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Rhett Allain
@rjallain
, 23 tweets, 14 min read Read on Twitter
THREAD. In honor of the #Apollo50th anniversary of the moon landing, here is a thread of #physics posts related to space travel. @nasa @esaoperations @ESA_History
1/ I will start with my #physics #estimation - what would be like to ride a bike to the moon? How long would it take? How many sandwiches would you need to eat? More homework included.

wired.com/story/how-long…
2/ Video analysis of the lunar lander launching off the surface of the moon.

wired.com/story/the-phys…
3/ Although astronauts seem to "float" in space, there is indeed gravity in space.

wired.com/story/yes-ther…
4/ What about electrical power during space travel? Of course you could use a solar panel -that works. Another method is the TEG - thermoelectric generator.

You can build one yourself.
wired.com/story/build-a-…
5/ It's much more difficult to get into orbit that to get in space. Orbit is not just about going UP but also about going FAST

wired.com/2015/11/gettin…
6/ What is Low Earth Orbit anyway?

wired.com/2015/09/whats-…
7/ How will @nasa land larger payloads on the surface of Mars? Here is one idea.

wired.com/2015/06/will-n…
@NASA 8/ How much energy does it require to get one candy bar into orbit (to the ISS)? How does that compare to the amount of energy in a candy bar?

wired.com/2013/01/how-do…
@NASA 9/ Why do astronauts float around in space?

wired.com/2011/07/why-do…
@NASA 10/ Would it be better to launch a rocket from the equator or from a mountain?

wired.com/2011/07/space-…
@NASA 11/ What are some games that could be played in zero-g (which is not zero gravity - but you know what I mean)

wired.com/2010/11/nasa-s…
@NASA 12/ Which would make a better rocket - one that shoots out the fuel over a longer time interval or one that shoots it all out at once? Nuclear vs. ion.

wired.com/2015/10/whatd-…
@NASA 13/ Making artificial gravity with a spinning spacecraft

wired.com/story/the-phys…
@NASA 14/ Here is my model of how you would run on the moon. I really like this one.

wired.com/story/a-compre…
@NASA 15/ This one's not space travel - but just astronomy. How do we know the Earth orbits the Sun and not the other way around?

wired.com/2014/04/how-do…
@NASA 16/ Why is it so difficult to crash a spacecraft into the Sun? Python included. @GlowScript_Code @gopicup
wired.com/2016/07/physic…
@NASA @GlowScript_Code @gopicup 17/ Would it be possible for a human to walk on the surface of a comet?
wired.com/2014/08/comet-…
@NASA @GlowScript_Code @gopicup 18/ Video analysis of moon dust to find the local gravitational field on the surface of moon (using the lunar rover)

wired.com/2013/03/the-ac…
@NASA @GlowScript_Code @gopicup 18/ Here's a look at how Jules Verne described gravity in the book From the Earth to the Moon.

wired.com/2011/07/weight…
@NASA @GlowScript_Code @gopicup 20/ Could you shoot a cannonball into orbit from a tall mountain? Python code included.

wired.com/story/what-wou…

(yes, I can't count my tweet numbers and I made a mistake)
@NASA @GlowScript_Code @gopicup 21/ Ok - that's enough for now. I will make another thread for the 100th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing in 50 years.
@NASA @GlowScript_Code @gopicup 22/ I lied. Here is another addition to this list.

How difficult is it to land on Mars? Even better - a python model with code.

wired.com/story/try-land…
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#Apollo50th #physics #estimation

More from @rjallain see all

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Rhett Allain
@rjallain
Yesterday in #physics class, I had to have the discussion about learning vs. telling the answer. I got to use my favorite Karate Kid analogy - "wax on, wax off" to emphasize that sometimes you have to do tedious things to learn.

wired.com/2013/10/tellin…
2/ What happens when you just tell students answers? They have trouble learning complicated concepts. Personally, I love this (older) video showing students trying to explain the phases of the moon and the cause of seasons. It's great.
3/ Another point I mention to students.

If #physics was as easy as me just telling you the answer, I promise you I would do that. I'm not trying to make physics hard just for no reason. Physics is difficult on its own accord (and honestly, that's what makes it awesome).
Read 4 tweets
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Rhett Allain
@rjallain
MEGA THREAD. Happy #PiDay to everyone.

Let's start with the simplest calculation of Pi - the ratio of circumference to diameter for round objects. wired.com/2014/03/calcul…
2/ If you want to do this calculation of Pi, just find a bunch of circular objects of different size. Use a string to wrap around and measure the circumference and then measure the diameter. Plot C vs. d - the slope is PI.
3/ But wait! #PiDay is only Pi in the USA where we use date format of month/day/year.

For everyone else, today is 14/3/2019 - which is NOT Pi. I suggest the other Pi day is July 22 (22/7/2019) since 22/7 is a great fractional representation of Pi. wired.com/2011/03/what-i…
Read 20 tweets
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Rhett Allain
@rjallain
THREAD. Need some #physics ideas to go along with your holiday presents? I have you covered.

Here is my list of some cool physics experiments I have done with toys and stuff.
2/ How fast are #Nerf darts? Video analysis included.
wired.com/2011/06/how-fa…
3/ What about the speed of the #Nerf vortex disks? wired.com/2012/01/the-fl…
More #videoanalysis
Read 15 tweets

Related threads

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BBC Monitoring
@BBCMonitoring
THREAD: In honour of #Apollo50th, a look at how the #Moon landing was reported in the USSR and elsewhere
On Radio Moscow's home service, Vladimir Tregubov saluted the astronauts and the Soviet pioneers of space exploration. #Apollo50
In Pravda newspaper, a writer identified as Vinogradov personally congratulated the astronauts on their mission
Read 8 tweets
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People of Space: Ute
@People_Of_Space
Hi everyone! :) I'm Ute (pronounced like “Oohter” with the emphasis on the first syllable. Equivalents are Audrey in English, Aude/Odette in French), and first of all I would like to thank @Taraustralis for the privilege of letting me host “People of Space” this week!
@Taraustralis Another special thank you goes to my direct predecessors, @marmatheghost and @martinesrymd, for their great contributions! Both have inspired some of the things I intend to talk about over the next 7 days.
@Taraustralis @MarmaTheGhost @martinesrymd Tara created @people_of_space so people from all walks of life could talk about their passion to a larger audience. Her intention will in fact also be this week’s motto: “Space is for Everyone”.
Welcome aboard; enjoy the ride! :)
Read 152 tweets
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Ian Kluft
@ikluft
“Earthrise: A Video Reconstruction” is #NASA #astronomy picture of the day by @apod/@USRAedu apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap181223.… Apollo 8’s iconic photo “Earthrise” was taken 50 years ago; 4K HD animation shows astronauts’ view using NASA LRO data of lunar surface
“Earthrise in 4K” is a 50th anniversary commemoration of the 1968 #Earthrise image during Apollo 8, and description how the rendering was made with NASA LRO imagery/data taken since 2009, by @NASA/@NASAGoddard/@USRAedu #astronomy #Apollo50 #Apollo8 #Moon
#Apollo8 was historic for 1st time humans left Earth and orbited the Moon. Apollo was intended as Cold War competition with Soviets. Starting with #Earthrise photo and many other observations, we found we had much to learn about Earth there. #astronomy #space #history
Read 7 tweets
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GreatGameIndia
@GreatGameIndia
#THREAD

The Cosmic Movement's penetration of Indian Freedom Struggle, Politics, Education & Religion.

This thread focuses on advanced threat perception from this group. Although this is a vast network covering many areas we concentrate here on key players driving it forward.
This guy is Max Theon original name Louis-Maximilian Bimstein. He founded the Cosmic Movement. As we will see each and every member of this network prefers to hide their original name, identity and history.
Many prominent people were involved with this Cosmic Movement as we will see. One of them was Tomáš Masaryk (who became the first President of Czechoslovakia) also the Princess of Rohan in Vienna and many others. However this group was actually a spin-off of the OTO.
Read 44 tweets
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Heather Archuletta
@Pillownaut
READY TO BRAVE THE SMOKE! I'm on my way to a bone check today. This DEXA scan will determine if I lost bone mass over time, following #NASA spaceflight simulations. #PillownautTale

*** THREAD *** In NASA facility, Galveston Island - Isokinetics LabFARU - Flight Analogs Research Unit
For my newer followers, my "pillownaut" handle is a reference to the medical programs at Johnson Space Center 2008-2014. In #NASA quarantine, one of the few comforts flight analogs could have during simulations was a comfy pillow, LOL...! #PillownautTale NASA Quarantine FARU (Flight Analog Research Unit)
I did a 70+ day Micro-gravity study (where I spent 54 days at a head-down tilt) and a 21-day Lunar Gravity study -- both intended to give #NASA data on how to keep astronauts more healthy by developing countermeasures to weightlessess. #PillownautTale NASA Centrifuge testing
Read 20 tweets
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Peter Thaleikis
@spekulatius1984
This morning I've finished Scott Kellys (@StationCDRKelly) Book "Endurance" ( bit.ly/endurance-scot… ). Some thoughts below.
First, thank you Scott for sharing your story along with many personal insights from your time in space. It's great to learn more about the long path to become an astronaut and all the immense effort behind the human space program.
While reading Scotts book I got to understand the scale of the challenges coming with living and working in space better. It starts with having no gravity assisting you with daily life, keeping yourself healthy and alert for the hostile environment you are living in.
Read 13 tweets

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