Funny that they could get alexa to run stand-alone, rather than requiring you to let amazon record every conversation in your house on a remote server.
If anyone wasn’t clued in on it, that’s what “smart toys” are doing. They used to have dumb terminals that looked like computers but were really connected to mainframes that did all the computing. These days, they cover them in fur.
There are reasons why SpaceX, Blue Origin, Relativity Space, and others have foregone hydrogen for methane to fuel their new rocket engines. Starship and Super Heavy passed their wet dress rehearsal on the first try.
And look what loading that much cryogenic propellant does to the rocket:
Cow farts are cheaper to procure?
I’m not sure about the price, but methane is a heck of a lot easier to handle and store than hydrogen, particularly as a cryogenic liquid.
Even as a gas. The spectrum tubes we use for spectroscopy demos, the hydrogen tubes are always leaking. It’s sooooo hard to keep them effectively sealed even while the others are just fine.
Yours, too, 'eh? We always had problems with the hydrogen tubes too. Must be the same supplier. We completely redesigned our spectroscopy cart to try and keep the H gas contained. Still leaks.
And then there’s this little problem…
NASA’s Space Launch System rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft launches on the Artemis I flight test, Nov. 16, 2022, from Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
NASA continues to evaluate data and learn more about the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket’s debut performance during the agency’s Nov. 16 Artemis I launch. Following an initial data assessment and review that determined the SLS rocket met or exceeded all performance expectations, SLS engineers are now taking a closer look at the Moon rocket’s performance to prepare for the first crewed Artemis missions.
NASA and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) will announce during an event at 11 a.m. EDT on Monday, April 3, from NASA Johnson Space Center’s Ellington Field in Houston, the four astronauts who will venture around the Moon on Artemis II. Traveling aboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft and launching on the Space Launch System rocket, the mission is the first crewed flight test on the agency’s path to establishing a long-term scientific and human presence on the lunar surface. The event will air on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.
Even though they won’t land on the Moon, this is still a big deal as it will be the first time in over fifty years that humans will travel beyond low Earth orbit.
Tangentially related to Artemis, as the planned Artemis III landing depends upon this system working.
Also notice how the launch trajectory threads the needle between Cuba and Florida. This is the biggest problem with using Texas as a launch site if one cares about who’s living down range of an expended or failed first stage. Ditto for the Yucatán Peninsula on the south side of Cuba. It makes it impossible to reach a number of useful Earth orbits, but it’s not so much an issue if one is only interested in reaching a parking orbit to fuel up for a longer journey.
NASA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) announced the four astronauts who will venture around the Moon on Artemis II, the first crewed mission on NASA’s path to establishing a long-term presence at the Moon for science and exploration through Artemis.
I almost posted this in the ‘Trailers’ thread because it’s so cinematic and downright manipulative, but I love it anyway.
I wonder if they’ll still have to complete a federal travel voucher for their trip. They’re government employees, after all.
You punch in at 8:30 every morning, except you punch in at 7:30 following a business holiday, unless it’s a Monday, then you punch in at 8 o’clock. Punch in late and they dock you. Incoming articles get a voucher, outgoing articles provide a voucher. Move any article without a voucher and they dock you. Letter size a green voucher, oversize a yellow voucher, parcel size a maroon voucher. Wrong color voucher and they dock you! 6787049A/6. That is your employee number. It will not be repeated! Without your employee number you cannot get your paycheck. Inter-office mail is code 37, intra-office mail 37-3, outside mail is 3-37. Code it wrong and they dock you! This has been your orientation. Is there anything you do not understand, is there anything you understand only partially? If you have not been fully oriented, you must file a complaint with personnel. File a faulty complaint and they dock you!
“Move your coats to the lower peg immediately after lunch, before you write your letter home, if you’re not getting your hair cut …”
Madison Tuttle
Engineers recently completed a series of acoustic tests on the European Service Module for NASA’s Artemis II mission while inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida
Finally…
Not good news.
