Launch of Falcon 1 from Kwajalein Atoll
The folks at SpaceX successfully launched a two-stage liquid-fueled rocket into orbit yesterday. It was their fourth attempt. You can see video excerpts at this link.
The first commercially-funded, built-from-the-ground-up space launcher, Falcon 1 is just the beginning. SpaceX plans on a heavy lifter, Falcon 9, and the Dragon capsule, to take passengers to the ISS.
Congratulations, SpaceX!
It takes about 10 minutes to watch. The material makes sense to me, and it connects with the things I’ve already heard. It’s sad that we can’t get this information to the American people in wider distribution.
“Maybe it’s the liquid helium…or maybe the super-
conductors!”
…since it looks like we’re still going to be around through at least January, maybe in to next spring, before being swallowed by a black hole.
The Large Hadron Collider, located at CERN in Switzerland/France, blew some superconducting magnets and will need to be repaired. LINK
Besides the warmup and chill required before and after the repairs, the repair falls during the “obligatory winter maintenance period,” which slows it down even more. Is this more of that extended vacation time Europeans are supposed to have that we don’t?
For whatever reason, at least we aren’t in danger of imminent black hole attack for a few more months.
If you don’t get the reference, watch the movie. It also includes such classic lines as “Halsey acted stupidly,” and “the Russkis don’t take a dump without a plan,” spoken by this man:
And thanks to Bogus for reminding me!
No! No! I can fix it! I can! Me! Me!
I heard this afternoon McCain is suspending his campaign until Congress votes on a bailout of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae…he’s finally got some momentum, actually is pulling ahead in the polls and there’s a lot of buzz…now to piss it all away. Dude, get over yourself. You aren’t going to solve it single-handed, and it’s highly unlikely it’s going to get solved, anyway. Just go back to campaigning and get the debate theme changed to domestic economy issues.
Or go play around in the Senate and let Sarah do the campaigning. She does a better job of it anyway, and more people will want to hear her.
On second thought, you go take care of that little problem in Congress. Sarahcudda will take care of the campaign just fine, dontchaknow.
Atlantis on 39A and Endeavor on 39B
Something you may never see again, either…even if two shuttles were on the pads at the same time, which is very unlikely, at least one should be enclosed by the service tower. This only happened for a few hours last Saturday morning.
It’s probably the only time a shuttle will ever be used as backup to another. Since the Hubble repair mission doesn’t stop at the ISS, in case of problems there would be no place for the crew to stay until a mission could be launched.
I don’t want to think about what this is costing, though…
Dick Morris, who did campaign consulting for the Clintons and now is a contributor to Fox News, did his prediction of the electoral college vote map, showing a big win for McCain.
I can has dis kinda toaster?
Joe Biden said on the Today Show that he wants to give a tax cut to the middle class. He said they could use it to “stay in their homes, to buy food, to take care of the gas, to fill up their tank, to be able to go out and buy a toaster, to employ people.”
I think I know about how much a toaster costs. I think I know what a mortgage payment looks like. Somewhere in between, maybe we’ll get enough money from good ole Joe to buy an original Battlestar Galactica Cylon…the Best Toaster Ever.
The other day when Joe Biden ask state senator Chuck Graham, who is in a wheelchair, to stand up and be recognized, he just forgot Obama wasn’t there. If the Messiah Obama had been there, he could have made the lame walk and the blind see.
Or is Obama everywhere, kind of like Elvis?
“‘Who am I? I’m under 45 years old, I love the outdoors, I hunt, I am a Republican reformer, I have taken on the Republican Party establishment, I have many children, I have a spot on the national ticket as vice president with less than two years in the governor’s office. Who am I?”
Yep. Theodore Roosevelt, in 1900.
The Old Gray Cat 