I was at the scheduled launch of the OCO satellite, when it was scrubbed because they couldn't fill the water trench - last minute failure. That rocket was much smaller than Elmo's.
"In addition to the siting and sizing of the pad, SpaceX does not have a flame trench, nor do they have a water deluge system used to suppress heat and sound energy from any launches...
No large rocket complex on the planet exists that doesnβt contain one or both of these energy suppression systems.
SpaceXβs orbital pad, by way of comparison, is but a 30 ft tall stand situated 400 feet away from Methane storage tanks and 500 feet away from ecologically sensitive low tidal flats."
#Ecc is time for payback.
Do not let the suffering and sacrifice that so many #USA citizens took to end our insane 20th century wars be in vain.
Denounce and boycott all the corporations and governments that do not declare their public support behind #Biden for 2024.
It is not a #USA issue, it is a #World one and no matter how you feel about, sacrifices must be done.
And make sure your direct representatives know the cost of not boycotting #USA corporations and Billionaires that will not publicly announce their full support behind #Biden.
βTheir calculation is the same as it was for Jews in the 1930s: It doesnβt matter if we end up in a homeless shelter far away, it is still safer than living under this fascist government.β
-Brynn Tannehill describes the human tragedies beginning to unfold under violently extreme Republican rule.
https://newrepublic.com/article/172097/republican-plot-end-trans-america
Things I've had on my office door corkboard forever, because they tickle me:
This is a small thing, but a nice thing: For years, our local small market in our little town had all the basics of life - but only the basics. It was recently sold, and the new owners have started bringing in little luxury items. I end up buying a lot of them because I want to encourage them to keep doing it, so I don't have to leave town to get, like, nice cheeses and stuff.
@jwalk1230 @washingtonpost I thought the same. Itβs egregious. McCarthy starts a fire in the menβs toilets? βBiden running out of time to put fire out!β
Hell no.
Where are the editors here? This is a contrived βemergencyβ.
βItβs on the banks, it was in the soil, it was in the vegetation. You would pull up vegetation and there were pellets embedded all in the roots. It was unbelievable.β
Longtime Gulf Coast activist Diane Wilson just won the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize for her long-time fight against Formosa #Plastics. Our #Environment Writer @delger asked what's next: https://www.texasobserver.org/diane-wilson-goldman-environmental-prize-seadrift/
#news #Texas #GulfCoast #ClimateChange #pollution #water #politics #USpol
@ScottSoCal @Bette @actuallyautistic I have similar reasons to smile as I look back, but it got even better after I went back to coding for a (serious) hobby.
My highlight was having lunch with the inventor of the web in his local pub, just me and him, as he likes to meet in person rather than just collaborate online. I was working on something to do with his project Solid.
Nothing I did is in space yet, but I got back to doing some code this morning, so who knows. π
@Bette @doggle @actuallyautistic
This is the first time I've worked at a large company, and some of it is crap. I was lucky enough to be here and get a reputation as "the guy who knows things" and "the guy who makes it work" before any of the corporate garbage started. They mostly leave me alone to do my job, unless something is blowing up, then they leave me alone to fix it.
Not only that, but when the news has to appeal to popularity for clicks and views, it ceases to be news.
There is really absolutely no need for 24 hour news networks. They are mostly a cancer on public discourse. And, frankly, they repeat the same shit all day. Only they do so in huge swaths of pundit segments and silly talk shows.
They aren't news. And when something big breaks, they cut into their programs just like any other station can.
24 hour networks seem to exist, mostly, for bored politicos and terminally online types. It's almost like they try to project this air of always giving news, when, in reality, they just recycle the same points dozens of times an hour, for hours on end, in between viagra commercials.
I can't say this country seems better informed or more civic minded than I remember it being before the rise of infotainment and 24 hour news channels. In fact, it seems much worse off.
@ScottSoCal Actually Goldwater kicked off the Southern Strategy before Nixon. Has been a long haul degradation & seems there's no bottom as MTG is now in full control [of McCarthy as puppet.]
They may have been trying to help. It's awful when your value is skewed by outliers.
IMO, Nixon started the degradation of the GQP with his Southern Strategy, Reagan continued it by bringing in and catering to the fundamentalist wackadoos, and what we have today is the inevitable result.
So... me. Work in aerospace, more space, not as much aero. Can fix my own car, choose not to. Can fix the random appliance of your choice. Hardcore introvert in person, which is why I love online. Lifelong science fiction fan. Read constantly. Scalzi is my favorite author, because he mixes exactly the right amount of snark into his writing. Together with a guy 30+ years, married since it was legal. Own a home in CA and don't plan to leave unless I immigrate to another country.