Somewhat surprisingly, quite a few pilots are scared of heights, including myself. Flying doesn’t seem to trigger it at all.

Endurance is one of the most important flight planning considerations. That won’t change with an electric plane.

Only very large aeroplanes have the capability of dumping fuel. We’re talking Boeing or Airbus 33o. Not even a Boeing 737 or Airbus 320 has fuel dumping capability. General aviation planes certainly do not have it.

The E-Fan dramatically improves safety by totally eliminating flammable aviation fuel from the equation. Fewer combustibles onboard an E-Fan significantly reduces the risk of injury or death for pilots, passengers, first responders and others.

that scene of Pratt manfully guiding the Raptor pack on his bike does not become any less hilarious in context

As others have mentioned, nowhere near vertical.

You mean pitch angle, not angle of attack.

Because the Saturn V was a crash program and is now 50 years old. Starting from scratch at this point would yield a more efficient and less costly vehicle.

That’s an enduring myth, but a myth nonetheless.

They did not lose the plans. That is a myth. They are still stored in multiple locations, including the US National Archives.

The mill doesn’t have to be that big. The propulsion requirements for climbing out of a gravity well and for transferring from orbit to orbit are rather different.

This is the sound I’m making right now:
SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is actually pretty similar to what you get when the average astronaut is tasked by press relations to make a video. They’re not all Chris Hadfield and it is often quite cringeworthy.

It is probably the point. If you listen to most NASA stuff similar to this it always tends to be a bit cheesy. My theory is that astronauts talk like normal people but it is a bit hard when you have the combination of a large audience that probably includes children and a public affairs office that wants you to be,…

Fair point.

Haha indeed.

Agreed.

Full points for Catan reference.

Or alternatively, “... they are so ugly that the ground repels them.”

When talking helicopters, it is important to separate the concept of engine (the bit that supplies power) from rotor (the bit that supplies lift). The engine(s) drive the rotor(s).