Duxwing

Pffft, had we been lolsokerbal and added moarboosters, we could have gone during the 60s. -Duxwing

NOTICE TO KERBAL REVIVERS: As of 0.90, change State from "Dead" to "Available" not from "3" to "0". -Duxwing P.S. Necroing this thread is necessary because someone might damage a save file following the old advice.

Kerbin, home of the kerbals. -Duxwing

Nevermind.

A I put my periapsis over my target, minimize my periapsis, kill my horizontal velocity over my target, and suicide burn during the ensuing fall. Docking mode. -Duxwing

Having lived less than half a Vulcan lifetime but prospered aboard the Enterprise, Spock has died on Earth whilst training recruits. He is survived by his Captain, James T. Kirk. http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/02/27/arts/television/leonard-nimoy-spock-of-star-trek-dies-at-83.html?_r=0&referrer= -Duxwing

Holy cow... are Mainsails your OMS?! -Duxwing

And besides, one must heroically rise to the occasion. -Duxwing

10! -Duxwing

Hooray! Having only male kerbals always seemed weird. By the way, I notice she has an orange suit: will she replace one of the original trio? -Duxwing

28! -Duxwing

His memory is in the hall of heroes and a lesson to scientists everywhere: trust your reason. -Duxwing

The engine cluster should mass about what an equivalently-powerful group of LV-Ns would: 16.87 tons. -Duxwing

I think translation is generally-hard because poetry is said to be what is lost in translation. -Duxwing

@lajoswinkler You had seemed to imply that people would either freeze or act calmly; hence my rebuttal. -Duxwing

I was replying to a previous comment that whoever is not debilitated by fear is a psychopath. -Duxwing

Worried that I might be going crazy, I read the relevant Wikipedia article and found that jury nullification is rare and heavily frowned-upon if not effectively banned. @Cicatrix. Without the legal consequences, the lever-man remains heroic because he overcomes his fear of the situation in order to do a moral duty thrust upon him. His sacrifice is his risking debilitating post-traumatic stress disorder. -Duxwing

Almost any court in almost any country would rule likewise: reckless and negligent homicide are well-known felonies worldwide and carry fierce sentences, and guilty pleas are very common. The lever-man's family would see the obvious futility and danger of associating with what would soon become a convicted and potentially-famous felon, and denouncing him would help the divorcing spouse win custody of the children and the family avoid harassment. In fact, the spouse might even testify against the lever-man, gaining even further advantage in the divorce proceedings by claiming he confessed criminal intent to her. Should she cleverly testify before divorcing him, the court would certainly believe her because of her nearly-overwhelming interest in protecting him. Only the civil suit and its implications might be limited to the U.S. -Duxwing PS Or I may be blowing this way out of proportion. Please do correct me if I'm wrong.

Whoever stands before the lever does what you describe, for he will be decades imprisoned whatever he does next. If he pulls the lever, then he will be charged with second-degree murder and plead guilty to third degree for a lesser sentence; whereas if he pulls it not, then he will be charged with three counts of negligent manslaughter, wherefore no plea bargain can be struck. And should he successfully plead his innocence, the victims' families would sue for wrongful death and make him settle for nearly his whole fortune. And whatever the plea or verdict, his wife would hastily divorce him and take the children, protecting them and her savings from the court and limelight. Likely in prison for homicide reckless or negligent, he would in twenty-three-hour-a-day solitary confinement suffer the ravages of inmate violence and be wracked by nightmares and second guesses. His family would abandon and publicly denounce him to save face, and, upon his release, no-one savory would hire him. His body and mind would be devastated, fortune and family gone, and future hopeless. Thus the lever-man gives everything but his life--is that not sacrifice enough to be called heroic? -Duxwing

Indeed, one must heroically rise to the occasion. -Duxwing

You neglect the people who would pull the lever despite their grief and anxiety: them we call heroes. -Duxwing

One should pull the lever because someone must do whatever duty one is believed undone and doable lest no-one should. Here, it is obvious that managing the trolley is a duty, that whoever was entrusted with it abandoned it, and that only one can do it; therefore, one must manage the trolley oneself and blame whatever harm might ensue on whoever let people onto trolley tracks, a trolley loose, and one control the lever. -Duxwing

I disagree that the numbers are always wrong: I have flown by the numbers for months without hindrance. -Duxwing

From moon landing deniers' sad ignorance Apollo participants can draw strange pride: what they did was, for some people, beyond belief. -Duxwing

I second the motion that scientists should navigate. -Duxwing