In three snapshots…
From pure analog, computed on slide rules, to massively parallel computing…
And phase one of the Dragon testing was completed at 1030 CDT today with a hard lock on the ISS.
And courtesy of Comrade Misfit, a little computer game to see how good you are flying the capsule, HERE.
Falcon 9 went off like clockwork! All shots courtesy of NASA TV! Interestingly, they were on a 30 second delay…
1423 CDT Liftoff!
1424 Going uphill
1426 First stage separation/2nd stage light off
1427 Capsule shot and 2nd stage burn
1433 First stage recovers on the ship
1436 Second stage separation
On orbit… two minutes less than Alan Shepard’s first flight 59 years ago… Depending on when you read this, they should be getting close to docking with the ISS… That is supposed to occur approximately 0930 CDT.
Honestly, I’m glad to see America taking back control of their flights into space, and congrats to Spacex, the first PRIVATE company to put men in space!!!
1948 vs. 2009…
For those who like aviation!
That just sends a chill down the spine… And for 90, he sure is spry, and I have no doubt he could start that F-8 up and fly it today, no questions asked…
HERE is the official history of the Blues. And the new kids, the Thunderchickens, HERE, if anybody cares… 😉
Now it’s going to get interesting…
President Trump is expected to order a review of the federal law that protects social media companies from content posted by their users days after Twitter labeled two of his tweets “potentially misleading.”
Full article, HERE. And he signed it, HERE.
Interestingly, Zuckerberg is apparently trying to distance FB from Twitter after the kerfluffle that has been stirred up, HERE…
Twitter had a rather interesting non-response…
Unlike other prominent fact-checking operations, Twitter doesn’t display the names of the fact check’s authors.
“We’re adding a label to Tweets that then links to a Moment in order to give people on our service more context around what they’re seeing. This Moment includes a variety of information from various sources,” Twitter spokesman Trenton Kennedy told the Daily Caller News Foundation in an email.
Full article, HERE. And another one, HERE.
And predictably, the left went nuts… And of course a dem senator ‘had’ to come out with a statement…
Sen. Ron Wyden called President Trump’s executive order targeting social media platforms a “plainly illegal” attempt to push “unfiltered lies.”
“I have warned for years that this administration was threatening 230 in order to chill speech and bully companies like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter into giving him favorable treatment. Today Trump proved me right. I expect those companies and every American who participates in online speech to resist this illegal act by all possible means,” Wyden said in a statement.
Full article, HERE.
And then there is this article from the Federalist about mail in balloting…
A nationwide effort by Democrats is underway in at least 16 states to overturn restrictions on mail-in voting and third-party ballot harvesting. States where suits have been filed include the swing states of Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Florida.
Full article, HERE.
The gloves are coming off and the left is doing everything they can to ‘influence’ the 2020 election any way they can. Ballot harvesting, false signatures, ‘helping’ the elderly in nursing homes to ‘mark’ their ballots, etc… And ballots are showing up in the oddest places… SC ballots in MD? California’s ‘motor voter’ law, and they give illegals driver’s licenses, but do they register them to vote at the same time???
I wonder if anybody is checking graveyard’s mailboxes???
Sailors…
Sadly, still true today… LOL
And speaking of sailors, how many of you remember running these…
If you did any time in a holding pool, you probably got really good with them… LOL
This brings back memories… Pad 39A is back in use…
The first launch of American astronauts into space from U.S. soil since 2011 is set to take place Wednesday, and NASA wants the public to be a part of it.
The agency will host a social event virtually so viewers can get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the agency’s SpaceX Demo-2 test flight, which will send NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley on a journey to the International Space Station.
Full article, HERE.
And you can find NASA TV HERE.
I remember following the nascent space program avidly as a young boy. I remember the launch was supposed to be on Thursday, but it got rained out. I was actually allowed to skip school that day to watch the launch. It was early in the morning, and my mother allowed me to turn the old black and white TV on to watch. I was glued to the TV for most of the day, with Walter Cronkite reporting each new bit of information.
Hats off to those pioneers, and it’s time to take the next steps… And the scenario is surprisingly similar 59 years and 20 days later… Pad 39A, single rocket, new capsule, weather an issue. Sadly, Jack King won’t be calling the launch as he did for Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo.
Of course THIS symbol wouldn’t be allowed today… Sigh…
Here’s hoping it comes off successfully!
First up is Dorothy Grant with a new novel- Going Ballistic
As always, click on the cover for the amazon link to the book!
The blurb-
When her plane tries to come apart at apogee during a hijack, ballistic airline pilot Michelle Lauden handles the worst day she could imagine. After getting down without losing any passengers or crew, though, she finds her troubles have just begun!
The country she’s landed in has just declared independence from the Federation. The Feds intended her passengers to be the first casualties in the impending war – and they’re not happy she’s survived to contradict their official narrative in the news.
The local government wants to find her to give her a medal. The Feds are hunting her to give her an unmarked grave. As they both close in, Michelle’s running out of options and time. The only people able to protect her are an accident investigation team on loan from the Federation’s enemies… the same enemies who sent her hijackers in the first place.
And they have their own plans for her, and the country she’s in!
I got to alpha read it, really enjoyable!
Next is Nathan Brindle, also known as the Fuzzy Curmudgeon with a short story- Saving the Spring
The blurb-
Jack Randall knew immediately something was off when he pulled up to the old roadhouse.
Little did he know that crossing paths that night with the establishment’s beautiful bartender and her handsomely-rugged boyfriend/cook would lead to him recalling his former life as a god – or fighting a rematch with the god who had stolen his memories.
Oops… Wrong book… fixed! Last but not least, Alma Boykin has another book in the Familiar Tales series out- Horribly Familiar
The blurb-
Love, romance, curses, and . . . chaperones?
Nothing aside from magic comes easily for two shadow mages. André Lestrang relocates to Riverton just in time for the summer humidity and storm season. He and his fiancée Lelia Chan struggle to balance work, magic, their relationship, and his Army career. When someone sends a magical package bomb to one of their friends, a chain reaction of trouble ensues.
Add in two Familiars determined to ensure that their mages don’t get “in trouble” before the wedding, the usual mischief a ring-tailed lemur, kit fox, wolverine, and others can devise, and a dash of new responsibilities to the magical community. Lelia and André discover that the summer starts to feel . . . Horribly Familiar.
I’ll recommend all three of them!
Thank you to those who have gone before us and given their all for us…
Hand Salute!
Ready, Two.
Let me leave you with this:
Who are the Veterans?…”Veterans are Fathers, Mothers, Sons, Daughters, Brothers, Sisters, Friends and Lovers. They are the elderly people who can barely stand but refuse to sit when old glory passes by. They are the people who sit quietly thinking of a plan when everyone else is panicking; the ones who stand up for somebody’s rights even though they may disagree with them. They are the ones who celebrate Memorial Day and Veterans Day everyday of the year. They are the people who keep going when everybody else gives up. They know the meaning of “The Ultimate Sacrifice” and are willing to make it without a second thought. They do not ask for praise or glory, only that you Honor those who have given their all.”
Friday night was some nasty weather, softball sized hail 3 miles north of us, tornadoes to the south…
And we restarted our weekly dinners last night.
And as of 2200 last night, this was about to hit us
So… go read the folks on the sidebar, I didn’t have time to get a post up by the time everybody left and this crap showed up…
Regular blogging will resume tomorrow.
Or history and facts are forever…
The 2006 Origins of the Lockdown Idea comes from a high school student’s science project, HERE. Sigh…
And an interesting and current graphic…
And then there is this one… Apparently Lena Dunham flunked history…
Move that paper forward a year or so and Britain was being bombed too…