This! In the Late 90s when my touchscreen Kiosk business was headed for certain failiure due to the surge in broadband, I put together a business plan for glass cockpits a la Enterprise TNG for mega yachts. Fujitsu had just launched the first “affordable” 42” plasma and I had a good relationship with Elo and they were going to make some of the first plasma touchscreens for us. The plan was to have exactly what you said, several touchscreens but they where all going to be on gas struts and pivot up to reveal a complete set of analog controlls below them. We never launched the company as the market analysis told us that all the owners of yachts who could afford the system did not trust computers or want touchscreens.
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The ProPublica report did a great dive into the ergonomic contributors to the collision. Much more than just the touchscreen interface was to blame here. But crikey, my kingdom for a steering wheel!
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The suit is actually one piece (well, the gloves are removable). The waistband is just a pleat that allows for expansion when inflated. There’s a zipper in the trouser inseam that provides entry to the suit.
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They should distribute copies of this book to the captains as well:
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In case another thread doesn’t appear, the next attempt is 3:22 local (EDT) time today.
(Unfortunately, I’ll be off testing the boundaries of social isolation protocols, so I kind of hope they scrub again.)
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Super pumped for this mission today! Can’t wait for it to put SpaceX in the limelight and give ammo to Trump and Congress to defund NASA even further! Who else is excited for a future of corporate-owned space where NASA is just Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos’ bitch? Because I sure am!
What is your point. Funding alternate launch methods is bad?
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Watching right now, and I’m amazed that not everyone in the vicinity of the astronauts during prep and transport to the rocket were wearing masks. (Most did, but there were a lot of exceptions.) I would have thought that NASA would be super strict about that, because COVID-19 could be bad news on the space station.
Also, the Tesla Model X they used to transport the astronauts to the launch pad doesn’t hold a candle to the old Astro Van.
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My point is that the “alternate launch methods” which quite frankly look like they’re gonna become the only launch methods in the future are all wholly owned and controlled by private corporations. Even the upcoming Moon missions will see everything owned by them.
I want to see NASA and other national space agencies become counterbalancing forces to private interests in space. This launch with SpaceX brings me no joy because it simply serves as an advertisement for them and could be used as a talking point for “do we actually need NASA anymore?” discussions that will inevitably be had as the “corporations can replace government functions just fine and dandy” crowd gets the ball rolling.
Anyways, the Pedo Piston (that’s what Elon Musk wanted to name the rocket. This was after his best friend Jeffrey Epstein gave the nickname to him on one of their vacations together) is getting close to taking off. Whatever happens should be interesting.
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I think it’s good that there are now multiple agencies developing launch systems. It would be great if it was all via a publicly funded entity such as NASA, but since its budget is so beholden to political manipulation it has not been in control of performing meaningful engineering for some time. Even though NASA is in theory publicly owned, very few people have any influence in how NASA prioritizes tasks or spends its money. Probably as much influence as the average SpaceX investor does I suppose.
Friends of mine at SpaceX are doing some great science. They arent fans of the loony at the top in the least but they focus on the task at hand. The corporate environments at SpaceX, and even at Boeing and Northrop grumman to a lesser degree, give much more flexibility to innovate than NASA ever could. If everything was being done by NASA we would be talking about the launch of Shuttle 2 (electric boogaloo) right now.
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w00t!
That was just BEAUTIFUL!
and goddammit, we needed something ‘uplifting’ (ahem) today.
The Falcon lift vehicle even stuck the landing. Nominal orbit insertion.
Happy tears replacing the rage for this brief moment.
ETA: T+ 13:00 30 May, 2020
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Thanks, Obama!
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So, so cool. I’d forgotten how awe-inspiring it is to see. And they stuck the first-stage landing!!!
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Musk’s first step to his own personal colony in space, where he’ll own the very air you breathe, is a success! Truly awe-inspiring!
NASA blowhard on TV now lauding Trump (fishing for future funding). Figured my good mood wouldnt last.
ETA: oh my god he’s still going. The capsule and rocket were in development under the last administration. NASA didnt just start work on 20 January 2017!
ETA #2: now they’re talking about this launch inspiring the next Jeff Bezos, or the next Richard Branson. Fuck sake.
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That sucks
Yeah, the orange gasbag has to get mention and ruin a perfect moment.
And so it goes, no?
Wrath-mode re-engaged. Man, that didn’t last long.
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Well, that was positively disgusting watching NASA head Bridenstine suck up to Trump in real time. He was simply gushing about Trump’s commitment to space and accountability and how he singlehandedly restored American space travel.
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What we see (apart from the helmet) doesn’t really look ‘pressurizable’; what we’re looking at is the (for flame-resistance) loose outer layer. Maybe a "tomato worm’-style pressure suit underneath? Has anyone seen the full design out there?
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