Boldly going.........

[Lean'n'mean]

......where no probe has gone before.(yes, split infinitives ain't what they used to be) You may not of heard or indeed be interested but today, if all goes well, NASA will be launching a solar probe to shed some light onto a few of our star's unfathomable quirks & hopefully we will also understand why the sun's corona (several mllion degrees) is considerably hotter than it's surface (around 6,000 °C)
Incidently, this probe named Parker, will after 7 Venus 'fly bys' to gain maximum speed, be travelling at over 430,000 miles per hour which wil make it the fastest ever man made object. At that speed, a flight from Philadelphia to Washigton, DC would take 1 second, excluding checking in, security & various delays.
I thnk Icarus would have been a better name for it though.....too obvious prehaps.

https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/parker-solar-probe


EDIT: Apparently today's launch has been delayed until the wee small hours tommorrow morning. I think they're planning on sneaking up to the sun at night while it's asleep.

 

[Formeruser012523]

Here's the launch this morning.

 

[GHT]

I thnk Icarus would have been a better name for it though.....too obvious prehaps.

Not really, unless the probe is made of wax and feathers. They could have named it Helios after the Ancient Greek sun god, or even Sol Invictus, the Roman sun god. I guess calling it Aphrodite, after travelling around Venus might be a tad downmarket.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

Not really, unless the probe is made of wax and feathers.

I was thinking more of the idea behind the act rather than the means of transportation.

 

[Tiki Tom]

What if the speed of light is not as “constant” as they say it is?
Indeed, the ramifications would be H-U-G-E.
I was recently directed by a shady character dressed in black to a BANNED Ted Talk* by one Mr Rupert Sheldrake.
I will listen to anyone named “Rupert”.
Anyway… something I had never heard before… apparently the speed of light actually dropped between 1928 and 1945 (i.e., during the golden era.)
Yes, I was as shocked as you are to hear it. Worth a 15 minute investment of your time if you wish to question one of humankind’s very basic assumptions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKHUaNAxsTg

* I suppose there must be a reason why it was banned. They say there is "little evidense" to support his views.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

Worth a 15 minute investment of your time

18 minutes. You see, not even time is constant.

 

[GHT]

18 minutes. You see, not even time is constant.

18 minutes? Damn those adverts.