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DDE

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  1. DDE
    A Brit (Benjamin Rich) and a Belarusian (Alina Zelupa) detained over conspiracy to trespass in the Buran MIK in Baikonur. https://www.rbc.ru/society/07/05/2022/62769f479a7947e868c3fc53 Looks like it's the Benjamin Rich behind Bald and Bankrupt, who has made videos with an Alina from Belarus. https://www.the-village.me/village/city/react/282303-bald_and_bankrupt? ; https://baldbankrupt.com/alina-with-mr-bald-summer-georgia-2019/
  2. DDE
    Looks like one of the next-gen ISS modules they reportedly even started cutting metal for is going to be retooled as the core module (lower right).
  3. DDE
    At this point, I am willing to take you on that bet. Although now I'm wondering whether the situation would be different if [unmentionable] started around November, when temperatures in the region are appreciably below zero. I know those batteries also mind the cold.
  4. DDE
    Indeed. But wasn't the whole point of drones back in the day to raise the risk tolerance due to lack of a person on the line? I know raging at milspec requirememts is rookie mistake, but being expendable is the whole idea here.
  5. DDE
    A question on the edge, and one that's based on an impression from military-watching, but anyway... Am I correct in the impression that all of the major militaries are for some combination of reasons struggling to mass-deploy quadcopters or equivalent thereof in small units? The current DJI bonanza in the skies over [unmentionable] has aroused quite the kerfuffle over small UAVs, lack thereof in certain classes, and the handwringing over the "failures of cyber-security and discipline" involving the widespread use of unauthorized drones. However, off the top of my head I can't recall a military that has solved that problem. Everyone seems enthused about MALEs, HALEs, UCAVs, loitering munitions and other big-ticket systems, but when it comes to small infantry unit air recon, the various programs turn into dead ends and disappear after a field evaluation or two, and everyone's bringing their DJIs to work. e.g. https://www.c4isrnet.com/unmanned/2019/09/17/can-the-army-secure-an-american-made-quadcopter/
  6. DDE
    Gonna drop in and point out that solid rocket motors have a finite shelf life, so at some point the Minutemen would have to be retired. A debate exists on whether the US needs land-based ICBMs at all, but GBSD and Columbia-class SSBNs would have to come in sooner or later. And GBSD could not be used to meaningfully counter Chinese silo fields because the capabilities of ICBMs against silo fields are already mostly maxed out (whereas the capability of SLBMs against silos are quite recent and mostly associated with the "superfuse" program). Any attempt to use GBSD as a counter would involve boosting the numbers of the force beyond the constraints of New START/СНВ-3, and say what you wish about Ol' Sleepy Joe, but I expect him to hang onto that agreement. He's already strangled the Trump-era nuclear Tomahawk redeployment program, and the UK program to double its arsenal, which inevitably would require US assistance, hasn't been heard from since (Given up in exchange for AUKUS? Idle speculation at best, but in line with past US-British nuclear shenanigans).
  7. DDE
    Israeli Sherman Eyal observation tank
  8. DDE
    I've learnt that outright arguments similar to a certain compatriot of mine are counterproductive even at the best of times, so I'm just going to play the part of the language barrier-bypassing skirmisher. The closest poll I found would be the one from 2016 which had respondents pick an unrestricted number of important anniversaries. 53% picked both Vostok-1 and V-E Day; from personal memory I'd say both were heavily celebrated bu official sources, but V-E day, significantly more so. https://www.levada.ru/2016/04/08/osvoenie-kosmosa-2/ Both that poll and a subsequent 2018 poll also had the question I didn't consider useful it itself - on both dates, 61% of respondents declared Russia to be the leader in space exploration. It only becomes interesting when you consider the other question in the 2018 poll: "Have you heard anything about Elon Musk launching a superheavy rocket?" (now, granted, we can argue whether Falcon-Heavy is an SHLV...) 62% of respondents have not. The similarity between 61% and 62% is... amusing. On the flipside, 2% out of n = 1600 claim to have watched it live. Considering the numbers previously indicated, their smallish sample hasn't been too biased, so that's a remarkably large number. https://www.levada.ru/2018/04/12/ko-dnyu-kosmonavtiki/
  9. DDE
    A decent discussion would require common ground with regards to the current and future state of the Russian economy. Said common ground is hard to come by, and that situation is unlikely to improve. * insert obligatory joke about an old man being swindled by the guy who sold him USD at 200 RUB *
  10. DDE
    I think in large part it's because until Oryol, the Korolyov design school (being specific here to rule out kerbiloid's favorite bridesmaid) generally had a fairing over the spacecraft, whereas the Faget school from the get-go had the capsules directly atop the vehicle and exposed to the airstream. So the US went with a craft shaped like a fairing, aerodynamic on both ends, whereas the Soviets went with craft that had maximum volume per mass and fairing diameter - spheres, and spheres on spheres.
  11. DDE
    Didn't see this angle get posted:
  12. DDE
    Because I saw this photo getting passed around as Ostalgic copium, I got suspicious. So I dug. And now I've got outright video. https://youtu.be/coFZYOvbV7o?t=1074
  13. DDE
    Angara-1.2 out of Plesetsk, payload classified https://t.me/mod_russia/14941?single Kosmos-2555, susoected to be an imaging sat https://www.russianspaceweb.com/angara1-flight1.html Also, Rogozin: Russia has determined the date for exiting the ISS project, but we're not going to tell anyone until one year in advance https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/5338995 Also also Rogozin: "Why does everyone consider me a jerk who makes vague promises?"
  14. DDE
    At least some of it is going to be as simple as "the Soviets conducted an enormous global mapping project with film return recon sats". 500+ Zenits would pad anyone's statistics.
  15. DDE
    Relevant to both of the above: https://russiancouncil.ru/en/analytics-and-comments/analytics/the-nuclear-triad-alternatives-from-the-days-gone-by/
  16. DDE
    The problem would not be to get it, it would be to get it depleted. It was used to alloy steels in the WWI era, not to green glass.
  17. DDE
    Not sure if posted previously, but fun enough to post anyway A-235 TEL https://patents.google.com/patent/RU187952U1/ru SLV version of Topol https://patents.google.com/patent/RU2179941C1/ru
  18. DDE
    I remember the bars of plutonium in Expendables 2 bouncing up as they fall onto the floor, complete with a distinctly plastic clang.
  19. DDE
  20. DDE
    A hub wheel for your 5 m diameter rovers.
  21. DDE
    What worries me is that they disappeared for two decades after their initial accomplishments. Perhaps their thirst for one last flood of adrenaline may be getting the best of them.
  22. DDE
    Arrival https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X75Hpq1SeF4&t=11m40s Watch the rest of the segment if you want to see a satisfied Mr. Radioactive Ashes. Interesting how they explain a later reentry as the presense of a third stage, despite at least one analysis counting two stages. It's possible we're looking at the traditional Makeyev tractor-type stage rather than an ordinary fairing.
  23. DDE
    Well, they do say everything necessary to go to Mars has already been invented...
  24. DDE
    That they need to remind people of what their logo is, but RocketLab is supposed to be instantly recognizable...
  25. DDE
    Ah, don't be too hard on yourself. Multiple people signed off on this. On April 20th.
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