The “Lego” approach…
Nov 152011
Nov 142011
Woke up this morning to no emails. Unusual… there’s typically spam, if nothing else. After a few hours, no other emails came in. And then I noticed that there were a few new blog comments… and whenever there’s a new comment, I’m *supposed* to get an email notification.
So I checked with Earthlink… the email system seems to be down system wide. So if you’ve sent me an email to the “@ix.netcom.com” address, or sent me an order that I didn’t fill… I haven’t seen the email. Hopefully it’ll *eventually* show up.
In the mean time, if you’ve an unfilled order, or wish to contact me, use my other email address… the “@up-ship.com/blog” address.
Anti-spambot notice: the first part of both email addresses is “scottlowther”
Yes, I’ve sent emails from up-ship.com/blog to ix.netcom.com. Didn’t arrive. oddly, emails going the *other* way went through without a problem. Weird.
UPDATE: It seems to be back up and running. Oddly, todays emails – including numerous test emails sent from the up-ship.com/blog account, trickled in in a seemingly random order.
Nov 142011
There has been repeated flirtation with the idea of using a common airframe as both orbiter and booster. Generally, though, it really doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, since the requirements and environments are so different.
Nov 142011
Every now and then I stumble across a Brand New News Story that just seems damned familiar. Often enough it’s just deja vu, or some combination of being old and broken down with my lifetime of reckless hedonism coming back to haunt me. And sometimes… it’s an old news story, recycled. For example:
Why Is China Building These Gigantic Structures In the Middle of the Desert?
It’s an interesting article, full of interesting photos taken from space showing gigantic *somethings* that China is building out in the middle of nowhere. But it sure seemed familiar. So I searched my own blog, and found this, from two and a half years ago:
What the hell is this in China?
HA! There can be only one explanation…
Nov 142011
The recent news stories of various police departments clashing with the fleabaggers have been entertaining enough… socialists who want *more* government getting wholloped by the forces of big government is ironically hilarious. But THIS story is even better: fleabaggers fighting with fleabaggers at a pro-fleabagger event.
Occupy Seattle Disrupts Pro-Occupy Wall Street Forum, Drives Away Supporters
I suggest reading the whole thing… it’s damned high-larious. But what’s the main source of the trouble? This, if you can believe it:
Activists had planned to interrupt the panel because, some said, they opposed the power dynamic created by speakers on stage talking into microphones.
Wow. Just… wow.
And for those who think that “dirty hippie” is an unfair characterization of the fleabagger-fascist movement, produced by right-wingers? Well, keep in mind that the writer of the article was there, was a support of the “Occupy” movement, and worked for one of the organizations that funded the event:
One activist slept on the floor in front of the stage, spread eagle. The place reeked of BO. A man next to me worked through half a tin of chew.
Yeah. Stay classy, you power-hungry greedy fascist dirtbags.
So, when do you expect Michelle Obama to show up in Seattle and scold the “occupy” movement? After all, she has of late glommed onto bullying as a way to get herself some press, and the Occupation movement is all about bullying.
Nov 132011
In 1957, Darrell Romick of Goodyear produced the “Meteor Jr.” design for a three stage fully reusable manned launch vehicle, a smaller version of the “Meteor” design from 1954. The designs were straightforward, with simple but gigantic delta wings.
The Air & Space Museum Udvar-Hazy facility has a Goodyear display model of the Meteor Jr. vehicle on display.
Nov 132011
An interesting inversion of the final STS stack layout.
Nov 122011
Mystery Radiation Detected ‘Across Europe’
Iodine-31 is appearing all over Europe. It’s apparently not from Japan.
Nov 112011
Will “Mecca Time” replace Greenwich Mean Time?
This is the stupidest idea I’ve read today. And sadly, it stands a chance of being adopted not only in the Dirt World, but also in the supposedly “civilized” nations, too afraid of offending the jackholes to tell them to get bent.
Nov 112011
Y’all might’ve noticed a slight decrease in bloggification of late. Partly due to the pneumonia – which I’m just about over at this point, save for an annoying cough – but mostly due to me being buried in Aerospace Projects Review. I’ve got *three* APR projects coming along, hopefully to be released in the near future.