#space program posting

[frakes]

7.10 • “It's Only a Paper Moon” STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE (1993-1999)

[lonestarflight]

"An overall view of the Manned Spacecraft Center's Mission Control Center, during the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Gemini-7 spaceflight."

Date: December 7, 1965

NASA ID: S65-60037, S65-60039

[semioticapocalypse]

Jack Weir. A girl holding The Washington Post newspaper about the first Moon landing (Apollo 11). July 21, 1969

I Am Collective Memories   •    Follow me, — says Visual Ratatosk

[labelleizzy]

Update from Democracy Action Network:

Despite his dreams, Trump is not a King. Marisa Kabas may have again broken the news. The Washington Post writes: "The White House budget office on Wednesday rescinded an order freezing federal grants, according to a copy of a new memo obtained by The Washington Post, after the administration’s move to halt spending earlier this week provoked a backlash."

He didn't back down because it was a good idea. It wasn't a change of heart. It wasn't a feint. It was a genuine administrative coup that — for now — has been thwarted.

He backed down because people pushed back — getting media to do their job and alert us to an impending problem, calling Senators who (more or less) found their spines, lawyers challenging the coup, telling the story of the many who would suffer under such an order, joining last-minute DC protests…

We'd like you to pause before your inner cynic speaks up (the one that says "he'll try another version" or "look at all the other things he's destroyed and people suffering").

The point is stunningly important: Trump can lose when we fight. He is not invincible and he is not all powerful.

It doesn't mean we will win every fight. But it does mean that anyone who is telling you it's hopeless is wrong. Folks need to get this message: our feelings are valid, but any conclusion that says it's over is wrong. They, too, will get a chance to join and we hope they do.

To us, the biggest stories not being told are the many, many acts of resistance all over. We wish we had journalists covering this. For example:

Teachers rejecting ICE raids ("we jump in front of bullets for our students")

Folks rejecting President-in-action-but-not-elected Elon Musk's potentially illegally sent and possibly illegal buyout offer to 2 million government workers (comments are fire: "I'll be honest, before that email went out, I was looking for any way to get out of this fresh hell. But now I am fired up to make these goons as frustrated as possible, RTO be damned. Hold the Line!")

National trainings teaching people how to organize and strengthen community when workplace raids happen (we recommend these!) or Teen Vogue's story on ICE Watch Programs Can Protect Immigrants in Your Neighborhood — Here’s What to Know

Lawyers standing up for the rule of law — like 22 state attorneys general sued Trump over birthright order or ACLU suing fast-track deportation policy or Quakers suing to stop ICE out of worship services

The internet spamming the DEI snitch tipline

Greenlanders refusing to give up free healthcare and education and rejecting any US takeover or Colombian President Petro staring down Trump and winning the "dignity" of returnees he asked for (the US media let Trump claim victory — but international press report this very differently, like here or here or read Petro's full statement)

Groups like Civil Service Strong helping government workers sort through their decisions in these trying times and the many people finding their path in these times.

Yes, we know the overwhelm is still there. There's a reason. It's called Shock and Awe. The goal is chaos and constant crisis to push through radical changes. The goal is to push our cognitive limits to overload, so we get paralyzed.

One implication of this: to stay active, many of us will need to limit our attention. Doing so is not a rejection of other issues. It's that in a time of rapid chaos, none of us can do it all. Let's give ourselves that permission. And then let's extend that grace our allies — for not joining the causes most central to us or for picking a strategy that we think isn't most effectual. It's okay to pick your lane and focus on that. In fact, we need you to. (We have this video to help remind people of different paths they may take.)

An overwhelmed teacher asked us what they should be doing to help their students. After an extended conversation that included their basic rights to keep out ICE, it came down to this: "The thing they most fear is an educated population. Teach your students." Do what you do best. We knew there would be a lot of loss in this time, and there is. We'll have to keep planting seeds for a better future.

We want to thank Democracy Forward for its leading lawsuits. Again, thanks to journalists like Marisa Kabas (an independent journalist at The Handbasket) and Anand Giridharadas (who quoted us in The Ink). Please support our independent journalists who did not downplay this administrative coup and raised their voices right away. Thanks Rebecca Solnit who first pulled our attention to this.

Some things we're going to go do: Eat some ice cream, pet a cat, and tap some maple trees with our kid. And then keep fighting the best we can.

Warmly,

- Choose Democracy

[gemini-enthusiast]

Soyuz silhouette through Apollo command module window, ASTP

[amisonist]

All these other KSP players out here trying to maximize ΔV (change in velocity) whereas I’m trying to maximize ΔG (change in genders)

[randomly-generated-posts-machine]

yeah, sorry… your boyfriend was yeeted by me … yeah he's in the void now… sorry

[deep-space-netwerk]

God so @literallymechanical told me about this the other day and I'm still laughing about it. So, Gus Grissom was a one of the original seven Project Mercury astronauts, and was actually the second American to go to space, and the second American to go to space twice. He was also a short king but we'll get to that in a bit. Here he is with the Mercury-Redstone 4 capsule, nicknamed the Liberty Bell 7!

Mercury-Redstone 4 was the second US manned spaceflight, and there were some complications after its splashdown in the Atlantic ocean when the emergency explosive bolts unexpectedly fired, opening the hatch and flooding the thing. Our boy Gus had to tread water in his spacesuit while he waited for rescue, nearly drowning the entire time. The Liberty Bell 7 couldn't be retrieved, and is currently at the bottom of the ocean.

When Gus was selected as the pilot for the first manned Gemini flight, he became heavily involved in the design of the spacecraft cockpit. He also happened to be the shortest of the original astronauts at 5'7" tall. Literally, after he was done with it, 14 out of the 16 existing astronauts could not fit inside. They had to completely change the cockpit design for future missions.

NASA didn't learn its lesson about Gus and decisions, so they let Gus give his Gemini capsule a nickname, and it went about as well as you'd expect. This is the excerpt from his Wikipedia article (image description in alt text):

Fucking hilarious. There's a specific brand of humor you see in the early US space program that I just adore. It’s a phenomenal mix of like, 60's dry military humor (all these guys were airforce pilots), and the sheer incredulity of doing something as insane as going to space. Sometimes, you just gotta laugh and name your dinky little space car after the Titanic, because the first one fucking SANK IN THE OCEAN.

[2aceofspades]

Are you still alive, did the animatic kill your hands?

More like it killed my brain like-

Bruh I don't wanna do this anymore *whines and complains*

[spacefrontier]

Launch of Space Shuttle Discovery during STS-128. August 29, 2009.

STS-128, also know as ISS assembly flight 17A, carried the Italian-built Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo as its primary payload. This was the sixth flight of the logistics module to the International Space Station, and the penultimate flight of the module before it became permanently berthed to the station. Leonardo's payload during STS-128 consisted of extra supplies and equipment to support a six-person crew aboard the ISS, the TVIS2 treadmill, and an Air Revitalization System.

Discovery prior to docking with the International Space Station. Leonardo MPLM can be seen in the aft portion of the payload bay.

Three extra-vehicular activities took place during STS-128. The first, performed on September 1, was to prepare an empty ammonia tank for retrieval, and the collection of two materials experiments attached to the outside of the Columbus laboratory. The second on September 3 retrieved and replaced the ammonia tank. The third and final EVA was performed on September 3 and prepared the Unity node for the arrival of the Tranquility node, which would be delivered by STS-130 in 2010.

Mission Specialists John Olivas (left) and Nicole Stott participating in the first EVA, preparing an ammonia tank for replacement.

STS-128 crew portrait. From left: Commander Rick Sturckow, Mission Specialists Danny Olivas and Christer Fuglesang (ESA), Pilot Kevin Ford, and Mission Specialists Nicole Stott, Patrick Forrester, and Jose Hernandez.

STS-128 was complete when Discovery touched down on Runway 22 at Edwards Air Force Base, California on September 11, 2009. This mission marked the last time a space shuttle would land at the base, with all remaining flights landing at the Shuttle Landing Facility in Florida.

Discovery landing at Edwards Air Force Base, completing STS-128.

NASA 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

[deoidesign]

if adam and steve were muppets who would they be

muppets, presumably

[apollo9235]

My good friend @translunaryanimus told me that EVENTUALLY^TM Sacred Estuaries would get into some sci-fi stories. Being the sci-fi nerd that I am, and also since he's helping me with some of the bio and culture aspects of my setting, I thought it was only right to help him with some of the technology aspects of his setting!

Sacred Estuaries lore stuff: The homeplanet of the Chenesht has thicker atmosphere than that of earth, this makes human-style 'tall stick with flamey bit at the bottom' impractical. This is because the rocket has to fight against all the air at sea-level, and also because optimizing a rocket nozzle for such pressures becomes difficult. But why fight against the atmosphere when you can use it to your advantage?

Chenesht launch vehicles are always some variety of air-launcher, they use jet engines or other varieties of air-breathing engines, as well as aerodynamic lift, for as much of the ascent as they can get away with. In the case of the HALC-90 'Skyjelly', the air-breathing engines are able to get it going fast enough that it's apoapsis is out of the atmosphere, and the craft is very nearly in orbit.

After the 'Skyjelly' gets it's payload going nice and fast it's work is done and it can return to the launch-site. The launch site is located right on the planet's equator to take advantage of the planet's spin for some free speed. This site also has an ocean to it's east so any failed launches don't impact populated areas. Kerbal Space Program stuff Air-launchers are really fun to fly, I recommend everyone make at least one, bonus points if you can recover the launcher and payload without reloads like I did here. I maybe should've gone with Whiplash engines rather than RAPIERs for the first stage, but RAPIERs seem to have a stronger positive-feedback-loop with speed so I went with them.

Since I used RAPIERs I could probably also get the 'Skyjelly' into a circular orbit, but I removed all the oxidizer from the vehicle so no. Also I don't think the CoT and CoM line up for the RAPIERs. I also absolutely don't need those solid fuel 'sustainer rockets', but by the point in testing where I realized that, I already used them to attach the stabilizer fins, and also just got aesthetically attached so I kept them.

[lonestarflight]

At this point, might as well.

(in all seriousness, I wish Boeing would get their shit together.)

Posted on Facebook: link

[bee623]

Fjord: I swear there’ll be buttons and shiny shit if you go into the water with us!!

Nott: Oh really!!! Wow I’ve totally changed my mind!!!! Look at this fucking bastard Jesus fucking Christ

[frog-legss]

Back on my bullshit

so I replayed portal 1 and watch jacksepticeye play portal 2 and desk job, and now I'm my mind is brewing with too many thoughts about if there were more human to core victims, if glados could be considered a corrupt core, and how British is wheatley? I know I sound insane, it's just gonna get worse !!

(also spoilers for blue sky but also its about a decade old I think so get on it ASAP!!)

so this all started with me talking to my girlfriend about rain boots (or as she calls them wellies, she is very British) and it reminded me of when in blue sky, wheatley often refers to Ellie as "the girl with the wellies" and that made me wonder, HOW BRITISH IS WHEATLEY?? thinking back in the game I don't remember him saying or doing anything that was super British, except for having a British accent of course, but also how does he have a British accent?? within the story of blue sky it makes sense for him to be British and use British slang, because he was originally a British person turned into a core, but why is he British in the canon?? it makes sense that the other cores have American accents because aperture is based in America but were they just bored with wheatley? was he programmed to be British on purpose? or is it possible that wheatley was British human and turned into a core like glados?

but also wheatley acts similarly to the corrupted cores, which I guess is on purpose because he was meant to slow down glados, but if wheatley hypothetically was a human turned into a core could that mean the corrupted cores were originally human too? because the cores from the first game they work the way they're supposed to because they were programmed to and they didn't come from a human, but while the corrupt cores generally still focus on what they were programmed for they still act differently from the other cores and act more human. similarly, glados does generally work the way she's supposed to but she still rebels and attacks the scientist at aperture. I feel like its possibly because bits of her humanity are trying to go against her programming to give her more autonomy and make her more human. she acts like a corrupt core in the sense that she's mainly staying with her programming but still trying and just do her own thing and trying to have her own autonomy, so could the same be applied with the other corrupt cores? (with the exception of the fact core he might actually just be a corrupt core 💀)

MAYBE I'M LOOKING TO DEEP INTO IT MAYBE ITS A BIT MUCH TO ACCUSE EVERY OF ONCE BEING HUMAN but idk!! I think its fun to think about why all the cores act the way they do and if there's a connection between any of them that isn't surface level

[gemini-enthusiast]

View of command module pilot Dave Scott from lunar module pilot Rusty Schweickart during EVA, Apollo 9