SunlitZelkova

If object 2021 QM1 actually was on a path to hit Earth in 2052, would we have been able to change it's course in time to prevent an impact? Or would it have been too close? It's not a planet killer and even "only" half the size of the Tunguska object, but 6 megatons worth of explosive power is still dangerous. I'm curious about whether this object would make a good candidate to include in a story where an asteroid redirection mission needs to be launched in the 2030s.

This is the second time I have slept in and been saved by a scrub. The first time was when I nearly missed the launch of Demo-2 but was saved by the scrub.

This is a thread for this. Requesting merge @Gargamel @Vanamonde

Probably for similar reasons to the Leo 2A5. From Reddit- “2. ⁠While not necessarily optimised against shaped charges, the detonation of a shaped charge upon the add-on wedge likely causes non-optimal stand-off distance for maximum penetration. Furthermore, once the shaped charge jet contacts the wedge, it is likely to spend some of its energy overcoming the sloped metal, resulting in possible earlier particulation and thus ineffectiveness once it enters the hollow portion.” Assuming, of course, normal ERA is at times ineffective against HEAT thus requiring the slope. It could also be intended to help counter tandem charge ATGMs, although a lot of those modern ones are top down attack, so maybe RPGs? Does the normal ERA cause damage to the turret when it detonates? If so, this design could be intended to prevent damage from the ERA itself rather than a particular projectile. Or perhaps the tank designers were unfamiliar with giving it a flat turret face akin to the Leo 2A4, but didn’t have ERA blocks that fit the new turret height and so had to angle it. They chose to angle it facing down instead of up to make space for the driver’s hatch to open. I just realized it reminds me of an inverted T-80U of sorts.

I may only have preschool level Russian skills but I can confirm there is no letter “N” in the Russian alphabet, therefore this must be an English inscription.

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20230413_04/ “Russia extends ISS presence to 2028” got reported today. Had it been known previously? Also, ROSS is apparently going to be used in preparation for lunar exploration?!

Sounds like late 40s, prior to the Cold War heating up and when Germany and Korea were just plain occupations. Vietnam became a thing in 1954, so it can’t be from after then. It could even be pre-World War II.

Let’s go!

We have an assignment to profile a community in my writing class. While the examples were things like your ethnic group or town, I tried to do the entire Pacific region. Teach said no unfortunately. My next choice (which I am far less confident in) is the community of Russian learners at my school…

College student admits to public broadcaster that he/she uses ChatGPT to cheat https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20230411_03/

Not to go into politics… perhaps this is history… but such a dynamic dominates a lot of Cold War events. It was just the nature of the era.

I watched the Artemis II crew on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. When asked why we are going back to the Moon, Wiseman said “because we want to see humans on Mars.” It’s crazy that the Integrated Program Plan’s vision lives on 50 years later and forms the basis for a 21st century space agency’s roadmap.

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20230404_08/ Bad NHK! They call it a lunar orbit mission like 3 times throughout this article.

I’m surprised at Victor Glover being chosen, that means he is out for “next man” and first person of color in Artemis III.

Did you know that Japan took Tesla’s ray gun concepts and put them into production during WWII? https://sensha-manual.blogspot.com/2017/04/high-voltage-dynamo-tank.html?m=1 This article tells the lost story of the Type 100 Ka-Ha medium tank.

Obviously delays suck, but if Starship’s first flight ended up being on the same date as the first human spaceflight, it would be amazing. Also would make me wonder about simulation theory. I create worlds for cancelled space projects and do complete schedules of missions and history of development, and I can’t tell you how many times I have deliberately had a launch end up on a holiday (like launching America’s first lunar base on the 4th of July, for example). Perhaps the writer of our universe is being funny.

As a rodent owner I love this!

Copy pasting this from my Russian class’ Discord channel: Does Russia have some sort of cosmic relationship with cats? It seems like there are a lot of cat owners on the Discord, I see cats walking around in the background of people’s screens during class all the time, and Russia has the most cat owners in the world. I myself have a cat (or at least one lives with me, and belongs to my sister). In contrast, I have not seen many dog posts here and I don’t see dogs in the backgrounds of people’s screens (although I suppose dogs don’t necessarily have the mobility to get up on a desk).

Lol it says German style at the bottom.

Funding from the Octan corporation They make billions presumably.

Previously I asked if it was possible for the Mars with a thick atmosphere allowing gliding landers imagined by engineers prior to Mariner 4's visit to the planet in 1965 to come to life, and received an excellent answer from sevenperforce. So this brings me to a new question, also related to a story I plan to write- what would have needed to happen to Venus for it to be capable of harboring Earth life, i.e., true to it's moniker of "Earth's twin"? I can't remember where I read it, but apparently prior to Mariner 2's visit in 1962, it was theorized by some that Venus might have dinosaur like life beneath its cloudy skies. I want to create a world where that was true, perhaps also related to the idea that life came to Earth via panspermia from Venus. Could circumstances have been different to where such a situation was realistically possible, or would I need to handwave it? I'm glad the timing of when I asked this question worked out with the new Venus discovery.

This was simply my guess, published illustrations don’t make it clear which part is which. It can be either way I guess!

The Shuttle main tank was a first stage though. Updating an old system costs money, and it is usually easier just to go develop a new one. But an old system is never just thrown away, especially if there is a demand for it. An example is the Space Shuttle. NASA could have updated it to have some sort of launch escape system post-Challenger but did not, and continued to fly it after Columbia despite the major design flaws because it was necessary for building the ISS. It did not make sense to update the design despite the risk posed to astronauts, it made more sense to fund Orion and then Commercial Crew.

The rockets that are doing these things largely date from the 1980s or 1990s. The Long March 2D mentioned in the article you posted had its first flight in 1992. I tried to look up when controlled reentry of stages became a thing but couldn’t find it. In any case, due to the economic situation in China at the time the designers main focus was probably getting to orbit, not getting down. Getting down would require extra funding, funding that probably did not exist. If several proposals for crewed spaceflight like Project 863 were shelved due to financial reasons in the late 80s, I can imagine booster development had its fair share of denied projects too. It would be nice if they could have done that it the late 80s and early 90s, but that hard reality is that they probably could not have. To give an idea of the Aerospace industry’s state, even today it is still a country that operates license built MiG-21s, despite having stealth fighters and the like. Right now there is a mix of old and new, but hopefully as the old goes away things will get better. Unlike in the 80s, space now has a huge priority, so I’m sure that newer rockets like the LM-7 and LM-8 will have booster deorbit soon enough. The presence of the parachute recovery system on the LM-4’s boosters is a good sign that their designers do have some regard for where debris goes. It’s just a matter of how long it takes them to retire the old ones.

Interesting. The US would either have to trade off the “next man” or “first woman” accomplishments if that’s the case. Current PR suggests both are supposed to be Americans. This would change if they decide to use Starship HLS’s full capacity and land all four astronauts on the Moon.