SPACEX totally aced their Starship test flight today, despite a nail-biting re-entry where it looked like a flap was going to fall off due to heat-related damage. A piece of debris from the flap cracked the lens of the camera which monitors the flap, for added drama. They played the music from this iconic scene during the interlude when the ship was in coast phase. Classy. A big first for this flight was maintaining radio communications during re-entry using StarLink; re-entry used to be a radio blackout period. We also got lovely live hi-def video such showing the beautiful plasma glow during re-entry. And then Elon had two wholesome spokeswomen playfully toast a marshmallow. Note the silver spaceship torch. This was an uncrewed test flight of SpaceX’s second-generation crew vehicle.
CREDIT WHERE DUE: China National Space Administration robots have loaded the samples from the Chang’e 6 mission into the orbiter which will return them to Earth. These will be the first lunar farside samples humans have collected. Meanwhile, NASA is still trying to figure out how to get already-collected samples back from Mars since the Euroweenies dropped the ball on the sample return mission.
NEW THEORY ABOUT WHY URANUS IS SO WEIRD: I loved writing that, as did the person who wrote the lede for this story.
OTHER SPACE NEWS: Dinosaur aerospace company Boeing successfully launched two NASA astronauts to the ISS yesterday. This is the first crewed flight of Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule which docked at the space station this afternoon on the second attempt. The hatches are now open and the Starliner crew is aboard the ISS. Starliner launched despite helium leaks, and experienced problems with its reaction control system (low-power thrusters for fine maneuvering) during approach to the ISS. Meanwhile, SpaceX has flown eight crewed missions to the ISS on their first generation Dragon crew capsule starting in 2020.
This is what happens when companies become nothing more than bloated bureacracies. I think about Bill Allen and Juan Trippe and their vision.
–KK
BLOVIATING: Yes, manned spaceflight is currently a government boondoggle. Nonetheless, I’m enjoying being a citizen of one of three current spacefaring nations, and as of today the only nation to have two different crew launch systems online, with a third scheduled to come online in 2025. Elon Musk is trying to give us the future that Robert Heinlein envisioned with reusable, tail-landing rockets. And I got to watch cute NASA astronaut Matt Dominic cavort about weightlessly doing cute astronaut things as he repeatedly dove through the hatch in snug tac pants as part of the hatch inspection and prep drill on the ISS side. This is how I feel today. The comments are all yours. [Raises flute of Prosecco to toast.]
Yeah — they just squeaked by. Hope it doesn’t inflate their egos too much.
I’m sure they will remain inert.
Thankfully they were able to rise above the difficulties.
It was awfully noble of them, wasn’t it?
At least it wasn’t the gas to give them the giggles.
They took it to a higher pitch.
If everyone at SpaceX is that wholesome I’m going to have to rethink my career path.
Let me just tell you that the spox for the NASA/Boeing thing were voiceover only and had annoying vocal fry (ugh). Also, much political correctness and shit on that, versus the success-focused, jubilant SpaceX feed. I watched so you didn’t have to.
Also, the pre-launch speech from the capsule by Starliner commander Butch Wilmore yesterday was just dreadful.
“We who are about to die salute you”?
At least it wasn’t Beavis & Butch-head…. “BOEINNNNNNGGGGGG!”
I watched some of today’s launch, and I have seen previous SpaceX launches. It’s fun to see how excited they get (with good reason). And when they fail, they all say “we’re getting a lot of data and we’ll learn a lot from it.”
Long hair looks weird in zero-g. Almost Medusa-like.
It was like the scene in Firefly where River sees Book’s hair undone LOL
“…. you’ve hidden it… but it is still there!” or some such.
Such a great show.
(And I keep trying to come up with a good Medusa Cascade joke but nothing is leaping to mind. I guess I’ll just have to give it time.)
Medusa, you say?
We’ll, have some Gorgon-zola. It’ll help solidify the imagination.
I suppose — but certainly the near-orbit benefits have already been made plain… and I still hope that commercial exploitation of the Solar System and colonization will happen. (Get the cost to orbit low enough and either tell the nations of the world fuck off and put a nuclear engine in space to operate there or something for Inner System movement… and once you’re out there you should be able to find resources to replenish things).
Besides the abundant resources – I don’t want humanity offed by another planet killer. We’re no troodons, dammit.
Maybe I’m a dreamer, granted — but some dreams and worth dreaming. And I think nuclear rockets make things feasible once we’re out of the atmosphere and people don’t give a flying toaster frakkin’ about spewing radiation anymore.
I hope to live to see the first moon colony, or at least permanent moonbase. There is also the hope that Elon will do a private Mars colony, but that requires that certain externalities be overcome.
“Free Luna!”
If I recall the reports – Elon’s already experienced the harsh mistresses at least.
When Trump returns to the White House we’ll have WarpSpeed 2.0, outerspace version. It’ll be the biggest, most beautiful space exploration ever seen. He needs to get that into his campaign speeches to lure the geeks in.
It’ll be as successful as the WarpSpeed 1 project.
If we can use Fauci as a solar probe, it’d be worth it.
Shouldn’t he be launched to Uranus?
Yeah, even a research station like they have in Antarctica would be super cool.
Carl Sagan had a segment on Cosmos about nuclear-powered spacecraft. Various treaties make it “illegal” to detonate nuclear devices on and around earth. But he dies go over various designs for nuclear space vehicles.
*does, not dies
The beauty of those wholesome beuties is that all SpaceX livestream commentators are engineers or other “regular” SpaceX employees (i.e. not in the PR or media departments). See the famous John Insprucker
Haven’t seen Insprucker for a while, come to think of it. They usually roll him out for the big events. Maybe today wasn’t big enough
Although he may have been on today’s live coverage from SpaceX – I almost always watch launches on a different channel (NASASpaceFlight)
He wasn’t the John they brought on around the time between orbital insertion and the retro burn, was he? (Something about how he had to go recover some cameras and the road not being open until after the landing…. too inside baseball for me to worry about).
Possibly. Older guy? I didn’t watch SpaceX’s coverage.
This was on the NSF youtube link provided this morning. :shrug:
Oh I see – not the same guy. Insprucker works for SpaceX and does commentary for them. There’s, like, a billion dudes on NSF and I think I know 1 of their names (Alex IIRC)
*beauties
I know Tonio said comments were ours — but it felt right to wait 30 minutes for a non-space link. Although one could argue these ladies are trying to present themselves as cosmic level assholes. Keep it up ladies… kill your careers even faster!
She is the OMB of the WNBA.
Copied from dead thread and also respecting the 30-minute rule…USA beats Pakistan at Cricket (T20) World Cup. Snark away y’all, but this is huge:
https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/icc-men-s-t20-world-cup-2024-1411166/united-states-of-america-vs-pakistan-11th-match-group-a-1415711/match-report
PLAYER OF THE MATCH
Monank Patel, USA
The photo says it all.
If it doesn’t resemble a Pakistani version of the 5th Doctor (bonus points for saving the universe while wearing a vegetable), I will be very disappointed.
Well, if it is semi-relevant sports time, Uruguay put Mexico to the sword last night. I suppose the good news is we beat Mexico almost like that now fairly often. The bad news is we have Uruguay in our group for the Copa.
Also Uruguay, as to be expected under Bielsa, are off to a flying start. I expect them to be a real contender at the Copa. However, he will exhaust them during WC qualifying and they’ll be lucky to get out of group in just two years.
That article needs to be translated to a language I’m familiar with.
Can’t help you, I only watch diving during the Olympics.
Huh….I was just alerted that this is a thing. I had no idea. A friend just asked if this is me: http://suthenboy.com
It is not me.
Not updated since 2018…. it probably could be you for a small fee.
This is not me
Nor is this me.
This isn’t me either.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PSl19nf0-Y
Raises flute of Prosecco to toast.
Flouting some privilege there?
I knew he was a flutist.
He only pretends to care about the problems of others. All just emotional sham pain.
I, for one, did not think that Uranus would be a topic of discussion today.
That being said, the achievements of Space X boggles my feeble brain.
Maybe someday, SpaceX will build a rocket that will penetrate the mystery of Uranus.
Those girls are delightfully wholesome.
I’ll be… somewhere.
See I want to know if the neighbors actually really did park in front of the name dropping asshole’s driveway.
https://nypost.com/2024/06/06/us-news/new-york-judge-mark-grisanti-accused-of-shoving-police-officer-to-be-replaced-on-bench/
Fucker still didn’t get charged. Unlike a certain golfer…
Short of murdering someone a judge ain’t gonna get charged, especially in NY.
“I thought this was America!”
Always on my mind along with “Respect My Authoritah”.
Odds that the CCP samples turn out to be fake? I’m giving 3 to 1.
They need a lot more experience before they can fake a landing as well as the US.
Oooo…. Nice odds. And certainly a possibility. We are talking about a country that fakes lions in zoos, and faked a waterfall.
If the Chinese say the sun is shining you better check to make sure
The people I know who have been there tell me it is the lowest trust society in the world and for good reason. Everything, everything is a scam. You absolutely cant have anything to do with them without being had in one way or another.
Thus my puzzlement about companies that do business there. In our culture when you make a deal and shake on the terms, thems the terms. There, and in much of the world the signing of a contract and embarking on the venture is when negotiations begin.
The importance of that cannot be overstated.
Looking out for number one
Online marketplace behemoth eBay said it plans to no longer accept American Express, citing what the company says are “unacceptably high fees” and that customers have other payment options to shop online.
It’s a notable blow to American Express, whose customers are often the most attractive among merchants and spend the most money per month on their cards. But it’s not the first time merchants have voiced opposition to AmEx’s business practices by walking away, most notably the warehouse chain Costco nearly a decade ago.
“After careful consideration, eBay has decided to no longer accept American Express globally effective Aug. 17 due to the unacceptably high fees American Express charges for processing credit card transactions,” said eBay spokesman Scott Overland, in a statement.
Fuck ebay.
Number One
Meh, AmEx has always been less useful than Visa/Mastercard. Discover straight out of the gate was more useful than AmEx.
Discover and Amex are my two favorite cards. They sometimes swap places for #1. But the rest are a distant third place.
American Express had excessive fees in the 90s. I didn’t want to take them at my business back then. Cuts into profits. Also they were and probably still are jerks to small businesses who take cards.
I’m a small business who takes cards and AmEx is processed through the same processor as Visa/MC/Discover so cost the same. I’ve never had a problem with them since they went to that a bunch of years ago.
Juris, per AM and midday posts:
“Clinton special investigation and Gingrich and co’s determination to find a charge that would stick” (sorry, I have been in-and-out all day)
I am not sure were you are pulling this from, as it has nothing to do with the split in the Dems, and who is actually in power over there. I also have no idea were you are getting that in relation to me.
Different topics.
MAGA Valley
Silicon Valley has always been a place for unconventional thinkers with big ideas, but in 2024, that includes former president and convicted felon Donald Trump. Two influential tech investors and hosts of the All-In Podcast, David Sacks and Chamath Palihapitiya, recently announced they were hosting a fundraiser for Trump on Thursday. They join other tech leaders, including Elon Musk, who have signaled support for Trump and a growing disdain for President Biden.
“I know there’s gonna be a lot of people who support Trump, but they don’t want to admit it,” said Sacks on Friday’s episode of All-In. “I think this event is gonna break the ice on that, and maybe it will create a preference cascade where, all of a sudden, it becomes acceptable to acknowledge the truth, which is a lot of people support Trump.”
Sacks, who helped announce Florida Governor Ron Desantis’ 2024 Presidential campaign on X, is no stranger to the Republican party. However, Palihapitiya is one of many Silicon Valley influencers who recently became more friendly to conservative candidates. While he’s voted for Democrats in the past, he considers himself an “apolitical person” who simply wants to hear Trump out.
All those closet Nazis waiting for a chance to oppress the poor and disadvantaged of color.
They just wanna whip immigrants from horseback.
Who doesn’t? We’re such a xenophobic, racist, nation, after all.
We need to monetize that. $5 a whip, $20 unlimited.
Day 2 of the match over. Gun and Evil Sheldon’s mags ran flawlessly. My brain did not. Fired 431 rounds, and a the best irons shooter on staff (there are three of us). I did have some transcendental moments and did pull off some remarkable shots, but had to do them slowly. Most of the people in contention to win the thing start later.
Using another man’s mags? Kinky.
No judgement.
I live in a ban state.
It’s actually a little weird not just filling up the magazines (my division allows only 15 rounds in the magazine when the buzzer starts).
I am disappointed in the paltry selection of Uranus jokes on this thread. This group can do better.
A new material to research – Ceralume
https://theawesomer.com/iwc-ceralume-concept-watch/741720/
I need to research into phlebotomy training and see if that is a good fit for me. It’s a stable, decently-paying (hopefully not forever-)career for now. I’m still not sure if it’s a crafty plan or idiotic stupidity. Hrm. Any insight would be much appreciated. This idea just hit me this week and it’s also corresponding with neuro+doc week. Need more time to think it over.
I also see my old newspaper is shit since it’s merged. I’m tempted to do an article freelance and see what happens. Their paper online is written by predictably, the dumbest fucks possible. It staggered me yesterday when I scoped it out for the first time. Wowza dowza.
Whatchy’all think about the phlebotomy idea? Leaning crafty or crazy? They’re always hirin’ for it, a remarkable novelty to me. Much thanks in advance. Any info or insight is much appreciated. (I’ve mostly ded threaded this. I hope I’m not repeating the same question in a decisively odd manner.)