Q&A With Universe Today's Fraser Cain - Comments

[Greg Bernhardt]

TheAdmin submitted a new PF Insights post

Q&A With Universe Today's Fraser Cain

Continue reading the Original PF Insights Post.

 

[mfb]

I looked up the times of the questions:

0:25 You cover a large range of topics with your articles on Universe Today. How do you do research for all the different topics?
1:45 Which astronomical event in the next years do you look forward to the most?
3:00 Which event in spaceflight in the next years do you look forward to the most?
4:40 When (if at all) do you expect a first manned mission to Mars?
6:00 Would you like to visit Asteroid 158092 Frasercain?
7:30 How do astronomers deal with galaxies and “stuff” photo bombing the isolated small distant object.
9:10 Could we nudge the orbit of an asteroid a bit so its orbit overlapped Earth and Mars on a regular basis (maybe every so many years) and we could sneak in behind the asteroid and use it as radiation protection for our trip to Mars?
11:10 Does your experience give you any sense of how long it might be before we get answers to the big questions such as what is dark energy, what is dark matter, what is the relationship between SMBH’s and galactic formation, or is more likely that these are so tough that it’s just impossible to say how long it might be before some kind of breakthrough occurs on each?
13:00 Why would anyone want to live on Mars when Antarctica is so warm and inviting?
14:25 What’s the biggest “stopper” to living in space for extended periods that remains unresolved? Anything promising going on toward resolution of that issue?
18:05 In your opinion, what is the best balance of science, adventure, and futurism, to stress and promote such that advancement and investment in space technology can continue in the most significant way?
20:05 What do you think Fast Radio Bursts are from?
21:25 Is it conceivable that we could develop telescopes able to resolve the basic geological features of an exoplanet?
23:30 How do people justify the approach we have taken towards Moon and Mars missions, which deviates from the excellent plan of von Braun.
25:25 What things can amateur astronomers do to help in current astronomical research beyond comet tracking and general observation…?
27:00 What advice would you give to young people who aspire to be scientists, especially astronomers?
29:00 Are there any serious efforts of getting rid of space debris?
31:50 According to research, early faint galaxies proved crucial to understanding the cosmic phenomenon of re-ionization. What is the status of this endeavor as of now and what is expected for the near future?
33:40 What are the engineering problems and odds facing terraforming mars?
36:55 What are your thoughts on the upcoming generation of new telescopes and other instruments and what impact they may have?

 

[OmCheeto]

Ha! The first thing he mentioned was related to a question I was going to ask; "Are you going somewhere to view the solar eclipse this year?"
He didn't answer the question exactly, but perhaps with some googling, I can find out if he'll be in one of the 5 neighborhoods I'll likely be in.

The rest of the interview was great. I really like his honesty. We could probably start at least one thread discussing each of those topics, if we haven't already.

I came up with one alternative idea to the "asteroid shield for trips between Earth and Mars" question. (I know... It's probably been proposed already, countless times. People are always stealing my ideas before I think of them, and then don't tell me, just to make me look bad... )

ps. He has one new Twitter and FB follower.
And I see they've posted an article today about Ceres having a transient atmosphere. Must go share that.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Thanks for all those who submitted a question! btw, did you hear Fraser is up for a second round? Start thinking of your question, but let's give him a little time :)

 

[phinds]

I particularly like his down-to-Earth debunking of what I (and clearly he) view as wide-eyed, unrealistic, thoughts that we are going to terraform Mars in some usable way. We've had several threads here on PF where I just think people are ... well,forum decorum prohibits my saying it bluntly, but let's just say I admire their enthusiasm but not their grasp of reality.