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She developed the building blocks for modern 'software engineering'
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Margaret Hamilton was the leader of the team that developed the flight software for the agency's Apollo missions. The concepts she and her team created became the building blocks for modern 'software engineering.' One example of the value of Hamilton's software work occurred during the Apollo 11 mission. Approximately three minutes before Eagle's touchdown on the moon, the software over rode a command to switch the flight computer's priority processing to a radar system whose 'on' switch had been manually activated due to a faulty written operations script provided to the crew. The action by the software permitted the mission to safely continue. Source: http://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/a11Hamilton.html ...
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20987 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
We are the stars, we are the universe
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I'd like to share this mind-opening video. Astrophysicist Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson was asked by a reader of TIME magazine, "What is the most astounding fact you can share with us about the Universe?" This is his answer. By far, one of the best...
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4506 |
ehd123 |
9 years ago |
Rosetta's Comet - Update
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Remember Philae? That little lander that was targeting comet Rosetta? https://biology-forums.com/index.php?article=1050It was very big news around two months ago... Sadly, Philae landed incorrectly in a rather awkward position due to technical failings. After all, it was trying to land on the harsh, unstable, deteriorating/burning up surface of a comet. It bounced three times to a site away from the targeted position and ended up in a shady place with insufficient sunlight to recharge its energy reserves. And so it died out after 60 hours of touchdown. Recent tabloids have now reported that Philae is missing! Scientists from the European Space Agency have tried to analyze the images that Philae returned but things just keep on getting more ...
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13011 |
ehd123 |
9 years ago |
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5984 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
What a flame looks like in microgravity
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Flames look a little different in space. On Earth, gravity causes a candle flame to be teardrop-shaped, and carries soot to the flame's tip, making it yellow. In microgravity, where these forces are absent, the flame is spherical, soot-free, and blue.
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3562 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
Let's go to Planet George
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"George" was named by it's discoverer in honour of George III. It wasn't popular and Uranus, the father of Saturn in Roman mythology, was eventually settled upon.
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12549 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
Finally, we are going back to the moon!
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For all those doubters out there, this one is for you. Lunar Mission One, which was announced today at the Royal Society in London, will be the UK’s first trip to the moon. It’s an exploratory robotic mission that hopes to see a probe land on the moon’s South Pole within the next ten years, should funding allow. The aim of the venture is to drill through the surface, reaching a depth of at least 20 meters, but perhaps as deep as 100 meters. By analyzing this 4.5 billion year old rock that has been shielded from cosmic radiation and meteor bombardment, scientists hope to increase our understanding of the origins and evolution of the moon, solar system and even our planet. Furthermore, it should also inform us of the practicality of a permanent ...
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6581 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
This blind bird's eyes look like miniature galaxies
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This is Zeus, a blind Western Screech Owl whose eyes look like forming galaxies. The stellar effect is likely caused by chunky vitreous strands in his eyes. The handsome owl was found injured in Southern California and now lives at the Wildlife Learning Centre in Los Angeles.
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5999 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
Rosetta's Comet
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Two days ago, I streamed history being made for the first time ever online, and witnessed the Philae lander's touchdown on Rosetta's comet. The journey took 10 years, 6.4 billion kms away from here, and a 7 hour long landing. Unfortunately, it was an awkward landing where Philae landed approximately 1km away from its intended landing site that currently, one of its 3 legs is not on the surface of the comet and it itself is oriented in a way that no sufficient sunlight is being recieved enough to charge its batteries ever 12 hour rotation. At the moment, plans to try to "hop" the robot back into a position for enough sunlight are being studied, hopefully in time to execute them before Philae dies out sometime between next Friday and Saturday. ...
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6613 |
ehd123 |
9 years ago |
World's largest vacuum
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See what happens when scientists drop a bowling ball and a feather in the world's largest vacuum; for the science-illiterate viewers out there (sorry ), a vacuum is a space entirely devoid of matter (also known as an absolute vacuum). A lot of you probably already know how this one ends, but that doesn't make watching it play out any less spectacular. ...
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6630 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
From the Earth to the Moon
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Did you know that you could fit all the planets of the Solar System into the distance between the Earth and the Moon? But please don't - it would kill us all.
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4615 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
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10145 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
India's full-disk image of Mars
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This is a full-disk image of Mars, showing nearly an entire hemisphere of the Red Planet. It was captured this week by India's Mars Orbiter Mission and shows a storm brewing in the north (around the 11 o'clock position).
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7353 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
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5757 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
This is a full-color image of the surface of a comet
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Desolate, frozen and black as coal - welcome to the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. This is one of the closest colour images ever of a comet, taken from just 29 kilometres away by the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft. Rosetta will soon land on this rugged surface.
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3657 |
duddy |
9 years ago |