MetaFilter posts tagged with orbit

Orbital Skydiving

homunculus — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 15:47:08 -0800

Orbital skydives to follow inflatable heatshield success? "NASA has announced a successful live test of a prototype inflatable heat shield for re-entry to a planet's atmosphere. The blow-up shield could have important implications for future missions to Mars - and also, perhaps, for the nascent field of orbital spacesuit skydiving."

Objects in Space

Artw — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 01:44:06 -0800

Do gravity holes harbour planetary assassins?

Is LEO too Crowded?

Chinese Jet Pilot — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 15:48:03 -0800

"They ran into each other. Nothing has the right of way up there. We don't have an air traffic controller in space. There is no universal way of knowing what's coming in your direction." An unprecedented collision of two orbiting satellites yesterday highlights the increasing threat of space junk.

Hurricanes from Outer Space!

clearly — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 23:09:44 -0800

Hurricanes, as seen from orbit. Flying straight into a Hurricane. The list of worldwide Hurricane names. The history of Hurricane names.

God-like powers, at last

MrMoonPie — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 12:39:28 -0800

Flash Friday Fun! Excellent, physics-based game wherein you control the sun, trying to grab planets and keep them in orbit. Any game that includes the admonition not to "go hyperbola" is OK by me.

Rapid Offensive Unit Xenophobe will no doubt be pleased

Artw — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 23:00:35 -0800

Edinburgh author Iain M. Banks, creator of the post capitalist space faring society The Culture and it's oddly named ships, has long been the UKs top science fiction writer, but has never had more than a toehold in the US (in part through lack of availability, in part due to lack of promotion and in part due to some pretty awful covers. That could change: Matter, his latest, has been heavily promoted in the US and sports a cover nearly identical to the UK edition. This week Orbit are releasing US editions of the two earliest Culture novels, with the third following in July, which could mean a complete release of all the novels in the US in order. More Banks: Slashdot review of Matter Guardian Books author profile Interview in The Australian The odd story behind a Banks interview in The Sun Iain Banks and Ken MacCleod (audio/video) The Banksoniain fanzine National secular society: Honorary Associate: Iain Banks Iain M. Banks' "Culture" references in Bungie's Halo Why I write - Iain Banks Iain Banks on clean, green living Iain M. Banks’s Consider Phlebas and T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land

Mars in Pictures

Chinese Jet Pilot — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 10:03:35 -0800

The evolution of Mars imaging from orbit: Mariner 4 (1964), Mariner 6 and Mariner 7 (both 1969), Mariner 9 (1971) (all NASA), Mars 5 (1973) (USSR), Viking 1 (1975), Viking 2 (1976), Mars Global Surveyor (1996), Mars Odyssey (2001) (NASA), Mars Express (2003) (ESA), up to this spy-quality shot of an active avalanche taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (2005).

Lyon's Electronic Office

tellurian — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 20:53:42 -0800

In October 1947, the directors of J. Lyons & Co (think - teashops, nippies, bakeries, ice-creams, steakhouses, hotels, Wimpy Bars and Dunkin' Donuts), decided to take an active role in promoting the commercial development of computers. In 1951 the LEO I computer was operational and ran the world's first regular routine office computer job.

That's No Moon

The Bellman — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 13:30:51 -0800

Physics Phun [Phlash, not Phriday]. Orbit is a game where you try to set up, well, orbits. How many levels can you finish?

When you touch down/You'll find that it's stranger than known

Blazecock Pileon — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 11:20:08 -0800

300 Miles High

Take off every suit

pantsrobot — Fri, 03 Feb 2006 14:25:31 -0800

Suitsat is ready to launch. Know it (wmv). Watch it. Track it. (previously)

Truman Show?

kika — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 08:30:25 -0800

A Dutch television producer, who previously brought you Big Brother, now produces a show for British commercial television were you witness the training of three lucky guys to become astronauts and their subsequent launch into earth's orbit for 4 days. They are trained in a Russian facility and are launched with a Russian rocket. There is only one catch: it's all fake. When they leave their orbiter to make a space walk they will be welcomed by their family and friends, and find out they never left England.
If I were one of the contestants I'd go postal after this. But of course these contestants were specially selected to be prone to suggestion, so they will probably just forever hide in corner so they won't hear the constant mockery..

rosvicl — Wed, 24 Oct 2001 05:32:11 -0800

Success! Mars Odyssey 2001 is in orbit around Mars.

Cavatica — Tue, 26 Dec 2000 05:18:10 -0800

Russia to Mir....come in Mir... Russia's been recently unable to sustain radio contact with Mir. The station itself is empty, but radio communication is necessary in order to control the autopilot. They are supposed to try again in about an hour, but if they are unable to do so within that hour, they'll have to send someone up. I think they're more afraid that it might fall out of orbit before it's planned sinking into the Pacific this coming February.