Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with space

What are your favorite novels about contemporary-ish space exploration?

Hoenikker — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 10:21:22 -0800

I'm looking for books where characters are exploring the solar system using space ships that are technologically within (or somewhat close to) our capability to build today. Bonus points if those novels are character driven.

Representations of 'The Phantom Zone' (in the original Superman films)

0bvious — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 08:24:38 -0800

In the original Superman films General Zod and his accomplices are trapped in The Phantom Zone, which in the films is represented as a 2D 'crystal' prison sent spinning through space. I am looking for any writings/insights into how the visual effects for this were created, and exactly by whom. Any other insights, from comic book lore, about how the Phantom Zone was represented - especially visually - would also be appreciated. I know about the Richard Donner controversy (Superman was directed by Richard Donner in 1978, and after he was 'fired' from the project Superman II was taken over by Richard Lester, 1980). That's for another discussion.

Living in a Rail Car?

KathMuse — Fri, 24 May 2013 09:41:57 -0800

Does anyone here currently live in a rail car? If so, we'd love to hear about it and maybe pick your brain. We are looking at purchasing and living in a rail car for our retirement. We'd like to live "off the grid" and may be traveling via Amtrak from time to time. We'd like to talk to someone who currently does and who would be willing to answer some questions for us.

Daft Punk - Contact sample source

East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 — Tue, 21 May 2013 20:33:18 -0800

Contact by Daft Punk supposedly "contains audio from the Apollo 17 mission used by courtesy of NASA and Capt. Eugene Cernan". The sample says: "Hey Bob, I'm looking at what Jack was talking about and it's definitely not a particle that's nearby. It is a bright object and it's obviously rotating because it's flashing, it's way out in the distance, certainly rotating in a very rhythmic fashion because the flashes come around almost on time. As we look back at the Earth it's up at about 11 o'clock, about maybe ten or twelve diame...Earth diameters. I don't know whether that does you any good, but there's something out there." When I Google this I find only Daft Punk references. Is it a genuine soundbite from the Apollo 17 mission or did those wacky French robots make it up?

How do I go from one kind of nerd to another?

vernondalhart — Tue, 21 May 2013 17:08:39 -0800

What steps should I take to switch to the aerospace industry from the academic world? I am currently a post-doc in pure mathematics (in Canada), with a background in mathematical physics; that said, even the physics I did was theoretical, so I don't really know any practical skills from that.

I've been thinking more and more that I might like to do a drastic shift in careers and move into the aerospace industry, but I honestly don't have the foggiest clue how to do that.

My naive guess would be that I need to go back to school into either an engineering program or into a heavy-on-applications-to-space physics/computer science program, but I don't know if this is the best way or not. If it is, how does ? It seems that going back for an undergraduate degree wouldn't make sense (it'd be a little funny to have to take an engineering calculus class, for instance, since I've taught those...), but having glanced around a little bit I'm not sure what graduate programs to look into either. I'm also worried that regarding graduate programs, that I don't have sufficient background in practical applications.

I guess my main questions are the following:

If I need to go back to school, where should I go? What universities within North America (or even Europe, I guess) have good programs that would move job in the space industry?

What other advice can you suggest for someto make this leap?

Space Junk

at the crossroads — Sun, 12 May 2013 21:56:01 -0800

What's the word for the useless filler reticulations on spaceships? I think it was coined by the model builders of Millennium Falcon or Star Destroyer. --(I'm certain this question has been asked and answered here before. No luck in the FU Google machine. )--Thanks!

Screen font from original Space Invaders?

Hogshead — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 06:59:39 -0800

I'm looking for a font that's based on or looks like the screen font used in the original Taito/Midway Space Invaders from 1978. (Unused witty title for this question: 'Diaresis puny earthlings!')

What's the name of this paradox?

Rufus T. Firefly — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 08:48:58 -0800

I have vague recollections of someone telling me of a paradox many moons ago, it went thusly: There's no point in launching a spaceship on a deep space mission, because as technology advances so rapidly (e.g. Moore's law) that any ship you build in the future will be faster/more efficient and hence overtake any craft that you launch now, inferring that one should always put off launching a deep space mission. The same person told me it was called 'Clarke's Paradox' (I think?) but I can't find any reference to it, save Clarke's Laws (i.e. "Any technology sufficiently advanced will be indistinguishable from magic" etc). Can anyone help put a name to this paradox?

Use of The City as a metaphor for the Internet/Web

0bvious — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 09:19:31 -0800

I am looking for examinations of the Internet and World Wide Web that use the structure and/or history of the city as a metaphor. I'm afraid I have no original example of this phenomenon to kick things off. I have this image in my head of 'the city' that always goes back to Plato and his Republic. Plato's city was a physical, social construction, as well as a philosophical metaphor, at one and the same time. It feels that many have talked about the Internet in similar, overlapping, terms.

(It need not be 'the city as metaphor', rather any social, physical space that humans build and live in will suffice. Also, metonymy rather than metaphor would be great.)

Writings that explore the political history of the city, it's technological expansion, that consider the city as a nexus for theories of human civilisation, of emergence perhaps, of structure, social and political control and, perhaps most importantly, of space vs place - all as a way to think about similar phenomena taking place online. The Internet as emerging network with similarities to the city; the World Wide Web considered as spatio-social metaphor?

etc. etc.

Any ideas?

The Final Frontier in NYC?

functionequalsform — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 10:26:27 -0800

What can two space nerds do in NYC for a day—besides the ANHM and The Intrepid? I'd like to have a "Space Day," during which my guy and I take a day off of work and go explore as much space and aeronautics themed places as possible. We're in NYC, so we'll be going to the American Natural History Museum and to see the Enterprise on the Intrepid.

Nothing is too serious or too silly, but I'd rather veer away from too much sci-fi.

Any thoughts?

Is good really the enemy of great in relationships?

brisquette — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 13:14:09 -0800

My boyfriend has talked about us separating, but it seems like he still wants to be with me. I think he's overanalyzing our relationship to death, and I want to talk to him about how relationships take work and we should refocus on what's important to us, but is that true? How would that look, what would we do? My boyfriend gets bummed out sometimes in the winter, and this December he started talking about moving out but not breaking up. That made some sense to me; he can be fussy about his space, and our one bedroom apartment is a bit cramped for two creative people and their projects. Then at the beginning of February, he said a bunch of stuff: he thought we might have fizzled out, he didn't know what he was doing with his life, he didn't know if he could settle down, and he thought things were too comfortable. He reiterated his plan to move out this summer.

There was a lot of sadness and crying, but within a day or two both of us sort of "woke up" from the long winter and started getting on task again; less tv, a lot more creative projects and plans, sex a couple times a week. He reinvited me to a summer wedding that we had decided in February that I wouldn't go to, and started talking about getting our camping gear together. We still say "I love you," and we've remained physically affectionate.

I feel like this is a relationship that should continue, dangit! I'm fine with him moving out in the summer, as planned, because I think the space could help us. I think we both got a little dependent on the other person, got lazy in our relationship, and stopped moving forward. But how do you work on a relationship like that, when nothing's "bad"? I know you can't argue someone into staying with you, but I think he's just as confused as I am about all this.

Background: We've been together for two years, and for the first year we were pretty much the most amazing thing on earth; madly in love, doing fun things, taking great trips, encouraging each other's creative projects, and generally just being adorable together. Things calmed down a bit last year, but we had some life change stuff happening (I changed jobs, he went back to school, we had to move), and things weren't bad, just more mellow.

He's a detail oriented person, and although that's usually a plus, it can sometimes turn into anxiety/panic things, and I feel like that's happening now, which is why I want to straighten out my own thinking on how relationships work.

I want YOU to play KSP!

Mike Mongo — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 09:56:59 -0800

How do I connect with videogame developers in Dallas, TX? In August, an NGO I work with is putting on a conference in Dallas, TX. The group's focus is futuristic and space travel-related. Attendees will be primarily professional scientists, academicians, as well as space geeks, investors and bloggers.

One of the branches of the company has to do with outreach via gaming, and a game jam is being discussed. There is tremendous support throughout the rest of the organization as many members are gamers/have kids who game. Kerbal Space Program is a favorite. Also, of course, EVE. Furthermore, at least one person has an Ouya so that gets mentioned a lot.

I am calling on fellow mefites to suggest gaming organizations or game developing companies—or even individuals—in Dallas that may be interested in participating in a space-themed game jam.

Where to next, Voyager 1?

radiosilents — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 10:00:18 -0800

Voyager 1 just left the solar system. I know we're unable to control trajectory at this point, but I'm curious what the next body it will encounter will be, and when, on its present course.

Inspiring songs about Space and Space Travel

sandraregina — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 18:17:25 -0800

I am looking for inspiring songs about being in Space, or Space Travel, or even just Science! in general. I want to make a playlist. The only songs I can think of right now are Space Oddity and Rocketman, both of which are awesome songs but also completely depressing. I'm looking for songs that are more uplifting and inspirational. Please help.

Kennedy Space Center tours?

smackfu — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 05:35:54 -0800

We're visiting Kennedy Space Center in March and have time for one (and only one) of the tours. Does anyone have any tips/suggestions? I'm leaning towards the VAB one but could be swayed.

What should I call my new space blog?

Narrative Priorities — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 15:12:08 -0800

If all goes well, I'll be writing a bi-weekly blog about spaceflight and astronomy, with a particular emphasis on manned and unmanned spacecraft -- what's up on the ISS, what satellites will be launching soon and what they'll do, what interesting discoveries ongoing missions have made, that sort of thing. But I have NO IDEA at all what I should call it. Every entry I write will be titled, "Name of Blog: Title of Blog Post," to differentiate it from other posts on the website. So short and catchy would be ideal.

I have had basically zero ideas that aren't terrible.

Help.

Can you collect meteorite dust in your backyard? How?

Sleeper — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 09:10:08 -0800

I've been told recently that collecting micrometeorites is as easy, basically, as placing a clean surface outside and picking through the debris you collect because thousands of tons of space dust and debris fall to Earth every day. That can't be all there is to it, can it? How do you know whether you're looking at Earth dust or space dust? After the recent flyby of 2012DA14 and the coincidental meteorite strike in Russia, I've become interested in meteorites. I've read a little about astronomy and I've talked to the guy who runs the local observatory. He says it's possible to collect meteorite dust in your own backyard.

According to him and according to some of the things I read, you basically just put something like a cookie sheet outside for a week or three to catch any crud that lands in it. Then you run a magnet through it and carefully examine with a microscope the bits of dust and whatnot for things that look like this.

But the astronomer I talked to also said that most space debris is not metallic, so I conclude the magnet would be useless for most of what you'd catch. Also, how the heck could you tell whether you were looking at dust and debris from the Earth or from beyond?

Does this method really work?

I have a 250 gig MacBook Pro with only 40 gigs of free space left...

TwilightKid — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 07:49:25 -0800

I have a 250 gig MacBook Pro, which is about 3 years old. I have approx. 115 gigs of music stored in my Itunes library. All duplicate MP3 files were deleted. That leaves 135 or some odd gigs of space. I keep a large majority of my documents and files in a cloud service. I maybe have 5-10 gigs of random files I keep on my HD. That leaves approx. 125 gigs of space... I know that the computer uses (and I'll guestimate 25 gigs for the OS & random program files I have on my system)... That still leaves about 100 gigs worth of space un-accounted for.... When I open my 'finder', it tells me I have approx 50 gigs of space available. I have downloaded Disk Inventory X which is suppose to give you a break down of where all the space is being used. I have also read about a program called DaisyDisk. Both seem to be reputable and popular. I d/l'ed DIX first cause it was free..It did the analysis.... But....While I have somewhat of an idea of computers, I am not sure what is safe to delete, what should't be touched....What if I delete something that has specs attached to files that shouldn't be deleted...Neither utility really gives me an idea of what is safe to delete and what should not be touched. I know I must have a large cache of files and stuff that could be deleted....Image previews, etc.... I just don't know where to look. What is safe to get rid of.....Not sure what to do..... Thanks!

Do astronauts play just games in space or do they actually work?

Mike Mongo — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 18:19:05 -0800

What is the best book to introduce pre-teens to how science works in space? Working with kids as a space educator I am increasingly more aware of misunderstandings about what kids—and adults—imagine 1) how science works and 2) what astronauts do in space. What I am looking for is a selection of books (or resources) that introduce kids to how science works, as well about how what astronauts actually do.

What I want to do is create a list to forward to teachers I work with prior to presenting so young students can begin to develop a solid grasp of how science works and how we use it today in space.

Recommend me books on critical / (post) marxist spatial theory

FuckingAwesome — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 10:20:12 -0800

I am interested in critical theoretical and marxist spatial theory, please recommend me some books that provide a good overview or introduction to this area! Thanks!

What do I do with superfluous office space?

Mali — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 06:39:36 -0800

I have a 42 inch wide, 32 inch deep, and 28 inch tall void between my desk and the wall of my office. (see: here) My company is relatively lenient on personalizing our offices - in that image, you can see the SMB wall decals - but I'm struggling with coming up with a good use for the space. I'm pretty handy from a carpentry standpoint and I have access to power tools / a space to do some carpentry work in, so pretty much anything goes for this one. What the heck do I do with my Corner of Shame™ to turn it into a Corner of Pride™? So far suggestions have included:
- Some sort of build alert light wired up w/ Arduino for when someone breaks our CI build (I'm our office's devops engineer)
- A sort of break/fix tool table for internal office equipment
- A nap chair (which seems sort of unnecessary considering the air mattress in our server/sleep closet)
- Multiple minifridges (described to me as "Minifridge Megazord")

...none of these are particularly *bad*, but I'm not sold on them.

Is my space heater making me sick or am I just unlucky this year?

Young Kullervo — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 11:32:32 -0800

I know YANMD, but I am wondering if anyone has been told to cease using a space heater due to chronic pharyngitis or similar illnesses? I have always been a fairly healthy individual but I always come down with ONE fairly awful upper respiratory infection/cold/hay fever/bronchitis when the weather changes in the spring and autumn. That much is predictable. However, this autumn, starting around the beginning of October and ending (hopefully) in early December, I've sick 3 times with, what could have been, chronic pharyngitis or sinus infections/upper respiratory infections that have lasted at least a week or more each. It is also possible I caught every strand of rhinovirus out there within the period of a month because I have been told that this was a particularly brutal year for such things. No one knows. Much like an A student who receives a string of Bs, my initial thought is that "this doesn't happen to ME" so I began looking for possible causes. I am starting to suspect my space heater as a culprit for various reasons.

The first time I came down with the typical symptoms: sore throat, nasal congestion, headache, sneezing, etc. I let it pass without visiting a doctor. Not even a few days after feeling "better" I relapsed fairly harshly after waking up with what felt like a softball lodged in sinus cavity, a sore throat, nasal congestion, headache, and the NEW symptom of blood in my post nasal drip. I finally visited an immediate care clinic and they sent me away with my first ever zpac for pharyngitis (inflammation of the throat). I have no evidence that the zpac was actually necessary or effective because these bouts of illness typically last a week or so regardless, but that is neither here nor there. A few weeks later I woke up yet again with the same symptoms and finally decided to find the cause.

I have not been sick since the 4th of December, but I am thinking there are three things that could have caused this stubborn bouts of illness. Again, still no official diagnosis other than pharyngitis the one time, and every observation below is dreadfully post hoc, but here goes anyway!

1. The vigorous use of a space heater before the onset of symptoms, both at home and in my office. I had stopped using the space heater at home and the office and felt pretty fine over my holiday break. Today I returned to my office and decided to run the heater again because it is flipping freezing in here and I started to feel rather headachey/itchy in the throat almost immediately. Could the abrasive heat from these contraptions be affecting my upper respiratory system? Is this even a thing that happens?

2. Running 3 miles every night in cold weather could also be a factor. I wouldn't run during the illness but after feeling "better" I would start running again and then symptoms returned.

3. It is possible that it has just been a frankly shitty cold and flu season and everyone is getting sick repeatedly and I am no exception. I have been told this by multiple sources, but again my reaction is "But I don't get sick!"

I know my illnesses could probably a combination of all three (and the added bonus of working full-time plus teaching on the side) and I should talk to a doctor about this. I will if it continues for a 4th time but I really just want to know if anyone has had a similar experiences and if their doctor recommended scrapping their space heaters? If and when I do visit the doctor should I even bring it up as a concern? Or perhaps I shouldn't use my exercise or space heater as a scapegoat (because I really like it, my office is cold always) and just cope with the fact that my case is the same as a vast majority's this year? Thanks always!

The new iTunes is big and ridiculous. Help me make it small and snappy again.

iamkimiam — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 12:01:40 -0800

Is there any way to make the new iTunes tighter and more minimalist? For example, I want my podcast and artist lists to be like the small-font, compact lists they used to be. Similar to the column browser, but on the side, NOT the top (which is all kinds of stupid up there). Basically, I want to see as many artists as possible with as little scrolling as possible. Any add-on or script or setting I'm overlooking that could take care of this, and perhaps other inefficiencies of the new iTunes?

Lunar Modules and cellphones

Brandon Blatcher — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 08:34:09 -0800

1) How much memory did the Apollo Lunar Module (LM) have and 2) when was the first cellphone with the same amount of memory introduced to the public? 3) Where there any other publicly available products that had the same amount of memory? 4) If so, when were they introduced to the market? This may be a bit of a tricky question in terms defining what computer memory and the fact that that the Apollo Flight Guidance Computer (AGC) had two kinds of memory, fixed and erasable.

My understanding is that the software to run the LM was in the fixed type of memory on the craft. So I'm specifically looking for which cellphone had a similar amount of memory to run its OS. It may have had more for the user to store numbers or later photos, but I'm just interested in the amount of memory that would be needed to store the OS that ran the phone.

Politics in outer space

espada0 — Sat, 24 Nov 2012 03:51:27 -0800

What would politics in outer space look like? I was looking at the Rockwell International Integrated Space Plan and it got me wondering on how we would organise ourselves once we are settled or in the process of settling in outer space.

According to a few treaties settled in the 1960s, it was declared that outer space will only be used for peaceful and mutually beneficial purposes, but past and current activity in space relations doesn't seem to be heading in that direction at all (space race, high levels of secrecy surrounding the launch of unmanned objects into space, nations signalling interest in the militarisation of space i.e. Star Wars). That, and the fact that there is a massive amount of precious metals, solar energy, and thus also a huge potential for industrialisation in outer space probably means it will be quite difficult to separate politics from the development of human settlement in outer space.

Even if countries were able to put aside their self-interests, it would only last until the point when markets/systems of organisation develop, and politics would come into play again. It's interesting to think of what could happen: the treaties could be repealed, or the whole of settled outer space would be established as separate and disconnected from the earth (wouldn't be desirable), or there would be some new kind of politics made to bridge the "gaps" between earth relations and space relations.