Josef “Jeff” Sipek

2020-05-06

OpenMCT — While I’m not a fan of web-based UIs, this is a rather neat “dashboard” framework by NASA.

Wideband spectrum received in JO32KF — Over 5 years of HF spectrum waterfall in Enschede, NL.

10 Most(ly dead) Influential Programming Languages

Wikipedia article: PACELC theorem — An extension of the Wikipedia article: CAP theorem.

Learn Rust the Dangerous Way — Finally a Rust tutorial that speaks to people comfortable in C.

Interferometry and Synthesis in Radio Astronomy — An open access book.

Aviation Formulary — Great circle math applied to various aviation problems for those too lazy to derive the formulas themselves.

Papírová platidla Československa 1918-1993, České republiky a Slovenské republiky 1993-2016 — Complete list of all bank notes used in Czechoslovakia, Czech Republic, and Slovak Republic.

NOAA GOES Image ViewerWikipedia article: GOES weather satellite imagery.

STS-128

The other night, just before midnight, STS-128 launched. I took a few screenshots of NASA TV. NASA described the launch as:

Liftoff from Launch Pad 39A was on time at 11:59 p.m. EDT. The first launch attempt on Aug. 24 was postponed due to unfavorable weather conditions. The second attempt on Aug. 25 also was postponed due to an issue with a valve in space shuttle Discovery’s main propulsion system.

The STS-128 mission is the 30th International Space Station assembly flight and the 128th space shuttle flight. The 13-day mission will deliver more than 7 tons of supplies, science racks and equipment, as well as additional environmental hardware to sustain six crew members on the International Space Station. The equipment includes a freezer to store research samples, a new sleeping compartment and the COLBERT treadmill.

Here’s the “beenie cap” with the moon in the background:
Beenie cap

A nice shot of the whole shuttle:
Shuttle

The engines:
Engine closeup

Beenie cap being retracted before launch
Beenie cap retracted

Later on, I found this image on NASA’s site. Wow.

STS-128 Launch
(original link)

Viewed from the Banana River Viewing Site at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Discovery arcs through a cloud-brushed sky, lighted by the trail of fire after launch on the STS-128 mission.

STS-127

I was just watching the STS-127 launch. I couldn’t help but take a couple of screenshots of NASA TV…

Right after solid rocket booster separation:
SRB separation

The fuel tank, and separation:
External Fuel Tank
External Fuel Tank separation

And, it looks like NASA has a nice photo of the launch:
STS-127 launch

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