FMC 3.0

I know, i’ve been slacking. At least I’m a little more active than some of the friends I link to.

So I don’t know how I forgot to mention it 2 weeks ago, but Discovery was back in orbit. The launch (while delayed a bit because of weather) went perfectly. CNN’s coverage even had a nifty infographic as it went up, showing you how high and how far the shuttle was. Discovery pulled of 3 EVAs while up there, and did some repairs to the ISS. They even practiced orbiter repairs in orbit, but they weren’t needed, as Discovery was completely uninjured on take off. In fact, random seagull droppings survived the trip into space. They completed their tests, dropped off supplies at the ISS, dropped off and astronaut at the ISS, and then came home on Tuesday. The landing went fine, though there was one concern - a leak in an auxiliary power unit. It wasn’t a biggie, and was fine the entire way down. If it had been an issue, they’d have needed to manually lower the landing gear. That’s gotta be a fun job, considering it involves pyrotechnic charges on the orbiter to get the doors open.

The computer model recreation of the C5 crash a while back has hit the net, I’ll try to get a copy uploaded. It’s strange to watch an accident recreated that way. It’s also kinda nuts how much data the flight recorders actually record. You’ll see what I mean if you see it.

I spent part of Saturday in Harrisburg, PA, doing something completely out of my element - I was attending an Irish Dancing competition my Cousin was involved in. While I’m no stranger to competitions in general, I was completely at a loss as to how things worked. That feeling was soon pushed away by how amazed I was at what a bunch of kids could do. I know i’ve never moved like that. Ever.

Israel has completely lost its damn mind. And the american news services just continue to show the same things over and over. What I don’t get is how this can be worth 24/7 news coverage, where things just like this have been happening in other parts of the world (the ones we tend not to remember)  for years, and they don’t get that kind of coverage. I mean, the genocides in Africa, or terrorist attacks in Asia, which have killed more people than the 200 ish in that little, little slice of the world. I don’t get it. On top of that, the area they’re fighting in? Completely barren desert wasteland. I don’t care if God said you could have it, I’d give it back. Or be pissed that I got guaranteed such a shitty little part of this rock. Personally, I don’t want to get involved in this one, though I don’t see that happening, at least, nothing without military involved. I like the fact that the only thing our marines are doing is getting people the fark out dodge.

Oh, at somewhere a while back, Nighthawk cleared 28000 miles. It was a while ago, so I’m prolly getting close to 29K.

Oh, and I know I promised a Superman Returns review/summary. It’s still coming. I promise.