Spaceflight 🚀May 21, 2023

Why was the Search for #Extraterrestrial Intelligence (#SETI) 👽 unsuccessful so far ?

#Life 🦠 appeared pretty much as soon as it could, right when the #oceans formed and our #planet stopped being a molten 🌋 hellscape. That might have been as early as 3.7 billion years ago. But #intelligent life appeared basically yesterday—what we identify as anatomically modern humans arose about 120,000 years ago. https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/05/were-essentially-alone-in-the-universe-and-thats-ok

Pictures :   https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nature_timespiral_horizontal_layout_white_background.png https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Space-ship-763493.svg

We’re effectively alone in the Universe, and that’s OK

Solitude is not a curse—it urges us to explore the mysteries of our galaxy and beyond.

Ars Technica
Show threadSpaceflight 🚀Jul 8, 2023

Timeline of #SpaceExploration

• 📆 1610 discovery 🔭 of the Galilean #moons 🪐 (of #Jupiter) 🇮🇹
• 📆 1944 First man-made object in #space 🇩🇪
• 📆 1949 First #mammal in #space 🇺🇸
• 📆 1959 First #spacecraft to reach the #Moon 🇷🇺
• 📆 1989 First #astrometric #satellite 🇪🇺
• 📆 2001 First #laser #satellite link 🇫🇷 🇪🇺
• 📆 2010 First #sample return from an #asteroid 🇯🇵
• 📆 2015 First #propulsive landing of an #orbital #rocket 🚀
• 📆 2022 First #asteroid ☄️ deflected by a #spacecraft 🇺🇸

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_space_exploration

Picture : #Oumuamua 2017 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Comet_20171025-16_gif.gif

Timeline of space exploration - Wikipedia

Show threadSpaceflight 🚀
The most common reflectors for amateur #astronomy 🔭 have mirrors 📡 spanning 15 to 30 cm 📏 across, though ones that are much larger are available if your budget 💶 has an extra zero or two at the end of it. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-to-buy-your-first-telescope/
How to Buy Your First Telescope

This beginner’s guide to telescope basics will help make holiday shopping a little more heavenly

Scientific American
Dec 4, 2023 at 4:55pmWeb
Show threadSpaceflight 🚀Dec 4, 2023
Our #SolarSystem’s 7th and 8th #planets 🪐 weren’t known until 📆 1781 and 📆 1846, respectively https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/how-recently-understood-universe/
How recently have we understood the Universe?

While humanity has been skywatching since ancient times, much of our cosmic understanding has come about only recently. Very recently.

Big Think
Show threadSpaceflight 🚀Jan 13, 2024

In 📆 May 1921, the 54-foot-long, 1,200-pound refracting #telescope 🔭 at the #University of #Chicago’s Lake Geneva #Yerkes Observatory was the largest of its type in the world. Of the 19 people documented alongside #Einstein that day eight were women. https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/about/news/capturing-the-stars-the-untold-history-of-women-at-yerkes-observatory/

Picture : https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yerkes_Observatory_Astro4p7.jpg