Launch window opens tomorrow (suspiciously, 4/20) at 8:28 AM central time, lasts for about an hour.
Apr 192023
Apr 182023
1 person killed, multiple injured in NYC parking garage collapse
Things in this country have gone from “weird” to “concerning” to “downright embarrassing.”
Good thing the mayor of New York has his priorities in the right place:
Apr 182023
I haven’t flown in years. The last few experiences were *terrible.* So how’s it going these days? Maybe it’s better…
I am not part of the community that believes children/babies shouldn’t fly HOWEVER, I do believe certain communities do not properly manage their children in public and I understand why that might drive someone to lose their mind. pic.twitter.com/qAGYviNlye
— I ❤️ Jews, Please dont close my accounts. (@LaCienegaBlvdss) April 18, 2023
We are all either this guy or this woman. pic.twitter.com/TNTmlQbeak
— Observations from Life 🎙 (@ObsFromLife) April 18, 2023
Yeah… I think I’m good staying on the ground. Stuck in a tube with a screaming child? No thanks. Stuck in a tube with a screaming adult? No thanks.
Apr 182023
I *really* want to give this a shot. Anyone got a WW1 vintage Luger you’re not doing anything with you want to give me?
Apr 172023
A 4-bore rifle. Hmm.
The bullet weigh the same as 40 .556 rounds and produced 200 pounds of felt recoil.
Apr 152023
Something failed on the launch tower and fell the full length of it, sending out a shower of sparks. Seems like the man-carrying elevator suffered a problem and the counterweight plummeted. This is doubtless not great news for the planned Monday launch.
So, yeah. Another “infrastructure oopsie.” Hmmm.
Here is another angle showing what appears to be some kind of electrical short resulting in an object falling into the base of the tower.
🎥@LabPadre pic.twitter.com/VWqri1yS0N
— Zack Golden (@CSI_Starbase) April 15, 2023
🚀Sparks Fell From the Orbital Launch Tower🚀
At 1:47AM 2023-04-15 sparks rained down from the orbital launch tower (OLT) at the #SpaceX #Starbase rocket launch complex.
The sparks may have been some kind of late night welding or grinding, maybe some kind of mishap.
🎥LabPadre pic.twitter.com/WMC9NCNnn2
— Starbase Watcher 🚀 (@watchstarbase) April 15, 2023
Apr 152023
They’ve got FAA approval:
Green light go: SpaceX receives a launch license from the FAA for Starship
If it goes to plan, as soon as 7AM Texas time on Monday Starship/Superheavy will launch. The booster will splash down 30+ kilometers from the Texas coast in the Gulf of Mexico; Starship will climb to 235 kilometers, get into *almost* a circular orbit, and re-enter and bellyflop into the Pacific 225 kilometers north of Oahu. Of course the chances of everything going right are probably low; I would not be surprised to see an enthusiastic unassembly early in the flight (though hopefully far enough away to not tear up the launch site). If it claws its way off the pad, it’ll be the most powerful rocket ever launched.
With the state of the world, and especially with the plethora of mysterious “accidents” happening to industrial facilities around the country, I expect to see things not go quite to plan. I hope to be be proven wrong.
Apr 142023
Netflix will be releasing a “documentary” about Queen Cleopatra VII. This “documentary” is apparently based on the fictional notion that she was a sub-Saharan African. This is a long-debunked and remarkably silly idea, but welcome to 2023, I guess. Here’s a good takedown:
When you race swap enough fictional characters, you start in on race swapping the historical characters. then you re-write history entirely. then you *erase* and *invent* history. And then society is whatever those in power want it to be.
Apr 142023
Season One of HBO’s “True Detective” was *spectacular* television. Seasons 2 and 3… not so much (hell, I barely remember them… not sure I finished either season). But Season 4 looks promising again:
Apr 142023
When you need a lot of racism, but society just isn’t producing it anymore… you manufacture it.
Former Florida State Professor Pushed Doctored Data to Create False Sense of Racism
Several studies conducted by Eric Stewart, a former professor at Florida State University, were found to have been doctored to create the impression that the public wanted harsher sentences for black and Hispanic Americans, when in reality, the opposite was true.
Huh. That’s an odd thing to do. Why would a professor commit academic fraud in order to invent racist attitudes?
Stewart, a highly regarded professor at Florida State University with expertise in the intersection of race and criminal justice … held a job as a professor at Florida State University from 2016 to 2022, with a recent 2022 record showing a salary of $189,604.94, which is significantly higher than the average pay for co-workers and the national average for government employees. In 2019, he earned $103,458 as a professor.
Hmm. Nope, got nuthin’. It’s a mystery.