A rather geeky/technical weblog, est. 2001, by Bramus
On YouTube I follow SmarterEveryDay. The latest published video is about the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The James Webb Space Telescope is an orbiting infrared observatory that will complement and extend the discoveries of the Hubble Space Telescope, with longer wavelength coverage and greatly improved sensitivity. The longer wavelengths enable Webb to look much …
I like this video from Vertiasium on Cosmic Rays and how they can trigger bit flipping in our computers, known as “Single Event Upsets”. Tiny particles from distant galaxies have caused plane accidents, election interference and game glitches. Solid buildup, good pacing, and well explained.
Half a century ago, on 20 July 1969, Neil Armstrong was in the final stages of the lunar descent, just a few thousand feet above the surface, when suddenly his on-board computer indicated a critical alarm. For three nail-biting seconds it looked as if the mission would have to be aborted. However, Armstrong was given …
Continue reading “Light Years Ahead | The 1969 Apollo Guidance Computer”
Earlier this week SpaceX’s SN10 rocket took off, ascended to ±10km, and then after a free fall in the horizontal position turned vertical again to successfully land (only to explode a few minutes later). While you can rewatch the whole thing online I’m more fascinated by this composite photo by Jack Beyer, visualizing the trajectory: …
Relive the whole Mars 2020 Entry Descent Landing in your browser, in 3D, powered by Three.JS/WebGL 🤯 Here’s a few pointers to use: Use the ⏪ ⏩ at the bottom to speed up / slow down the animation Scroll over the pane on the left to jump between phases of the landing You can click …
This simulator will familiarize you with the controls of the actual interface used by NASA Astronauts to manually pilot the SpaceX Dragon 2 vehicle to the International Space Station. Successful docking is achieved when all green numbers in the center of the interface are below 0.2. Movement in space is slow and requires patience & …
Johnny Harris, whom you might know from the Vox Borders series, on how we can possibly measure the distance to things a quadrillion km away.
Nadieh Bremer walks us through the visualization she made for Physics Today, celebrating the Hubble Space Telescope’s 30-year anniversary. A sky map of the Hubble Space Telescope’s observations →
We are going to the Moon, to stay, by 2024. And this is how. Must admit I got some goosebumps while watching this …
