Sperry Lifting Body Ad

 aircraft, art, history, projects, rockets, spacecraft  No Responses »
Jan 272019
 

A magazine ad from 1966 depicting a lifting body in space. The design seems reasonable 9sort of a cross between the M2and the HL-10) but could very well be a product not of engineers but of the art department. The angle is not the most informative, but it appears that this design has something of a squared-off nose. Note that the cockpit canopy is exposed, something that very few small lifting body designs had… for the simple reason that the windows would likely melt during re-entry, and that would defeat the purpose in making the thing recoverable. As vehicles get bigger, such as the space shuttle, the windows get further away from the nose and can be made survivable. But little designs like this? not very likely with 1960’s tech. Otherwise, though, it is an attractive illustration.

 Posted by at 5:41 pm

Cat Concepts of Comfort

 awesomeness, cats, humor, photography  No Responses »
Jan 262019
 

One of the more admirable features of the common housecat is their ability to make themselves comfortable ona  level humans can only dream of.

All four of them on a bed. Fingers, Buttons and Speedbump are all curled up together while Banshee is a little away from the group. She doesn’t tolerate physical contact with the others, but at least she’s calmed down from her days of screaming bloody murder if another cat was in the same room with her.

The two below show  the result pf adding a bit of dried catnip to a small plastic shoebox. Buttons has always ignored catnip (supposedly only about half of cats really react to it). But this time he decided to fill the boxes volume.

 

And Banshee shows us how it’s done.

 

“I should buy a boat.”

 

 

 Posted by at 8:34 pm

That’s not how you’re supposed to land a supersonic bomber

 AARRRGH, aircraft, news, youtube, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Jan 262019
 

What more evidence of a Trump-Russia collusion do you really need?

A Tu22M3 backfire bomber crashed on landing in the Murmansk region. Reportedly 4 crew, two killed on impact, one died later. Seemed to come in a little fast. Looks like it had a Kh-22 anti-ship missile under the port wing root.

 

 

Clearly the problem was that the front fell off.

 

 

 

 

 

 Posted by at 8:02 pm

This is why, at least for now, US > UK

 AARRRGH, Crazy, dumbassery, Forward!, Gah., I'm from the government, news, politics, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Jan 262019
 

Humberside Police tell man to ‘check his thinking’ after he likes ‘offensive transgender limerick’ on Twitter

If you ever somehow needed more evidence that “hate speech”laws are inherently stupid… here ya go. Police time and resources spent on intimidating British subjects because they simply “liked” a limerick.

Britainlanders… it’s getting about time y’all took your country back.

 Posted by at 5:41 pm

STD Season 2. Bonus: Orville

 AARRRGH, art, blather, Gah., Meh., science fiction, youtube, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Jan 262019
 

So Star Trek: Discovery season 2 premiered a little over a week ago behind the CBS All Access paywall. It has been such a staggering success that they have made the first episode available for free on YouTube, and it was there that I watched it. I had heard from some reviewers that the producers had listened to the complaints about season 1 and tried to make season 2 better, more like an actual Star Trek show. And having watched it… they failed. It’s bad.

The writing is bad. Things happen without cause or consequence; people do inexplicable things. The episode starts off with a mangled version of the “Space: the final frontier” monologue that promptly goes wrong and turns into a myth from some African tribe 100,000 years ago (I have doubts that even with advanced technology that people in the 23rd century would have clue one what beliefs people had 100,000 years ago)… and that myth is just thrown out there and not referenced again. The writers think that “smartassery” is what the fans want in lieu of wit. And the writers threw in a bunch of what they seemed to think were jokes, presumably to help capture the “Orville” fanbase.

The acting is bad, in particular the horribly named “Jet Reno.” A character clearly thrown in in order to Seem Cool.

The action is bad and inexplicable. The little landing pods are straight out of a video game, and make as little sense. Why the frak do they spin around like that? If they are meant to head into dangerous environments, why are they one giant transparent and relatively fragile bubble?

The technology is bad, such as the small device set up on the shuttlebay floor that magically transforms into a *giant* device. Apparently it was folded up into a  pocket dimension, a technology you’d think Starfleet would have made a bit more use of in later centuries. Or any use of.

Kid Spock sucks.

Everyone is a jerk.

Captain Pike actually looks like Jeffrey Hunters Captain Pike, but is entirely unlike him. OG Pike was serious to the point of morose, weighed down by the burdens of command. This one is a smirking wisecracker.

It is clear that the producers tried to make the premiere of season 2 more like Star Trek, but it’s a bad imitation.

“The Orville” has also recently premiered its second season and has five episodes under its belt so far. They, too, have retooled the show, though not nearly as much. “The Orville” has turned down the comedy; personally, I’m a bit disappointed by that. But “Orville” was always a mix of comedy and good sci-fi, and the sci-fi remains good. Just… not quite as funny.

STD is Star Trek for people who don’t like Star Trek. Orville is non-Star Trek for people who *do* like Star Trek. I have high hopes (but low expectations) that I’ll live long enough to once again see Star Trek for people who like Star Trek.

If you feel the need to watch the STD season 1 premiere episode, it’s HERE. It’s free, which seems a bit overpriced.

 Posted by at 1:52 pm

A Sharper View of Ultima Thule

 awesomeness, news, photography, science, spacecraft  No Responses »
Jan 252019
 

New Horizons’ Newest and Best-Yet View of Ultima Thule

Obtained with the wide-angle Multicolor Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC) component of New Horizons’ Ralph instrument, this image was taken when the KBO was 4,200 miles (6,700 kilometers) from the spacecraft, at 05:26 UT (12:26 a.m. EST) on Jan. 1 – just seven minutes before closest approach. With an original resolution of 440 feet (135 meters) per pixel, the image was stored in the spacecraft’s data memory and transmitted to Earth on Jan. 18-19. Scientists then sharpened the image to enhance fine detail.

 Posted by at 7:30 pm

This. This, right here.

 AARRRGH, cats, Crazy, dumbassery, Forward!, Gah., news, politics, THIS is why Trump won, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Jan 252019
 

Just… WOW. It’s always amazing when the lunatics tell you honestly just what they truly think.

David Harris jr. Takes on a very emotional liberal woman with no hair.

Posted by The Hispanic Conservative on Wednesday, January 23, 2019

 

“Emotions are the only things that are real in this world.”

“Emotion is fact. Emotion is real.”

“As a human being we should pay attention to fear and not logic.”

“Emotions is one removed from spirit.”

“I’m afraid of that hat.”

How do you debate with a worldview like that? You can’t. You can’t argue with it, you can’t reason with it, you can’t appeal to it’s sense of honor… because a worldview like that is devoid of honor and reason.

Instead, when dealing with these whackadoodle freaks, wear your MAGA hat (or whatever you like), keep your bodycam running and go about your day with a song of joy in your heart and a hearty “I owe you nothing” on your lips. Take as your role model not the whipped dog, but the carefree defiant cat.

 

 

 

 Posted by at 4:58 pm

Chinese Billionaire: Danger Seeker

 Forward!, Hmm..., news, politics, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Jan 242019
 

Being a Chinese billionaire may not be as dangerous as being Rex Kramer at a BLM protest, but it seems to be pretty risky:

Friends Don’t Let Friends Become Chinese Billionaires

Forbes listed 115 billionaires in China in 2015.  But 72 of them have dies over the past eight years:

15 were murdered, 17 committed suicide, seven died from accidents and 19 died from illness. Oh, yes, and 14 were executed.

Woof. They averaged 48 years old when they died.

China rather smoothly transitioned from a Communist regime not to a capitalist one, but to a national socialist or mercantilist regime. They don’t mind you getting rich, so long as you toe the line.

 

 

 Posted by at 9:34 pm

So crazy it just might work

 art, Crazy, Hmm..., news, science fiction  No Responses »
Jan 242019
 

There are two concepts that seem to define H.P.Lovecrafts work more than any other: “Cosmic horror,” and MADNESS. So if you are going to make a movie directly based on an HPL story, you’ve got to stand ready to crank out one or the other or, preferably, both. Which means you should have actors who can act, you know, crazy. Gentlemen… behold:

Nicolas Cage Reuniting With ‘Mandy’ Producers for H.P. Lovecraft Adaptation ‘Color Out of Space’

The rest of the “Color Out of Space” ensemble includes Joely Richardson, Q’orianka Kilcher, Tommy Chong, Elliot Knight, and Julian Hilliard.

Tommy Chong. TOMMY CHONG.

Note that the casting is as ethnically diverse as a late 80’s Benetton ad and likely for the same shallow reasons, or perhaps as a direct “F You” to Lovecraft and his famous disdain for Them Other Folks.

It’s been a good long while since I read “Color” (or “Colour” in the obsolete form that HPL was fond of), but I recall it as being slow and calm with the horrifying decay, not balls-to-the-wall bonkers bugnuts that Cage can do so entertainingly. Still, I’m looking forward to seeing what he does with it.

 Posted by at 5:10 pm

Bad day at Boca Chica

 AARRRGH, Gah., history, Hmm..., news, projects, rockets, spacecraft, youtube, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Jan 242019
 

D’oh.

Additionally, the Blue Origin New Shepard made it officially to space:

 

Bonus: Popular Mechanics interview with Elon Musk where he describes using methane or water transpiration cooling for the Starship stainless steel structure during re-entry.

 

 Posted by at 11:53 am
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