StrandedonEarth

Surely you must be exaggerating

Now that brings back some memories!!

I’ve gotten second and third lives from a few phones by taking them to a nearby repair business. They also sell used “corporate return” phones with new batteries. One thing ive noticed is that it seems some batteries are discontinued. They can replace the battery, but it’s already a few years old and naturally degraded even though it was never used. Or so it seems.

Yeah, it was pretty intense. Good flick. Of course, my wife was disappointed there was no romance...

Anyone who has played Hardspace:Shipbreaker would know why this came to mind. Makes me want to make it the soundtrack to a Shipbreaker music video.... E: The cigarette in the guitar strings LOL!

Because SpaceX can focus their launch efforts out of Florida, without having to keep a team at (or fly a team to) VAFB They don't launch straight south, to avoid overflying populated areas of Florida in case of RUD. So they dogleg to straight south once clear of Fl.. Once over Cuba it should be S2, so not as big a deal. Plus this: https://www.overlookhorizon.com/spacex-planning-historic-saocom-1b-satellite-launch/

I've managed to avoid walmart for awhile now, which means Costco has been getting our money instead...

Yeah, I was doing that, that's how I was able to see it at all. I believe that effect is related to the "blind spot" each eye has at the center where the optic nerve leaves the eyeball, which is not otherwise noticeable. But I could be wrong about that. I first became aware of that effect after turning off an old CRT TV in a dark room. I could peripherally see a residual white dot in the center of the screen, which disappeared when I looked at it.

Well, last night was a pretty much a bust for me, at least as far as the comet went. Finally had clear skies, so I dragged out my cheap POS telescope (I know, binocs are better, but I don't have any). While waiting for the sky to get fully dark, I sighted in on Jupiter and was able to make out the line of pinpricks made by her moons. Next I zeroed in on Saturn, which looked like an oblong smear. I was using the "Night Sky" app to show me where to look for Neowise, and it alerted me that the ISS was starting a pass, but not where. Looking all over the place I finally saw a moving light, heading almost straight north, which didn't seem right to me. It wasn't as bright as I remembered either. Turning around, I saw the unmistakable moving Venus-bright ISS rising from the west, passing pretty much right overhead. The satellite I saw just before that was apparently a Starlink, according to the app. It finally started to get fully dark at 10:30, but I still couldn't see it. It doesn't help that I'm looking towards a line of lights on the townhouses in my complex, also blocking my view of the horizon. Oh, how I wished someone would crash into the power pole outside the complex and knock out the power, as happens once or twice a year. Scanning with the scope was futile without knowing exactly where to point it; I didn't happen across it. Finally I gave up, put the scope away, and took a short five-minute drive to the edge of town, trying to get away from the worst of the light pollution (probably should have gone farther). It was nearing eleven when I was finally able to make out a faint smudge in the area it should have been, so that must have been it. Coming home, and looking in the same spot (raising my arm to block the lights in my face) I could just make out the same smudge. It's possible that earlier it was hidden by a small smear of high cloud, which was hanging out in that area. But by that time I was starting to turn into a pumpkin, so I couldn't be bothered to pull out the scope again. So the comet was rather anti-climatic, but at least I saw some other stuff!

Yup. Clear night and the sun has set, and I’m not asleep yet. I may actually finally spot the bleedin thing tonight

Pffft! I can knock out power to my 88-unit townhouse complex just by crashing into the power pole at the corner. That happens with disturbing regularity..

I don't mean to brag, but I can make my teenager crabby just by saying "Hello"...

Ah yes, but there are also four Draco thrusters around the docking ring, under the aero cover, for orbital maneuvers with no cosine losses, but thrusting "backwards" (eyeballs-out). AFAIK these are not used during docking to avoid contaminating the exterior of the station with hypergolic exhaust

Well, the main headache there would be having the computers and sensors capable of landing F9 back then.

Yeah, that is the real challenge. So much testing just to get down and find out if it can make it back up....

Yup, that’s what I was gonna say. I wonder if naked skydivers make a sound as various body parts flap.... The one static line jump I did: for those few seconds between letting go of the plane and the chute opening, my mind was completely, utterly blank.

Now that you mention it, wasn’t the whole point to of Constellation / Orion / SLS to visit an asteroid and grab it, or at least a piece of it? That lasted until someone pointed out that a robotic spacecraft to do it for a heckuva lot cheaper. But there was still these beee-yoot-iful designs on the drawing boards, along with some metal getting bent.

Ouch! That sucks man.