As far as "keel over" vs "heel over", t’s probably just likely that that’s how he conversationally is communicating the word (to be honest, to me personally it seems more awkward to use a term like a boat “heeling over”) — even if it’s not quite precise in the literal definition of the word.

I think you’re mistaken, as the term is most definitely “keel over”. The keel of a boat is the big fin sticking straight out the bottom to help keep the dry side dry and the wet side wet (resists rolling motions). Hence, rolling the boat is called “keeling over” because your keel is now above you and all your wet,…

I used to have a 2001 Audi A4, and the check engine light was a way of life. It came on for everything. The oxygen sensors. The gas cap. If it was raining. To remind you about endangered animals. When you were singing. When you were driving on dirt. When you had forgotten your grocery list.

Oh, shit. Sorry! I did delete your SS# from the draft, if that helps. Should I add it back in?

This is actually so accurate it hurts.

all we need to do is copy the Russian method of having autonomous docking systems on station modules that have integrated propulsion systems.

It was early in the design phase of the program. It’s questionable whether the current incarnation of the shuttle could pull it off. Re-entry from a lunar return trajectory puts more stress on the heat shields, air frame and crew than low earth orbit. It’s right at the design limit for the (now former) fleet. One of…

Yup, and boy would it work. 175 tonnes in LEO! A lot more than even the Saturn V was capable of.

“Would have?” The United States already had a heavy-lift rocket with five times the payload capacity of the Shuttle.

We wouldn’t have the ISS or the Hubble if it weren’t for the shuttle, among other very important things.

Challenger happened because an o-ring in one of the solid rocket boosters froze in the abnormally cold January air, allowing extremely hot gases to blow a hole in the external tank, igniting the hydrogen. The Energia booster doesn’t have solid rocket boosters. In their place are liquid fueled boosters which can be…

Sadly, the Soviet’s battlestation was never FULLY OPERASHUNAL!

It’s hard to say how reliable it would have been day-to-day since it only flew twice, but the four boosters on the Energia stack went on to have a very successful career as the Zenit launcher.

That’s why I put that “in theory” in. :-)

“Most people assume the Soviet space shuttles were just a cheap knockoff of the American shuttles because the orbiters look really, really similar.”

That was the theory, but I think in practice the expense of overhauling them every time negated most of the cost advantage. Probably would have been cheaper to just through them away everytime, and probably an engine designed for single use would be cheaper in the first place. If nothing else, the economies of scale…

The other theory on the external similarity of the Shuttle and Buran is Soviet military brass insisting on external similarity to keep military parity.

Thanks for writing about this. The defining characteristic about Singapore’s personality, for me at least, is its fanatical worshiping at the temple of almighty Capitalism. As its most ardent devotee, it has done quite well for itself - for some people, and not for others.

While it’s fairly inexpensive to visit there,…

No apologies needed, I think it’s important to discuss the points that you bring up. Like most cities and nations around the world, Singapore is a complex and divided place.

Sorry, it’s becoming depressingly common in certain circles to see people argue that Singapore is a good model to follow without realising that their claims aren’t actually true.