Recent Posts

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Aviation & Space History / Re: Two Buran Shuttles Youtube video.

« Last post by LunarOrbit on January 20, 2018, 10:53:10 PM »

Yeah, I was kind of skeptical about their claim that they snuck in. But I try to never underestimate the stupidity of people on YouTube, so you never know.

It's too bad your opportunity to work there fell through. That would have been quite the experience!

Another great video about Buran showed up in my feed today:

https://youtu.be/XLOCQw5s9Uw

Sent from my SM-N920W8 using Tapatalk

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Aviation & Space History / Re: Two Buran Shuttles Youtube video.

« Last post by Satanic Mechanic on January 18, 2018, 03:05:14 PM »

LunarOrbit,
I totally agree with you on your museum statement.  I thought the coolest thing was when they entered the shuttles and were able to get into the back of the engines.  I was angry that they were picking at the insulation.

I do not believe that they sneaked into the Baikonur Cosmosdrome.  I have seen people post pictures of the shuttles in the past.  They are probably tourists that paid to stay there.  The guards would probably shoot you on site if they thought you were a looter.  Those vehicles and "guards" were probably their guides with their lunches!

I was going to do some on-site work in Kazakhstan a couple years ago, but it fell through (price of oil going down).  Anyway, I had to apply for a work visa with one of the consulates, I was shown a map of the country where foreigners are not allowed and Baikonur was one of those places.  I am sure that there are tourist and business permits to get to Baikonur if I asked.

Anyway, it was a cool video none the less.

SM

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Aviation & Space History / Re: Two Buran Shuttles Youtube video.

« Last post by LunarOrbit on January 18, 2018, 10:18:09 AM »

Wow! That's amazing.

They're in better condition than I expected, but still, it's a shame they aren't in pristine condition and on display in a museum.

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Aviation & Space History / Two Buran Shuttles Youtube video.

« Last post by Satanic Mechanic on January 12, 2018, 03:03:44 PM »

These guys took an amazing video of the two Buran Shuttles in storage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q7ZVXOU3kM

SM

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Entertainment / Re: Buzz Aldrins Space Program Manager

« Last post by Peyre on November 02, 2017, 10:08:07 AM »

Is it?  I'll have to remember that and avoid that capsule.  I agree, it's too bad the Kicker-C (or L3-1964 as it's termed in the original docs) isn't available in BASPM.  That's my favorite path when playing the USSR in RIS.  Speaking of which, I tried to motivate some of the old RIS programmers to get back into development a little, esp. since BASPM seems to have stopped development, but got little response.

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Entertainment / Re: Buzz Aldrins Space Program Manager

« Last post by Satanic Mechanic on November 01, 2017, 11:41:32 AM »

Welcome back Peyre!
Yes, I did the latest patch a couple months ago and it solved some issues, plus I got the Soviet Moon Rover too!  Plus the game continues even after you land on the Moon.  I do like the "Tiger Team" option.

I have finished the game a few times and I would like to see three add on scenarios: Space Station, Mars Mission and NERVA program.  That would extend out the game.

My only complaint is the three-man Soyuz is useless.  It would have been nice if they developed the Kicker-C for it.

SM

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Entertainment / Re: Gravity

« Last post by Peyre on October 31, 2017, 03:35:24 PM »

As far as accuracy goes, Hubble, ISS, and Tiangong-1 are all in grossly different orbits and there's no way that you could go from one to another without at least having a functional propulsion system and about two to three times as much fuel as the Shuttle or Soyuz typically launch with--and for any kind of damage beyond simple holes in the heat shield or cabin, there's a very narrow margin between "unable to reenter but propulsion still functional" and "propulsion not functional".

Not to mention that in orbital navigation, "point the way you want to go and turn on the thrust" doesn't get you where you need to go.  I'm willing to suspend disbelief on that though, since the movie is so very realistic in most ways.  What rubbed me the wrong way was that an experienced astronaut would consistently mispronounce Soyuz as "so-yez".

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Entertainment / Re: "Two Sides of the Moon" Book Review.

« Last post by Peyre on October 31, 2017, 03:31:12 PM »

I agree, SM.  This is a first-rate book.

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Entertainment / Re: Buzz Aldrin's Space Program Manager

« Last post by Peyre on October 31, 2017, 03:28:48 PM »

I just now noticed this thread!  I've missed out it seems.

I've played BASPM a bit myself, though I haven't finished a game yet.  I think its R&D model is superb, but the look and feel is (to me) less alluring, there's more micromanagement than I care for (managing mission control folks and so forth), and it's harder to keep track of your budget with more line items in dollars instead of fewer abstracted down to megabucks, and turns are quarterly instead of biannually.  Also the mission movies are basic CGI without too much focus on looking realistic.  But that's all personal preferences really.  What they've done is impressive.  Unfortunately they seem to have abandoned development on the game, but in case anyone needs the latest patch (and the www link on the previous page doesn't work), here's an ftp link to the patches: ftp://ftp.matrixgames.com/pub/BuzzAldrin'sSpaceProgramManager/

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General News / Re: You OK Ed?

« Last post by evancise on September 10, 2017, 06:34:31 AM »

I hope Irma loses power or veers away.

SM

I'm sitting in MCC tonight as Irma starts to come ashore in Florida.  At this point I think we just have to pray that all the right people evacuated and that the loss of life and property is kept to as minimal an extent as possible.