Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ 13th January 2018, 7:38 PMOh how lovely to see you back. I see by the way your conduct has improved on here you had a successful year away at the Swiss finishing school.
Yes, I now speak with jorries in the mooth.
I read the news today oh boy! Page 1,971
Remind me not to fly to Turkey...
http://www.newsweek.com/plane-nearly-falls-black-sea-168-people-board-getting-stuck-mud-780916
Thankfully there were no injuries but if part of it had become submerged in water it could have been very different. I wonder if it was caused by aquaplaning.
Quote: DaButt @ 14th January 2018, 4:11 PMRemind me not to fly on a Turkey...
I know! Too erratic and all that bobbing up and down.
You get a gobble though.
I don't know why Hawaiians are complaining they were going to be on the end of a nuclear bomb.
It wasn't as if they were described by the President as a s---hole.
Quote: Briosaid @ 13th January 2018, 12:24 AMWell, we know Alfred should be strung up by the bollocks to make him rethink his brainless shit. Also Chappers for the hard Brexit drivel.
Why are you so desperate to stay in Europe? Who benefits except countries like Greece and Spain (and Luxemburg)?
Quote: Chappers @ 17th January 2018, 7:14 PMWhy are you so desperate to stay in Europe? Who benefits except countries like Greece and Spain (and Luxemburg)?
Where do I begin? (SIGH). I take it your response means you think Alfred SHOULD be strung up by the bollocks?
I'm not sure the Greeks think they benefited now they've been ordered to pay the money they spent back and unemployment's at 50% or whatever it is, same rate in Spain. I've never heard so many dago accents in England before. And Kee, er Bri even the name Indyref is a sham, as it's hardly being independent if you leave one big brother and then immediately want to lean on a much bigger brother. That's independence isn't it! 
Looking forward to today's scheduled launch of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket on its maiden voyage. Crazy ol' Elon Musk decided to use his personal Tesla automobile as the payload, instead of the normal concrete/steel mass simulator. He said that a dummy in a SpaceX spacesuit will be in the driver's seat and Bowie's "Space Oddity" will be playing on the stereo.
The launch has been pushed back to no earlier than 8:05 PM UK time, so there's still time to watch the broadcast and see if it's successful. It's the most powerful rocket in the world and Musk says there's a good chance of failure, but hopefully it won't turn into a fireworks display. They have to successfully ignite and control 27 main engines; the Soviets tried 30 engines on their doomed Moon lander and were never successful. If this launch is successful, SpaceX will attempt to land all 3 main stage boosters in 3 separate locations: 2 at the Kennedy Space Center, and one on a barge.
Hope it goes well and thanks for that URL. Going to have some beer and potato chips on hand for this. I bet they have to be several miles away from the launch incase it all goes Pete Tong.
You mention they are going to try to land the boosters in specific locations so are they the same kind of boosters used on the Apollo missions? I knew they would come down in the same rough locations for each launch away from populated areas and could be retrieved and re-used but can they actually be controlled?
Quote: Definitely Tarby @ 6th February 2018, 6:43 PMYou mention they are going to try to land the boosters in specific locations so are they the same kind of boosters used on the Apollo missions? I knew they would come down in the same rough locations for each launch away from populated areas and could be retrieved and re-used but can they actually be controlled?
The Apollo stages were expendable and were not recovered. The Space Shuttle's two solid fuel boosters parachuted unguided into the ocean and were reused.
SpaceX have pioneered the recovery and reuse of their first stage boosters. They crashed a few times, but now the landings are considered routine. The rockets make a controlled, upright landing right on a bullseye target every time. Today's vehicle has 3 boosters to provide the greatest orbital cargo capacity since Apollo's Saturn V rockets. They'll try to land two at the space center and one on a barge. It'll be the first time they've ever had an opportunity to land more than one at a time.
Here's a recent landing. There are lots of videos of the early mishaps, as well as ones taken by spectators a few miles away. Each booster creates a very loud double sonic boom as it slows below supersonic speed just before landing.
EDIT: The launch has now been pushed back to 8:45 PM UK time.
That is incredible and the first time I watched it I was thinking how is that even possible because it seems to defy the laws of physics. I also just watched the animation video of how the mission is planned out and that is one badass rocket 
When I saw the car I thought of the Star Trek Voyager episode The 37's when the crew find a red pickup truck floating in space.
I recently bought a boxset called NASA: 50 Years of Space Exploration and for a fiver it was an amazing deal. It's about 11 hours of documentories and I went straight for the Apollo 13 DVD. It's over 90 minutes of communications between the crew and mission control with original live video footage. I lost count of all the one liners and visuals that were used in the Apollo 13 film. There is some narration but it's scarce and can go 10+ minutes without any which makes it gripping to watch. Just listening to them going through procedures and checklists is fascinating.
Quote: Definitely Tarby @ 6th February 2018, 7:57 PMI recently bought a boxset called NASA: 50 Years of Space Exploration and for a fiver it was an amazing deal. It's about 11 hours of documentories and I went straight for the Apollo 13 DVD. It's over 90 minutes of communications between the crew and mission control with original live video footage. I lost count of all the one liners and visuals that were used in the Apollo 13 film. There is some narration but it's scarce and can go 10+ minutes without any which makes it gripping to watch. Just listening to them going through procedures and checklists is fascinating.
Today's launch was amazing. I've always been excited about space travel and this launch was right up there as far as goosebumps go.
I used to work with TK Mattingly. He was supposed to fly on Apollo 13, but he was exposed to measles and had to wait until Apollo 16. Gary Sinise played him in the movie. Those guys were amazing pilots, engineers and heroes.
That was a thrilling ride and it was made to look so easy. At some parts it was almost showboating and hard to believe these are real life, very large objects
I'll never get the chance but I don't think I could be surrounded by all that fuel with all those afterburners.