Sunday, February 02, 2003

Kel-Tec's SU-16 Press Release page now contains an exploded parts diagram and mechanical workings diagrams illustrating the self-loading action. Unlike the M-16/AR-15, it doesn't defecate where it eats. It has an operating rod instead of direct gas impingment. Good. High Road discussion here. [highroad] [End the War on Freedom] More information about the very interesting SU-16. According to the discussion thread, the design combines elements of the AR-15 with the AK-47's gas system. comment () trackback ()  7:56:30 PM     Rogers Cadenhead shares a couple of links. Try this one. Beam Me Out Of This Death Trap, Scotty. He's talking about the Columbia. Another one. "It would never occur to a baby-boomer that anything associated with the shuttle could have historical significance." Great stuff. [Scripting News] Both of these are fairly old--in fact, all the links I tried in the second article were broken. The first had some interesting information, though: Columbia must be fitted out with 33,000 of these tiles, each to be applied individually, each unique in shape. The inch-thick tiles, made of pyrolized carbon, are amazing in two respects. They can be several hundred degrees hot on one side while remaining cool to the touch on the other. They do not boil away like the ablative heat shieldings of capsules and modules; they can be used indefinitely. But they're also a bit of a letdown in another respect-they're so fragile you can hardly touch them without shattering them. [...] Fixing them to the Columbia without breaking them is like trying to eat a bar of Bonomo Turkish Taffy without cracking it. Most of the technicians swarming over Columbia are trying to glue down tiles. The tiles break so often, and must be remolded so painstakingly, the installation rate is currently one tile per technician per week. [...] The tiles are the most important system NASA has ever designed as "safe life." That means there is no back-up for them. If they fail, the shuttle burns on reentry. If enough fall off, the shuttle may become unstable during landing, and thus un-pilotable. The worry runs deep enough that NASA investigated installing a crane assembly in Columbia so the crew could inspect and repair damaged tiles in space. (Verdict: Can't be done. You can hardly do it on the ground.) If this is all true, it suggests two things. First, NASA knew when they saw the debris hit the wing at launch that tiles were damaged. Second, they also knew that there was absolutely nothing they could do about it except hope the shuttle somehow managed to make it down anyway. comment () trackback ()  7:20:34 PM     Johnson Space Center: "NASA has established a special location on the Web where Internet users may upload their media files to be reviewed by NASA." Thanks to Dan Gillmor for this link. [Scripting News] This is interesting--NASA is taking advantage of the "bystander with a camcorder" (or telephoto lens) phenomenon. Footage shot by people near a newsworthy event has proven very important in the past, but this is the first time I can remember anyone openly requesting that people send in their video and photos like this. comment () trackback ()  7:01:31 PM     Medieval Fantasy meets LEGO Again [Slashdot] An anonymous reader writes "At over two years in the making, The Kingdom of Ikros provides viewers with a 40-chapter novel, graphically illustrated entirely by LEGO models and Photoshop effects. Apparently the author isn't stopping there, either, a link off the main page takes you to another website which will host the sequel. The Kingdom of Ikros website also contains a pair of flash movies and pictures of the models used in the story, as well as biographies of the characters involved." The site has been slashdotted, but it sounds interesting. comment () trackback ()  2:17:14 PM     Philipines: Ebdane: No gun ban for politicians. Philippine National Police Chief Hermogenes Ebdane has requested President Macapagal-Arroyo to exempt politicians from the ban on carrying guns outside their homes. The President last Thursday ordered Ebdane to ban civilians and off-duty police and military personnel from carrying their licensed firearms outside their homes. Ebdane revealed his request to reporters in Baguio City yesterday after his visit to the Philippine Military Academy. [FirearmNews.com] The story is about how politicians aren't being exempted from the President's new gun ban, which is certainly unusual, but for me the real news is the ban itself. I wonder why this particular president suddenly decided that he wants to promote crime? Or perhaps he's in league with the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group and wants to make it easier for them to find victims? comment () trackback ()  1:54:16 PM     40 Killed As Blast Rocks Nigeria Bank [AP World News] Perhaps one of those Nigerian email scams suckered a terrorist? comment () trackback ()  1:26:15 PM     Another scenario. I've now seen more (but still sketchy) details on the telemetry timeline in the port wing. There is enough there... [Samizdata.net] A new theory from Dale Amon. comment () trackback ()  1:19:57 PM

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