NASA News Conference on Astrobiology - Dec. 2nd

[thesupervillain]

Full press release here.

NASA will hold a news conference at 2 p.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 2, to discuss an astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life. Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, distribution and future of life in the universe.

The news conference will be held at the NASA Headquarters auditorium at 300 E St. SW, in Washington. It will be broadcast live on NASA Television and streamed on the agency's website at http://www.nasa.gov.

Any other space nerds excited about this? I know I'll be watching.

[Guest errolwest]

I'm actually giddy about this. I can't wait to hear what they have to say!

The universe is fucking rad.

[Guest]

I hope we're not let down..

[xxmartinxx]

I hope we're not let down..

Prepare yourself for something astoundingly inconsequential.

[lokithelion]

I hope we're not let down..

Prepare yourself for something astoundingly inconsequential.

Sadly, yeah prob.

[xxmartinxx]

I wish they'd come out and admit that the moon landing never happened.

[djones0930]

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[djones0930]

But in regards to this topic...thanks for posting! I'm not a 'space nerd', but

The universe is fucking rad.

[suburbanargyle]

This is all starting out just like the Dan Brown book, Deception Point!

[sharkie]

I wish they'd come out and admit that the moon landing never happened.

idiot.

+

http://kottke.org/10/11/has-nasa-discovered-extraterrestrial-life

Update: According to Alexis Madrigal, the answer to the hyperbolic question in the headline is "no".

I'm sad to quell some of the @kottke-induced excitement about possible extraterrestrial life. I've seen the Science paper. It's not that.

[lonesomexloveus]

[thesupervillain]

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[xxmartinxx]

I wish they'd come out and admit that the moon landing never happened.

idiot.

I like that I inspired your first post.

First off, if we could get to the moon, there would be a Starbucks on it and they'd be selling condos on it right now.

Secondly, my cell phone has more technology built into it than they supposedly used to put the men on the moon and it can barely make a phone call without sounding like the adults on a Peanuts cartoon. You expect me to believe that not only did we put people on the moon with 1969 technology, but communication between Earth and the moon were nearly crystal clear?

Thirdly, the Van Allen Belt.

The whole thing was Cold War political propaganda.

Furthermore, I wouldn't be surprised if this press conference is just a ploy in attempt to garner more interest (ie - funding) for NASA, which has been hurting for decades.

[smailtronic]

idiot.

I like that I inspired your first post.

First off, if we could get to the moon, there would be a Starbucks on it and they'd be selling condos on it right now.

Secondly, my cell phone has more technology built into it than they supposedly used to put the men on the moon and it can barely make a phone call without sounding like the adults on a Peanuts cartoon. You expect me to believe that not only did we put people on the moon with 1969 technology, but communication between Earth and the moon were nearly crystal clear?

Thirdly, the Van Allen Belt.

The whole thing was Cold War political propaganda.

Furthermore, I wouldn't be surprised if this press conference is just a ploy in attempt to garner more interest (ie - funding) for NASA, which has been hurting for decades.

http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/apollohoax.html

[xxmartinxx]

http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/apollohoax.html

Meh...

[dinkle82]

Regardless if you believe we landed on the moon or not. The apollo program did some pretty cool stuff.

http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/apollo.htm

Americuh!

[xjustinxschwierx]

http://gizmodo.com/5704158/nasa-finds-new-life

[lonesomexloveus]

so really, this has nothing to do with outer space.

[sharkticon]

Well considering arsenic is a metalloid that means we now have a stronger chance of running into Transformers.

[smailtronic]

so really, this has nothing to do with outer space.

It's a different form of life that what we've been looking for; Earth-bound or extra-terrestrial.

[Guest errolwest]

http://gizmodo.com/5704158/nasa-finds-new-life

this is really awesome! im pretty stoked!

[Guest errolwest]

so really, this has nothing to do with outer space.

It's a different form of life that what we've been looking for; Earth-bound or extra-terrestrial.

The implications of this discovery are enormous to our understanding of life itself and the possibility of finding beings in other planets that don't have to be like planet Earth.

i think this is a pretty big discovery!

[sharkie]

idiot.

I like that I inspired your first post.

First off, if we could get to the moon, there would be a Starbucks on it and they'd be selling condos on it right now.

Secondly, my cell phone has more technology built into it than they supposedly used to put the men on the moon and it can barely make a phone call without sounding like the adults on a Peanuts cartoon. You expect me to believe that not only did we put people on the moon with 1969 technology, but communication between Earth and the moon were nearly crystal clear?

Thirdly, the Van Allen Belt.

The whole thing was Cold War political propaganda.

Furthermore, I wouldn't be surprised if this press conference is just a ploy in attempt to garner more interest (ie - funding) for NASA, which has been hurting for decades.

are you a thirteen year old?

i am dumber for reading your reply.

[lonesomexloveus]

so really, this has nothing to do with outer space.

It's a different form of life that what we've been looking for; Earth-bound or extra-terrestrial.

COME ON, I WANT AN ET ANNOUNCEMENT.

we found him and he's been snacking on reeses pieces in a government lab somewhere for several months now.

[¯\_(ツ)_/¯]

"You expect me to believe that not only did we put people on the moon with 1969 technology, but communication between Earth and the moon were nearly crystal clear? "

The velocity (or speed) of a radio wave radiated into free space by a transmitting antenna is equal to the speed of light - 186,000 miles per second or 300,000,000 meters per second. Because of various factors, such as barometric pressure, humidity, molecular content, etc., radio waves travel inside the Earth's atmosphere at a speed slightly less than the speed of light. Normally, in discussions of the velocity of radio waves, the velocity referred to is the speed at which radio waves travel in free space.

the distance from the moon to earth is 1700'ish kilometers which is around 1000 miles. if it takes a second for radiowaves to travel 186,000 miles, unimpeded by objects, then it makes sense why you can hear clearly from space to earth via radio transmission.