StrandedonEarth

While my posts here don't tend toward the orchestral, this one has a certain majesty coupled with the exquisite slo-mo artistry of the sequence that's... captivating

Taking “The best part is no part” a little too far…

Re radar vs vision: As I understand radar, it sends out microwaves which reflect back to the sensor. If it hits an angled metal surface (like the top of an overturned semi) most of the radar signal will reflect away from the car sending the signal, so the radar won’t “see” it. Unlike light, which scatters in all directions (mirrored surfaces notwithstanding). Which is why I believe Teslas are having trouble “seeing”’some obstacles and why pure vision should be better.

@cubinator Does this tweet have anything to do with your work? LOL

Simple solution: Have autopilot disengage when flashing lights are detected.

Found a moment to post my fave Stones song. Well, this and Satisfaction (I dare you to listen to the Devo cover), but that's more mainstream.

This verse immediately comes to mind...

Great article, thanks!

Oh, this Twitter thread gets mean…. Much of the thread amounts to “They’re building [whiny] infographics”. Or it’s a legal annex

A comet got caught in the gravitational wake of Linsby’s capsule and is now going to impact Gilly

Usually means I’m joking. I could have made it an ethnic joke but that would have been frowned upon. My actual guess wasn’t far off; a spare hole for when the broomstick inevitably breaks off. Flipping a worn tool is standard practice in many industries; I flip my tool bits when they get dull and then it’s sometimes sharper than when brand new. It is also common to flip a gear wheel when it starts to crack, so that the crack is pushed closed instead of pulled open, while waiting for a new part to arrive. It hadn’t occurred to me to apply that logic to broom heads, as the brooms around my work generally get destroyed before the bristles are too bent

Lefty and righty, of course!

Four, maybe three years. I hope they’re at least building several concurrently once they get started? How long does it take after the materials arrive? Do the suppliers have to mine the ore once the material orders arrive?

A-4/V2 on steroids. Or a Tintin rocket. Which is largely the same aside from size and fins. Pulse fusion fired by ground-based lasers?

I assume it would be lined with Boring Company bricks? I suppose settling could be a problem, unless they tunnel under something already pre-loaded. I guess it’s surprising Starbase isn’t slowly sinking with the vibrations of rocket testing. If there’s an earthquake it’ll turn into quicksand…

The shock wave from the passing kraken-struck vessel struck Jeb’s rocket as it was staging, knocking his Minmus mission onto a course for the Mun!

No towel? Never forget your towel! E: #HHGTG

Hmm, I wonder how aluminum would like mercury in a vacuum? It’s the oxygen that’s the problem….

Actually, the more I think about it, the more I think it was a trainee gremlin..... "Really, kid, that's all you got? You should have drained his backup lighter too..." "See, that's how it's done. I distracted them from running it last night. Now he's grumbling..." "That's better; now he's getting annoyed at having two things to do from that one drip of lunch-meat juice" "Oh hey, that was a deft touch re-adjusting his machine behind his back, he even thinks he messed up hims- hey WHOA STOP!! Whaddaya think you're doing!?!? This isn't Looney Tunes and that ain't Bugs Bunny; gremprentices are not allowed to hurt the clients! Good thing he didn't cut his fingertip off or we'd be out in the sun without any shade! Now back to the spawning pool with you!"

I was inspired to create a forum game based on this twitter thread: So the rules are simple: What did you see lurking at SpaceX' Starbase facility? Completely made up, of course, unless you actually did spot something strange. A text description is perfectly adequate, since some things are only in our imaginations, but a real or photoshopped pic would be even better. So I have my reply to that tweet above to kick things off, and I also noticed that their robot sentry, Zeus, looks a bit different today. He actually has hair, and he has a friend...

But you tried, you made the effort, and that's what counts. Always funny to contrast Earth and Kerbin

I think a gremlin punched in for his shift and was assigned to me this morning, because it’s been one minor hiccup after another from as soon as I got up at 3am…. The first thing I do is walk my dog while I have a smoke, only to find I’m out of poop bags and my lighter is dead Then I pour coffee for everyone, but the dishwasher wasn’t run so I have to rinse out the three travel mugs. Again, minor inconvenience. Tale something out of the fridge, liquid spills on the floor and my sock. Change sock after wiping up mess At work, shortly after starting I make a fixable mistake, but while fixing it I slice my fingertip, short but deep. I think the gremlin was satisfied at last and clocked out, since no more hiccups since. Or it possessed a coworker, who started organizing my work flow in a way that was not how I would have done it. Again, no biggie, just slows me down a touch while I (hopefully remember to) make adjustments. /vent Aaaah, I feel better now

They all resigned? When it comes to the propulsion engineers, I wonder how many were given a choice between resigning and being fired, given the apparent state of BE-4 development….

This is how it’s done in Kim Stanley Robinson’s “Red Mars “ trilogy, with a counterweight instead of more cable. It also describes what happens if that counterweight gets detached…