totm aug 2023 What funny/interesting thing happened in your life today?

[TheSaint]

54 minutes ago, kerbiloid said:

A week ago I've read that they had to replace the forward docking port on Salyut-7 from welded one with the milled one to let the 20 t ships dock, instead of the 6 t Soyuzes.

Today I've read that the International Berthing/Docking Mechanism used in some places of ISS allows just 30 docking/undocking cycles.

Such fragile...

I wonder if being locked in the mindset of, "We have to shave off every gram," hurts aerospace engineers more than it helps sometimes?

[IncongruousGoat]

I got these things:

These are the fruit of vaccinium deliciosum, a.k.a. the Cascade blueberry, a.k.a. blueleaf huckleberry. Folks around here just call them huckleberries. And they're awesome. They taste mostly like blueberries, except much juicier, sweeter, and more flavorful - basically, better in every way except size (they're a bit smaller). And, unfortunately, accessibility, since the bushes that produce these berries are A: tiny, and B: only grow high on the slopes of the Cascades. The only way to get them is to pick them by hand from the mountains where they grow, and to make matters worse the season for them is only about a month long. Needless to say, I'm very excited to have acquired some.

[cubinator]

Moving into my apartment at college today. Feels weird that walking to classrooms is something that's basically not going to happen for me this semester. But, I have a car to go wherever I need, a stove to cook whatever I want, and a big room reserved for my insect farming science project!

[kerbiloid]

Reading the "100 рассказов о стыковке" / "100 stories about the docking" by Syromyatnikov, the designer of the Soviet/Russian docking ports, including the Soyuz-Apollo flight.

In addition to "Switching SCE to AUX", the KSP loading should include "Switching ELS AUTO and ELS LOGIC".
Explanation:
After the Soyuz-Apollo flight, when Apollo capsule was airbreaking and the crew was proceeding the parachute system checklist, they suddenly skipped the row about these two switches, so the chutebox was not opened at 10 km altitude as planned.
By the  2.5 km altitude they started suspecting that something goes wrong, and switched two backup ELS (Earth Landing System) switches, so the chutes finally opened at 2.5 km...
... and the cabin immediately started being filled with toxic gases from the capsule RCS which they hadn't switched off.
(So, when the chutes opened and the capsule falling got slowed, they appeared to be inside the cloud of exhaust gases from RCS which was heroically trying to stabilize the capsule hanging under the chute, and the vent system was sucking the gases inside.)

On splash, the capsule overturned, so the crew was hanging on belts with heads down.

The rescue choppers arrived.
Slayton had shown them in a window a thumb ("It's OK, we're alive.") and fell hanged unconscious together with Brand.
The rescue team had seen his thumb, and, as the crerw shows "It's OK, we're fine.", didn't hurry much.

Stafford took out gas masks and put them on everybody.
After that they've inflated the ballons, overturned the capsule right, and opened the hatch door to breathe.

After 50 minutes they were delivered to the carrier, having inhaled about 3/4 of critical toxic dose.

Edited September 4, 2020 by kerbiloid

[Guest]

On 8/26/2020 at 12:32 PM, TheSaint said:

I wonder if being locked in the mindset of, "We have to shave off every gram," hurts aerospace engineers more than it helps sometimes?

I don't think it's so much of "being locked", it's more that really it's less doable and more expensive to design components with a bigger factor of safety and consequently bigger mass when you can lower that factor and have a more strict usage of the component for the extra mass relief, especially when you have a 3 to 4 digit cost per kg launched. Besides, if it was a viable/beneficial option to increase the ruggedness of those components... the industry would've already done so.

[CatastrophicFailure]

Canning day! 

So of course, the power goes out. 

Spoiler

So just to start the day, we got a proper trial by fire cuz --'s on fire, yo, literally of the generator we had put in this spring... before the dark times... before the--
Er, anyways, only managed to overload and force a shutdown once. 

Once we figured out NOT to do that again, it was on to the endless hours of chores um... fun...

52 weeks out of the year these things are blood-sucking thrice-cursed viney green spawn of the Kraken itself, the other two they're the bountiful harvest of a generous nature... or something like that...

Spoiler

FunFact: I once read an entirely credible article that blackberries (brambles) are actually carnivorous: Their thorns curl inward, so they're offensive and not defensive, as any poor creature (or harvester) once snared cannot retreat, and is inevitably forced ever inward as more and more thorns rip into them. Eventually they die a slow, horrible death and learn a new meaning of pain and suffering as they are slowly digested over a thousand years. Or something like that. Anyway, seems legit. It's not uncommon in places to find the decayed fleeces of wayward sheep within the twisted masses of canes where they became fertilizer.

Half a bucket got a solid 3-1/2 cups of juice. It'll be frozen and then vacuum sealed to be jammed in a few weeks once the rest of the harvest ripens.

...and then is promptly ripped out by the roots by my new favorite mechanized blackberry defiler.

 

Nothing wasted, either. We mixed the pulp with oats, spooned it into muffin tins then it'll be frozen and vacuum-packed as duck treats. 

Next was apples. And more apples. Sixteen pounds of apples from the neighbor with the tree-lined driveway. Mushed into our first try at apple butter: 

Smells better than it looks...

And a solid half-gallon of fresh apple juice, too. Tho I'm thinking we should have fermented it for cider instead. Or... just used a better container for settling.

But, some 13-1/2 hours later we have... not nearly as much as I was expecting. 

And dishes. Dishes everywhere. Gonna have to get up in the middle of the night just to flip the dishwasher and I. AM. SO. STICKY!!!

I think this was even sticker than the time we did honey. 

 

Random judgy chicken:

 

 

Edited September 8, 2020 by CatastrophicFailure

[StrandedonEarth]

Turned 50 today. I suppose that's not entirely negative so it's not in that thread. But all I can say is:

Ugh. I'm too old for this [stuff}

[GDJ]

3 minutes ago, StrandedonEarth said:

Turned 50 today. I suppose that's not entirely negative so it's not in that thread. But all I can say is:

Ugh. I'm too old for this [stuff}

Happy Birthday!

Don't feel too bad. I'm turning the big 5-0 in November.

[Vanamonde]

35 minutes ago, StrandedonEarth said:

Turned 50 today. 

Punk kid. 

[DDE]

The people hired to restyle the venerable UAZ-452 have very odd tastes.

Spoiler

 

 

[TheSaint]

2 hours ago, DDE said:

The people hired to restyle the venerable UAZ-452 have very odd tastes.

It's like the VW Beetle vs the New Beetle. Are those being bought by aging hippies going through emotional crises as well?

[DDE]

11 minutes ago, TheSaint said:

It's like the VW Beetle vs the New Beetle. Are those being bought by aging hippies going through emotional crises as well?

It's too new to be bought by anyone yet, but the aging hippies have different ideas anyway.

[Lewie]

So me and my family went to a family friend’s house to watch a football game. The father, Corey is an f-16 Pilot. We go onto the subject if the air force and...

I got invited to come down to the airport and watch the jets take off! It will mostly likely be at 8:30 on a friday...because in the darkness, the afterburners glooowww!

I was also told I go could for a ride...kinda. Civilians are *usually* only allowed to go on high-speed taxis. (Barreling down the runway at 100 knots) of course, this rule doesn’t apply to Dude Perfect, Tom Cruise or Smarter Everyday.....

Sooo hyped!

[Entropian]

Dang, that's amazing.  I once got to fly a DeHavilland Vampire (WW2 jet era), and it was AWESOME.  Going in an F-16 must be even better.  Be ready for airsickness and high G's though.  Always keep your eyes on the horizon.

[Space Nerd]

The third week of high school will start tomorrow, so far so good!

[Lewie]

11 hours ago, Entropian said:

Dang, that's amazing.  I once got to fly a DeHavilland Vampire (WW2 jet era), and it was AWESOME.  Going in an F-16 must be even better.  Be ready for airsickness and high G's though.  Always keep your eyes on the horizon.

Dang, that’s awesome! What’s that like?

I wish I was able to fly in it, but the most I can do is go on a high-seed taxi.

.

[Entropian]

2 hours ago, Lewie said:

What’s that like?

Much, much different from a commercial airliner.  I got up to 3 gees, and it was not nice at all.  It's really weird, having your body weight suddenly triple.  The flight was also really rough, and the jet was earsplittingly loud, but that was nice.  Buzzing the airstrip was also really fun.  With the fighter, instead of having really long turns like in airliners, it just turns completely around in ~5 seconds.

Edited September 13, 2020 by Entropian
grammar

[Lewie]

@Entropian how did you come by the opportunity to fly that plane?

[Delay]

Today's Formula One race at Mugello was quite entertaining to see. I don't think there ever was a race that needed two restarts from the grid to be finished. I also don't think there ever was a safety car-worthy accident mere seconds after the safety car left from a previous one.

Complete chaos from start to finish. It was hilarious. Not necessarily for the drivers, but as a viewer I couldn't help but laugh because this race was just great.

[Entropian]

20 minutes ago, Lewie said:

@Entropian how did you come by the opportunity to fly that plane?

I happened to be in Coventry on travel when there was an open slot.  I'm not sure the aircraft is still operational;  it was one of the last airworthy Vampires left...

EDIT: Just checked.  It's the last one in the UK now.  Still airworthy.

Edited September 13, 2020 by Entropian

[cubinator]

Today I did not launch a rocket. Darn ematches...

[qzgy]

28 minutes ago, cubinator said:

Today I did not launch a rocket. Darn ematches...

Aww sad. Do you at least have nice pictures of the rocket?

[kerbiloid]

4 hours ago, cubinator said:

Today I did not launch a rocket.

Now there are three failed launches.

[GDJ]

WELL, I get a few days off.

Middle daughter was sent home from work due to illness. Just got home from getting tested for the COVID virus. I'm home for a minimum 3 days. If the results are negative, I get to go to work on Thursday. If it's positive, I get to stay home for 14 minimum.

At least I'll get some crap done around the house........and get holiday pay......could be a hell of a lot worse.......

[GDJ]

On 9/10/2020 at 6:18 AM, DDE said:

The people hired to restyle the venerable UAZ-452 have very odd tastes.

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I'd buy this. It's like a soccer-mom on Red Bull kind of vehicle. Would be very handy in Canadian winters.