June 2020
MY first thoughts upon seeing the interior of the Dragon was how different it looked from Apollo capsules. It reminded me of the first class seating aboard an early B747 I went out of my way to fly on back in 1970. I just learned that when they slept, they changed to pajamas, even. AND … they’re not coming back for four months or so.
I remember skinny ties and slide rules back in the 60’s when I was in college. The first four function calculators didn’t start coming out until ~1971 or so. To think we went to the moon with those and crude computing power and now this … it IS amazing.
The 1968 Hong Kong flu pandemic killed an estimated one to four million … how come I don’t remember an economic shutdown or masks or over reaction?
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June 2020
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Left unchecked, the Hong Kong flu of 68/69 killed about 100,000 Americans when it finally ran its course.
Covid-19 has killed that many even with massive precautions. And it’s not done yet.
June 2020
I was excited to see a crewed launch live from the US again, and I like the telemetry SpaceX provides. I look forward to watching the reentry in about 4 months.
Though I wasn’t around in 1968, I’m quite familiar with the history of that time and I was also thinking about the parallels between 2020 and 1968 with the high points being manned spaceflight-related. I look forward to seeing the next Dragon launch, and hopefully things will be going better in the world by then.
June 2020
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With a few contingency buttons. I would have liked to see in-cockpit video of them testing out the manual maneuvering of the vehicle, since they apparently don’t even have hand controllers. But it sounds like it worked out fine.
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June 2020
1968 was tough. Those who did not live it, a quick space overview is in the HBO Series “From the Earth to the Moon” episode 4 “1968” about Apollo 8 flight around the Moon and the background happenings in the world.
I was in uniform then and got more than my share of duty.
June 2020
Useless trivia Department:
Gemini 6 launched AFTER Gemini 7.
A buddy of mine worked on the Manhattan Project. After the war, he wound up at Monsanto, where he generated a couple of hundred patents. As a token of their appreciation, the firm gave Andy one of the first (pre-production) HP “scientific” calculators, in 1971. Andy let me have it, on open-ended loan! It out-performed my trusty slide rule, and it offered precision beyond two decimal places! The next year, when it went on sale as the HP-35, it cost $395 - the equivalent of $2,550 in 2020 dollars, which buys you five unlocked 128GB Samsung S-10 smart phones.
Glad that the launch went well, even though I’m not much of a fan of manned spaceflight.
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June 2020
This has been an interesting week for SpaceX. First, their fourth iteration of the Starship almost blew itself into orbit following an apparently successful static test fire. Then the successful first launch of the manned Dragon capsule that went off without a hitch. Fortunately the one that really counted was the good one. Historic or not, it was a great accomplishment for the young company. Maybe Boeing should hire Elon Musk as its CEO.
June 2020
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Automation to the 2020 max.
June 2020
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Touch screen is cool, but there is a reason the flap and gear handles are shaped the way they are.
Same thing happened in the F-35. Human factors went out the window in favor of the video game concept. Good luck reaching the correct “button” when the pucker factor is high.
June 2020
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I remember the HP-35 well, Yars. Always lusted for one but $400 exceeded my ability to afford one at the time. Remind me … what was that strip for?
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June 2020
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Strip? You might be thinking about the magnetic “card” reader on the HP-65 (1974; $795).
The contents of my top drawer include two TI-30Xs, a TI-30Xa, and a TI Money Manager. Pack Rat.
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June 2020
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June 2020
I’m a native Floridian born in the early 60’s and I’ve followed NASA over the years. Watched the Challenger go up watching from the top of the ridge in Highlands County on that bright, clear, cold morning. I’m a cheerleader for the “Space Program”, regardless the accounting method. We support many things with our tax dollars and I believe the big picture ROI on Space exploration has been massive. Another important ingredient around Space is the multi-national colaboration and partnerships. What’s really different now is the ability to drill down into the engineering specifics. There are some really well produced YouTube Channels covering the current race in great detail. The only part of the Dragon launch that didn’t appear to go as planned was the recovery of the Falcon stage one. They got it back, but I don’t believe it landed on the barge the way Space X tried to present. Whatever, that’s nitpicking. I get to fly a fairly new SR 22 and it’s the same idea as Crew Dragon. I handle the launch and recovery/landing Perspective + takes care of the part in the middle.
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June 2020
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I’m curious what you mean about the Stage I recovery? Looked OK to me and I watched a video of the barge arriving in Port Canaveral yesterday … all seemed well ???
"… a native Floridian … " …you belong in the Smithsonian
June 2020
Sorry, but the live feed was interrupted, and Of Course I Still Love You…
can be seen on YouTube doing what some barges are now doing that other barges can only dream of…
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June 2020
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I too remember the HP-35. A wealthy housemate acquired one of the first on the market. It could calculate any number raised to any exponent!!! The gold standard for every slide rule jockey. Still remember the lost art of entering data into the registers using “reverse Polish”.
After a night of hard drinking someone challenged him to test the calculator by throwing out the 4th floor window of a Boston brownstone. Drugs, sex and alcohol - the future belonged to those who could tell the difference.
June 2020
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Live stream is lost on the majority of barge landings. Nothing unusual.
