And we were faced with the fact that the ranks of space agency researchers are full of not boring people at all, but quite even poetic, romantic and witty people. This conclusion can be drawn at least from the list of what scientists have managed to launch into space over the past 50 years of its research. 10 of the most unusual, amusing and strange things from it - in the material below.
Space cemetery
Few people think that in space- in near-earth and lunar orbits - there are many remains of deceased people. Space burials have been gaining popularity over the past 20 years, and at the moment more than 600 samples of ashes have left our planet. Among them there are many remains of celebrities and prominent personalities. For example, the ashes of the American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh, who first discovered Pluto, plow through the vastness of space on the automatic interplanetary station "New Horizons", launched to that very Pluto in 2006.
Parts of the remains of three earthlings are also "buried" in space. behind the Star Trek sci-fi media franchise, including epic genius Gene Roddenberry and James Doohan and Majel Barrett as Montgomery Scott and Christine Chapel.
Among the most famous persons buried in orbit is Timothy Leary, an American writer, psychologist, and campaigner for psychedelic drug research.
As a rule, the ashes of the dead are sent into space during planned rocket launches in small capsules the size of lipstick. Several companies are organizing such a symbolic funeral. Not so long ago, a former NASA specialist launched his own project Elysium Space, which offered affordable prices: for such an unusual burial ritual, the company charges a little less than two thousand dollars. Relatives are even given the opportunity to track the location of the remains using a mobile app.
Color chart
created by Damien Hirst
In 2003, together with the Beagle-2 landing module Damien Hirst's work was posted. This time, the object, created by an English artist, received a purely utilitarian purpose - a 26-gram metal plate of irregular shape with multi-colored circles was to be used as a color chart for calibrating the camera, microscope and spectrometer. This was the first time that a piece of contemporary art was not only launched into space, but also appeared on the surface of another planet - Mars.
It was assumed that the device will work on the surface of the Red Planet for about 180 days with a possible extension of the mission. The landing, which took place on December 25, 2003, seemed to be successful, but the device never got in touch, and the further fate of this masterpiece by Hirst is unknown.
Lightsaber
Luke Skywalker
October 23, 2007 during the planned launch of the shuttle "Discovery" the necessary equipment for the installation of node number two was delivered to the ISS (Harmony) as well as a team of seven astronauts. Probably, in order to "may the Force be with the crew," in addition to the scientific cargo, the shuttle took into space the original laser sword of Luke Skywalker, which the actor Mark Hamill used in the battle against Darth Vader. Thus NASA decided to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Star Wars movie epic.
“It may not go to one distant, distant galaxy, but it’s still a six million-mile journey, and it’s very cool,” said Doug Mattis of NASA. The artifact returned safely from space, and the sword can currently be seen in the collection of the Lyndon Johnson Space Center.
Figurine
Buzz Lightyear
"History of toys"
Buzz Lightyear, cartoon toy astronaut "History of toys", went into space in 2008 with the STS-124 mission. He "lived" on the International Space Station for over 450 days. Upon returning to Earth on September 11, 2009, the figurine led a parade at Walt Disney World along with Buzz Aldrin, the second person to walk on the lunar surface. (after mission commander Neil Armstrong).
Naturally, the toy ended up in space for a reason. Buzz Lightyear's journey was timed to coincide with the opening of Toy Story Mania! in parks Disney World and Disneyland. Astronauts, in turn, justified the presence of a toy on board the station by demonstrating experiments with microgravity.
Students and schoolchildren had to describe how the figurine behaves on Earth, and predict how it will manifest itself in microgravity. They could compare their predictions with reality by watching a video filmed by astronauts.
Messages to extraterrestrial civilizations
Both Voyager and Voyager 1 left curious messages on board. for extraterrestrial civilizations, although the likelihood that someday they will find the addressee is extremely small - Voyager 1 can approach the star Gliese 445 only after 40 thousand years. From the gold plates, you can roughly understand what life on Earth is like. The most famous of them contains images of naked men and women. (the man raises his hand at the same time in a welcoming gesture) surrounded by a schematic representation of the solar system, spacecraft and explanatory signs. The image, however, caused some public concern, as it was considered pornographic by many.
Also included in the package was a record with the sounds of the Earth. (all of them can be listened to on the NASA website) and instructions for use, the simplest arithmetic equations, photographs of other planets, a diagram of human reproduction and DNA. Other curious objects included a photograph of people biting, licking food and drinking water, an X-ray photograph, a diagram of evolution. (from fish to person) and representatives of different races for routine activities.
Family portrait
Photo of the astronaut's family
Duke of Planet Earth
Charles Duke became the youngest astronaut in 1972 who have been to the moon. But it was not enough for him that he walked on its surface as part of the Apollo 16 expedition, he decided to take with him to the Earth's satellite a portrait of his family - with his wife Dottie and sons Charles and Tom, and leave this souvenir there forever. To let everyone know about his deed, he captured a photograph thrown into the rocky landscape with his Hasselblad. The astronaut previously signed it: “This is the family of astronaut Duke from planet Earth. Landing on the Moon in April 1972 ".
The list of personal items that the astronauts took to the moon included more exotic items, such as a piece of wood from the left propeller and a piece of cloth from the upper left wing of the Wright Brothers' Flyer. Neil Armstrong took them with him. Aldrin, at the request of his father, took with him the autobiography of one of the pioneers of rocketry, Robert Goddard (this was the first book to visit the moon) and the chalice, which became the first vessel for the sacrament in space.
LEGO Figures
The Juno spacecraft, which NASA plans to reach Jupiter in 2016, has an unusual cargo on board: three LEGO minifigures depicting Galileo Galilei and the Roman gods Jupiter and Juno.
NASA specialists, who, as it turned out, love designers no less than ours, turned to LEGO, and they, in turn, did not regret $ 15,000 for the production of special figures.
Toys are not made of plastic, but aluminum, to withstand extreme conditions and large temperature fluctuations. Each character was chosen for a reason: Galileo was the first to use a telescope to observe celestial bodies, and with his help he discovered four moons of Jupiter in 1610. The other two figures refer to Greek and Roman mythology and the names of the destination planet and the space probe itself. The fact is that, according to legend, the god Jupiter hid his leprosy behind a veil of clouds, but his wife, the goddess Juno (English Juno), was able to see the true nature of Jupiter through these clouds. The figurine of Juno is holding a magnifying glass, and the figurine of Jupiter is holding a lightning bolt.
In addition to the figurines, the probe also has a plaque provided by the Italian Space Agency. It depicts Galileo himself, as well as an inscription made by him in January 1610, when he first observed the moons of Jupiter.
Teddy bear Boris
A toy to help determine when the crew is in zero gravity
It is known that Russian cosmonauts are very superstitious, and in many photographs with the domestic crew of space missions one strange mascot can be seen - a small toy bear. Nicknamed Boris by the cosmonauts, the bear, suspended by a rope between the camera and the crew, allows ground dispatchers to determine better than any instruments when the crew is in zero gravity. The plush toy can be seen in the video from the launch of space tourist Charles Simonyi to the space station in 2007. (it is better to skip the video forward 2 minutes).
Rocket Launch video Soyuz TMA-10
Artifact English settlers of Jamestown
Around 1611, one of the English ships in a few months crossed the Atlantic Ocean and headed to Jamestown - the first English settlement in the territory of the modern United States, founded a few years earlier. The luggage boxes of these desperate people seeking a better life in the New World were marked with metal Yames Towne plaques. One of the very tablets was discovered by archaeologists at the bottom of the well.
in 2006 year. As early as June 2007, in celebration of the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, NASA's Atlantis space shuttle launched this piece of lead into low-Earth orbit, after which it crossed the Atlantic Ocean, this time in just a few minutes. The tablet was returned to Earth at the Archaearium Museum, which contains many artifacts belonging to the first Americans of Jamestown.
Golf balls and putter
Alan Shepard is the first and, in all likelihood, the only person to play golf on the moon
The first American astronomer Alan Shepard took the balls and the club with him into space- he is the first and, in all likelihood, the only person to play golf on the moon. As NASA explains, in this way he not only had fun, but also made a significant contribution to science - the ball's flight path clearly demonstrated how much weaker gravity on the moon. Video footage of the experiment has also been preserved.
Shepard himself recalled that the ball flew "miles and miles" however, theoretical astrophysicist Ethan Siegel slightly refined the astronaut's statement. In his opinion, it is most likely that the ball spent 70 seconds in flight and flew four kilometers, which was almost eight times higher than the earth record existing at that time.
Cover image via courtesy The Lego Group photos via Celestis & beagle2.com
For half a century of the space era, more than 500 people have visited space, and about 6,500 satellites have been launched into orbit. Human-made devices have studied all the planets of the solar system and reached its borders. But in addition to them, a number of rather unusual objects also visited space, which will be discussed today.
Luke Skywalker's lightsaber
Many who love “ star Wars"- and NASA, as you know, uses every opportunity to popularize its activities. Unsurprisingly, they were destined to cross.
In 1999, the shuttle Endeavor brought Luke Skycourt's lightsaber into orbit and was used on the set. Return of the Jedi”. The sword was handed over to the astronauts by Chewbacca himself, and they say that George Lucas personally watched the launch, accompanied by R2 D2 and Imperial stormtroopers
Fallen astronaut
An 8 cm aluminum figurine symbolizing all the deceased astronauts and cosmonauts was placed on the Moon by the Apollo 15 crew. A plaque is left next to it, on which the following names are listed in the order of the letters of the English alphabet: Charles Basett, Pavel Belyaev, Roger Chaffee, Georgy Dobrovolsky, Theodore Freeman, Yuri Gagarin, Edward Givens, Virgil Grissom, Vladimir Komarov, Victor Patsaev, Elliot C., Vladislav Volkov, Edward White, C.C. Williams.
Astrophilalia
The history of space philately began in 1969, when, after the docking of the Soyuz-4 and Soyuz-5 spaceships Evgeny Khrunov and Alexey Eliseev went from ship to ship through open space and handed Vladimir Shatalov the world's first space mail. Since then, envelopes have been canceled in orbit, as well as the delivery and return of souvenir postage products to Earth, which were then eagerly sold by collectors. One mark has been placed aboard the New Horizons probe, destined to leave the solar system for good and travel into interstellar space. Presumably, it will be highly appreciated by alien philatelists.
But there is another, rather scandalous story associated with the crew of the same Apollo 15, which decided to combine business with pleasure - to fly to the moon, and at the same time earn some money. The astronauts, without the consent of their superiors, took 400 gift envelopes with stamps and means for their cancellation on the flight. For a reward of $ 7,000, they were to give to a German businessman Herman Siegeru 100 envelopes (but on condition that he starts selling them not earlier than the end of the program), and leave 300 for himself as souvenirs.
But the thirst for quick money exceeded all agreements - not wanting to wait for the closure of the program, Sieger began trading in envelopes. Very soon the media found out about this and a loud scandal erupted - the proceedings even reached Congress. As a result, the astronauts disappeared into the dungeons of the CIA and received disciplinary measures and none of them were allowed to fly into space again. The remaining envelopes were confiscated, but after a few years the crew was able to sue them. Now this philately is sold by relatives of astronauts for quite good money - a couple of years ago one of the envelopes was bought at an auction for 15,000 dollars.
Historical items
Americans love historical continuity and therefore often launch objects full of symbolic meaning into space. For example, on board Apollo 11 was a piece of the Wright brothers' plane.
The Atlantis shuttle carried into space a piece of the same apple tree that inspired Newton to create the theory of gravity.
And on board the already mentioned New Horizons probe is a fragment of the hull of the first private spacecraft, SpaceShipOne. Finally, some parts of the Spirit and Opportunity rovers are made from the wreckage of the World Trade Center Twin Towers.
Religious items
Some might think that people flying into space should be less religious than the rest of the population - but this is not at all the case. For example, Alexander Skvortsov, the commander of the Soyuz TMA-18 expedition, took a small icon with him into orbit. Astronaut Gennady Padalka told that “the icon of the Kazan Mother of God is constantly located at the station, besides, almost every cosmonaut brings his home iconostasis into orbit”.
The American astronauts were also different. Participant of the first landing on the moon Buzz Aldrin was a believing Presbyterian, and therefore took on the flight the cup for the sacrament and a card with the words written on it, which must be pronounced during the sacrament. As a result, Aldrin received Holy Communion during the flight, but did not announce it publicly.
The fact is that earlier the astronaut from the Apollo-8 spacecraft allowed himself to quote the Old Testament on the air. It is not hard to guess that soon one of the spectators filed a lawsuit against NASA, accusing the organization of promoting religion. Later, the US Supreme Court dismissed the claim, stating that the case did not take place on the territory of the country, but in space - but nevertheless, all astronauts received a strict instruction from their superiors not to publicly show their religious feelings during flights.
Paper airplane
If you follow the FAI standard, then 27 kilometers is still far from space. But for an airplane made of paper tubes and wrapped in special paper with a wingspan of 90 centimeters, this is a very decent result. Originally conceived for fun, the project “ PARIS”(Short for“ Paper Aircraft Released Into Space ”) was released in October 2010 in Spain. Equipped with a camera and GPS system, the aircraft was delivered to the indicated altitude using a balloon inflated with helium and then released, after which it flew 160 kilometers, taking a bunch of pictures along the way.
Toys
In addition to iconostases and other religious items, Russian (and not only) cosmonauts often take their favorite toys with them on expeditions. For example, together with the commander of the Soyuz TMA-15 and the flight engineer of the 20th mission to the ISS Roman Romanenko his daughter's favorite smesharik flew to the station in a spacesuit. And the mascot of the Soyuz TMA-18 mission was a yellow-green plush duck named Kwak by the crew members.
Plush talismans are needed not only to calm the astronauts - they are tied over the Soyuz cosmonauts' consoles, they serve as weightlessness detectors (such detectors are also called Boris). Of course, the inhabitants of the ship are able to determine that gravity over them no longer has power even without the "Boris" - but with him it is still more familiar.
Lego figures are also very popular. For example, three figurines depicting the god Jupiter, his wife Juno and Galileo Galilei were sent to the real Jupiter on the Juno spacecraft.
Ruhnama
The Rukhnama (also known as the Book of the Soul, the spiritual guidance of the Turkmen people written by Saparmurat Niyazov) was sent into space in 2005 to symbolize "Turkmenistan's participation in space activities."
It is true that with the advent of the new president, copies of the Rukhnama were rapidly removed from all institutions in the country. So it is possible that by the year 2150, when the capsule with the Rukhnama supposedly enters the atmosphere, the copy in it will be of much greater bibliographic value than it is now.
Golf balls
There are plenty of sports fans among space explorers. As a result, over the years, T-shirts, sports souvenirs and even commemorative plaques from the stadium of your favorite team have already been in space. But most distinguished himself Alan Shepard... Before returning to the lunar module, he suddenly said that he "accidentally" found a pair of golf balls in a spacesuit. After that, using one of the tools as a club, he tried to strike. Because of the uncomfortable spacesuit, it was quite difficult to do this, but in the end he still managed to hit the ball, which flew about 400 meters away.
His partner was also seized by sports excitement, and before entering the module, he threw one of the equipment racks, as if it were a spear.
Human dust
It is difficult to say how many people sincerely dream of being in space - millions, tens of millions? But on the other hand, you can say exactly how many succeeded - according to the FAI, to date, the list of people who crossed the mark of 100 kilometers above sea level (which is considered the official boundary of outer space) includes 532 names.
But sometimes what is impossible to do during life is obtained after death. Officially, the practice of space funerals began in 1997 when the Pegasus rocket launched a capsule with the ashes of 24 people into space, which remained in orbit until 2002.
But the remains of some people were launched even longer distances. So, the ashes of an astronomer Eugene Shoemaker now rests on the lunar surface, together with the debris of the Lunar Proscpector that brought it there. Part of the ashes of the discoverer of Pluto Clyde Tombaugh is on board the New Horizons spacecraft (as everyone might have guessed, there is a whole collection of unusual items on board) - which means that he became the first person to receive an interstellar funeral.
But there is another, unconfirmed story about a NASA engineer who secretly placed a capsule with the ashes of his best friend aboard the Mars Observer that was launched to the Red Planet in 1992. It is clear that it will hardly ever be possible to establish the authenticity of the story, but in general it is quite touching. More details about her.
"Painting" by Damien Hirst
Can the calibration panel used to color correct images be called a painting? If it is painted by an artist Damien Hirst then perhaps anything is possible. This panel was installed on the Beagle-2 lander, which landed on Mars on December 25, 2003 ... after which communication with it was lost. But as the images from orbit show, the device itself was not damaged, and the problem was probably caused by a hardware failure.
So, the "picture" is somewhere on Mars - and it must be assumed that by the time some of the people manage to get to it, its price will become truly astronomical.
Last week, the transport ship Dragon, an unmanned spacecraft from SpaceX, arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) with 5,000 pounds (approximately 2,268 kg) of fresh cargo. This mission is an example of the beginning of a new era for NASA - since 2011, the function of transporting provisions and cargo to the ISS, as well as from it to Earth, is carried out by the private sector. This decision was made primarily due to the high cost of sending NASA shuttles to the ISS, which have now been replaced with cheaper launch vehicles from private companies.
Whether transportation has truly become cheaper with the move to launch vehicles by private companies, however, remains open to question. To find out, Tech Insider spoke with space station payload specialist and engineer Ravi Margasahayam.
In 2008, NASA signed contracts with SpaceX and its competitor, the aerospace company Orbital Sciences, for $ 1.6 billion for 12 launches and $ 1.9 billion for eight rocket launches, respectively. And while the new missions are hundreds of millions of dollars cheaper than launching a space shuttle, the cost of getting into space hasn't diminished.
"My price per pound has gone up with these rockets," Margasakhai told Tech Insider. "It would have been much lower on the shuttle."
He points out that while the space shuttles were more expensive, with an estimated $ 500 million per launch (some estimates even more), each mission carried approximately 50,000 pounds (about 22,600 kg) and seven astronauts. That is, it cost about $ 10,000 to transport one pound of cargo (almost 0.5 kg).
If we make similar calculations with the cheapest NASA carrier at the moment - SpaceX, which launch each rocket at a cost of $ 133 million, and the capacity of the last mission was 5,000 pounds, it becomes clear that each pound is estimated at about $ 27,000.
However, SpaceX claims that the Dragon spacecraft, launched with the Falcon 9 booster, can carry 7,300 pounds (over 3,000 kg) both to the ISS and back to Earth. So if Dragon is fully loaded at launch and upon return, the cost per pound is only $ 9,100.
Bottle of water: $ 9,100 to $ 27,000
A half-liter bottle of water weighs just about one pound, so it fits the base cost of sending a cargo into space - from $ 9,100 to $ 27,000.
NASA long ago decided that it was pretty foolish to send new water every time, given how much of it is in the human body. Therefore, on board the ISS, astronauts drink recycled water from their own condensation, sweat, and urine.
70 mice: at least $ 470,000
The mice are quite light, weighing only about 300-400 grams, that is, the cost of shipping one mouse to the ISS ranges from $ 6,825 to $ 20,250. However, one mouse for research in space is clearly not enough, therefore, to study the biological effect on the organism in space, including muscle wasting and aging, it costs between $ 470,925 and $ 1.4 million for 70 rodents.
Bagpipes: $ 162,000
And also quite a few other instruments sent to astronauts, including harmonicas, guitars, and at least one saxophone.
Bagpipe weight is highly dependent on materials and construction, but astronaut Kjell Lindgren appears to be a pretty serious performer strong enough to hold a full-sized instrument.
It can be assumed that he was worried about the cost of transportation and therefore chose a relatively light bagpipe - 6 pounds, 2 pounds less than the average 8-pound.
So the cost could have ranged from $ 54,600 to $ 16,200, but given how much that means to astronauts who miss their lives on Earth and the YouTube video of him playing, it was worth it.
Coffee machine: possibly over $ 1 million
Once, astronauts used only freeze-dried coffee, which they had to dilute with water that did not reach boiling point, and as a result, coffee caused many complaints among astronauts.
However, in 2015, an ISSpresso coffee machine arrived on the ISS, produced exclusively by the Italian collaboration of Argotec, software developer, coffee maker Lavazza, and the Italian Space Agency.
The vehicle weighs 44 pounds (almost 20 kg), costs $ 400 400, and its delivery to the ISS cost $ 1.2 million.
Greenhouse: more than $ 145,000
In 2015, astronauts aboard the ISS received an unusual cause for joy: real greenery grown in outer space.
Astronauts are studying the effects of microgravity (zero gravity) on plants. Given that humans are planning to travel to Mars someday, knowing how to grow vegetables in unearthly conditions will be essential.
16 pounds of greenhouse weight - approximately $ 145,600 to $ 432,000 costs to transport it from Earth.
Gorilla costume: at least $ 116,000
The video of astronaut Scott Kelly in a gorilla suit aboard the ISS was incredibly popular on the Internet.
Each astronaut is allocated a certain amount of special cargo on board the launch vehicles delivering to the ISS. Most often, they receive gifts from home - cards, gifts, even birthday cakes. However, Scott Kelly's twin brother, also an astronaut, Mike Kelly, sent him such a gorilla suit.
This outfit on Amazon weighs 4.3 pounds, which means the price for shipping it was about $ 116,000 - $ 391,000.
Lemons: over $ 2,000 each
Astronaut Scott Kelly, during his year in space, studied the effect of these conditions (sometimes extremely unpleasant) on his body.
It's not very easy to spend so much time indoors, and at some point NASA sent several fresh lemons to the ISS to add some variety to life on board the station, and Kelly juggled them in another video about the science of metabolism in space.
Since the average lemon weighs about 3.5 ounces (almost 100 grams), the cost of sending them into space would have to be between $ 2,000 and $ 5,900 apiece.
Baby Squid: Under $ 5
A living, wriggling squid that was needed for another research project: astronauts use it to study the relationship between animals and beneficial bacteria. Sepiolides - cephalopods - are symbiotically associated with certain bacteria. The bacteria live in the body of the squid, and he uses them to create backlight underwater.
A baby squid weighs less than a hundredth of an ounce. Apart from a test tube, it costs between $ 1.60 and $ 4.80 to send each squid into space.
By earthly standards, such costs may seem unnecessary and pointless to us, but Margasakhayam argues that it is worth it.
The experiments carried out at the space station have enormous potential in helping us study the human body and the future of space travel. Space programs such as NASA have led to major technological developments that we use every day on Earth.
“NASA is the pinnacle of American ingenuity and technology,” Margasakhayam said. He also noticed that NASA's budget is actually extremely small compared to other US agencies.
Delivering cargo to the ISS may and may be extremely expensive, but the process promotes international cooperation, scientific progress and innovation.
NASA is in trouble with the James Webb Telescope. Earlier on Geektimes it was already reported about one of the problems, now another one has been discovered, which is likely to delay the launch of the system into space indefinitely. The project itself began to be implemented a long time ago. The first design elements were prepared in 1996. Around the same time, NASA announced that the launch of one of the most advanced space telescopes is scheduled for 2007. The total cost of the project was about $ 500 million.
But then, after 1996, the postponements began. Recently, the agency announced that the telescope will fly into space no earlier than 2020, in May. Moreover, NASA has no guarantee that the US Congress will continue to fund the project. The budget has increased many times, now it is $ 8 billion - this is how much the government allocated for the creation, testing and launch of the telescope into space.
Now the team of "James Webb" began a series of troubles, which led to a delay in the launch of the system. But the delay means additional costs, and this is exactly what NASA cannot afford, since the organization is unlikely to receive more than the allocated $ 8 billion. The only way to complete the project successfully is to solve all the problems that have arisen and still send Webb to the cold blackness. The problem is that if problems arise, the telescope cannot be repaired - it will be located far from Earth.
The telescope team has only one chance of a successful launch of the system, this chance must be used 100%, there will be no more opportunities. “We now have problems that need to be addressed before we cross the finish line,” said a NASA spokesman.
Actually, all the hardware systems are ready and assembled. The telescope is not yet a single whole, it is divided into two parts, which will be connected by specialists before being sent into space. One of two parts is the mirror system. Each mirror was prepared separately, then tested, and then connected with others. The second part of the telescope is the spacecraft and power plants, including a solar shield that protects the system's cameras from sunlight.
Most of the problems happened on the way to the home stretch when NASA contractor Northrop Grumman began testing the telescope at its facility in California. Now it has become known about additional problems with the telescope, although previously only one was announced - problematic valves in the device's engine system, which are responsible for putting the system into orbit and ensuring that the solar shield is always in the correct position.
The launch shield is stacked in five layers. In order for the telescope to work, the shield needs to be turned around. NASA and Northrop Grumman have drawn up a plan to eliminate problem valves and replace them with working ones. But it will take weeks, if not months, and the launch date of the telescope will have to be postponed.
And the problem is that the agency spent about $ 7.3 billion of the $ 8 allocated by Congress. NASA will meet this summer to prepare a new fundraising proposal and to explain to Washington the reasons for the mistakes that led to the loss of several satellites. While things were going well at the telescope, the government paid a lot of attention to it. Now there are clear problems, so if the budget increases to $ 8 billion, Congress will have to re-approve the project.
Many scientists believe that this will be the case, although NASA has doubts about this. Perhaps quite fair, as Lamar Smith, a US government spokesman, said the following in this regard: “Today's announcement of a malfunction with James Webb implies a postponement of the start of the telescope. It also means that the budget allocated for the telescope is 8 billion.
Be that as it may, the government has already announced that they will stick to the promises given to taxpayers. If 8 billion is spent, and there is no reaction or the telescope cannot work, the project will be deemed unsuccessful, and the money will most likely cease to be allocated.
However, NASA hopes to speed up the process of testing both the system itself and its parts. For this, the agency is constantly in contact with Northrop Grumman. Employees of the latter are trying to solve the problem in order to save both face and funding. In general, what will happen to the telescope and when it will be launched into space is still unknown.
The idea of informing about ourselves to our extraterrestrial brothers in reason visited humanity several centuries ago. Back in the first half of the 19th century, the German mathematician Karl Friedrich Gauss proposed cutting down a triangle with 15 km sides in the taiga and sowing it with wheat. The aliens should have noticed this and thus guess that there is intelligent life on Earth. Gauss's plan was not implemented, since the area of the triangle he proposed could be compared with the size of some small state, for example, Ireland, and there were no people willing to invest in the project.
Gauss was echoed by the Austrian astronomer Joseph von Littrow, who believed that there is life on the moon. He intended to attract the attention of the Selenites with the help of a giant trench in the Sahara Desert. He intended to fill it with kerosene and set it on fire at night. To fill one kilometer of the trench, 5 million cubic meters of gasoline were required. This, as in the first case, made the project impracticable.
In 1869, the French poet Charles Crowe proposed using a giant mirror to collect the sun's rays and direct it towards Mars. Crowe spent most of his life trying to get officials to implement his idea.
"Peace. Lenin. THE USSR"
The first message was sent on November 19, 1962 from the center for deep space communications in Evpatoria. It consisted of three words “Peace. Lenin. THE USSR". Formally, it was an equipment check, but sending just signals to scientists seemed boring, so a researcher at the IRE RAS suggested sending a romantic “Mir. Lenin. USSR "in Morse code.
The signal was successfully reflected from Venus and returned to Earth, but some of the information went into space and went to the constellation Libra (which contains three planets similar in structure to the Earth). So, perhaps, many light years from now, we will receive an alien "Uh, what?" In response.
Arecibo message
The next message was sent in 1964 from the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico (for which it got its name) to the constellation in the Hercules cluster. The authors of the message, Francis Drake (by the way, the author of the famous equation that makes it possible to calculate the number of planets in the Universe) and Karl Sagan (an astronomer, exobiologist and the most famous popularizer of science in the West, such as we had Academician Kapitsa) encrypted in it data on biochemistry, DNA structure, population Earth, the solar system and the Arecibo telescope itself. The message will reach potential addressees in 25 thousand years. And it will take the same amount of time to answer.
In 2001, in Hampshire (England), signs appeared on the margins repeating the Arecibo message, only instead of a human figure, a humanoid with a large head (such as he is usually depicted in comics) was depicted. The authors of the Arecibo message stated that the message in the fields is an obvious fake, because everyone knows that any alien, even the slightest bit respecting himself, will not leave messages in wheat, but will use the radio.
Message to the "Pioneer"
Karl Sagan was the author of another message. In 1972 and 1973, anodized aluminum plates with a schematic representation of a man and a woman were sent aboard the Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11. After that, Sagan was criticized for sending "obscenity" into space. Find out what the aliens think about this, we will be able to at least two million years later, when the "Pioneer" reaches its destination - the brightest star of Taurus - Aldebaran.
Voyager Message
To somehow smooth out the awkwardness of indecent pictures, in 1977 another message was sent into space - two gilded records, a phonograph, a needle for their reproduction and instructions. If this happened today, we would have to add another user agreement, at the end of which the alien intelligence would have to put a tick.
The records included Eastern and Western classical music (Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Stravinsky), dance music (Chuck Berry and Louis Armstrong). There is also Georgian choral singing, ancient Chinese music and the singing of the peoples of New Guinea on the disc. Also, alien music lovers will hear the sounds of human speech and what you can find in the "Sounds of Nature" section: birdsong, ocean noise, etc.
