Questions tagged [atmosphere]
Questions regarding an envelope of gasses surrounding a celestial body held in place by the body's gravity.
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Why does Unity look transparent?
The BBC's Virgin Galactic: Sir Richard Branson rockets to the edge of space includes the image below.
Much of the Unity spacecraft appears (almost) transparent in this image; you can see the blue sky ...
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Why not use alternative/low-pressure atmospheres in fairings during launch?
For example: using a reduced pressure helium atmosphere.
Most fairings are already cleanroom environments.
Benefits I can see:
Eliminate need for acoustic tiles as low pressure and/or light gasses (...
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Self-sustainable Hermetically Sealed System: Humans & Plants
Somewhat related to How many plants would be needed to produce oxygen enough for 20 humans?
Suppose a number of humans are closed in a large hermetically sealed room on Earth with a glass (or other ...
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From what altitude will they cut Dragonfly helicopter loose on Titan and make it land itself, and what are the main factors determining this altitude?
Titan's surface pressure is about 1.5 bar and because the surface gravity is low pressure falls off much more slowly with altitude than it does on Earth. From Wikipedia's Atmosphere of Titan; vertical ...
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In simple terms, how does the way space suits manage breathable gas differ from how scuba gear does it?
I say "breathable gas" because what's in the tank can be a variety of mixtures and I don't know a single word for gas mixture you can safely breathe.
less scientific or clinical sounding ...
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On what calculations is Robert Zubrin's assertion that Mars could be warmed by 10 ⁰ C in 50 years with fluorocarbon gases based?
In this answer to the question "What would the full hypothetical Mars terraforming roadmap look like ?" there's a link to the article "Zubrin on Terraforming Mars" in Universe ...
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Is the charge on Martian dust positive or negative?
Martian dust tends to cling to surfaces such as solar panels due to electrostatic charge.
Martian dust is extremely small and fine-grained. Atmospheric dust on Mars is approximately three microns in ...
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How would Ingenuity handle Martian Storm and dust devils?
Martian storms are quite common and can sometimes encompass most of the planet. Though the density of the Martian air is low, the speeds are pretty high (some have observed 26 m/s).
How would the ...
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What could Perseverance listening to Ingenuity reveal?
On 2021 May 7, the science lead for Perseverance's SuperCam Mars microphone said
about that microphone's recording of a flight of the Ingenuity helicopter:
We had carried out tests and simulations ...
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How long would astronauts' footprints on Mars persist?
The Apollo astronauts' footsteps can remain theoretically forever on the Moon as it has no atmosphere. Mars does have an atmosphere but a very thin one. Its pressure ranges from 72 Pa (0.0104 psi) on ...
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Could the phosphorus in phosphine in the Venus atmosphere probably produced by cosmic ray spallation of sulfur? [closed]
Reading the following questions and their answers:
Why wasn't the phosphine in Venus' atmosphere detected by space probes?
Phosphine, yes -- but where are the organic compounds on Venus?
the ...
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How do we know what the atmospheric pressure on Mars is?
The martian atmosphere is 6 mbar. How do we know this? Which probe(s) had a barometer on board to measure this?
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What is the density of the earth's atmosphere at an altitude of four hundred kilometers?
What is the density of the earth's atmosphere at an altitude of four hundred kilometers? I want to use it to calculate the drag on something in orbit near the ISS.
The Jacchia Reference Atmosphere is ...
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What is the increase in drag by adding a space station module?
Imagine a cylindrical space station module, orbiting at an arbitrary height - the same as the ISS say.
Another identity cylindrical module docks on the end. Real station cross section hasn't changed -...
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What instruments and techniques measured Mars' atmospheric D/H ratio which suggests (all of) it's water didn't evaporate after all?
The Time article Mars Has Much More Water Than Previously Known—But There's a Catch says:
The greater weight of deuterium causes it to behave differently in the Martian atmosphere. While free ...