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 TheSnowLeopard
Lieutenant Commander
Joined: Mar 18, 2006
Member#: 13799
Posts: 347
Location: Sydney, Australia
   
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 Posted:
Sat Aug 26, 2006 3:50 am Post subject: |
 
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It's official. There are now only 8 planets in the Solar System.
Alas, poor Pluto, you are now a dwarf planet!
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"After dark all cats are leopards." - Native American Proverb |
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 j2brown
Commodore
Joined: Feb 22, 2002
Member#: 9
Posts: 3188
Location: Sterling, VA
 
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Posted:
Sat Aug 26, 2006 6:04 am Post subject: |
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From Mullings, a political column I enjoy:
| Mullings wrote: |
# Just when you thought the world had just about enough to worry about, Scientific American magazine informs us that "a small cluster of astronomers has voted to demote Pluto from its planetary status."
# Instead of the nine planets in the Solar System which we have been learning about since third grade; now there will be only eight:
Mercury;
Venus;
Earth;
Sneezy;
Sleepy;
Doc;
Dasher; and
Blitzen
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It's my understanding that part of being a planet is that you have to "clear your orbit". Since Neptune and Pluto cross orbits, does that mean Neptune doesn't quailify as well? I'm sure somebody here can set me straight.
jeff
sdg |
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 stefan_nl
Lieutenant
Joined: Aug 07, 2005
Member#: 11136
Posts: 248
Location: The Netherlands
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Sat Aug 26, 2006 7:23 am Post subject: |
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On this page [nineplanets.org] you can see that the orbit of Neptune is like the orbits of all other planets around the sun, whereas Pluto has a completely different orbit.
That's probably why Neptune qualifies as a planet and Pluto doesn't on the account of the orbit.
_________________
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy on Flying: The knack of throwing yourself at the ground and miss.
24SeVeN.FM Gadgets |
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 mellowman
Captain
Joined: Sep 02, 2003
Member#: 2939
Posts: 1119
Location: UK
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Posted:
Thu Aug 31, 2006 10:03 am Post subject: |
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I'm in! I'm in! I'm in! Nice one Zirl. I have no links to space but I do have a large interest. I haven't had time to check out the links (or anything else here for a while!) but I will do!
| Twopop wrote: |
I get such a kick out of watching Ellie in Contact, and feel such empathy for her.
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I've probably asked you this before, two, but did you read Contact as well as seeing it? One of my favourite endings to a novel ever.
| Twopop wrote: |
It is my great hope that someday I'll get to see an actual launch. With the program ending in 2010, it probably won't happen. Or perhaps something better will come along. 
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Check out this link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5277736.stm
Reported on BBC a little while ago - perhaps this could be your "something better"! |
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 Twopop 
Rear Admiral (Ambassador)
Joined: Jul 21, 2004
Member#: 7382
Posts: 2673
Location: Oregon
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Posted:
Thu Aug 31, 2006 10:09 am Post subject: |
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| mellowman wrote: |
| perhaps this could be your "something better"! |
Fantastic, Mellow! Thanks for the terrific article. Such exciting times for your little boy to look forward to.
Yes, read Sagan's book as well. |
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SpaceC06
Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined: Jun 28, 2005
Member#: 10704
Posts: 52
Location: Wild West...aka NM
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Posted:
Thu Aug 31, 2006 3:23 pm Post subject: |
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*Gasp* I need to check the forums more often! Yay for the SST Space Cadets 
I am an ex-Expandable Launch Vehicle girl, although I still keep in close contact with people from there and I still love watching/listening/reading about the launches
I worked on the New Horizons launch, and I was even in Mission Control for the launch as a back-up mechanical propulsion engineer for the Atlas V. I was just wondering what you all thought of the spacecraft now that Pluto has been demoted...
I recently moved to NM to become a Spacecraft Test Engineer, and I am working on the first payload to launch from Spaceport America(http://www.spaceportamerica.com/home.html) currently set for 09/25/2006.
A good site for launch status with most rockets (including shuttle) is spaceflightnow.com
Last link is pics from KSC that I have taken since I worked there, if you all are interested take a look: http://community.webshots.com/user/spacec06
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"That's nice, but how does it all relate to Newtons Laws?"
The distance doesn't matter; only the first step is difficult.
--Mme. du Deffand |
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Twopop
Rear Admiral (Ambassador)
Joined: Jul 21, 2004
Member#: 7382
Posts: 2673
Location: Oregon
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Posted:
Thu Aug 31, 2006 7:19 pm Post subject: |
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Welcome, fellow space cadet SpaceyC!
Glad you found this forum at last.
You are going to be one fantastic resource for us.
Great links - thx!
Keep us informed of event dates if you can. We almost let the Atlantis launch (that was postponed) get by us. |
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TheSnowLeopard
Lieutenant Commander
Joined: Mar 18, 2006
Member#: 13799
Posts: 347
Location: Sydney, Australia
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Posted:
Fri Sep 01, 2006 2:25 am Post subject: |
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| stefan_nl wrote: |
| That's probably why Neptune qualifies as a planet and Pluto doesn't on the account of the orbit. |
_________________
"After dark all cats are leopards." - Native American Proverb |
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stefan_nl
Lieutenant
Joined: Aug 07, 2005
Member#: 11136
Posts: 248
Location: The Netherlands
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Posted:
Fri Sep 01, 2006 3:48 am Post subject: |
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| TheSnowLeopard wrote: |
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ROTFLMAO
_________________
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy on Flying: The knack of throwing yourself at the ground and miss.
24SeVeN.FM Gadgets |
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rebeccabutterfly
Lieutenant Commander
Joined: Sep 13, 2003
Member#: 3098
Posts: 455
Location: Teaxsahs
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Posted:
Fri Sep 01, 2006 1:19 pm Post subject: |
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so THERE!
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stefan_nl
Lieutenant
Joined: Aug 07, 2005
Member#: 11136
Posts: 248
Location: The Netherlands
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Posted:
Fri Sep 01, 2006 1:26 pm Post subject: |
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Hmmm... Why do I suddenly feel I'm very tiny?
_________________
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy on Flying: The knack of throwing yourself at the ground and miss.
24SeVeN.FM Gadgets |
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mellowman
Captain
Joined: Sep 02, 2003
Member#: 2939
Posts: 1119
Location: UK
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TheSnowLeopard
Lieutenant Commander
Joined: Mar 18, 2006
Member#: 13799
Posts: 347
Location: Sydney, Australia
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Posted:
Fri Sep 01, 2006 6:41 pm Post subject: |
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Greats pics, clj & rebecca. The scale of these planets and stars is mind-blowing.
_________________
"After dark all cats are leopards." - Native American Proverb |
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TheSnowLeopard
Lieutenant Commander
Joined: Mar 18, 2006
Member#: 13799
Posts: 347
Location: Sydney, Australia
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Posted:
Tue Sep 05, 2006 12:29 am Post subject: |
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Latest space news: ESA crashes a spacecraft onto the moon's surface, on purpose.
Smackdown!
_________________
"After dark all cats are leopards." - Native American Proverb |
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sunshinegirl
Lieutenant Commander
Joined: Oct 04, 2005
Member#: 11852
Posts: 266
Location: Florida
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Posted:
Sun Sep 10, 2006 11:55 am Post subject: |
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A succesful launch!! It was beautiful to watch! |
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