NASA Names New Spacecraft 'Altair' 100
simonbp writes "NASA's new spacecraft, designed to travel to the Moon and International Space Station, has been christened 'Altair' - 'named after a variable double star in the constellation Aquila.' The crew launch vehicle will be called 'Ares I'; the larger cargo vehicle, 'Ares V'; and the lunar landers will be named after Artemis, the Greek goddess of the Moon and twin sister of Apollo."
Lies! (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Lies! (Score:1)
No! (Score:2)
Re:No! (Score:1)
Re:No! (Score:1)
Re:No! (Score:1)
Re:Lies! (Score:2)
Kumtrya! (Score:1)
atremis is diana , not a moon-good (Score:1)
Re:atremis is diana , not a moon-good (Score:1)
Re:atremis is diana , not a moon-good (Score:3, Informative)
All this from Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemis [wikipedia.org]
Re:atremis is diana , not a moon-good (Score:2)
She was the virgin moon goddess of the hunt, wild animals, healing, wilderness, chastity, and childbirth.
Like saints in later times Greek gods had lots and lots of different fields of activity/meanings tacked on based on supposed deeds and myths.
Re:atremis is diana , not a moon-good (Score:2)
Re:atremis is diana , not a moon-good (Score:1)
Re:atremis is diana , not a moon-good (Score:1)
hope for 1st post (Score:2)
Re:hope for 1st post (Score:3, Informative)
Re:hope for 1st post (Score:2)
How deep do you have to go, and what kind of power tool do you use to get there? (Sorry, couldn't resist)
Re:hope for 1st post (Score:2)
Disclaimer: IANAL
Re:hope for 1st post (Score:2)
How deep do you have to go
Six feet. Underground or underwater... doesn't matter which.
(IANAL, but my father, brother-in-law, and cousin are.)
With the hard part out of the way... (Score:5, Funny)
But hey, at least they got the hard part out of the way; figuring out names.
This post is a perfect example. It took my a hell of a lot less time to spit out a dozen or so challenges they still face then it did to think up a good title. Way to go NASA! You are almost there.
Re:With the hard part out of the way... (Score:1)
Re:With the hard part out of the way... (Score:2)
Re:Patsy (Score:2)
Re:With the hard part out of the way... (Score:2)
They should have named it "Pipe Dream" (Score:2)
-Eric
Re:They should have named it "Pipe Dream" (Score:2)
What do you want them to do, come up with some project that requires no manpower and resources whatsoever?
Re:They should have named it "Pipe Dream" (Score:2)
-Eric
Re:They should have named it "Pipe Dream" (Score:2)
I'd like a project which uses competitive fixed-cost contracts with money being given for meeting specific milestones, rather than the typical cost-plus boondoggle contracts which reward inefficiency and delays.
Re:They should have named it "Pipe Dream" (Score:2)
I have been on the "milking the government for all its worth" end. From what I have seen, I wish that the government would how to operate more like a business, at least when it comes to contracting out work. I am not saying that businesses don't try and screw each other, but when they do someone tends to get pissed off and start looking for skulls to break, that or tha
Re:They should have named it "Pipe Dream" (Score:2)
I guess this model is upended with all the employee security in government. It's really hard to fire someone for not giving a damn.
Gives it away what this is about (Score:4, Insightful)
That, or NASA is illiterate in the classics. Which I doubt.
But why a variable star? Is that because they expect the program to expand and contract according to the budget, stories on slow news days etc.?
The whole thing about the inflation of names relating to space is more than a little childish. Calling people who barely got out of the Earth's atmosphere "Astronauts" and "Cosmonauts" is a bit like calling a dinghy sailor "Admiral".
Re:They should have named it JESUS (Score:1)
Re:Gives it away what this is about (Score:2)
So, we may hope, is its eventual destination.
Re:Gives it away what this is about (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Gives it away what this is about (Score:2)
Mars and Ares were assosciated by the Romans, but they aren't actualy very similar. Mars was an etruscan god of farming who became a soldier's god since the very earliest Roman legions were citizens levies raised from amongst the farmers (Equites, those who could afford to keep a horse, were the commanders). As a war god Mars was always a god of honour, tactics, strategy and the other elements that characterise roman warfare - Ares by comparison was a thug who ran around killing people :)
Cryptonomicon on Ares vs. Athena (Score:2)
"Athena" would have been a much better name than "Ares" for the NASA launch vehicle.
From Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon, scene in jail in the Philippines, this quote starts p. 801 - see full quote starting from p.799, or better yet, buy the book.
Re:Gives it away what this is about (Score:2)
Its called sucking up. It pays the bills.
The cold war paid for apollo, and national space programs will need to have some nationalistic basis. Until Branson gets his act together.
Re:Gives it away what this is about (Score:2)
Is everything here a conspiracy by Karl Rove?
Re:Gives it away what this is about (Score:1)
On top of that, these "gods" you speak of are rarely exclusive to one practice. Athena is the greek goddess of war, wisdom and art, and is just about the only greek god I can remember. Athens was a very successful community. Damn those athenians! They worshipped WAR!
This is just silly.
Re:Gives it away what this is about (Score:2)
Actually, Astronaut means "star sailor" and Cosmonaut means "planet sailor" (these are not exact translations, but they were the intended meanings. I think the Russians got their naming more accurate than the Americans. It's a long way to the stars, the planets we achieved a few decades ago.
Or it could be a Mars reference (Score:2)
END COMMUNICATION
sounds old school (Score:1)
Natural Radio (Score:1)
8800 (Score:1)
Bad naming scheme guys... (Score:2, Insightful)
NEVER ever name a spacecraft after something resulting after a crash...
We are so far behind (Score:2)
Well, this article just confirms it for me. The United States is lagging in science and technology!
Re:We are so far behind (Score:2)
Want to show strength in science and technology, actually make a cheap, reusable, quick-turn-around launch vehicle. Choose a vehicle that has an actual working model, not one that requires new rocket engine technology be developed. Show some intelligence and innovation and quick ta
Re:We are so far behind (Score:2)
Uh, you do realize this is NASA we're talking about, right?
After all, they haven't innovated in over 30 years, so (and get the beauty of this logic)--THEY MUST BE DUE!
-Eric
Re:We are so far behind (Score:2)
Re:We are so far behind (Score:2)
D'oh
Re:We are so far behind (Score:1)
Yes! (Score:2)
how about engineering specification? (Score:5, Insightful)
How about the specification of the vehicle, instead?
Re:how about engineering specification? (Score:2)
Vista users.
Re:how about engineering specification? (Score:3, Informative)
Aren't the specifications already fixed? (Score:2)
I liked the name "Apollo on Steroids", personally. It reflected the fact that NASA is just doing the same thing again a little bigger, and that they're losing their balls.
Get to the really important stuff... (Score:2)
>Who gives a flying fark about the name?
Right. Tell us the important stuff. Does it have chrome exhausts? Holographic paint? Threatening protuberances? In other words, is it cool?
Twin sister of Apollo... (Score:1)
A few flags up, a few rocks down some media air time and lost interest...
I dont want to be a synic on this, but their (NASA/US) track record on almost everything follows this. Except maybe for oil, oil keeps them interested for a while... mmm oil...
Re:Twin sister of Apollo... (Score:2)
Yes, God forbid they follow in the footsteps of the ONLY SUCCESSFUL MANNED MISSIONS TO THE MOON.
Your drivel seeks to undercut one of the most important achievements of mankind. In your urgency to defame, you ignore the massive, worldwide sci
Re:Twin sister of Apollo... (Score:2)
Re:Twin sister of Apollo... (Score:1)
but seriously, you misunderstand what i am saying...
It could have been one of the most important achievements of mankind but since we stopped doing it, we are finding it real hard to do it again. It was sucessfull in putting a man on the moon... so what? yeah its a dream to do it, but if you arnt going to do anything more than that it is a real waste. The Apollo program may been the catalyst for other benefits, but none that i know of that actually *required* going to the moon.
Its the pess
Name of spacecraft? (Score:5, Funny)
The title bar of my web browser says:
NASA Names New Spacecraft - Mozilla Firefox
Re:Name of spacecraft? (Score:2)
Re:Name of spacecraft? (Score:2)
/Mikael
Re:Name of spacecraft? (Score:1)
NASA Names New Spacecraft - Microsoft Internet Explorer
does this mean it is intended to crash and burn?
Real provenance (Score:2)
Every Shadowrun geek... (Score:2)
Ship Christening (Score:1)
Computers on space craft (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Computers on space craft (Score:1)
How did they miss this? (Score:2)
http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/altair.html [uiuc.edu]
http://www.solstation.com/stars/altair.htm [solstation.com]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altair [wikipedia.org]
Re:How did they miss this? (Score:2)
Re:How did they miss this? (Score:2)
A double star [wikipedia.org] is not a binary star. [wikipedia.org]
Altair has quite a few [carbonar.es] companions visible at higher magnification.
Yah, it's a screw up (no one really cares if it's got an optical counterpart), but someone likely confused "double" and "binary", which isn't surprising.
Re:How did they miss this? (Score:2)
Re:How did they miss this? (Score:2)
Eh. It depends. Really, optical doubles are pointless from an astrophysics point of view, so it's just amateur astronomers who are interested in them basically as a test of the fidelity of the telescope.
There's no real definition for optical double. Note the "33 Doubles" [carbonar.es] page linked. Many of those doubles aren't equally bright at all. It's just that if you look at them with one size telescope, it looks like one star. With a bigger telescope, yo
Greek deities? (Score:1)
And, let me guess... (Score:2)
Kneel before Zod!! (Score:1)
Far & Away, Terrence Stamp's Finest Performance!
Here are a couple of references -
http://collectspace.com/ubb/Forum35/HTML/000234.ht ml [collectspace.com]
http://www.funtrivia.com/en/Movies/Superman-II-104 17.html [funtrivia.com]
(I had to check myself to make sure I wasn't crazy) You'll have to scroll down a bit in each link.
The real source of the name (Score:2)
2001 Reference, too. (Score:2)
The Ares 1B was the egg-like shuttle that Heywood Floyd took from the Space Station to the Moon.
Aso, the Ares vehicles are called Ares I and Ares V, presumably after the naming conventions of Saturn I and V. However, the Saturn I was actually called Saturn 1B, so there's the logical linkage to the Ares 1B.
From that, we can clearly see that Werner Von Braun is related to Kevin Bacon!
Name choice a nod to Robert Zubrin? (Score:2)
The irony of it is that Ares was also the name of the booster in Robert Zubrin's proposed Mars mission, "Mars Direct." Further, Zubrin's Ares (publically unveiled in 1990) is almost the same as NASA's Ares-5, launched in 2005.
The differences between the Zubrin and NASA boosters are very subtle. Both are built fro
No Its really named after! (Score:1)