Weekly Space Hangout - November 7, 2014: Ship Updates & Solar System Formation

TL;DR

An update on recent Space news, including spaceship accidents, stellar photography, dark matter theories, and a comet landing timeline.

Transcript

thanks for that dance Nicole hi everybody welcome to the weekly space hangout for Friday november seventh 2014 I'm Fraser Cain the publisher of Universe Today and this week we have got a fairly fairly large collection of the weekly space hanging out crew team not crew crew is the community team is the reporter so joining me first we've got to dr. B... Read More

Key Insights

• 👾 Recent progress and setbacks in space technologies are fueling industry initiatives to improve safety measures and accelerate launches.
• 🙂 Innovative observatories like Hubble and Alma are shedding light on cosmic structures with unprecedented clarity and detail.
• 🤩 Exploration of alternative dark matter models may hold the key to unlocking mysteries surrounding the elusive matter composition.

Questions & Answers

Q: What led to the spaceship 2 accident, and how is the industry responding?

The spaceship 2 accident was caused by a failure in the re-entry system, sparking a need for more stringent safety protocols and a transition to newer rocket engines.

Q: How does Alma's observation of protoplanetary disks differ from Hubble's findings?

Hubble focused on debris disks, unveiling variations in structure due to celestial interactions, while Alma provided detailed images of the disks surrounding the HL Tauri star system.

Q: What is the significance of exploring alternative dark matter theories?

Alternative dark matter theories, like lighter, strongly interacting particles, could tackle the mystery of dark matter without relying on the existence of wimp particles.

Q: How does the expected touchdown of Philae's probe on comet 67P/Turn the post-delta II unfold?

The intricate landing process, commencing on the 11th and successfully touching down on the 12th, will involve detaching from Rosetta and securing harpoon-like connections to the comet's surface for data collection.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Updates on spaceship accidents and progress made towards future launches.

• Stunning images of stellar formations from various observatories.

• Exploration of alternative dark matter theories and implications.

• Details on the upcoming comet landing timeline for the Philae spacecraft.