Humor Random Comments Thread

[Urwumpe]

Prospero: Quest to retrieve 50-year-old UK space debris

Edinburgh-based rocket company Skyrora issues a challenge to recover the Prospero satellite.

www.bbc.co.uk

When the team involved in Black Arrow had it confirmed the rocket was being cancelled, they renamed the satellite Prospero.
Originally it was to be Puck, who could girdle the Earth in forty minutes. Prospero is the wizard who gives up his magic powers.

What is the problem - I am sure a SpaceX Dragon could be modified to allow retrieving the satellite and return it home almost intact....

 

[Notebook]

That could be a fun scenario. Just need to build the launch site, a Black Arrow and Prospero.

Or would Dragon fit on a Blue Streak launched from Woomera? Done that.

 

[Urwumpe]

That could be a fun scenario. Just need to build the launch site, a Black Arrow and Prospero.

Or would Dragon fit on a Blue Streak launched from Woomera? Done that.

I think minimally, we would just need a prospero dummy satellite and a scenario with its current orbit elements. The Carina from Orbiter could also stand in for Prospero. Not sure about its attitude rates now.

The rest would then be just experiment. I think a lightweight Dragon on a normal Falcon 9 can already get into the Prospero orbit. Gear for securing the satellite could be put into the trunk, once secured, the satellite could be moved by a one-trick-pony robot arm into the capsule by placing a container where the CBM is. 1.2 m diameter should pass through a CBM, but could not fit through the docking port of a Dragon 2.

 

[Notebook]

Good suggestion. I'll see if I can get the Carina into Prospero's orbit and try Blue Streak /Centaur to rendezvous. Take a few weeks...

 

[C3PO]

The 10 year anniversary of KSP Makes me feel as old as this guy:

 

[jedidia]

Say, does anybody know of a vessel add-on for orbiter that provides a reasonably realistic craft designed for on-orbit operations (hauling, mostly) with a decent complexity? We have the XR-series and the DG-IV for space planes, but there doesn't seem to be anything comparable for pure orbital craft, which I find myself lamenting a bit at the moment... The shuttle-A is nice and all, but a some systems simulation would be cool. Also, it's pretty darn huge when you get right down to it...

 

[Urwumpe]

Say, does anybody know of a vessel add-on for orbiter that provides a reasonably realistic craft designed for on-orbit operations (hauling, mostly) with a decent complexity? We have the XR-series and the DG-IV for space planes, but there doesn't seem to be anything comparable for pure orbital craft, which I find myself lamenting a bit at the moment... The shuttle-A is nice and all, but a some systems simulation would be cool. Also, it's pretty darn huge when you get right down to it...

Well, you mean something like the old Dragonfly?

It still seems to work, though I had to fix somethings after starting the scenario. Possibly some bugs in the scenario file.

 

[jedidia]

The dragonfly would be great if it had a bit more propellant and a main engine... You can't really do orbital transfers with it, it's more like a waldo, if I get that correctly.

 

[DaveS]

The dragonfly would be great if it had a bit more propellant and a main engine... You can't really do orbital transfers with it, it's more like a waldo, if I get that correctly.

Well, you could improve it yourself, the full source code is available in the samples subfolder of Orbitersdk.

 

[Arvil]

Seems I read somewhere that it wasn’t updated to O2016. I find the radar and Center of Gravity system don’t work.

 

[jedidia]

Well, you could improve it yourself, the full source code is available in the samples subfolder of Orbitersdk.

I'm aware, but alas my time is too limited...

 

[Urwumpe]

The dragonfly would be great if it had a bit more propellant and a main engine... You can't really do orbital transfers with it, it's more like a waldo, if I get that correctly.

What about the following: You make a thread with the requirements, I'll make a offer how these requirements could be fulfilled. Actually, I think anybody could make their own suggestion how these requirements could be implemented.

My time is limited as well, but I have some framework code done for Gemini Titan, maybe I can make use of it also outside Gemini.

 

[jedidia]

You make a thread with the requirements, I'll make a offer how these requirements could be fulfilled. Actually, I think anybody could make their own suggestion how these requirements could be implemented.

done

 

[Notebook]

I follow the Forum "Broadcasting" on a website called Digital Spy. There is a long running thread titled "Communist Era Television".
Has technical and other comments on just that.

This post has a comment
"Here's a unique documentary about Zwickau (home of the Trabant car) from 1989/90, immediately after the fall of the wall. The film was co-produced by West German TV and East Germany's state-owned film studio, DEFA."

I'm confused by the monochrome introduction.
It has a camera in shot that has "turret" lenses. Used before zoom lenses, they had 3/4 fixed-focal length lenses, rotated as needed. Also the microphone looks to be 1960 era?

Is the introduction from the 60's? Or have they "mocked it up" for some dramatic effect that may be explained in the documentary?
Thanks, G.

 

[Urwumpe]

I would say,they mocked it up. The station logo in the corner is "alpha", which was the education channel of the Bavarian public broad caster and only runs under this logo since it was moved up to federal level (ARD) in 2014.

The fun is: GDR television did broadcast in colour, but used SECAM, not PAL like the west. That is why the west did think, GDR television was monochrome. Only in the 1980s, the first (expensive) TV sets appeared in the GDR, that had been able to decode both standards.

 

[Notebook]

Thanks Urwumpe.
Is their anything that suggests why they would do that?
1960's broadcasting equipment introducing a 1990 documentary. Doesn't make any sense to me.
Visually of course, I have no German and it dosen't have Englsh subtitles.

 

[Urwumpe]

Thanks Urwumpe.
Is their anything that suggests why they would do that?
1960's broadcasting equipment introducing a 1990 documentary. Doesn't make any sense to me.
Visually of course, I have no German and it dosen't have Englsh subtitles.

I have no idea, I can only guess. There was a phase of "Ostalgie" (East merged with Nostalgia), where everybody was busy pretending that the GDR wasn't such a bad place.

Also note, that the image quality was WAY better than in the real 1960s: Just look here for comparison.

Wie das Ostfernsehen bunt wurde | MDR.DE

Kurz vor dem 20. Geburtstag der DDR wollte endlich auch der Deutsche Fernsehfunk das Farbfernsehen einführen. Die BRD hatte das schon zwei Jahre früher geschafft. Am 3. Oktober 1969 sollte es losgehen.

www.mdr.de

 

[Notebook]

I guess we can put it down to "it seemed a good idea at the time".
If its not for overseas sales as well, then I suppose you can make it as you say.

Not exactly Das Boot.

 

[jedidia]

AAAAAAH!
I just got the line-up for a longsword tournament in october I registered for... 2 participants are from the top 10 of the world ranking, about 10% of the field is among the top 100, over half among the top 500.
I'm so going to get my ass kicked... ?

 

[jedidia]

Netflix' Masters of the universe remake has an absolutely brilliant first episode, with all the silliness and camp one could ever wish for.

Unfortunately it seems to be the only episode of the show. They padded the season out with episodes from some completely different show, but it's nowhere near as fun. Seriously, why would you do that when you go through the trouble to sign up the Joker to voice Skeletor? It can't possibly get more awesome than that!