Sep 092019
 

CNN might have taken the top spot, but when their paid talking head started shrieking that Trump should resign, be impeached, arrested and imprisoned, I was busy not pointing my face at the TV and only heard it. So the below video where the narrator lists all the ways that SpaceX is going to destroy the planet with rocket launches – including dumping carbon black (?), chlorine (?!?) and aluminum oxide (?!!??!) into the upper atmosphere – takes the prize for today.

As part of the argument, the video includes a graphic showing that a single Falcon 9 flight consumes 147 metric tons of kerosene, meaning it dumps 150 times as much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as a single transatlantic flight. But… does it? The range of such a flight is about 4,800 km. Modern jetliners consume around 3 liters of jet fuel – essentially kerosene – per 100 km per seat, or about 144 liters per seat per flight. 144 liters is about 115 kilograms. The 777 can carry about 350 passengers, so 350*115kg = 40.25 metric tons of fuel. Without running the terribly complex calculations, it seems to me that 147 metric tons is not 150 times greater than 40 metric tons. Granted, not doing the math on that means I fall into the Other Ways Of Knowing category of addlepated imbecile who thinks that math is a tool of the cisheteronormative whiteness patriarchy, but it’s late and I’m tired, and my spirit animal assures me that the planets are aligned just right in the zodiac so that I can make a guess about which number is bigger so long as I avoid integer shaming.

This dismal piece of gormless chickenshittery terminates with a plea to end space exploration and, in the words of three generations of absolutely genetically defective morons, focus our attention instead on the Earth.

 Posted by at 11:36 pm
Sep 092019
 

The “Major Matt Mason” line of “space toys” was somewhat before my time, but I gather that for a lot of people who were kids in the heady days of the 1960’s – at least for those for whom the sixties held more than hippies and assassinations and the decline of western civilization – those toy astronauts and spaceships hold a special spot in their memories.

It now seems that “MMM” toys might make a comeback, since it’s rare for a live action major science fiction movie to not have merchandizing, and it hardly seems likely that the associated cash grab for a movie based on a toy line won’t feature toys. And as memory serves, another set of movies that featured Tom Hanks and a toy astronaut have flooded the aisles of WalMart with mountains of toys. I suspect, though, that the next generation of “MMM” toys will be a tad different than the originals.

Tom Hanks, Akiva Goldsman Set Live Action Mattel Adaptation ‘Major Matt Mason’ at Paramount (EXCLUSIVE)

 

 

 Posted by at 9:29 pm
Sep 092019
 

A few days ago I asked if people were having trouble accessing the other website, http://aerospaceprojectsreview.com. The responses were roughly split between “no problem” and “forbidden.” I’ve gotten a response from the tech support at the web host… the security software loaded onto the site that is designed to protect the site from malicious attacks needed to be reset for some reason, and in the meantime it’s become overly enthusiastic in blocking people. Resetting has been initiated, but it will apparently take 24 to 48 hours to fully take effect.

So if you’ve had issues accessing the page or one of the sub-pages, take a moment in a day or two to see if you can now access it. Let me know when things work or, come Wednesday or so, if you’re still having issues.

This is *not* the sort of thing I needed now. If someone goes to a website and the thing won’t load up, chances are fair they’ll never go back. Sales of USBP22 and USTP09, released after the site started blocking an unknown but non-trivial number of people, are substantially reduced from hat they should have been. This added stress and lessened finances right now is *not* friggen helpful.

 Posted by at 2:58 am
Sep 082019
 

Start your Christmas shopping early by buying my stuff:

Rhodochrosite crystal  from Sweet Home Mine, Alma, Colorado, approx. 20x16x12mm


Rhodochrosite crystal  from Sweet Home Mine, Alma, Colorado, approx. 22x18x9mm


Eaglemoss Star Trek Starships: Lot of Five Ships & magazines, new


Star Trek Book Lot: Blish, Logs, Jackill’s, Tech Manual, Guide to the Enterprise

 


And there will be other stuff.

https://www.ebay.com/usr/dynascott

 Posted by at 8:32 pm
Sep 082019
 

Things have been different out here recently. Today this involved events that caused an uproar among the cats; as a result, Fingers freaked the fark out and wound up in hiding. It took me about an hour to find her; rather than trying to pry her out I just left the house and did some stuff for few hours. When I came back, she was like this:

 

 Posted by at 12:10 am
Sep 072019
 

Continuing…

A “Block II” orbiter would not be an entirely new design, but would incorporate a bunch of improvements to the existing design… better systems, newer computers, higher thrust engines, lighter materials, etc. Also would likely use liquid or otherwise improved boosters. Given that Rockwell was the prime contractor for the Orbiter, it’s unsurprising that they would be interested in a new production run of the Orbiter. if the Orbiter was put into another production run, almost certainly Rockwell would get paid to do it. But if the Shuttle was replaced with an all-new “Shuttle II,” then Rockwell could potentially lose to Boeing or Lockheed or McDonnell-Douglas or Grumman or Northrop.

 

Continue reading »

 Posted by at 11:34 pm
Sep 072019
 

Since I released US Bomber Projects #22, I’ve had a *few* reports of issues with the APR website. It seems to spool up just fine for me, but others seem to get 403 and 404 errors. Additionally, sales of USBP22 and USTP09 have been abysmal, and I guess I’d kinda rather it was due to website troubles rather than disinterest.

So… if you have a spare moment, take a look at these links:

http://www.aerospaceprojectsreview.com/

http://www.aerospaceprojectsreview.com/catalog/drawndoc.htm

http://www.aerospaceprojectsreview.com/blog

If you encounter trouble with any of them, please comment and let me know what issue you encounter.

 Posted by at 3:39 am