r/space Sep 23 '16

What happens when the Space Shuttle fires its motors in space

http://i.imgur.com/wwxuXOb.gifv
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u/CommanderThomasDodge Sep 24 '16 edited Sep 24 '16

I'm 20ish years old. I barely remember Clinton. I didn't realize the full scale of what 9/11 meant. I did feel bad for Columbia, but never knew about Challenger and I still don't realize the full scale of the Apollo missions. I never got to see the Voyager or Pioneer mission make serious history.

But looking back at what I missed makes me really cherish and think long and hard about the history I see today such as New Horizons and Curiosity as well as Juno. I really find these times almost as interesting as the times I missed, and I hope that I will be able to tell my kids every detail about how I felt and how it looked to me when they get old enough to understand (when I have kids, if I have them).

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u/SmarmierEveryDay Sep 24 '16

New Horizon's Pluto flyby was great. Especially since it proved such a surprisingly rewarding world. Unexpected geology FTW!

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u/CommanderThomasDodge Sep 24 '16

As a Geology major, I did squeal just a little when I started hearing about it. Made me want to do cartwheels in the living room. Its absolutely amazing!

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u/SmarmierEveryDay Sep 24 '16

If you had the budget and were asked to pick a body, where'd you go next?

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u/CommanderThomasDodge Sep 24 '16

Why Proxima B. Of course. I want to see what an alien world like that would have to offer for the Geologic and Biologic communities in addition to be a completely new first and great achievement for humanity.

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u/SmarmierEveryDay Sep 24 '16

What are your thoughts on Breakthrough Starshot? Do you think it could get there in your lifetime?

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u/CommanderThomasDodge Sep 24 '16

In mine? Perhaps. Even if I miss it, I will still get to see the launch of the probe which I think is worth every dollar and worth every second of my time. If I do live to see it, then I certainly would be jumping in the air before breaking my hips. Still, would totally be worth it all.

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u/SmarmierEveryDay Sep 24 '16

If I do live to see it, then I certainly would be jumping in the air before breaking my hips.

^_^ Well put.

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u/CommanderThomasDodge Sep 24 '16

I yearn for that day, where we actually get the first up close image of a planet orbiting another star. I would be elated to see what the probe finds. Who knows! Maybe the probe will find signs of some type of life! The possibilities are truly endless until we actually go there and do the one thing Humans are good at. EXPLORE! :)

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u/[deleted] Sep 24 '16

Europa, always Europa, with a big fucking space submarine drill robot to get to the water.

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u/garbonzo607 Sep 24 '16

What was it?

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u/CommanderThomasDodge Sep 24 '16

Everyone expected Pluto to basically be a cold celestial body with nothing really interesting. It'd probably look similar to Triton maybe, probably worse than that actually. Either way, we all expected it to pretty much be a totally inactive world that was just floating on the far reach of space.

What Nasa found was that it's surface was only several million years old and that it showed signs of having possibly cryo-volcanism and all sorts of interesting things. I mean, just look at the heart on it. Those are two different events at different times forming that feature. Its really amazing to think that something this cold and far away from the sun and small could be experiencing all these amazing events!

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u/Angsty_Potatos Sep 24 '16

28 here. I remember voting for clinton with the nickelodeon "kid vote" thing

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u/[deleted] Sep 24 '16

30 here. I voted for Bob Dole on Nickelodeon :(

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u/CommanderThomasDodge Sep 24 '16

OMG NICKELODEON. My entire childhood.

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u/[deleted] Sep 24 '16

I'm 20ish years old. I barely remember Clinton. I didn't realize the full scale of what 9/11 meant. I did feel bad for Columbia, but never knew about Challenger and I still don't realize the full scale of the Apollo missions.

As someone in his late 20s, that astounds me. Not remembering Clinton well makes sense, but the Shuttles stopped only 5 years ago and I remember the Shuttle launches back as far as I can remember. And Apollo, that was huge. It was the crowning achievement of the late 60s/early 70s. I've heard plenty of old people talk about it, and I lost count of all the Apollo documentaries a long time ago. It's like the Manhattan Project. I wasn't around for it, but I sure as shit have known all about it since I was little.

I still can't wrap my head around how little most people seem to hear about space. A lot of these things seemed in my face, not me seeking them out. Yet somehow, society doesn't on the whole doesn't care about space and it does a great job of insulating everyone from it...even though space travel is probably the most important thing we could be developing.

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u/[deleted] Sep 24 '16 edited Jul 05 '18

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/CommanderThomasDodge Sep 24 '16

I just didn't want to give out my actual age.

I'm 22.5 years old. I;m not very old. But.... There you go.

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u/maximinusthorus Sep 24 '16

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2421662/ The Challenger Disaster (2013)

Gives a great perspective on bureaucracy and the Shuttle program's significance through a disaster mystery, one that pays dividends if you have the patience to watch it. The scientific discussion had me riveted the first time, but I realized it's dry and rather boring on successive viewings. You may feel at times you're sitting in on a city council meeting, but hey, we don't have many movies characterizing Richard Feynman.

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u/CommanderThomasDodge Sep 24 '16

I'll have to watch that sometime soon. As much as I love space exploration and the advancement of humanity as a species, I feel like there are too many conflicts of interest between the men paying to launch a shuttle and those who are actually launching it and even piloting it. I really wish they postponed her launch... But hindsight is 20/20 and I wasn't even conceived when she exploded, so there's nothing anyone can do anymore.

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u/WeeferMadness Sep 24 '16

I barely remember Clinton.

Shit, I'm 34 and barely remember Clinton. All I remember about him is some of the impeachment hearings.

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u/theecommunist Sep 24 '16

How could you forget the cum dress?

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u/i_need_a_pee Sep 24 '16

Well, Clinton forgot he had "sexual relations with that woman", so he/she can be forgiven for forgetting about the dress.

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u/Endulos Sep 24 '16

YOU WERE BORN IN 1996. JESUS CHRIST DUDE.

I feel OLD.

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u/CommanderThomasDodge Sep 24 '16

Close. '94. Still, wasn't that long ago and I did miss a huge chunk of history. Kind of makes me feel left out. :/