That's what you call a Satellite

2009-03-13 03:35:49

#1

Mekstizzle: WALKER; +3,611|7017|London, England

Ooh.....shiny....

https://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44979000/jpg/_44979323_gravity_spaceship_466.jpg

https://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/07/africa_enl_1185563090/img/1.jpg

Europe is set to launch one of its most challenging space missions to date.

The Goce satellite will map minute variations in the pull of gravity experienced across the planet.

Scientists will use its data to improve their understanding of how the oceans move, and to frame a universal system to measure height anywhere on Earth.

The super-sleek spacecraft will go into orbit on a modified intercontinental ballistic missile from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in north-west Russia.

"Imagine a snowflake, which has a fraction of a gram, slowly falling down on to the deck of a supertanker. The acceleration that the supertanker experiences from that snowflake is comparable to the sensitivity of our instrument," he told BBC News.

There is however a potential showstopper: the low altitude Goce must fly to get the detail it seeks in the gravity signal. The constant buffeting the satellite receives from the residual air still present in the thermosphere would ordinarily drown out the data.

So Goce employs an ion engine to maintain a steady path - a sort of cruise control. The engine is throttled up and down, producing exquisite levels of thrust by accelerating charged atoms of xenon through nozzles at the rear of the spacecraft.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7935621.stm

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Need more space automatons to look like this

2009-03-13 03:55:21

#2

1927: The oldest chav in the world; +2,423|7070|Cardiff, Capital of Wales

I cant get my head around all this space malarky, it just fucks my head up, so I tend to not take notice of NASA and that. Im not really into space kind of TV, sci-fi , dont even watch Dr Who but I did like star wars.

2009-03-13 04:09:03

#3

TC.Troy: Let the rough side drag; +111|6970

Looks like something from a Bond film.

Proper space probe imo.

2009-03-13 04:12:49

#4

Ioan92: Member; +337|6119

inb4

2009-03-13 07:26:18

#5

Slarty: Member; +37|6361|Ingerland

It's being launched by the ESA so it probably won't make orbit, and will end up in lots of little bits in an ocean somewhere

2009-03-13 07:27:26

#6

FatherTed: xD; +3,936|6896|so randum

fuck yeh, us euros do shit right

inb4 kmar

Small hourglass island
Always raining and foggy
Use an umbrella

2009-03-13 07:31:05

#7

FrankieSpankie3388: Hockey Nut; +243|6927|Boston, MA

Looks really expensive for something you won't see after it's used. There's a reason why satellites usually look dull and boring...

2009-03-13 07:54:51

#8

Mekstizzle: WALKER; +3,611|7017|London, England

FrankieSpankie3388 wrote:
Looks really expensive for something you won't see after it's used. There's a reason why satellites usually look dull and boring...

And if you read the article, there's a reason why this one looks as it does also. They didn't really set out to make a pretty satellite just for aesthetic reasons, it's just that's how it ended up. When large scale commercialisation of space etc.. happens, then you'll start to see pretty things in space like you see in war trek

FatherTed wrote:
fuck yeh, us euros do shit right

inb4 kmar

Kez ain't got shit to say bout this nigga, he knows this thread beats all of his threads about his ugly azz NASA 'lites he posts about, amirite

Last edited by Mekstizzle (2009-03-13 07:56:13)

2009-03-13 07:57:25

#9

Ultrafunkula: Hector: Ding, ding, ding, ding...; +1,975|6870|6 6 4 oh, I forget

Mekstizzle wrote:
Kez ain't got shit to say bout this nigga, he knows this thread beats all of his threads about his ugly azz NASA 'lites he posts about, amirite

NASA? What NASA? Aren't they going bankrupt anyways?

Last edited by Ultrafunkula (2009-03-13 07:57:53)

2009-03-13 08:08:02

#10

FatherTed: xD; +3,936|6896|so randum

mek u is rite

yeh dem yanks got a boi on da moon, but shit we do our shit good

innit

Small hourglass island
Always raining and foggy
Use an umbrella

2010-06-30 03:31:26

#11

AussieReaper: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°); +5,761|6549|what

Goce satellite views Earth's gravity in high definition

https://img294.imageshack.us/img294/3687/gocegravityfield786map.gif

It is one of the most exquisite views we have ever had of the Earth.

This colourful new map traces the subtle but all pervasive influence the pull of gravity has across the globe.

Known as a geoid, it essentially defines where the level surface is on our planet; it tells us which way is "up" and which way is "down".

It is drawn from delicate measurements made by Europe's Goce satellite, which flies so low it comes perilously close to falling out of the sky.

Scientists say the data gathered by the spacecraft will have numerous applications.

One key beneficiary will be climate studies because the geoid can help researchers understand better how the great mass of ocean water is moving heat around the world.

The new map was presented here in Norway's second city at a special Earth observation (EO) symposium dedicated to the data being acquired by Goce and other European Space Agency (Esa) missions.

Europe is currently in the midst of a huge programme of EO development which will see it launch some 20 missions worth nearly eight billion euros before the decade's end.

The Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer (Goce) is at the front of this armada of scientific and environmental monitoring spacecraft.

https://img294.imageshack.us/img294/5365/48193679goce466in.gif

Check here for more from the article.

https://img294.imageshack.us/img294/9747/48193680gocegravity466i.gif

1. Earth is a slightly flattened sphere - it is ellipsoidal in shape
2. Goce senses tiny variations in the pull of gravity over Earth
3. The data is used to construct an idealised surface, or geoid
4. It traces gravity of equal 'potential'; balls won't roll on its 'slopes'
5. It is the shape the oceans would take without winds and currents
6. So, comparing sea level and geoid data reveals ocean behaviour
7. Gravity changes can betray magma movements under volcanoes
8. A precise geoid underpins a universal height system for the world
9. Gravity data can also reveal how much mass is lost by ice sheets

India seems very shallow. Close to the mantle perhaps? If so great place to dig for geothermal energy.