just for you,or listen to the story here.

[Guest Brumagem Phil]

Phil, just for you,or listen to the story here.

 

Amazing! I have a powerful set of binoculars but doubt that will be good enough but will have a nose anyway out of curiosity.

[corydoras]

Worth a squint mate, can't hurt anyone can it. What binocs do you have? I need to get a decent pair sometime. Do you have a tripod for them?

[Guest Brumagem Phil]

Worth a squint mate, can't hurt anyone can it. What binocs do you have? I need to get a decent pair sometime. Do you have a tripod for them?

 

I have a tripod but no adapter for the binos (it has the screw in attachment though).

 

Not sure what make they are now...decent though as was 90 quid. 8-22x 50's..........there are in the other halfs car so will have a butchers when I get em out. Was toying with a set of nikon 8-22x50's which can be sourced new on ebay for just under a oner which seems ok to me.