GO KEPLER!!!

GO KEPLER!!! (Full Version)

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GreedyTop -> GO KEPLER!!! (12/6/2011 2:34:13 AM)
http://news.yahoo.com/nasa-telescope-confirms-alien-planet-habitable-zone-162005358.html

LillyBoPeep -> RE: GO KEPLER!!! (12/6/2011 3:18:43 AM)
Ooh that's interesting. :) hopefully they will be able to extend the program, it'll be interesting to see what results it really finds if they can observe more passes of the planets. Then what's the next step? Interplanetary "yo whut ups?"

GreedyTop -> RE: GO KEPLER!!! (12/6/2011 3:33:24 AM)
omg, Lilly... I just had a visual of Alien saying "yo whut up" to Ripley!! LMAO!

LillyBoPeep -> RE: GO KEPLER!!! (12/6/2011 3:35:46 AM)
Haha :)

Rule -> RE: GO KEPLER!!! (12/6/2011 5:05:04 AM)
FR Them exoplanets do not exist.

MasterG2kTR -> RE: GO KEPLER!!! (12/6/2011 5:47:21 AM)
Gives the Greedy a high five [sm=goodpost.gif]

GreedyTop -> RE: GO KEPLER!!! (12/6/2011 6:02:54 AM)
I find it thrilling!! and, in other space related news: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/05/nasas-voyager-1-craft_n_1129915.html

samboct -> RE: GO KEPLER!!! (12/6/2011 9:00:17 AM)
Pftui.... As they say in real estate, location, location, location. 600 light years away? We have no clue how to get there. In practice, we're probably limited to 10 light years (and this is generous) based on our lifetimes and possible technology, i.e. ceramic nuclear engines which could get us to a decent fraction of light speed. It's gonna be at least 1150 years before we find out if anything there is worth talking to- 550 years from our first radio broadcasts to get there- and 600 years back for a reply. Sam

GreedyTop -> RE: GO KEPLER!!! (12/6/2011 9:02:38 AM)
well, yanno what, sam? who the fuck cares? it's a START. And there is so much to be learned just in the exploration. (generic aside: wtf is up with folks and their negativity re: space exploration, ffs?)

outlier -> RE: GO KEPLER!!! (12/6/2011 9:26:08 AM)
Psssst, Greedy, don't pick on Sam. He is one of the good guys who post on the science threads and we have to stick together. Besides he is accurate and I think somewhat tongue in cheek.

outlier -> RE: GO KEPLER!!! (12/6/2011 9:37:10 AM)
As for me, I think it is terrific! They have a name for the region around a sun where water, and life (as we know it) might be possible. Since it is not too hot and not too cold they call it The Goldilocks Zone. I also love the fact that a lot of people doing serious science have enough confidence in themselves not to take uncritical aspects of it too seriously. They picked a name that the public can relate to.

samboct -> RE: GO KEPLER!!! (12/6/2011 9:52:37 AM)
Hi Greedy Outlier is correct- I am being a bit tongue in cheek. (and thanks buddy for the assist.) One of the problems I see is that scientists have forgotten that this stuff is supposed to be fun and excite the imagination. Van Allen- the guy who found the Van Allen belts- thought that manned space exploration was a waste of money- we should simply use robot probes to find what's out there. I think this has been a disaster and the fact that we haven't put a human on another planetary body in 40 years simply sucks. There's a lot more excitement when humans are doing the exploring, not our robot crawlers. There are always going to be messes to clean up on planet earth- if you make something idiot proof- we invent a better idiot. Hence my grumbling that - gee- you guys couldn't find a planet a little closer? If someone could find a planet in the goldilocks zone within a dozen light years or so- that might be enough to get people excited and open up their wallets some and get the space program moving again. Cheers, Sam

LillyBoPeep -> RE: GO KEPLER!!! (12/6/2011 10:28:38 AM)
You do have a point, sam. People like the idea of heroes doing the impossible -- intrepid explorers visiting strange alien worlds, blah blah blah... But I imagine prepping, training, and sending people takes more money than a robot. I imagine? I'm not totally familiar.

samboct -> RE: GO KEPLER!!! (12/6/2011 10:33:56 AM)
Hi Lily You're imagination is correct- it's orders of magnitude more expensive to use humans instead of machines. So yeah, if just doing science is your goal- well, then machines have it all over humans. We could afford to put Sojourner on Mars- we can't figure out how to get a human there so quick. Actually getting the human there would probably be not too tough- getting him/her back- a bit harder...But humans make it so much more interesting.. Sam

outlier -> RE: GO KEPLER!!! (12/6/2011 10:55:16 AM)
FR, But on the other hand you have to remember that human beings are by far the most complex computer that can be readily and reliably produced using unskilled labor. The quality of the finished product varies wildly, but the production is something we seem to have down pat.

GreedyTop -> RE: GO KEPLER!!! (12/6/2011 11:04:54 AM)
that generic aside WAS meant as generic, Outlier and Sam.. sorry if it didnt come across that way :)

tazzygirl -> RE: GO KEPLER!!! (12/6/2011 11:10:17 AM)
Sam, how long would it take the Enterprise to get there. [;)]

Hillwilliam -> RE: GO KEPLER!!! (12/6/2011 12:31:31 PM)
I hope we don't find intelligent life out there because if we do, we'll have to start sending foreign aid.[8D]

samboct -> RE: GO KEPLER!!! (12/6/2011 2:54:30 PM)
Hi Tazzy OK- I found this equation in Wikipedia- According to the Star Trek episode writer's guide for The Original Series, warp factors are converted to multiples of c with the cubic function v = w3c, where w is the warp factor, v is the velocity, and c is the speed of light. Accordingly, "warp 1" is equivalent to the speed of light, "warp 2" is 8 times the speed of light, "warp 3" is 27 times the speed of light, etc. If the Enterprise can do warp 7- that's 343 times lightspeed, so it'd take her a bit less than 2 years. The universe is really a big place for us humans. Sam

LillyBoPeep -> RE: GO KEPLER!!! (12/6/2011 3:03:44 PM)
Wow. +1 sam. ^_^

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