What's NASA Up To And Other Space Stuff

[EyeKhan]

Yeah, the dinosaurs would have been on to them right away.

Except the dinosaurs were all....

OH SHIT

Why do you think the acceleration is easily explainable as a natural phenomenon?

And dinosaurs? I had one for dinner the other night - tastes like chicken. Or turkey.

EDIT: Also, Congrats to NASA on the Insight landing! Woo!

[Steely Glint]

Why do you think the acceleration is easily explainable as a natural phenomenon?

It was probably just out-gassing. Sure, we didn't see any evidence for said out-gassing, but which is more likely - that we didn't see it for whatever reason, or aliens?

[EyeKhan]

It was probably just out-gassing. Sure, we didn't see any evidence for said out-gassing, but which is more likely - that we didn't see it for whatever reason, or aliens?

There's also the smooth, constant acceleration over a long period -- cometary out-gassing is sudden and short-lived. So to sum it up, it doesn't physically look like cometary out-gassing and it doesn't accelerate the way cometary out-gassing does, but it must be that because it's the only natural phenomenon ever observed to cause acceleration. You really think of that as "easily explainable?" Sure, it's less un-reasonable than "it's a space ship," but come on. The reasonable thinking has to be: "based on observation, that's not a comet, so what else could be causing that acceleration? Yeah, it looks a lot like how a solar sail accelerates, but that's an unreasonably extraordinary conclusion, so what else could it be?"

Somebody really needs to send a spacecraft out there for a close flyby. Because the answer to the question either offers knowledge of a new class of naturally occurring, interstellar, object, potentially changing our understanding of the rest of the galaxy/ universe, or is the most important discovery in human history.

Should I write my congressman? Is it even possible to get a spacecraft out there in the time available?