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Zoroaster

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Zoroaster
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  • Re: Just for fun - pictures

    Among pilot astronauts, I'd agree. Joe Engle deserves an honorable mention, as the only one who ever flew the Shuttle by hand all the way through re-entry and landing.
    BourneAgainNeverSleptOnTheCouchGeekengineerSmashmasterSaigoTakamoriSignorePillolaRossa42andatowelCrashaxe
  • Re: Dealing with the Depressed Spouse Contemplating Suicide

    I'll second what Hilda said, having run a few laps 'round that track myself. Mrs. Z has had chronic depression all her adult life. It's manageable with medication, just like any chronic condition. You (collectively) have to stay on top of it, though ... again, just like any other chronic condition. Also, given that it's heritable, you should be aware that the probability exists that one or both children will develop it at some point.

    Captaining the Black Dog is a damned hard course, but it can be done.

    BlueWolf
  • Re: Just for fun - pictures

    AlexZ said:
    The Optimist says the glass is half full. The Pessimist says it's half empty. The Pragmatist says the glass is twice as big as it needs to be. But while these three were distracted by their argument, the Opportunist drank the rest.
    Tiger_LilyAlexZShepardamblrgirlJellyBeanMariaTennee
  • Re: What is your Mission?

    I saw TV coverage of one of the last Apollo missions, and five-year-old me knew what he wanted to be when he grew up. The bug bit -- HARD.

    On the plus side, it's given organization and direction to my life. I don't spend a whole lot of time wondering what I ought to be doing. The exact vision has changed, but the sense of direction and purpose never left.

    On the minus side, it CAN distort your life if you let it.

    The trick is to find the sweet spot -- the balance point -- between the two. That's a pretty splendid place to be.
    ScarletTemplarJellyBean
  • Re: Just for fun - pictures



    Turns out, there's a story behind this picture...

    "And prior to (the) Mercury (program) we hadn't any real experience at all. We flew transport planes in parabolic courses (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vomit_comet) that might give as much as 30 seconds of almost-zero-g, and that was all we knew. I will not soon forget some of our early low-g experiments. Some genius wanted to know how a cat oriented: visual cues, or a gravity sensor? The obvious way to find out was to take a cat up in an airplane, fly the plane in a parabolic orbit, and observe the cat during the short period of zero-g.

    "It made sense. Maybe. It didn't make enough that anyone would authorize a large airplane for the experiment, so a camera was mounted in a small fighter (perhaps a T-bird; I forget), and the cat was carried along in the pilot's lap. A movie was made of the whole run.

    "The film, I fear, doesn't tell us how a cat orients. It shows the pilot frantically trying to tear the cat off his arm, and the cat just as violently resisting. Eventually the cat was broken free and let go in mid-air, where it seemed magically (teleportation? or not really zero gravity in the plane? no one knows) to move, rapidly, straight back to the pilot, claws outstretched. This time there was no tearing it loose at all. The only thing I learned from the film is that cats (or this one anyway) don't like zero gravity, and think human beings are the obvious point of stability to cling to..."

    -- Jerry E. Pournelle, Ph.D.
    CrashaxeSaigoTakamoriAdam_Sr9stoneEliseTiger_LilyAlexZJellyBeanfrillyfunRorschachGeekengineerBourneAgainCartB4HorseAthol_KayAlphaBelleMaterStellieAngelineshibariSmashmaster