Q: What do you think of NASA's interpetation of those noises they hear out in space?

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Recently on the news, Space Researchers have recorded a sound which they called The song created by the Earth's magnetic field.

They say it's from their new twin Radiation Belt Storm Probes are traveling through the region of space where chorus actually comes from.

The Radiation Belt Storm Probes possess magnetic search coil antennas that are able to detect and pick up these kinds of waves.

Launched just a few months ago in August 2012, the two probes currently are orbiting inside the radiation belts, sampling electromagnetic fields, counting the number of energetic particles, and listening to plasma waves of many frequencies.

What is your take on space research? Do you think it is worth our money?

news space

MdavidK30 (rep: 3.46k) posted Oct 03, 2012

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13 Answers

Yes and no. I think space exploration is worth the money and worth pursuing, but I'm not sure in an economy and with a government that is so loose with the purse strings that now is the time to explore Mars and some of the other expendatures we're floating out there. Our politicians (regardless of party) have the financial sense of a pre-teen. Its kinda like having irresponsible kids, giving them an allowance, watching them blow it but leaving the credit card out to spend more on fun stuff like remote control cars and planes when their money is gone. Makes no sense.

nthsll (rep: 12.4k) posted Oct 03, 2012

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NASA's budget hit is right around .5% For every $1 spent on on NASA our government spends $98 on social programs. One B-2 bomber costs 3x more than the price tag of the New Horizons mission to Pluto. The London Olympics cost just about $15 billion dollars. In 9 years the Mars Curiosity rover has cost roughly $2.5 billion. The interest on our national debt is annually 24 times the cost of the budget of NASA.

I think its worth it.

Acidbaby (rep: 6.63k) posted Oct 03, 2012

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There would be little or no sound, as we experience it, in space. What we call sound is how the association cortex of our temporal lobes interpret & make sense of wavelengths from about 20hz to 20khz (if you have incredible hearing)that hit our ear drums and then pass through our auditory system. I don't know how much is going on in space in that narrow frequency range though they do sometimes take much higher frequencies and divide them down to the range of human hearing.

erick99 (rep: 15.1k) posted Oct 03, 2012

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Wow... some interesting answers. Thanks guys! :)

Eric- they mentioned these probes have like 10Xs more to the hearing than a average human. They collect these sounds off the magnetic fields. Not sure if it's real or a hoax...

MdavidK30 (rep: 3.46k) posted Oct 03, 2012

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@AcidBaby - cool facts. I agree. NASA is such a small part of our total budget and should be important. Their budget has already been heavily cut.

bbattag (rep: 6.19k) posted Oct 03, 2012

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30 and 40 years ago NASA accounted for 5% of the budget. Today it is less than 1% and they are still doing amazing things. We get more bang for our buck out of money spent on NASA than anything else.

Acidbaby (rep: 6.63k) posted Oct 03, 2012

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What the prof is telling you is that sound doesn't exist in space. Sound is dependent on the vibration of molecules. In the vacuum of space, there are none so no sound. What is recorded is most likely the electronic interference that the magnetic fields pick up. Possibly creation of electromagnetic energy in the radiofrequency range, but not raw sound.

nthsll (rep: 12.4k) posted Oct 03, 2012

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Sound can travel through gaseous formations in space as well as solid structures. I know what youre saying though. No sound cannot travel through open space without air or gas but you cant say sound doesnt exist in space completely.

Acidbaby (rep: 6.63k) posted Oct 03, 2012

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Well, I did say the vacuum of space, then clarified no molecues. :-)

But you are right. Where there is gas, there are molecules. So sound would exist in a nebula.

nthsll (rep: 12.4k) posted Oct 03, 2012

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Nebula?

MdavidK30 (rep: 3.46k) posted Oct 03, 2012

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It is so sad that NASA's budget has been cut by the current administration... too bad.

MdavidK30 (rep: 3.46k) posted Oct 03, 2012

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Space clouds. Where stars are born.

http://images.vizworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Carina-Nebula.jpg

http://astronomy2008.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/horsehead-nebula.jpg

nthsll (rep: 12.4k) posted Oct 04, 2012

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