Carl Sagan

At some point in the next 9 hours we're hoping to have a test flight. Right now the Starship hasn't been fuelled, and I'm imagine it won't be until this evening. The cutoff is midnight UK time.

You can watch the buildup at:

A heads up that Starship SN10 is finally ready to launch, and if everything goes to plan there will be an attempt today (Wednesday 3rd March). Will it be third-time lucky with the landing?

In other news, Elon Musk has applied to change the name of Boca Chica Village in Clarkson County, Texas, where the Starship yard is being created, to call it Starbase, Texas instead:

I'm in an apartment building with a basement carpark (with no existing charging mechanism set up) so installing a home-charging system would be a real pain (how could it even be metered?). I'm waiting until the building management sorts something out rather than offer to pay myself. In the meanwhile, if anyone lives in London there's a great rental option on EVs through a company called ufodrive that I'd recommend. https://www.ufodrive.com/en/

7 hours ago, RamNut said:

So?

He's our youngest ever player and our youngest ever goalscorer. Yes it didn't work out, but I'm interested in hearing how he does at the same level we're playing at. That sort of thing is surely what this section is for?

For those interested here's his goal, plus a decent headed attempt and a chance not taken to equalize again near the end:

https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/competitions/championship/12230869/barnsley-2-1-millwall

1 hour ago, Wolfie said:

 

Seeing as you two are the Bladerunner experts....

I saw it on TV when I was a teenager (and enjoyed it) but have not re-visited it until now.

Which is the best version to watch?. I've got the "Final Cut" recorded on my TV box but there seem to be a few different versions to choose from on other platforms. I want to re-watch the original before I see the 2049 version.

I suspect it must have been the original theatrical version I saw first time around.

There are 3 main versions: original release, director's cut and final cut. The standard nowadays would definitely be to watch the Final Cut as the way Ridley-Scott most wanted it to be.

I have a soft spot for the original release as the only one that has Harrison Ford's voiceover to explain what's going on. The drawl that begins, "They don't advertise for killers in a newspaper...". As well as imposing the voiceover, the original theatrical release missed out one scene that's key to a particular interpretation of the film and that would fit with the original Philip K Dick book.

The Director's Cut removed the voiceover and reinstated the missing scene, and IIRC lost a bit of the original ending.

The main thing I could see in the Final Cut revolved around the famous Rutger Hauer rooftop scene. In the original and in the Director's Cut, part of this was belatedly shot on an industrial estate in Swindon and is entirely out of keeping with the look and feel of the movie, so just jars horribly. When I first saw the Director's Cut I couldn't believe it was still in there. In the Final Cut this has been done properly so you don't notice.

I love the thought of a double bill of the Final Cut followed by 2049. I might treat myself to that one of these days!

28 minutes ago, 86 Hair Islands said:

I really liked Inception but I think it's one of those films that requires a little 'work' from the viewer. For me that's fine and I think the balance was right whereas with Tenet I felt it was not. I've not seen Eternal Sunshine and I've no idea why. Blade Runner I never got to see in a cinema but I remember a group of us hanging out in London one summer holiday when we were kids and renting 5 movies from Video Shuttle on the Fulham Road which was one of, if not the first video rental outlet in the UK. Along with Blade Runner, one of the others was Alien, another Ridley Scott movie and they are still very much both on my desert island list with Blade Runner being my favourite ever sci-fi by a stretch.

My home life was difficult at that time so I was staying in Wandsworth at the home of a pal whose father was a very well respected Director of Photography who worked with Ridley Scott on a couple of movies including his breakout movie, The Duellists. I think it was Ridley's first feature? A few years later I started work in a London production company and two or three years after that I became a union accredited clapper loader, or second assistant camera in modern speak. It was one of the happiest times of my life. My roundabout point, if you've not nodded off yet being that it was Blade Runner that lit the fire so to speak and I still watch it every couple of years to this day. Absolutely, spine-tinglingly wondrous and every bit as good today as it was then. 

Fantastic story. I've not seen the Duellists so might take a look over the weekend. Yes you have to see Eternal Sunshine. Charlie Kaufman's finest hour, even ahead of Synecdoche New York? And did you ever do Alien War at the Trocadero? The first immersive cinematic experience I had, so far ahead of its time.

I really liked that Blade Runner 2049 was not at all what I expected, but a beautiful and beautifully paced story. What does it mean to be a human, for the Ana de Armas character, was very clever. At least it didn't ruin the original movie.

Are you still in the industry? 

On 04/02/2021 at 14:14, JoetheRam said:

Inception is the most overrated film I've ever seen. Just completely "Dr Who's" it's way through by introducing some magical way of solving a problem in the plot out of nowhere. But it looks pretty. 

Not seen the others you mention. 

I like Terminator 1 & 2 I suppose.

The Martian was good for the first half and then just got stupid.

They're the two (three) that I could watch again. Can't think of any others I like. Just find it very hard to suspend all belief in reality which is required with most of these films.

 

Inception vies with Blade Runner and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind for the (much sought after) prize of my favourite movie. I'm saddened when people don't enjoy it. I try to tell people Eternal Sunshine is also sci-fi as it's about erasing your memory if you want to forget something or rather someone, but most people just think of it as a love story. Highly recommend to you and anyone who's not seen it.

8 hours ago, DarkFruitsRam7 said:

It would be funny if Dark Fruits was secretly the most heavenly drink in the entire Universe, perhaps scientifically designed to create a sensation of unparalleled exquisite bliss in the Human brain, only for so many of us to ever taste these delights. Perhaps I should give it a go one time, just to be sure?

5 hours ago, DarkFruitsRam7 said:

Mayo on chips is something I’ve never understood. 

If you drink Dark Fruits you clearly have a lot to learn about good taste :D

Thinking of past gigs and wishing I could go to present ones. Used to go and see British Sea Power at every opportunity. They would end their shows with the beautiful song "Lately", but a very extended version. Sets were adorned by foliage, the band often in World War I fatigues. And as the number progressed they would often be joined on stage by surprise (if you didn't know what was coming) guests. I loved this gig at Shepherd's Bush Empire. There's one such visitor at the 8 minute mark if you make it that far. And another from 11:45. Beautiful lyrics:

"And you know how they say
The past is a foreign country
How can we go there?
How can we go where we once went?"

I do really want to go to a place where there are gigs again:

4 hours ago, richinspain said:

Have you tried this one?

 

Fantastic! Didn't realize he was doing this. 

Fish on Friday, anyone?

Did no else make pancakes? 

I did savoury then sweet. Here we have buttermilk pancakes topped with shallots, woodland mushrooms, streaky bacon and maple syrup. 

Very good in the FA Cup tonight. Alex Scott had prepared a whole analysis package to highlight how well he'd done, but Leon Osman talked too much so she didn't have time to show it!

I don't think Insta links embed, but here's some impressive tekkers from the young man if you want to take a look:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CLCnG8VjPX0/

I do think young Mason needs a thread on here. What might have been if he'd been able to stay fit for us? I maintain it was playing against his home club Chelsea while already injured, and making it much worse, that was the turning point of our season. He took a long time to recover from that. But I like his loyalty to the Rams since. He will always remember his season with us. A shame it didn't end in glory.

Lovely finish at the weekend. On the field in the Premier League against Bogle and Lowe. Very much looking the part as an essential England midfielder of the future:

I dabble in screenwriting and have a writing partner who flits between Berlin and California. She recommended something called DARK to me which is a German show that's now on Netflix, with subtitles. I'm very busy at the moment, so just watched the first episode, but liked it a lot. Great atmosphere and sound design. It's in a remote German village where a kid has gone missing.

There's obviously going to be a fair amount of playing around with time as it proceeds (I think there are three series). In this first episode a young kid is doing a conjuring trick at the dinner table and someone asks him "how did you do that?" His response is something like, "The question isn't how did I do it. The question is when did I do it."

I fed back that I thought the show had very much the feel of a modern day Twin Peaks and my writing partner said that was exactly the vibe.

Looked back a few pages on here, but haven't found mention of It's A Sin (C4). Genuinely think it's been superb, with the pacing just right. You can binge watch all episodes, but I'm old-fashioned so quite like waiting a week for the next one, so have only done the first three so far.

It's shocking to me that, although I lived through those times, so much of it passed me by. 

It's not all doom and gloom. The show's a good mix of exuberance and uncertainty. Not sure how many episodes there are in total. Though characters keep dying off so it can't go on for that long.

To land Starship, 2 Raptor engines need to reignite and perform properly. On both landing attempts so far, 1 of those engines has failed, leading to the crash and explosion. 

The new workaround to try on the next prototype is to relight all 3 engines. If all 3 relight successfully, this provides too much upward thrust so the one delivering the least torque would quickly be shut down again. But if there are 2 working engines, then Bob's your uncle and there's a chance to land upright on the pad. 

Ultimately the goal is to have the raptors become so reliable that they never fail, but this seems like a sensible insurance policy. 

Here's the official SpaceX feed of the SN9 prototype launch, belly flop and failed (but spectacular) landing:

You'll see the tenth prototype, SN10 beside it on a second launchpad. Now attention switches to that and whether it can land successfully. 

9 hours ago, Uptherams said:

The long term plan isn't landing on legs. They want to remove that additional weight so the payload can be larger. Catching them with the launch tower arm. 

Though that's not for Starship, this smaller upper stage. It's the choice for the much larger lower section, the Super Heavy booster, that they'll catch with the launch tower and titanium grid fins, leaving it hanging. An amazing idea! 

1 hour ago, SIXTEEN AGAIN said:

That may be a bit of a set back, landing control on seems a bit difficult to achieve.

Do you know when SN10 will be kitted and ready to go?

If that doesn't work as well i can see them needing a format  for a conventional wheeled landing.

 

What they are trying to do is immense though, straight outta a Sci Fi movie.

SN10 is on the launchpad but needs engines installing. It will be ready for launch within a fortnight unless they decide to make modifications. 

It seemed one of the engines broke apart on restart. But why was that? Was it just faulty, or are the stresses of the flip manoeuvre too high? 

There's not the slightest chance of a wheeled landing. This has got to nail it on Mars without runways so comes in vertically. Several years ago I did suggest the same to their Head of Rocket landing and he told me no chance, because Mars is the only thing that matters to them. But he nailed it for Falcon9 and I'm sure will for Starship. 

Launch attempt right now. Tune in if you  want to see history being made!

Today, it  was confirmed the FAA finally gave approval, though there's lots more to  come out about what's been going on. Elon Musk announced he's going off Twitter for a while, probably so he doesn't publicly lambast the FAA and get into trouble. The FAA claim that SpaceX launched SN8 (the first high-altitude prototype flight) without full permission, but the space launch community is highly sceptical of that claim given SpaceX launches more rockets than anyone else in the world by miles, and then some, so it doesn't seem credible that a launch happened without permission.

Anyway, the first attempt at a launch of SN9 is today, probably in around an hour or so. Well worth watching, with a supercool beginning given there are currently two Starships on neighbouring pads right now. What a sight. Lots of other Starships, each better than the last, being built in the spaceship-yard up the road.

There are lots of different live streams, but currently I'm watching this one:

1 hour ago, Carl Sagan said:

A little uncertain but it seems the FAA (Federal Aviation Authority) won't approve today's flight. It's unclear if they'll let the Starship fly tomorrow. Odd when SN8 conducted such a controlled test flight. There are rumours it's to do with SpaceX replacing two if the engines on the vehicle.

Unconfirmed rumours the FAA have given last-minute approval and a launch attempt is expected within 10 minutes.