Definitely a cautionary tale…
Looks a bit “nicer” than Chernobyl… Not that informative without radiation data, though.
However, it the white “snow” in the pictures isn’t dust in the air stirred up by the probe, but radiation messing with the image sensor(s) - a) it’s still quite hot in there and b) maybe the boffins can make guestimates about the radiation levels based on this.
(I wonder whether a bit of conventional photographic film taped to the probe would work as an improvised dosimeter; the old school radiation badges were little more than that anyway. I also wonder what would yield better data as improvised dosimeter, film or image sensor. Both have known properties and could be roughly calibrated.)
So, there must be so much radiation in that environment that they probably threw away the poor drone, right?
Speaking of nuclear waste:
Here’s What A Sinister Looking Giant Black Pyramid Is Doing At An Abandoned Military Base
Maybe why so many bailed from that retreat was that nobody wanted to sleep on dank bunk beds with Johnson or Marge nearby.
https://www.reuters.com/science/russia-blocks-us-move-un-nuclear-weapons-space-2024-04-24/
Russia, US clash at UN over nuclear weapons in space
UNITED NATIONS, April 24 (Reuters) - Russia on Wednesday vetoed a U.S.-drafted United Nations Security Council resolution that called on countries to prevent an arms race in outer space, a move that prompted the United States to question if Moscow was hiding something.
I don’t know why, but Ars Technica just published a balanced and factual overview of attitudes towards nuclear power in German society. You never see those in anglophone media.
When this video is published, it will have been 38 years and 6 hours since the message you are about to hear was transmitted through street loudspeakers in Pripyat, Ukraine. By 8:00 PM on April 27, 1986, apart from the operative staff, no residents remained in this city. As it later became apparent, what was supposed to be a three-day evacuation after the Chernobyl disaster turned into an eternity.
Yesterday, April 26, 2024, marked the 38th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, and Pripyat still stands as a monument to human mistakes. There is still very much to comprehend and learn. The most important, we shall not forget these events.
Good article.
(I notice they couldn’t resist using Teutonic, though.)
