BDB: Slow clap for SpaceX; a woman goes berserk in 7-Eleven and what to do if you find a painted rock

Трансляция повторного пуска и посадки SpaceX Falcon 9 (SES-10)

SpaceX"s big accomplishment explained with... a Keurig. Jessica Saggio, FLORIDA TODAY

SpaceX made history last night by reusing a rocket booster. THIS IS A BIG DEAL, PEOPLE.(Photo: The awesome Craig Bailey and Jessica"s crappy paint skillz)

They did it! THEY REALLY DID IT!

Before we begin, can we all just take a minute to give SpaceX a slow clap?

SpaceX did it. The company reused a rocket booster to launch its Falcon 9 back into space with a communications satellite last night. I"ve been hyping this up all week.Why? Because SpaceX just changed the space industry, and for the better at that. By reusing a rocket booster, SpaceX proved to the world it can revolutionize space travel by significantly reducing the cost of launching stuff into the big, black beyond.

Here"s how I explain it:Imagine rockets are Keurig coffee machines, and the booster (or stage) is a K-cup. A Keurig isn"t much good without a K-cup (i.e. you need a booster to launch a rocket), but after you"re done with a k-cup, you just toss it out.

well, spacex basically just created a reusable K-cup. So imagine only havingto buy one K-cup that"s good for several cups of coffee. That"s pretty much what SpaceX achieved, but on a much grander scale.

This means more companies will likely have access to space because they"ll be able to afford it. In turn, thismeans better products, better connectivity and better intelligence for all of us.

Some not-so-lucky pennies

A woman who tried to pay for items with pennies became enraged when a clerk refused to accept them. Wochit

I was always under the assumption that money is money, right? That if you want to pay with 1,000 pennies, you are a tool, but its legal tender, so youre in the clear.

Yeah, apparently thats not the case. Businesses selling regular ol goods and services can reject your money if they see fit. This was the case at a 7-Eleven on Babcock Street in Melbourne and the rejection didnt sit so well with the woman who was trying to pay with a jar of pennies.

The woman picked up a few items at the gas station, but when she went to pay for them, she presented what police describe as an old, dirty jar of pennies.

According to reports, the store clerk wouldnt accept the payment, saying it was just too many pennies, not to mention the pennies were gross and gunked together. This is when the woman went bonkers, pushing and throwing items off the counter and threatening to kill the clerk. She then left the store and came back with two firearms.

Well, that escalated quickly.

Good news, she didnt fire those firearms. But she did leave in a white, four-door sedan and is on the loose. If caught, she could face aggravated assault and battery charges. So if you see a woman trying to pay with an old, gunked-up jar of pennies with a Sideshow Bob haircut, alert the authorities.

Keep an eye out for painted rocks

A pay-it-forward movement is underway in Brevard. People are decorating rocks for others to find. The goal? to brighten someone"s day Wochit

There is a really cool movement happening in Brevard right now. People are leaving painted rocks outside stores, restaurants, in parks and other public places for people to randomly find. The goal is to brighten someones day and, hopefully, they will pay it forward. Some of the rocks have inspirational sayings, others just have pretty pictures. Basically, its a big game of hide and seek happening. It all started with a Facebook group called Brevard Rocks. Anyone can join the group, and this is where people show off their latest creations and rocks they have found. If you find a rock, youll likely see Brevard Rocks painted on the back, telling you to visit the group. The unwritten rules are that if you find a rock, you either keep it and replace it somewhere with a new painted rock, or you move that rock to a new location once youre ready to part ways. Participants are encouraged to share their finds on Facebook so the movement grows.

So if you see a painted rock somewhere, thats why. Be cool. Keep it going.

This could be you:

A winning Fantasy 5 ticket was sold in Merritt Island and the winner has not come forward yet. So pull out that ticket and double check because it could be worth $53,485.61. The winning numberswere 3-10-19-20-25, and the drawing was Wednesday night. As for me, I"ll just be over here counting my dirty jar of gunked-up pennies.

McDonald"s big announcement

McDonald"s made the announcement to use 100 percent pure fresh beef in its Quarter Pounders. But social media users are not keeping it 100, having "beef" with McDonald"s latest decision. USA TODAY

McDonalds just announced that they will be using fresh beef in its hamburgerswell, some of them. Quarter Pounders, the Quarter Pounder with Cheese Deluxe and Signature Crafted Recipe burgers will now be made with fresh beef. Big Macs and other burgers will remain not fresh? With word of this news, McDonalds stockjumped 57 cents per share. Investors are apparently very excited about this. In other words:

McDonalds wont make the switch until next year in most of its U.S.-based restaurants. The company says the change is in response to customer demand and will likely encompass other sandwiches in the future. Company officials say the change has nothing to do with upping its game against such competitors as Shake Shack or Wendys. Rigggggght.

OK, so this is all well and great, but whats better is the legendary Wendys Twitter account didnt miss a beat. Talk about 50 shades of shade. The thread is full-on savage. Actually, I think Wendys is perhaps getting more attention for McDonalds announcement than McDonalds is on social media.

About BDB:

A quick snapshot that explains our Boiled Down Brevard column. By Jessica Saggio. Posted Aug. 9, 2016

Boiled Down Brevard is an irreverent daily news column that discusses Brevard"s biggest headlines and has a little fun along the way. Go ahead, hop on this crazy train because things get pretty weird around these parts. To get BDB daily, download the Florida Today app and allow notifications. We"ll send you an alert every morning to get your day started with a smile.

Read or Share this story: http://on.flatoday.com/2nGTa5P

Source: http://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/2017/03/31/bdb-slow-clap-spacex-woman-goes-berserk-7-eleven-and-what-do-if-you-find-painted-rock/99829640/

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Updates: SpaceX launches, lands "flight proven" Falcon 9 in historic first

Echostar XXIII Hosted Webcast

In a historic first for the company and the industry, SpaceX launched and landed a "flight proven," or refurbished, Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center on Thursday, March 30, 2017.(Photo: craig bailey/florida today)buy photo

spacex launched and landed its "flight proven" Falcon 9 rocket on Thursday in a historic first for rocket reusability.

See updates from the event below:

Read or Share this story: http://on.flatoday.com/2oE8QEn

Source: http://www.floridatoday.com/story/tech/science/space/2017/03/30/watch-live-historic-spacex-falcon9-rocket-launch-landing-kennedy-space-center-ses10-florida/99829196/

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SpaceNews.com � Safety panel cites concerns over SpaceX fueling ...

SpaceX lanza su cohete Falcon 9

WASHINGTON A NASA safety board recommended in its annual report that the agency closely study the safety issues associated with spacexs fueling plans for Falcon 9 commercial crew missions.

The annual report by the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP), released Jan. 11, raised the issue of what it calls the load and go approach planned by SpaceX to fuel the Falcon 9 rocket with liquid oxygen and kerosene propellants only after astronauts have boarded the Dragon spacecraft.

Traditionally, launch vehicles are fueled hours before launch, and only afterwards do crews board the spacecraft. However, SpaceX has shifted to an approach of fueling the rocket starting only about a half-hour before launch. That allows the company to use super-cooled liquid oxygen, which is denser and provides additional performance. However, it would require crews to board the Dragon prior to the start of fueling.

ASAP, in its report, noted that it is not clear how safe this approach is given the limited experience of the load and go approach. In this regard, the Panel is concerned that the dynamic thermal effects on the system associated with loading densified propellants may not be adequately understood, which results in a higher level of uncertainty that must be factored into the risk determination, it stated.

Another NASA advisory group, the International Space Station Advisory Committee, first raised concerns about the load and go approach in a December 2015 letter to NASA. The issue received new scrutiny when a Falcon 9 rocket exploded on the pad prior to a static-fire test Sept. 1 in advance of the scheduled launch of the Amos-6 communications satellite.

There is a unanimous, and strong, feeling by the committee that scheduling the crew to be on board the Dragon spacecraft prior to loading oxidizer into the rocket is contrary to booster safety criteria that has been in place for over 50 years, both in this country and internationally, Stafford wrote in the letter, which NASA released in November.

Stafford raised the issue again at an Oct. 31 meeting of this committee, when he complained that NASA had not responded to his original letter, even after the pad accident. The agency, in a later statement, said it was still evaluating NASAs plans for fueling the Falcon 9 for commercial crew launches, and would incorporate the results of the pad explosion investigation into that analysis.

SpaceX announced Jan. 2 that it had completed the investigation into the explosion. It blamed the accident on buckling of the aluminum liner of a composite overwrapped pressure vessel used to store helium in the rockets upper stage liquid oxygen tank. Liquid oxygen pooled in the gap between the liner and the carbon overwrap, leading to friction and the subsequent failure of the pressure vessel. The Federal Aviation Administration, which licenses Falcon 9 commercial launches, said Jan. 6 it had accepted the results of that investigation and issued a launch license for SpaceXs next Falcon 9 launch of 10 Iridium satellites, now scheduled for Jan. 14.

ASAP, in its report, said it was concerned that there may be additional, unforeseen issues associated with the load and go fueling process. Despite testing at the component and subassembly level, systems often display emergent behavior once they are used in the actual operational environment, the panel stated in the report. It called for NASA to better understand how the system functions in the dynamic thermal environment associated with load and go so that other previously unidentified hazards can be discovered.

Some former NASA astronauts remain skeptical of SpaceXs fueling approach. I am not a supporter of load and go! Steep hill for SpaceX to convince NASA of load and gos safety for crew, tweeted former astronaut Mike Foreman, a veteran of two shuttle missions, in response to the report Jan. 12.

You are not alone, Clayton Anderson, another former astronaut, tweeted in response.

ASAP cited the load and go fueling approach by SpaceX, as well as a fault tolerance issue on the Centaur upper stage that will be used to launch Boeings CST-100 commercial crew vehicle, as issues for NASA to watch for in the commercial crew program. That is complicated, the panel said, by the fact that the companies control the design of their commercial crew systems, with NASA providing oversight.

In this type of environment, the [NASA commercial crew program] must work diligently to ensure that acceptable risk is not defined by the best we can do given the constraints, the panels report stated. The residual risk must be openly acknowledged and elevated to the appropriate level within the Agency for consideration.

Source: http://spacenews.com/safety-panel-cites-concerns-over-spacex-fueling-process-for-commercial-crew/

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First Click: SpaceX crash, Bowie hits No. 1, and a preview of the week ahead

ORBCOMM-2 Full Launch Webcast

Were entering earnings season again. While the financials themselves might be a little boring, some numbers do highlight broader industry trends. IBM, AMD, and Verizon all report this week, but our eyes will be fixed on Netflix and its fourth-quarter results release on Tuesday.

Netflix continues to be one of, if not,the biggest disrupters to ever take aim at traditional television. So everyone will be watching for thoseNetflix subscriber numbers come Tuesday, especially new US subscribers where the company disappointed last quarter with just 880,000 additions well off from its target of 1.15 million. Now Wall Street is expecting Netflix to produce1.62 million new subscribers for the three month period that ended on December 31st (Netflixs own guidance was 1.3 million). In October, Netflix launched in Spain, Portugal, and Italy leading analysts to predict 3.5 million new international additions for the quarter. The company also announced asimultaneous launch in 130 additional countries across the globe last week but those subscribers wont be reflected in Tuesdays count. Netflix has been moving aggressively into original programming in order to attract more eyeballs and was rewarded with twoOscar nominations last week for What Happened Miss Simone? and Winter on Fire: Ukraines Fight for Freedom.

The Sundance Film Festival is also kicking off this week. In 2016, Sundance received 12,793 film submissions from 120 countries. Of these, only 200 or so feature-length films and shorts were selected for viewing starting Thursday. Notable films previously introduced at the Festival include Whiplash, Boyhood, Reservoir Dogs, and Napoleon Dynamite. Itll be our second year at Robert Redfords festival in scenic Park City, Utah. Why, you ask? Ill let The Verges esteemed entertainment editorEmily Yoshida answer the question she pondered herself last year:

"This festival, along with a handful of major international festivals throughout the year, is one of the few chances we have to see movies with close to no interference. By the time the chosen ones of Sundance, Cannes, or Venice make their way to your local Cool Theatre, there will already be a storyline around them, molding your expectations. "The third act comes out of nowhere." "Theres no way so-and-so doesnt get an Oscar nod this year." "I bet you so-and-so ends up helming Ant-Man IV." In an era in which a film occupies your awareness over months of marketing and buildup and two hours of inevitable letdown, its exciting to just plop yourself down in a theatre with little more than a title, a director, and a longline to go on."

But thats all yet to come. First, lets catch up on the weekend that was.

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Source: http://www.theverge.com/2016/1/18/10784862/first-click-tktk-tktk-and-a-preview-of-the-week-ahead

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Falcon9 Reached The Barge But Did Not Survive The Landing [Updating]

Today's launch of Falcon9 and Dragon was a rousing success as essential supplies are now making their way to the ISS. As for the Falcon9 rocket, it reportedly "landed" on the droneship, but with considerable force.

Image: SpaceX

Today's launch happened at 4:10 PM ET/1:10 PM PT. The attempting landing occurred about eight minutes later.

SpaceX and Elon Musk are reporting that the rocket made its way to the barge, but landed way too hard:

Ascent successful. Dragon enroute to Space Station. Rocket landed on droneship, but too hard for survival.

Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 14, 2015

We falcon punched the barge... @SpaceX CRS-6

SpaceX Engineer (@SpaceXEngineer) April 14, 2015

Here's quick gif of the lift off.

Here's the launch in all it's glory:

To recap, this will be the third attempt to land the rocket (not including yesterday's scrub), though the second attempt was called off due to high seas. For today's launch, the rocket will be loaded with more hydraulic fluid, which ran out during the first attempt. The barge has also been upgraded to handle rougher seas.

The un-occupied SpaceX rocket will be taking off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. It's headed for the International Space Station where it will deposit its cargo (payload details here). Among the various items going up are several zero-g coffee cups to go with the new espresso maker.

Additional reporting by Mika McKinnon

All images SpaceX

Source: http://io9.com/watch-live-as-spacex-tries-once-more-to-land-a-rocket-o-1697725749

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