This is really cool. It’s true – the sound is even more mind blowing than the imagery.
Listen with headphones.
But … as impressive as the sound of the video above is with headphones on … you still miss the full body sensation of your innards vibrating from the low frequency rumble. Perhaps listening with headphones AND a really powerful sub-woofer?
A compilation of every Falcon 9 first stage landing in 2017 (18 launches / 14 landings)
Source: SpaceX / edited and compiled by Go To Space
Elon Musk at LZ-1 standing next to one of the two Falcon Heavy side boosters.
Source: SpaceX via Instagram (https://t.co/UyiNd2fmi5)
SpaceX has updated its launch coverage video to include onboard video of F9 both side boosters
Everyday Astronaut (Tim Dodd) has posted his 360 degree video of his experience three miles away from the Falcon Heavy launch. He is standing exactly where I was at the final Saturn V launch of Skylab. This is very nostalgic for me and I understand the emotions he must have been feeling.
You can watch it here in full 360 degrees: https://youtu.be/tBhuSTXMCaI *
Tim is doing a fantastic job covering SpaceX and spaceflight in general. His videos are simultaneously highly informative – and – entertaining! His enthusiasm is contagious.
Please check out Tim’s home page (https://everydayastronaut.com) and his YouTube channel.
You can support him via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/EverydayAstronaut)
Also be sure to check out his online shop (https://everydayastronaut.com/shop/)
If you have not already done so, check out A Blast (off) From My Past for an accounting of my experience at the Saturn V launch, some 45 years ago.
Related: https://contrafactual.com/2018/02/06/a-blast-off-from-my-past-2/
* I tried to embed the video, but WordPress and/or iOS Safari wouldn’t support 360 in the embedded version.
What will 2018 bring?
Gwynne Shotwell, President and COO of SpaceX speaking at TAMEST 2018 Annual Conference AEROSPACE on the FRONTIER OF COMMERCIAL SPACEFLIGHT.
Also note that today SpaceX successfully relaunched a previously launched F9 booster to place the GOVSAT-1 satellite into Geostationary Transfer Orbit (http://www.spacex.com/webcast) This is the second launch this year. UPDATE – first stage was not intended to land on a drone ship but survived the water landing (“This rocket was meant to test very high retrothrust landing in water so it didn’t hurt the droneship, but amazingly it has survived. We will try to tow it back to shore.” https://mobile.twitter.com/elonmusk/status/958847818583584768)
FRONTIER OF COMMERCIAL SPACEFLIGHT
Note the last video shown is appears to be the first concept 2016 “ITS” video, NOT the 2017 somewhat scaled back “BFR” video.
Falcon Heavy is scheduled to launch this upcoming Tuesday February 6.
First there was 22,000 Days …
and now (just the music – no relation to the folks in the video)
because …
Side bar … although I own* many versions of “Birthday” – vinyl, cassette, CD, and iTunes – I can’t play it for you due to “copyright issues”, so I am forced to find the best cover on YouTube.
Welcome to the Future.
(Sigh)
* no longer sure I actually own them, but I sure paid for them
Ran into a guy a few weeks back wearing an Occupy Mars T-shirt and asked him if he worked for SpaceX. Turns out he was a machinist at the McGregor facility. I shook his hand and thanked him for keeping the dream alive. He protested saying he was just a machinist and I told him that every job mattered in building rockets.
I actually tried to visit the McGregor facility a few years ago on a road trip back from Denver. They had just installed the new guard shack at the entrance and they turned me away. Apparently you can schedule a tour in advance but I haven’t figured out how to do that yet. I suspect they have the occasional “open house” for the local residents of McGregor.
Yet Another BFR Analysis
This is short and well thought out. I personally think that point to point ICBT will eventually replace a large segment of air travel.
SpaceX launch of the US Air Force “minishuttle” Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) X-37B
Another successful launch and landing for Falcon 9. It is beginning to remind me of watching planes take off and land at the airport.
Side note: the contract to launch OTV-5 was awarded to SpaceX directly, without bid
SpaceX Press Kit
NASA coverage of the launch. Great camera views. Picture perfect launch.
I do so love the sound of rocket launches.
OK … somebody had to do it. The complete list of every Falcon 9 launch is on Wikipedia!
As of June 25, 2017
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Falcon_9_and_Falcon_Heavy_launches
So … compare this to the Blue Origin numbers also care of Wikipedia (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Origin)
Just sayin’
Watch (almost) EVERY SpaceX Falcon 9 landing attempted … in 80 seconds
And that doesn’t even count two back-to-back landings last week on an Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship (Atlantic AND Pacific) plus the landing at LZ-1 at the beginning of June. Oh … and don’t forget the May 1st landing at LZ-1. So that makes it 18 landings?
See also
https://contrafactual.com/2017/06/25/spacex-iridium-2/
https://contrafactual.com/2017/06/23/bulgariasat-1/
https://contrafactual.com/2017/06/13/yaf9lv/
https://contrafactual.com/2017/06/07/crs-11-falcon-9-landing-close-up/
https://contrafactual.com/2017/06/04/crs-11-falcon-9-landing/
And another successful launch and recovery – this time from Vandenburg CA (polar orbit). Back to back launch and landings.
New titanium grid fins (as opposed to the original aluminum grid fins) for better heat tolerance.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_spaceport_drone_ship (ASDS)
http://www.teslarati.com/spacex-set-second-weekend-launch-new-titanium-grid-fins-tested/
http://www.spacex.com/news/2017/06/24/iridium-2-press-kit
SpaceX does it again … relaunch and landing of another Falcon 9
Falcon 9’s first stage for the BulgariaSat-1 mission previously supported the Iridium-1 mission from Vandenberg Air Force Base in January of this year. Following stage separation, Falcon 9’s first stage will attempt a landing on the “Of Course I Still Love You” droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
Personal observation … I cannot believe the bozos who comment that this is all faked based on video dropouts. When I “watched” the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions live video was rare to non-existent after the initial live launch video.
You go SpaceX!
PS
This is another Father’s Day tribute to Bob (aka Dad).
From Welcome to the Future …
Despite the fact that my parents love for me caused them to be overly protective, my dad did something equally amazing for me. I have always loved thunderstorms. I love the lightning and I love the thunder. I think that thunderstorms are one of the most exhilarating of all natural phenomenon. There is a reason for this. My dad grew up in an orphanage. It was not uncommon at the time for single mothers who could not care for their children to abandon them at an orphanage. Summertime in Florida produces severe afternoon thunderstorms. The nuns at the orphanage were afraid that lightening would hit the building and set fire to it. Rather than face the possibility of an orphanage full of trapped children burning to the ground, whenever a thunderstorm approached, the nuns would make the children go outside and lie facedown in the grass until the storm passed. Needless to say, my dad was terrified of thunderstorms; shaking, vomiting, fetal position terrified of thunderstorms. Dad swore to himself that I was never going to be afraid of lightning and thunder like he was. From my earliest days my dad would pick me up and bounce me on his knee during storms. “See the lightning,” he would say, “now wait, here it comes … BADDA BOOM.” I would giggle and laugh. He showed no fear, why should I. Of course, I remember none of this. I was too young. But I do know that I love lightning and thunder. Whenever my dad told this story he would add one more thing … by making sure that I was never afraid of thunderstorms he had cured his own fear too.
Trying to proof-read the above is difficult through tear filled eyes. If there are typos, cut me some slack.
Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers out there and to their children!
Yet Another Falcon 9 Landing Video
(No sound, aerial view)
Remember Adult Swim?
No, not the one from Cartoon Network. The original adult swim of 10 minutes every hour at your local Home Owner’s Association (HOA) community pool. It was originally used to give the lifeguards a break and give adults the ability to swim laps without interference from the kids.
Today at my local pool, which I began attending to walk laps for exercise (32 laps = 1 mile*), we were told at 10 minutes before the hour that it was Safety Break and EVERYONE had to get out of the pool for 10 minutes. Apparently there was an age discrimination lawsuit filed (and won) in California against Adult Swim. Now HOAs across the country are avoiding Adult Swim for fear of lawsuit.
I suggest they play Safety Dance during the Safety Break.
* the swim lane section of our pool is 25 metres long … one lap is 50 metres, one mile is 1609 metres … do the math
SCRUBBED DUE TO WEATHER
From http://www.spacex.com/webcast
New milestones for SpaceX
Click to access crs11finalpresskit.pdf
Launch windows:
Apple Support Rocks
Saturday March 27 approximately 1:00 PM … sanity is restored
It may be a while before this posts, that is, between now and when I finish it.
In my previous post I commented: Arthur C. Clark once said that “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” except when it f*ck$ up, then it is like a curse from Marie Laveau. (I added the Marie Laveau bit)
Note: My friend also updated his iPhone 6s Plus and thought it went without a hitch. HOWEVER he just discovered that his App Store app is gone. He just called Apple Support and was told that he needed wipe his iPhone and and restore from scratch. Based on my experience there may be another approach but after three days of this I told him I would help him another day. That will be another blog post. UPDATE – my friend had set up Settings > General > Restrictions to turn off access to the App Store and that is why the App Store app disappeared. Sadly he only discovered this after resetting his phone to factory default … TWICE.
Based on personal evidence I conclude that the iOS 10.3.2 upgrade is flawed. I now extremely reticent to upgrade my other devices.
Additionally I still don’t have all of my ringtones back. I now have most of them but not all. It may be less frustrating to just buy them again if I really want them. You see ringtones are entirely different from music or apps (or iBooks?) purchased from iTunes. Perhaps they are a throwback to the early days of cellphones. Ringtones cannot re-downloaded after purchase. It is a onetime thing. Backing them up requires syncing your iPhone to iTunes on a PC or Mac. I only got back the ones I did through the effort of upper level Apple iTunes Support.
My problem with this entire debacle is that I am so spoiled when it comes to Apple. I expect these kinds of issues with Windows and Linux. With Apple I expect it to “just work”. It always has for me. This time – for me – it failed to “just work.”
Anyway … back to Apple Support … throughout this entire ordeal every Apple Support person I have dealt with from Tier One to Upper Levels has been gracious, calm, and absolutely committed to resolving my issues. I don’t expect technology to function flawlessly at all times (Apple excluded – as I said I’m spoiled), but what do appreciate are companies dedicated to having happy customers. Apple certainly qualifies in this regard. Attention Tim Cook – you should be very proud of your support team.
Oh for the good olde days
Maybe Jim Stafford had it right …
Well, I think of that girl from time to time
I call her up when I got a dime
Or maybe a cocoanut telegraph?
Arthur C. Clark once said that “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” except when it f*ck$ up, then it is like a curse from Marie Laveau.
• • • • •
Re-configuration continues slowly and methodically. Now I need to call Apple to figure out how to get all of my ring tones back. Mañana. I’m going to bed early tonight.
And so it goes
In order for my iPhone to see my Apple Watch I had to reset it to factory settings and now begin the task of reconfiguring it back to the way I liked it. I was on phone with Apple until 2 AM last night.
Now I begin the task of remembering, downloading, and reconfiguring every <expletive deleted> app on my iPhone and Apple Watch. Setting up email and remembering or changing passwords. Not how I had planned my day.
One thing is certain … my iPhone and watch will be leaner and meaner.
UPDATE – I am installing the latest Apple Watch version now (might as well there is no reason not too)
WARNING – RANT ALERT
The latest iOS 10.3.2 update has completely trashed my iPhone 6s Plus and by “trashed” I mean blasted it back to factory settings. I spent over five hours in online chat and phone calls with Apple support working between my iPad, MacBook, and iPhone. Only now do I have a semi working iPhone.
Here’s what happened – I set my iPhone up to upgrade to iOS 10.3.2 at about 6 PM before walking next door to have a beer (or two) with the neighbors as we often do. When I got back expecting all to be OK, my iPhone was in continuous reboot mode. It would briefly display the logon screen then immediately flash to the spinning wheel icon before re-displaying the logon screen, over and over and over again. The only way to break the cycle was to connect it to my MacBook and follow the instructions in the links below (provided by support).
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203899 and https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201412
I finally got it to the point of restoring from a backup and after going through all of the steps and waiting for everything to restore, it eventually went back into continuous reboot mode again. I ended up starting over from scratch several times and even attempting a restore from a backup made two days ago. I eventually got all the way to the end and … continuous reboot mode … again.
Arrrrrrggggggghhhhhhh
So start over again, but this time set it up as new iPhone without doing a restore. Luckily all of my contacts, photos, iTunes, and notes are safely in iCloud and available on my other Apple devices. They also appear to be mostly available on my iPhone, but I still need to reconfigure my email settings, selectively download and reconfigure apps (most of which require logon ID and password configuration), reset and reconfigure my alarms, and set my icons back to where I like them. I had also saved many web pages as icons so I will need to reconstruct these as well.
I also need to reconnect my Apple Watch, Fitbit Scale, and on and on and on.
UPDATE – can not get my Apple Watch to connect
According to Apple … VERY
Check out
Click to access iOS_Security_Guide.pdf
for a deep dive into iOS security.
Or … take Apple’s word that it is plenty secure.
House
I am watching the series Grand Designs on NETFLIX. The County Derry 2014 episode is about a “young farmer and architect in Northern Ireland [who] hopes to make a home out of four large shipping containers welded together to form a giant cross.”
Note: in the YouTube video I found (below) the audio is a bit sped up and the image is reversed left to right … but you get the idea. (Yes, yes, I know that that the Irish and the Brits drive on the “other side” of the road from us Yanks, but that is NOT the reason that the image is reversed)
If you like architecture and love gorgeous homes you should try to catch this series!
For more images of Patrick Bradley’s Shipping Container House CLICK HERE
Second verse … same as the first
Wind power + pumped hydro
https://contrafactual.com/2017/03/01/islands-of-the-future/
Currently watching this series on Netflix. Just finished watching El Hierro. Gives me hope for the future.
If you have NETFLIX – watch it.
Clicking on either image below should launch NETFLIX – Islands of the Future.
Also check out the YouTube clips below.
EL Hierro
SpaceX to send two paying customers around the moon next year
The image below is a screen capture from one the videos in the previous post on today’s SpaceX CRS-10 launch.
Life comes full circle. In a much earlier post I described what it was like to be standing at the water’s edge in the foreground at the last ever Saturn V launch.
On launch day I was one of the throng of people standing to the left of the countdown clock in the picture above.
The SpaceX image inspired me to search the Internet and YouTube for Skylab launch images. I scored big time. The second image is screen shot from the video below. Back in the day I had a fetish for white jeans (probably expressing my inner John Lennon). Trust me – I am in there somewhere.
Full video from 1973
The Internet is amazing. Welcome to the future.
Links
https://contrafactual.com/2013/07/20/apollo-11-main-engines-found/
SpaceX successfully launches CRS-10 from LC-39A | Falcon 9 first stage lands at LZ-1
Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Airforce Station
Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A, the southern most of the two most northerly pads) with SpaceX modifications
Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1 formerly LC-13 midway down ICBM road )
LC-39A launch
Aerial view of LZ-1 landing
Full coverage with some SpaceX provided historical clips
Links
Aerial snapshots from Apple Maps (TOMTOM)
Welcome to the Future – the revolution will be Tweeted
SpaceX CRS-1o aborted at T-13 seconds today
Tomorrow is another day. History is being made.
Go SpaceX
Seriously. Free gold. It’s free.
I recently posted that Goldmoney had reported their financial results for the third quarter ended December 31, 2016.
https://contrafactual.com/2017/02/02/goldmoney-q3-results/
At the end of the post I included
This is FREE GOLD – up to 0.5 grams just for signing up and depositing up to 10 grams of gold within 7 days of opening the account. At today’s price of USD $39.24/g, a $392.40 deposit will get you almost $20 in free gold. FREE GOLD
OK so maybe $20 worth of free gold doesn’t sound like much, but where else can you get a 5% instant return on your investment. Furthermore, a quick check of the web reveals that many experts are predicting that gold could go as high as $10,000 per troy ounce ($321/g). So your 10g of gold could grow to be worth $3,210. Finally most financial advisors recommend keeping up to 10% of your wealth in gold as insurance against financial uncertainty. I think you will agree that in our current political climate the risk of financial uncertainty is growing greater with every executive order.
If you have been following this blog for a while you know that I have been blogging about BitGold and later Goldmoney since mid-2015, when BitGold first entered the US market – and when I first opened my account. In the span of just over a year, Goldmoney has gone from an idea to a global financial services company with over a billion dollars in customer assets under management and over a million user account holders. This is phenomenal.
Goldmoney is a global company with global services, yet its US subsidiary is registered with the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), meaning that special registration for US users (with respect to reporting foreign investments) is not required. Befitting a global financial services company, is the ability to choose which of 8 vaults in which to store your gold. Your gold. Every metric gram or kilogram of gold that a Goldmoney Personal & Business user has acquired through Goldmoney Personal & Business is owned and allocated to the customer.
If you have ever purchased gold coins you know that the premium you pay above the spot price of gold at purchase can be high – especially for small purchases. If you have ever needed to sell one or more of those coins, you also know that you will take a significant hit on what a dealer will pay you for those coins as compared to the spot price of gold.
Not so with Goldmoney. Goldmoney charges a paltry 0.5% to deposit and 0.5% to redeem (for Personal Accounts). Payments to people within the Goldmoney Network are at no charge. This means that you can send money to any other person with a Goldmoney Account (family, friends, associates) anywhere in the world FOR FREE.
Funds can be transferred to or from select US bank accounts via ACH at 0.5%. The same is true for Canadian banks via ETF. Deposits can also be made via credit/debit cards. Funds can also be redeemed to the Goldmoney Prepaid MasterCard for use wherever MasterCard is accepted. Got physical? Gold can be also redeemed as physical bullion metal or coins.
In 2017 Goldmoney Inc. announced that Goldmoney Network accounts and Wealth Holdings had been endorsed as Shariah-compliant by the Shariah Supervisory Board of Amanie Advisors, which issued the fatwa in accordance with the Shariah Standard on Gold set by the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) and developed in cooperation with the World Gold Council. Additionally in 2017 Goldmoney Inc. launched additional payment integrations allowing for direct-to-bank redemptions and credit card processing in Indian rupee for Goldmoney Network.
The features and services provided by Goldmoney are to numerous too list in this post, but are fully detailed at https://Goldmoney.com/r/niKIos
Selected Links
Learn more and signup using the special URL https://Goldmoney.com/r/niKIos to earn a bonus of 5% additional gold on your first deposit (up to a maximum of 0.5 grams of bonus gold) if you make that deposit within 7 days of signing up. Please note that wire transfer deposits are not eligible for the first deposit bonus.
Sci-Fi Short Film “2084” presented by DUST
Made me laugh …
“2084” by Taz Goldstein
In the year 2084, the fate of mankind will rest in the hands of a total moron.
Houston, we have a problem.
I noticed one of my warnings lights was on as I drove through the parking lot. No wait. ALL OF MY WARNING LIGHTS WERE ON. The main console was lit up like a Christmas tree. I pulled into a parking space and rebooted the car (aka turning it off and on). All of the warning lights stayed on and the primary notification window alternated between “CHECK PCS SYSTEM” and “CHECK HYBRID SYSTEM”.
My Prius had gone Apollo 13 on me.
With my luck, it’s the AE-35 Unit.
It wasn’t the AE-35 Unit.
It was the Flux Capacitor … or the financial equivalent thereof.
= = =
Thursday was a busy day at CatBeard Manor. The Mrs was back from the hospital but still wheelchair-bound. A plumber was out, reaming a decades-old clog from our plumbing to allow the upstairs toilet to flush without filling up the tub. A cable technician was out for the nth time troubleshooting my abysmal Internet performance. And finally, the first wave of physical therapy had arrived to evaluate the Mrs. So I was calling Toyota every hour or so trying to get an update on the Prius. No joy.
Late in the afternoon, after everyone had left my house, I decided to drive over to Toyota and talk in-person to my service writer. I drove the rental car to the front, parked, got out, and got a free cup of coffee in the lobby before stalking my service writer.
I walked up behind him and said “you’re a very difficult guy to get a hold of.”
“It’s been a goat rodeo here,” he replied.
“I came by to get some free coffee and while I was here decided to stop by and find out what was up with my Prius.”
I got a smile. “Let me go in the back and find out what’s going on.”
He was gone a long time.
When he came back he was carrying two sheets of paper. The first sheet of paper was a printout, the first line of which had HYBRID BATTERY with a bunch of Xs after it in various columns indicating various failed tests. The second sheet was blank save for handwritten numbers indicating cost of the part, tax, and labor. The total was $5600 or so.
$5600 Deep breath. Did I mention that I have been out of work since last February? I got laid off following my 15 year anniversary award with a major oil field services company. “Yeah I was afraid it would be this.” The discussion then went on to how I had read that the cost had come down and/or that individual battery cells could be replaced. Maybe, but not through Toyota. “Is there anyway this might be covered under warranty?” I asked. “Let’s find out,” he replies.
Typing ensues. Screens pop up on his monitor. He pulls out a little book and starts leafing through it. This goes on for what seems like an eternity. Then he reaches over to the sheet with $5600 handwritten on it, crumples it up with one hand, and tosses it in the trash. Now I am staring at a screen showing the warranty status of various subsystems for my car. Each them shows that it is out of warranty – EXCEPT for the HYBRID BATTERY. It is warranteed to 100,000 miles. My car has less than 100,000 miles on it.
“So,” I ask tentatively, “it’s under warranty?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“I want to kiss you.”
“Let’s not.”
“Agreed.”
He had some more paperwork to do, so I walked over to get more free coffee. Then I went to the car rental desk and requested a printout of the contract on the car had I rented the day before. I intended to try to get Toyota to comp me for the rental car, since it was warranty work. When I got back to the service desk, my service writer was way ahead of me. “You have a rental car, yes? We’ll cover that.” He called over to rental desk and made it so.
As I left, I shot him a thumbs-up. “Free replacement battery pack. Free rental car. Free coffee. Can’t beat that.”
He smiled. “Especially the free coffee. It may not be good, but it’s free.”
Originally published on Jan 16, 2017 | NASA Commentator Kyle Herring talks with Kathy Lueders, the manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, about the status of efforts to develop commercial space vehicles to deliver human crew members to the International Space Station. NASA is working with Boeing and SpaceX as those companies work through milestones to get their vehicles, Boeing’s CST-100 and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, ready for their first crewed flights to the station, while the space station program is reconfiguring the station and preparing for spacewalks to install the new International Docking Adapters to which the new commercial spacecraft will dock.
Although YouTube states that the above video was published this month, I suspect that it was actually recorded two years ago in mid-June 2015. Reason being that reference was made in the video (@6:20) of the upcoming launch of the International Docking Adapter (IDA-1). However IDA-1 was lost during the launch failure of SpX CRS-7 on June 28, 2015. (Reference https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Docking_Adapter)
Additionally the Crew Dragon Pad Abort occurred in May of 2015.
Elon Musk and SpaceX aren’t the only ones with their “eyes on the prize” of replacing the Shuttle for commercial U.S manned space launches. Boeing has unveiled a new streamlined light-weight space suit for it astronauts to wear aboard its CST-100 “Space Taxi”.
See also my post Bras In Space, the story of the Apollo spacesuit
Compare and contrast the Boeing CST-100 to the SpaceX Crew Dragon (aka Dragon V2)
Originally published January 6, 2017. FOX BUSINESS
TSLA is on a roll for 2017
“I warned you not to stir the oxygen tanks,” my service writer replied.
Houston, we have a problem.
It has not been a good week at CatBeard Manor. Last Thursday the Mrs lost feeling, then function in her left leg. It was effectively “dead”. It had been bothering her for a while prior to this. (MS? Leg? Spine? MS? Leg? Spine?) She immediately called her neurologist, but it rolled over to voicemail. I broke out the wheelchair which we use from time to time when the Mrs feels particularly exhausted. Feeling and function returned over the weekend. I put away the wheelchair and broke out the walker. By Sunday evening she was “free walking” once again, unaided.
On Monday her left leg began acting up again. That afternoon I was out running errands when she called to say that the neurologist had called. “Go directly to the ER to be admitted to hospital for tests. Do not pass GO! Do not collect $200.” It was after 4 PM. I went home and collected the Mrs, the wheelchair, and several bags of supplies. We knew the drill. By the time they put her in an “observation” room they had run X-rays and a CAT scan of her head to rule out stroke, blood tests, and ultra-sound of her leg to rule out a blood clot. It was 2 AM Tuesday when she got to her room. I went home exhausted and got little sleep.
On Tuesday afternoon they scheduled her for cranial, cervical, and lumbar MRI (head, neck, back). She finished these up at 5 PM. I stayed until 10 PM, then left for home. Unable to fall asleep, I had a second mostly sleepless night.
When I got to the hospital today (Wednesday), I got the diagnosis that she had torn ligaments in her back from previous falls and probable degenerative disk disease causing irritation of nerves to her leg (a visit to the neurosurgeon who worked on my back several years ago would likely be in our future). They were sending her home with instructions to rest and a home health physical therapist would be set up to visit. She was scheduled to be discharged late in the afternoon.
I decided to run out and get some lunch. It was just before 2 PM. I walked out to parking lot, got into our 2010 Prius, and drove off. I noticed one of my warnings lights was on as I drove through the parking lot. No wait. ALL OF MY WARNING LIGHTS WERE ON. The main console was lit up like a Christmas tree. I pulled into a parking space and rebooted the car (aka turning it off and on). All of the warning lights stayed on and the primary notification window alternated between “CHECK PCS SYSTEM” and “CHECK HYBRID SYSTEM”.
My Prius had gone Apollo 13 on me.
I drove straight to my nearby Toyota dealer, waited to get my favorite service writer and told him my Prius had gone Apollo 13. “I warned you not to stir the oxygen tanks,” he replied. They would not even be able to begin troubleshooting on it until tomorrow. With my luck, it’s the AE-35 Unit.
Anyway, I went over to the rental counter and while waiting I got a call from the Mrs informing me that she was being discharged. I arrived in time in the rental car to pick her up at front door (an aid brought her down in her wheelchair with all of our gear).
Tomorrow is another day.
SpaceX, that is. With this weekend’s successful launch of 10 Iridium NEXT satellites, SpaceX sticks the landing.
Launch to landing
Just ran across this on INDIEGOGO. Looked interesting. You might agree.
95% of survival situations are resolved in 72 hours. But those first 72 hours are extremely critical. With this in mind, our kits are carefully curated to provide you everything you need, and nothing you don’t to get through those vital 3 days. We aren’t weighing you down with things you will never use, and we don’t sell you things that aren’t going to help. Just the essentials, organized so even the most inexperienced among us will have the tools and instructions to change their situation for the better. https://unchartedsupplyco.com/company/our-story
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-seventy2-the-world-s-smartest-survival-kit-backpack#/
SpaceX will be returning to flight on January 8th.
From http://www.spacex.com/news/2016/09/01/anomaly-updates
SpaceX is targeting return to flight from Vandenberg’s Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) with the Iridium NEXT launch on January 8. SpaceX greatly appreciates the support of our customers and partners throughout this process, and we look forward to fulfilling our manifest in 2017 and beyond.
In preparation for the next launch, we present for your enjoyment and enlightenment a series of videos summarizing the five year history of SpaceX Falcon 9 reusability.
Enjoy …
I never get tired of watching this. It 60s Sci-Fi realized at last.
Related
Contrafactual 