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August 4, 2021 Archives

Wednesday, August 4, 2021

THE HAPPENING WORLD: Searching for Alien Technosignatures with the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite

Here is more about the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS).

Posted at 13:12 Permalink

CONTEXT: Touring Starbase with Elon Musk—Part 1

This not only shows Elon Musk as the hands-on chief engineer of the entire project, but also includes details I'd never before heard such as Super Heavy's using ullage gases instead of cold- or hot-gas thrusters for post-separation attitude control, why the grid fins on Super Heavy do not retract, and that the landing mode of lunar Starship is not yet settled.

Not shown: Starship SN20 with all six engines installed.

Posted at 12:44 Permalink

TRACKING WITH CLOSEUPS: Moths Taking Flight at 6000 Frames per Second

Posted at 11:48 Permalink

CONTINUITY: Pressure Lamps: Mantle Gaslight from Liquid Fuels (with Occasional Excitement)

Before I was born, my parents had a gasoline stove like the one shown in the video, except it was a full four-burner kitchen stove, complete with a big tire pump like handle to pressurise it. The thing was on wheels, so if (when) it caught on fire, you could roll it through the kitchen door to the outside until it calmed down. The thing was still in the barn when I was a kid, and I heard stories about adventures using it. To this day, I cannot explain why I never once decided to “fire it up” and see what would happen.

Posted at 09:25 Permalink