New Prof Brian Cox programme

[skyhog]

Could we not use a much longer timeline though and consider anyone within an aircraft? I suppose we would be getting into pedantry in our definition of 'on earth' here. 

[saac]

2 minutes ago, skyhog said:

Could we not use a much longer timeline though and consider anyone within an aircraft? I suppose we would be getting into pedantry in our definition of 'on earth' here. 

Yes it's really about being off the planet itself including the atmosphere.  I'm watching it now , some other thought provoking quotes - watch out for the speech by Yuri Gagarin.  

Jim 

[JamesF]

3 minutes ago, saac said:

Yes it's really about being off the planet itself including the atmosphere.  I'm watching it now , some other thought provoking quotes - watch out for the speech by Yuri Gagarin.

The bit about being able to navigate to the Moon and come back reminded me of a quote from Michael Collins's "Carrying the Fire" where he talks about the accuracy required to get home.  I think he calls it the "window of survival" or something like that.  He claims it's the same as being able to split a hair by throwing a razor blade at it from twenty-two feet, if I recall correctly.

James

[skyhog]

17 minutes ago, saac said:

Yes it's really about being off the planet itself including the atmosphere.  I'm watching it now , some other thought provoking quotes - watch out for the speech by Yuri Gagarin.  

Jim 

But doesn't the ISS travel within the exosphere? Technically still in earth's atmosphere? 

Edited June 4, 2021 by skyhog
Spelling

[skyhog]

12 minutes ago, JamesF said:

The bit about being able to navigate to the Moon and come back reminded me of a quote from Michael Collins's "Carrying the Fire" where he talks about the accuracy required to get home.  I think he calls it the "window of survival" or something like that.  He claims it's the same as being able to split a hair by throwing a razor blade at it from twenty-two feet, if I recall correctly.

James

It wasn't long ago I read that book after it had been on my must read list for years. It didn't disappoint. One of the most unassuming figures of the era and incredible to contemplate that level of isolation in the command module. To hear him talk of using a sextant out of the window to gain settings for guidance is unbelievable today. If anyone who is interested in the apollo missions hasn't read his book, I would strongly suggest you do. 

[saac]

14 minutes ago, skyhog said:

But doesn't the ISS travel within the exosphere? Technically still in earth's atmosphere? 

It's above the Karmen line so not on Earth.

Jim 

[JamesF]

13 minutes ago, skyhog said:

It wasn't long ago I read that book after it had been on my must read list for years. It didn't disappoint. One of the most unassuming figures of the era and incredible to contemplate that level of isolation in the command module. To hear him talk of using a sextant out of the window to gain settings for guidance is unbelievable today. If anyone who is interested in the apollo missions hasn't read his book, I would strongly suggest you do. 

Absolutely agree.  It's a fascinating book, but seems to me to give an honest feel for what the whole "Moon landing project" was like for the crews of the Gemini and Apollo missions.  I had to buy my copy second-hand as it seems to be out of print now.

James

[skyhog]

9 minutes ago, saac said:

It's above the Karmen line so not on Earth.

Jim 

That's very much arbitrary though...😉

[saac]

7 minutes ago, skyhog said:

That's very much arbitrary though...😉

Not really, certainly no more than any other contrived definition of the atmosphere.  In any respect the original quote was for sure identifying an off Earth presence; its sentiments I think were designed to be poetic and  provoking rather than analytical. 

Jim   

Edited June 4, 2021 by saac

[JamesF]

3 minutes ago, skyhog said:

That's very much arbitrary though...😉

I agree it's a pretty arbitrary distinction to make, but for me it does feel as though there's some sort of qualitative difference between being on an aircraft and on the ISS where the astronauts can't just stick it down at the nearest airport if something goes wrong, for example.  If you like, I kind of feel that on an aircraft you're just "temporarily not here", whereas on the ISS you're "somewhere else".

James

[skyhog]

1 minute ago, saac said:

Not really, certainly no more than any other contrived definition of the atmosphere.  In any respect the original quote was for sure identifying an off Earth presence; it's sentiments poetic and provoking. 

Jim   

Yes, I'd agree. Hopefully we can add to that figure when we include those enroute to the moon in a few years and perhaps further afield in the decades to come. 

[skyhog]

11 minutes ago, JamesF said:

Absolutely agree.  It's a fascinating book, but seems to me to give an honest feel for what the whole "Moon landing project" was like for the crews of the Gemini and Apollo missions.  I had to buy my copy second-hand as it seems to be out of print now.

James

It's certainly available. The latest reprints have an afterword from Micheal where he airs his views on the present politics within NASA and his feelings of where the future of spaceflight is going. I think  I bought it in 2019.

[Sunshine]

Oh wow, I need to watch this, I love Brian Cox, watching Wonders of the solar system and Universe brought me back to my childhood when my mom and dad ushered me to the TV to watch

a new programme "COSMOS" by none other than one of my lifelong heroes Carl Sagan. To me, when it comes to the most fascinating and enlightening programs I have ever seen I would

put Wonders and Brian Cox himself on the same pedestal as my beloved Carl Sagan.

R.I.P Carl, you've changed my life forever by mesmerizing me as a 7yr old boy, giving me the gift of wonder and endless curiosity about our place in this universe. 

To quote something my mother always says to this day "If an alien race came down and asked for someone to speak for earth I would have choosen none other than Carls Sagan"

Edited June 4, 2021 by Sunshine

[skyhog]

16 minutes ago, Sunshine said:

Oh wow, I need to watch this, I love Brian Cox, watching Wonders of the solar system and Universe brought me back to my childhood when my mom and dad ushered me to the TV to watch

a new programme "COSMOS" by none other than one of my lifelong heroes Carl Sagan. To me, when it comes to the most fascinating and enlightening programs I have ever seen I would

put Wonders and Brian Cox himself on the same pedestal as my beloved Carl Sagan.

R.I.P Carl, you've changed my life forever by mesmerizing me as a 7yr old boy, giving me the gift of wonder and endless curiosity about our place in this universe. 

To quote something my mother always says to this day "If an alien race came down and asked for someone to speak for earth I would have choosen none other than Carls Sagan"

Loved cosmos back in the seventies, be interesting to see it again to see how it has aged. 

[JamesF]

11 minutes ago, Sunshine said:

put Wonders and Brian Cox himself on the same pedestal as my beloved Carl Sagan.

I don't think this is an unreasonable view, though their work is hard to compare given the time between them and how much has changed.  I'm not into the whole "lingering stare into the distance" thing with Brian Cox for which he is often criticised (amongst other things), but actually that sort of stuff is about how programmes are presented these days -- they're entertainment as much as informing and educating and that's what the producers feel is what (some) people want.  If you talk about the passion for the science and the desire to communicate it then yes, I think they stand shoulder to shoulder.

James

[Sunshine]

5 minutes ago, skyhog said:

Loved cosmos back in the seventies, be interesting to see it again to see how it has aged. 

Close enough, it was 1980 when it aired, I have the series on DVD, it is interesting to see how it has dated from the POV of new discoveries and theories but COSMOS was never meant to be a textbook. Cosmos was an introduction to the universe and our place within it explained in layman's terms, keeping that in mind it ages like wine.

[skyhog]

14 minutes ago, Sunshine said:

Close enough, it was 1980 when it aired, I have the series on DVD, it is interesting to see how it has dated from the POV of new discoveries and theories but COSMOS was never meant to be a textbook. Cosmos was an introduction to the universe and our place within it explained in layman's terms, keeping that in mind it ages like wine.

I had a subscription to sky and telescope in the seventies and remember it was under discussion in the magazine before it aired so maybe why I'm thinking late seventies perhaps. 

[kirkster501]

The new series it completely recycled material from previous shows with a 2021 update.  Cheap telly from BBC there.  That said, I do generally like it and watch it.

[iapa]

On 25/05/2021 at 21:38, Mark-V said:

Just set the sky box to record it !

It’s BBC

Watchit on iPlayer

[DaveS]

On tonight, followed on BBC4 by Sky at Night.