leicsmac

Do read what happened to Al Shepard on his first Mercury flight.

Yep, both volume and mass are at a premium when it comes to spaceflight. Perhaps, when we develop tech to get more mass to orbit more easily, those brave pioneers won't have to step over the bogs as they enter their spacecraft.

Put it this way; when even the Daily Mail are calling you "highly disagreeable" in their comment column even though you're a leader who's doing things they might like, then perhaps you're pushing things a little bit.

All has gone pretty much as well as it could. Hopefully they will be go for the burn to take them to the Moon sometime today.

Sweeping statement it may be, that's not to say that the idea hasn't been harmful to quite a few other places (yes, people can feel free to quote WWII at me as one of the very few positive exceptions) or that it isn't potentially and actually harmful to the UK now.

All systems nominal, couple of minutes from main engine cutoff. Magnificent.

T- minus 10 minutes, final go poll completed!

Looks like they have sorted the FTS problem, range has given go signal.

Would be a better idea to have all American entrants submit valid and full vaccination records before entering the UK. Something that is a shorter measure than closing airspace and has justification (an RFK run Department of Health clearly doesn't adhere to the health standards for disease prevention that the UK does or expects).

Launching from the same pad Apollo 10 did, too. That's agreeable symmetry.

Crew now arriving at the launch complex. Getting a very warm welcome.

Speaking of which (but not UK related)... https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/kristi-noem-husband-blackmail-national-security-b2949463.html The hypocrisy is staggering.

Is that even a question?

Honestly, if the future turns out to be a choice between The Expanse and Mad Max, I'll take the former any day of the week.

There really should be more hype and coverage, given the magnitude of the event. Sadly it's being rather overshadowed by people being shit to each other on a large scale.

And, as much as people would like to moan about Starmer, the harm Trump is causing is almost certainly more apparent, further reaching and longer lasting, to everyone. Including folks in the UK.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cyv1q59py4go Drawing some interesting parallels between the last time we went to the moon, and this time.

Also, closer to home, I wonder just how most of the staff at the Daily Mail feel, working for a paper currently following an editorial line blatantly in support of a foreign leader and the death of a great many people, both directly against the better interests of the UK.

Erudite, thank you. The only big hope, such as it is, is that given things move so quickly politically these days, when he and his lackeys do lose power (and may that day come soon before more harm is caused) the ideology he represents is quickly kicked into the long grass for a very, very long time - preferably for good. He represents all the worst, individualistic, knuckle-dragging, Might Makes Right, worst sentiments of our species, and quite apart from that being morally abhorrent, it also practically leads to no good end for us all.

Tbf England have beaten both Germany and the Netherlands recently in knockout matches at major tournaments. And at each of the last four tournaments, they've gone out to either the winner or the losing finalist. This England team does have more to it than ones in previous years imo. Whether they have enough to actually take that final step, who knows.

... because they view international relations as an abusive relationship where they can belittle and degrade and still get the "partner" to do what they want because they are more powerful than them. It's the job of the decent world to show that they are wrong.

In Tommy's direct defence here, he's stated pretty clearly that Trump is odious to him and that the exhaustion isn't because he's a fan of his. I do also think that quite a few people in the UK who at least tolerated the man are now realising just how toxic he and his ideology are to everything it touches, and are having what might be called a moment of clarity.

Artemis II finally due for launch tomorrow. The first time any human being will have gone beyond Earth orbit in nearly 55 years.

These are reasonable counterarguments tbf. I just hope it all gets ironed out sooner rather than later.

Fair arguments made, I just don't see the great wisdom in continuing a fight with an area of the public sector most involved in preserving human life.