Cool science stuff

Judge spends a big chunk of the decision backhanding Blue Origin for even bringing the suit to court. Click through to the thread.

 

Very nice "near total" lunar eclipse a few minutes ago. A cold, clear morning allowed us to see maximum coverage, which looked a lot like a shining ring on the very edge of the sliver that wasn't covered.

 

Who names these moons? This one is called the Full Beaver Moon.

 

Not surprisingly, blame the media.

It's actually a relatively recent fad to give each new moon a Native American-sounding name. There's no actual scientific connection.

Every nation had its own calendar or way of marking time, and no two tribes described full moons in exactly the same. In addition, Colonial Americans brought over a set of names from Europe. At some point in the 1930s, the Old Farmer's Almanac decided to create a list, partly based on Algonquin descriptions and others that just sounded good, in an effort to increase sales, which had slumped badly during the Depression.

For the rest of the 20th century, the only blips of popularity for those names came from song titles or cultural references. "Shine on, Harvest Moon," for example. Or "once in a blue moon."

According to Google search trends, the idea of media outlets using the Almanac terms really caught on after a 2014 "Blood Moon" lunar eclipse that supposedly was interpreted by two theologians as the beginning of the end of the Earth, and their book dented the top 150 on Amazon, which of course, required newspapers to breathlessly report on the resulting hogwash.

Suddenly, it became in vogue to attach cool-sounding names to full moons. And here we are.

I'm calling it the Got Up Early And Made Coffee Anyway Almost Total Lunar Eclipse Moon. Because I didn't see a full beaver.

Beaver moon: Why full moon name meanings have entered pop culture even though there’s zero science behind them (msn.com)

 

Sorry to hear that. Maybe next date.

 

Thanks.

I’m looking forward to the Two Dogs Fucking Moon.

 

Science-related, over the weekend at a mutual-interests get-together, I met and spent time with a former assistant director of NASA, aeronautics side. He had been deeply involved in development of the Stealth bomber. Like, travel to a secure location with govt phone number given to loved ones for contact; rides on a bus with no windows to a worksite to live in quonset huts with no windows. The only hint his wife had of location was if he packed a swimsuit or an overcoat. He also served as an under Secretary of Defense during Reagan-Bush and testified on The Hill. How was that, I asked. "The Secretary advised one thing: "Answer the questions, and only the questions. Don't ramble, don't go off on tangents, don't say ANYTHING else. You'll only get bogged down, or worse, reveal something we don't want them to know.""

He also said astronauts have a higher cancer rate than the general population because they are more exposed in flight.

The group also included a retired helicopter pilot, a software salesman, a Broadway show lighting designer, and a magazine editor. Oh, and a guy who changes the printer ink at a live event company.

I also met a retired nuke sub engineer, but that's an entertaining anecdote for another day.

 

Earth has two moons (for now)?

Earth Has a Second Moon—For Another 300 Years, At Least

 

CNN is saying Strahan will be "the first journalist in space" - I want to puke.

 

Completely speculative, yet oddly plausible.

 

Interesting video, but if the colony construction begins in April 2025, they're going to have to get on the stick. The timeline seems awfully condensed too.

 

Big Christmas for space science.


Live coverage: Countdown begins for launch of James Webb Space Telescope – Spaceflight Now

https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive