https://x.com/ulalaunch/status/1842059654597083171

The ULA launch team is authorized to begin cryogenic propellant loading operations as today’s #VulcanRocket countdown proceeds on schedule. Weather is 80% favorable to launch the #Cert2 mission at 6:00amEDT (1000 UTC).

Not entirely unrelated. Solar panels have to be manufactured somewhere, and I’m pretty sure China currently the top producer.

I love that the elixer didn’t just give them beards, but also top hats, lit pipes, and suits! I forgot how powerful magic could be in this world.

“Oh yes she did. Only too well. Unfortunately. She kept her illness from me. 'Til all I could do was mourn her.”

Is his Dad known for “Dad jokes”?

Bon voyage, Milo.

Dr. Kim, whose commendable career includes the creation of a plasma thruster design for the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, is on an ambitious mission.

TIL Falcon 9 uses plasma thrusters. (I’m reasonably confident it does not.)

Did the author mean the hall-effect thrusters used on Starlink?

Yeah, the headline and article aren’t great, and conflates fuel and propellant, but the technology is reasonable.

How is this different from randomly gathering water and producing H2 and O2 with the same energy source?

Hydrogen is actually kind of scarce in the inner solar system, so metal ion thrusters would be be useful for low-thrust applications.

My condolences. It always hurts to lose a rodent friend.

Rest in peace, Pistache. You will continue to be remembered fondly by those who loved you in life. 🐀

Wait, is Shatner playing the role of Jabba in the sail barge scene?

“Hmph! … Hmph! … Hmph!”

Yeah, seems like maintenance would be more challenging, but hopefully solar doesn’t need much?

Yeah, Ginny filled him in on what happened:

‘The diary,’ said Riddle. ‘My diary. Little Ginny’s been writing in it for months and months, telling me all her pitiful worries and woes: how her brothers tease her, how she had to come to school with second-hand robes and books, how –’ Riddle’s eyes glinted ‘– how she didn’t think famous, good, great Harry Potter would ever like her …’

– CoS, chapter 17

I imagine that once the topic of who this Harry Potter fellow was and why he was famous came up, Tom would have become very interested and pressed Ginny for more details. “He defeated who? When he was only a baby‽”

Yet another NoSafetySmokingFirst on an oversized pickup truck…

With sunshine, this is exceedingly easy.

Sunshine yes, manufacturing less so.

Starbase activities (2024-10-02):

• Oct 1st cryo delivery update.
• Build site: Overnight, booster “puck shucker” test/transport stand moves into Megabay 1 and B14 is lifted onto it, likely in preparation for transport to Massey’s. (ViX, LabPadre, Starship Gazer 1, Starship Gazer 2, NSF, Gisler)
• Sanchez: Gisler posts a photo. Chopsticks carriage is still surrounded by scaffolding.
• Pad A: Chopstick wiggle tests performed in the early morning and afternoon.
• Tank farm active in the evening, chopsticks rise, and drones are spotted. (Anderson)
• Pad B: The CC8800-1 crane is laid down, and dismantling begins (ViX, NSF).
• Load spreader for chopsticks testing moves to the launch site. (Anderson 1, Anderson 2)

Maritime:

• Two more cryo tanks en route to Brownsville port. (Cornwell)

McGregor:

• Possible HLS thruster test spotted. (NSF/Nerdplysgames)

Other:

• NOTAMS for “rocket launching activities near Boca Chica” are spotted for Oct 12th through 19th. These are likely just placeholders, as the official word from the FAA is still NET November. Berger has heard rumours to the contrary, but nothing is finalized. A NASA WB-57 is listed for imagery support in mid-October, but those are also just placeholder dates.

Yes: !banpitbulls@lemmy.ca

Also a pitbull appreciation community: !pitbulls@lemmy.world

The One Million Checkboxes story was unexpectedly heartwarming.

Apart from the ‘don’t dead open inside’

A “NoSafetySmokingFirst” is actually subtly different from a “DontDeadOpenInside”.

In a “NoSafetySmokingFirst”, the text reads correctly left to right, but visual cues (like colouration, vertical proximity, or horizontal separation) lead you to try to read it top to bottom.

This is similar to, but distinct from, the more widely known “DontDeadOpenInside” format. In that case, the text reads correctly top to bottom, but visual cues (like colouration, horizontal proximity, or vertical separation) lead you to try to read it left to right.

But yes, format aside, it seems like a nice initiative :)

How do they clean under them?