10 Short Videos #6279

10 Short Videos #6279

1. Starting a 102.4 litre engine
2. This Is What Raw Copper Looks Like
3. Craw-Kid Learns You A Lesson
4. NASA Made This Space Station Room Grow in Orbit
5. That's quite the way to get rid of a fire.
6. ATM skit
7. Drilling Operation Oil ang Gas
8. How Astronauts Recycle Water? 👨‍🚀
9. Tiny pieces of glass can end up in the medication after opening an ampule. So what do we do!?
10. This 3D Printer Makes Flexible Chainmail in One Print

Funnies

Daytime Aurora

Auroral oval captured by SMILE shows the northern lights dancing on both the night and day side of Earth. (Image credit: ESA & CAS/Smile/UVI, Background added in Canva Pro.)

From Space.com:

Captured by the Solar Wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer, or SMILE, the footage reveals the full ring of auroral activity encircling Earth's north pole in ultraviolet light, stretching across both the night and day sides of our planet. That means we can see auroras glowing on Earth's dayside — activity that would usually be lost in the glare of the sun.

Artist's impression of the SMILE spacecraft as of May 2020 (image credit: CAS/ESA)

The big yellow tanks on the right are fuel tanks for the rocket motor that will boost it its initial orbit to its working orbit.

From eoPortal:

SMILE is equipped for remote-sensing observations of the magnetosphere and its surroundings, imaging of Earth's auroras, and in situ measurements of the solar wind plasma and magnetic field – simultaneously.

This multi-faceted goal shapes the spacecraft's orbital parameters. SMILE must reach a high enough altitude to view the outside edge of Earth's magnetopause and at the same time obtain good spatial resolution of the auroral oval.

The chosen orbit is therefore highly elliptical and highly inclined (70 or 98 degrees depending on launcher), and takes SMILE a third of the way to the Moon at apogee (an altitude of 121 182 km, or 19 RE [Radius of Earth]). This type of orbit enables SMILE to spend much of its time (about 80%, equivalent to nine months of the year) at high altitude, allowing the spacecraft to collect continuous observations for longer periods of time. This orbit also limits the time spent in the high-radiation Van Allen belts, and in the two toroidal belts.

121,182 km is 75,000 miles with is about three times as high as geosynchronous satellites.

SMILE's operational orbit

P. S. Some Russian communications satellites used the Molniya Orbit, a very eccentric orbit.

Fighters

Hawker Typhoon Mk. IB
Four 20mm cannon + rockets

Yakovlev Yak-9 T
Armed with a 37 mm cannon

Hawker Typhoon
Might be a type A armed with 30 caliber guns. 20 mm cannons have protruding barrels.

Dead Lagoon an Aurelio Zen Mystery by Michael Dibdin

Dead Lagoon an Aurelio Zen Mystery by Michael Dibdin

Google's translation of Goodreads blurb (which is in German for some reason):

A special assignment for Aurelio: he is tasked with investigating the disappearance of a wealthy American resident in his hometown of Venice. The inspector immerses himself in the mysterious city of his past, once again succumbing to its morbid allure. When a skeleton is discovered near the lagoon island owned by the American, Aurelio Zen believes he sees a connection. Yet, in the hazy light of Venice, things only reveal their true nature at second glance.

A well connected old woman in Venice is being harassed by mysterious nighttime visitors. Her complaints reach Rome and Aurelio finds himself assigned to investigate. The old woman's complaints are sketchy at best, so Aurelio looks around and starts wondering about the missing American. The illegal drug trade is alive and well and when a couple of people turn up dead, Aurelio now has something to sink his teeth into. Looking for a missing package of heroin, they discover the body of the missing American, except it turns out he wasn't an American but bona-fide war criminal from the other side of the Adriatic - Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia, that mess.

Meanwhile there is a populist political movement underway and Aurelio manages to get crosswise with a couple of players, mostly because of personality. Towards the end of the book we have a long foot chase (15 pages) that goes all over Venice. It's weird because there doesn't seem to be any point to it. It was so weird I made note of all the places they pass and then marked them on map. Now I'm wondering if maybe that was the whole point.

Dead Lagoon by Michael Dibdin

Spreadsheet of place names and page numbers.

I've read a few other books by Michael Dibdin.

10 Short Videos #6278

10 Short Videos #6278

1. The mistake that accidentally made RC cars popular
2. Love when the cube finally fits in the middle 🎉
3. THIS COULD SAFE YOUR LIFE - CHAINSAW SAFETY CHECK!
4. Krew and Karis in hog showmanship Day 2 at Cow Palace!!
5. Udah Hati-hati, Eh...Kena Tackle Motor Lain - I was careful, but...I got tackled by another motorbike.
6. When Companies Made Work Safer Than Everyday Life to Avoid Being Sued
7. Why Every Product Should Be Designed For Disabled
8. That's how u run Shine
9. Old elevators were truly engeneering masterpiece.
10. The destroyer USS Dewey buries its bow in the waves beside a carrier

Funnies