Perhaps we can say that a new era of US manned extraterrestrial excursions has begun successfully. The US astronauts have been riding Russian spacecraft ever since the space shuttle program ended.
Though this successful journey into orbit and back is overall a NASA mission, the spacecraft was not built by NASA. Maybe it's not particularly exciting, but if anybody is interested in the video, the parachutes are deployed around 4:40-4:50 into it.
"SpaceX splashdown smoothly delivers NASA astronauts back to Earth" |
c|net (https://www.cnet.com/news/spacex-splashdown-smoothly-delivers-nasa-astronauts-back-to-earth/)
QuoteThe first return of a commercially built and operated US spacecraft carrying NASA astronauts from the International Space Station made waves on Sunday with a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico right on time at 11:48 a.m. PT.
The SpaceX Crew Dragon passengers -- NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley -- fittingly named the history-making spacecraft Endeavour.
[Continues . . . (https://www.cnet.com/news/spacex-splashdown-smoothly-delivers-nasa-astronauts-back-to-earth/)]
It's good to have a couple of independent launch vehicles available again.
19 hour descent? Soft ride! It's good to see the US back in the manned launch game!
This makes me wonder if we'll have a new shuttle program. It had its uses besides delivering people to the ISS like deploying satellites for instance. Here we have a company that can do all that now.
Quote from: Dark Lightning on August 02, 2020, 09:29:00 PM
19 hour descent? Soft ride! It's good to see the US back in the manned launch game!
That would have been 18 1/2 hours of slow down followed by 30 minutes of FFFFFFUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:lol: I despise free fall (and confined spaces). Never would have been an astronaut.
Quote from: Dark Lightning on August 07, 2020, 02:00:59 PM
:lol: I despise free fall (and confined spaces). Never would have been an astronaut.
So you're not at home in high speed lifts then? ;)
Quote from: Tank on August 07, 2020, 04:30:06 PM
Quote from: Dark Lightning on August 07, 2020, 02:00:59 PM
:lol: I despise free fall (and confined spaces). Never would have been an astronaut.
So you're not at home in high speed lifts then? ;)
You had me puzzled there for a few seconds until I processed that you were somewhere in the UK. I can tolerate an elevator ride. They aren't as cramped as a space capsule, and I have yet to see one in free fall. The Twin Towers in New York being an obvious exception. :smilenod:
DL there are some elevators that descend so fast that it feels like free fall.
My least favorite elevators are those jazzy ones that are housed in a glass enclosure outside the perimeter of the building. When descending, the ground appears to be approaching really quickly...........it is scary for someone who is cursed with acrophobia......like me.
Quote from: Icarus on August 09, 2020, 01:28:36 AM
DL there are some elevators that descend so fast that it feels like free fall.
My least favorite elevators are those jazzy ones that are housed in a glass enclosure outside the perimeter of the building. When descending, the ground appears to be approaching really quickly...........it is scary for someone who is cursed with acrophobia......like me.
Yeah, I won't even ride in them. I'd take the stairs first, no matter how many floors. I got really good at sliding on the handrails in my youth. Side-saddle, of course! ;D
I got pretty good at sliding on the rails too. Our apartment building in Germany didn't have an elevator. Of course I wouldn't do it now. I've got better sense. I could have fallen down the stairwell!
Quote from: Randy on August 10, 2020, 12:00:45 AM
I got pretty good at sliding on the rails too. Our apartment building in Germany didn't have an elevator. Of course I wouldn't do it now. I've got better sense. I could have fallen down the stairwell!
Heh, the shit we did back when we were young and immortal! ;D
When I was a kid, I climbed trees along with the other boys. I am not so inclined anymore so I have to hire "tree men" to trim the branches and remove deadwood. BFD, I did that when I was 12 years old. Now the tree guys quote prices like $400 per hour. They never quote by the hourly rate. They look at the tree, look at this old man who surely must be stupid or demented..........They tell me Uuuum.... I will do it for $800. If I challenge the price, they tell me that it is a dangerous job that has to earn high risk compensation. Almost none of them phrase it that way because the word compensation is not in their working vocabulary
A while back I offered a tree guy two dollars a minute to trim my five palm trees. He, being a math knothead agreed. It took him 42 minutes to trim the palms that he had insisted should be a bargain at $200. $82 versus 200. He still made more money per minute than my family physician makes.
Quote from: Icarus on August 11, 2020, 02:12:19 AM
When I was a kid, I climbed trees along with the other boys. I am not so inclined anymore so I have to hire "tree men" to trim the branches and remove deadwood. BFD, I did that when I was 12 years old. Now the tree guys quote prices like $400 per hour. They never quote by the hourly rate. They look at the tree, look at this old man who surely must be stupid or demented..........They tell me Uuuum.... I will do it for $800. If I challenge the price, they tell me that it is a dangerous job that has to earn high risk compensation. Almost none of them phrase it that way because the word compensation is not in their working vocabulary
A while back I offered a tree guy two dollars a minute to trim my five palm trees. He, being a math knothead agreed. It took him 42 minutes to trim the palms that he had insisted should be a bargain at $200. $82 versus 200. He still made more money per minute than my family physician makes.
So true. My wife wants an extension on the roof of the garage that will extend horizontally away from the garage, across the front of the house, sort of like a veranda. She doesn't want me to do it, but we're having trouble finding a contractor in this covid biz, to do it. My one son and I can do it easily, but I'm getting to the point that I'm just going to put up a hammock in the back yard and let her waste all the rest of our money. >:(
Quote from: Dark Lightning on August 11, 2020, 03:12:32 AM
Quote from: Icarus on August 11, 2020, 02:12:19 AM
When I was a kid, I climbed trees along with the other boys. I am not so inclined anymore so I have to hire "tree men" to trim the branches and remove deadwood. BFD, I did that when I was 12 years old. Now the tree guys quote prices like $400 per hour. They never quote by the hourly rate. They look at the tree, look at this old man who surely must be stupid or demented..........They tell me Uuuum.... I will do it for $800. If I challenge the price, they tell me that it is a dangerous job that has to earn high risk compensation. Almost none of them phrase it that way because the word compensation is not in their working vocabulary
A while back I offered a tree guy two dollars a minute to trim my five palm trees. He, being a math knothead agreed. It took him 42 minutes to trim the palms that he had insisted should be a bargain at $200. $82 versus 200. He still made more money per minute than my family physician makes.
So true. My wife wants an extension on the roof of the garage that will extend horizontally away from the garage, across the front of the house, sort of like a veranda. She doesn't want me to do it, but we're having trouble finding a contractor in this covid biz, to do it. My one son and I can do it easily, but I'm getting to the point that I'm just going to put up a hammock in the back yard and let her waste all the rest of our money. >:(
I learned recently that wives outlive their husbands because they aren't married to women.
Like Icarus I've climbed my share of trees along with the other boys. At one point we made a three story tree house with a bridge to another single story one. Getting onto the third story was somewhat scary. The trees moved more with the wind up there. Oh to be young and stupid again.
Quote from: Randy on August 11, 2020, 07:35:42 PM
I learned recently that wives outlive their husbands because they aren't married to women.
....
:snicker:
That's funny.
But that's not why... :smileshake:
(https://i.imgflip.com/1rx8ql.jpg)
Quote from: Magdalena on August 11, 2020, 08:20:56 PM
Quote from: Randy on August 11, 2020, 07:35:42 PM
I learned recently that wives outlive their husbands because they aren't married to women.
....
:snicker:
That's funny.
But that's not why... :smileshake:
(https://i.imgflip.com/1rx8ql.jpg)
Note: I didn't say women outlive men, I said wives outlive their husbands. But there are a lot of dumb husbands too so your statement holds water. :)
Quote from: Randy on August 11, 2020, 10:11:05 PM
Quote from: Magdalena on August 11, 2020, 08:20:56 PM
Quote from: Randy on August 11, 2020, 07:35:42 PM
I learned recently that wives outlive their husbands because they aren't married to women.
....
:snicker:
That's funny.
But that's not why... :smileshake:
(https://i.imgflip.com/1rx8ql.jpg)
Note: I didn't say women outlive men, I said wives outlive their husbands. But there are a lot of dumb husbands too so your statement holds water. :)
:grin:
Quote from: Magdalena on August 12, 2020, 12:45:53 AM
Quote from: Randy on August 11, 2020, 10:11:05 PM
Quote from: Magdalena on August 11, 2020, 08:20:56 PM
Quote from: Randy on August 11, 2020, 07:35:42 PM
I learned recently that wives outlive their husbands because they aren't married to women.
....
:snicker:
That's funny.
But that's not why... :smileshake:
(https://i.imgflip.com/1rx8ql.jpg)
Note: I didn't say women outlive men, I said wives outlive their husbands. But there are a lot of dumb husbands too so your statement holds water. :)
:grin:
I'm just trying to figure out how much of a hard-ass :snicker1: this guy has to be to sit on the barrels like that, never mind the safety issue. He's probably a police officer, so I will
assume that the thing is unloaded. And we all know about assuming things. Way back when I was a leader in the Boy Scouts (pre-atheist days) I knew police officers who were the dads of some of the scouts. Every one of them could tell stories of accidental discharges of their or fellow officer's service weapons. Crazy, but they are imperfect people, too. I was a Merit Badge Counselor for rifle and shotgun shooting in those days, and an NRA Certified Firearms Instructor (required for MB counselor). I had legal counsel insurance then (as now), because you just know a boy is going to do something stupid on the gun range, and I was the person who would get the lawsuit if he did something stupid. As a result, I was
rather firm in the way I conducted the range. This did not look like a Marine Corps Drill Instructor type of behavior, as I was a bit nicer. Interestingly enough, the only person ever to come close to getting kicked off a range I ran was the mother of a scout! Attitude problem.
Quote from: Dark Lightning on August 12, 2020, 03:02:26 AM
Quote from: Magdalena on August 12, 2020, 12:45:53 AM
Quote from: Randy on August 11, 2020, 10:11:05 PM
Quote from: Magdalena on August 11, 2020, 08:20:56 PM
Quote from: Randy on August 11, 2020, 07:35:42 PM
I learned recently that wives outlive their husbands because they aren't married to women.
....
:snicker:
That's funny.
But that's not why... :smileshake:
(https://i.imgflip.com/1rx8ql.jpg)
Note: I didn't say women outlive men, I said wives outlive their husbands. But there are a lot of dumb husbands too so your statement holds water. :)
:grin:
I'm just trying to figure out how much of a hard-ass :snicker1: this guy has to be to sit on the barrels like that, never mind the safety issue. He's probably a police officer, so I will assume that the thing is unloaded. And we all know about assuming things. Way back when I was a leader in the Boy Scouts (pre-atheist days) I knew police officers who were the dads of some of the scouts. Every one of them could tell stories of accidental discharges of their or fellow officer's service weapons. Crazy, but they are imperfect people, too. I was a Merit Badge Counselor for rifle and shotgun shooting in those days, and an NRA Certified Firearms Instructor (required for MB counselor). I had legal counsel insurance then (as now) because you just know a boy is going to do something stupid on the gun range, and I was the person who would get the lawsuit if he did something stupid. As a result, I was rather firm in the way I conducted the range. This did not look like a Marine Corps Drill Instructor type of behavior, as I was a bit nicer. Interestingly enough, the only person ever to come close to getting kicked off a range I ran was the mother of a scout! Attitude problem.
Well, sounds like you know your guns,
Dark Lightning. You were a leader in the Boy Scouts, a Merit Badge Counselor for rifle and shotgun shooting, and an NRA Certified Firearms Instructor (required for MB counselor). Had legal counsel insurance then (as now).
~Very impressive résumé.
:popcorn:
:-[ Aw, shucks, I'm just another greasy guy on the street!
Yeah, DL. But you are our favorite greasy guy! :grin:
Quote from: Randy on August 13, 2020, 02:12:56 AM
Yeah, DL. But you are our favorite greasy guy! :grin:
:grin:
Thanks, folks. I hope that it didn't come across as bragging, up there. Everyone I ever see bragging turns out to be an empty bucket, except for the BS. Where I used to work, one of my supervisors said that I should talk myself up more. I told him that the louder people talk, the less they seem to know. He chuckled and agreed, but still encouraged me on selling myself. :shrug:
Way back in the dark ages I was a recruit at a Coast Guard training facility. We were at the pistol range where extreme caution was to be practiced. One dumb ass recruit turned around to address the barnacle encrusted Chief Petty Officer instructor. The dodo was unintentionally pointing his 1911 45 auto toward said CPO. In a lightening strike, something similar to the fast draw western heroes of the movies, the CPO knocked the recruit cold as a mackeral. Problem solved.
The CPO would be in a heap of trouble for doing that these days. I'd rather have the old discipline and have my life not so jeopordized by a person, who meant no harm, but had no understanding of the danger to others with his loaded firearm.
Quote from: Icarus on August 13, 2020, 02:50:52 AM
Way back in the dark ages I was a recruit at a Coast Guard training facility. We were at the pistol range where extreme caution was to be practiced. One dumb ass recruit turned around to address the barnacle encrusted Chief Petty Officer instructor. The dodo was unintentionally pointing his 1911 45 auto toward said CPO. In a lightening strike, something similar to the fast draw western heroes of the movies, the CPO knocked the recruit cold as a mackeral. Problem solved.
The CPO would be in a heap of trouble for doing that these days. I'd rather have the old discipline and have my life not so jeopordized by a person, who meant no harm, but had no understanding of the danger to others with his loaded firearm.
I ran a Range Officer training course at a local Boy Scout Camp for years. Whenever I went by the Scout store to get awards for the boys, the store manager always had a story about something that happened at the range with some person I had trained, like I was responsible for someone else's failure to run a safe gun range. :lol: There was one story about how a kid turned around and had the muzzle of his .22 rifle pointing at the Range Officer's belly. If I had been that close to the kid, he wouldn't have had a
chance to rotate around far enough to have it pointed at me! Situational awareness is extremely important when deadly weapons are in the vicinity.