I was never exposed to any media… thank bog. But there was always a subtle ‘something’ in the air. Lots of pipes and equipment, though; good stuff!
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Available as a free pdf here
and worth a read
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Thanks for the link - recommended reading for anyone. There is some chemistry in it, but the prose is gloriously, eminently quotable.
For instance, on fluorine:
“It is, of course, extremely toxic, but that’s the least of the problem. It is hypergolic with every known fuel, and so rapidly hypergolic that no ignition delay has ever been measured. It is also hypergolic with such things as cloth, wood, and test engineers, not to mention asbestos, sand, and water-with which it reacts explosively. It can be kept in some of the ordinary structural metals-steel, copper, aluminium, etc.-because of the formation of a thin film of insoluble metal fluoride which protects the bulk of the metal, just as the invisible coat of oxide on aluminium keeps it from burning up in the atmosphere. If, however, this coat is melted or scrubbed off, and has no chance to reform, the operator is confronted with the problem of coping with a metal-fluorine fire. For dealing with this situation, I have always recommended a good pair of running shoes.”
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I think it’s due to the 1940’s ‘Practical Engineer’ he used to read whilst in the dunnie had no mention of it. All his ideas are rip offs from old tech magazines. If it’s not in one of the ones he read it doesn’t exist for him.
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Yep, it was considered by Roddenberry and the other producers in the 1960’s to be a prerequisite for actually achieving a sustained presence in space. One of the main rules they set out when asking for scripts was “we can’t have petty conflicts because a dysfunctional culture would not be able to build a star fleet.”
I personally still subscribe to it, mainly because establishing a presence outside of our cradle will only be doable once enough of the problems here have been resolved that we can dedicate the resources to it. Mind you, I am talking about letting us poor meat bags with our dependency on little things like air, water, food, protection from radiation, et cetera. Probes are still worthwhile. In fact, I suspect the interstellar community will only be 'droids we make, but that’s another story.
And I am drifting even further away from what Phony Stark did in Texas with his little stunt against the advice of his own people, who were too afraid to call him out on his derpiness.
Common-Sense Skeptic weighs in with a good, accessible analysis of the launch:
ETA: Among the conclusions, this one stands out to me as remarkable: that the flight termination system itself failed to destroy Starship. It’s failure all the way down.
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This from 2021:
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