Apollo 13

[Giant Communist Robot]

Among the Chinese dialects my personal favorite would be Cantonese--I like the way it sounds and it is the dialect of "clever speakers." It seems like almost anything said in Cantonese comes out in some clever form.

Whichever dialect anyone chooses to learn, the written language should be included too, 'cause all the dialects use the same one. I have been using Tuttle's HSK books; volume one will get you through to understand about 70% of ordinary text. It's helpful to have some of that special paper with the squares on it--if you look at the Tuttle book you'll see what I mean--to practice writing. If you can't buy it, you can make a template on your computer and print copies or photocopy it.

It has been a thrilling experience when my wife was able to read some of the characters I wrote (unfortunately I don't have the advantage of an informant here, my wife refuses to help me learn). I like to go to Chinatown and try to read signs. Sometimes even if you can't read the character you can get an idea just from the radical. It's great fun.

[Haggis@wk]

When America's space shuttle program ends in September, the U.S. will be completely dependent on Russian rockets for transport into space. But what will happen to American astronauts if U.S.-Russian relations sour?

I consider this kind of dependence so repugnant that I want to throw up. Gad! It's come to this, we'll beg (and pay hansomely, $55MIL a person) the Russians to take our astronauts in orbit. I'm very fearful that we won't see another government manned space program in my lifetime, we'll just surrender space to the Russians, Chinese and Indians - maybe the civilians companies can start a private program.

[jamiebk]

maybe the civilians companies can start a private program.

They already have.

[dai bread]

I had my doubts about the govt.-funded program every time I saw those rows of people working computers during launch procedures. What were they doing? Anything useful? Do they exist in the private programs? I haven't seen any pictures from the private sector.

[BigJon]

There are rumors that Constellation will go private if Congress cuts funding. Only rumors at this point.

[Haggis@wk]

I think manned space exploration is one of the very few legitimate purposes for government. Obama just doomed our human dominance in space, which we had for 50 years. By the end of this year we will have no way to get into earth orbit. We’re going to have to hitch a ride on the Russians who are charging us extraordinary rates and are only going to increase that.

All the private stuff [launching humans into space] is complete speculation. What we're ceding is the certainty of access into space. We are not going to have it. The Russians will have it. The Chinese will have it. The Indians will have it.

We spent tens of billions on the space station and spent three decades in constructing it. We're not going to have any way to get there. And within the next two decades we'll look up and see a lunar base but there won't be any Americans on it. Please let this idiot be a one-term president. He doesn't want America to be exceptional; he does want America to be the same as Andorra. Obama is a Third World anthropologist who has cleverly infiltrated our culture. He is deeply and fiercely hostile to the American proposition of exceptionalism. He hates the United States and is going to "put us in our place".

[piqaboo]

I truely dont understand the timing. Why kill the one program you have before you have one to replace it?
Why make yourself dependent on 'the kindness of strangers' when you dont have to?

[Haggis@wk]

There have been at least four rescue missions to the Hubble telescope.....there won't be any more. God, I'm depressed

[BigJon]

I truely dont understand the timing. Why kill the one program you have before you have one to replace it?
Why make yourself dependent on 'the kindness of strangers' when you don't have to?

Because the shuttles are living on borrowed time. NASA is scared to death of another shuttle disaster based on accumulated service time and various well-known systemic weaknesses. Although the official reason given is that congress doesn't give NASA enough money to both fly the shuttle and do a full-bore effort at designing of the next system.

A rumor did roil our company last week that NASA was going to add four more shuttle flights to the agenda. Haven't heard anything since.

[Haggis@wk]

America’s future in space, [url=http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/28/science/space/28space.html?ref=Instapundit]with an asterisk.[/uel]

Foreigners now make up 40 percent of the visitors at the space center, and Mr. Larson said they often knew more than Americans about the benefits of space exploration, from satellites to research on antibiotics.

As he prepared for another countdown, and another presentation about the future, Mr. Larson added, “The thirst for knowledge just isn’t there anymore.”

Decadence.

[Haggis@wk]

Dog on the menu for Chinese astronauts

I’m not exactly wishing he’ll crash on his next mission, but that said…..

[Shapley]

Poor Astro!

[Haggis@wk]

Obama’s new mission for NASA: Reach out to Muslim world

Actually as far as I can tell NASA’s new goal involves almost everything except space.

[Haggis@wk]

Rand Simberg:

Key observation:

“The House bill awaiting action would give twice as much money to Russia for transporting astronauts and cargo to the space station as it would give to U.S. companies working to build that capacity.”

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

I revisited that NASA page, two posts up, and I've got a question. What happened between JFK and Obama? How did the definition of "space" get so much smaller, and so twisted?

Muslim world. Make them feel good about their "scientific accomplishments". Well, they invented the zero - that was a major mathematical improvement. Decimal system: yeah. Much better than Roman numerals. Biology: they breed good horses, goats, and camels. Agriculture: Okay, lemme think here, coffee and hashish?

Space? Nothing comes to mind. Engineering in general? Inventions? Developments?

[lliam]

Selma, I thought the Zero was invented in India by some hindu guy?

[jamiebk]

Wiki says this: The Hindu-Arabic numerals and the positional number system were introduced around 500 AD, and in 825 AD, it was introduced by a Persian scientist, Khwarizmi,[5] in Khwarizmi's book on arithmetic. This book synthesized Greek and Hindu knowledge and also contained his own fundamental contribution to mathematics and science including an explanation of the use of zero.

It was only centuries later, in the 12th century, that the Arabic numeral system was introduced to the Western world through Latin translations of his Arithmetic.

It also gives a long history of cultures using "place savers" as zeros going back to Babylonian times

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

Okay. I'll have to take the decimal system and the zero off the list.

That leaves the goats, camels, hash, and coffee. I truly appreciate the coffee. I don't know many techie-geeky-engineer types that don't enjoy some caffeine from time to time (although I know a few who consume it exclusively in cold canned concoctions).

The hash and the coffee may be the muslim world's great contributions to the universe at large.

I need one of those C8H10N4O2 Tee-shirts that thinkgeek sells. Really. Gotta go check if they've got 'em for fat ladies.

[jamiebk]

Okay. I'll have to take the decimal system and the zero off the list.

That leaves the goats, camels, hash, and coffee. I truly appreciate the coffee. I don't know many techie-geeky-engineer types that don't enjoy some caffeine from time to time (although I know a few who consume it exclusively in cold canned concoctions).

The hash and the coffee may be the muslim world's great contributions to the universe at large.

I need one of those C8H10N4O2 Tee-shirts that thinkgeek sells. Really. Gotta go check if they've got 'em for fat ladies.

http://www.zazzle.com/c8h10n4o2+tshirts 2XL is the largest.

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

I was browsing around thinkgeek's tee-shirt collection. Hooray! They've got Madame Curie on Raspberry Pink, and it's a really attractive graphic of one of my MAJOR heros. As well as caffeinated marshmallows, which is a concept I've got to think about for a while...