Free Software. Free Speech. That’s the way it works.
After months working on getting the cluster up and running via proof-of-concept, demos, tests, meetings, negotiations and the like, the press release is now out!
We’ve got that big thingy running and it’s doing pretty well.
Been there, done that, waiting for the t-shirt any moment now (hint, hint) :)
… just how many Space Shuttle Programs can you fund with the insane amounts of money Europe is about to spend to pull Greece out of the hole they’ve dug for themselves? Same for the countries that will undoubtedly follow the same path in the coming weeks.
Yeah, fuck that.
Point is: there are so many better ways to spend that money (that we don’t have anyway).
Well, today was the day and I’ve just watched the last ever Space Shuttle launch.
Let’s just say there’s something very, very wrong with this world and leave it at that.
Hats off to all the men and women who dedicated their lives or part thereof to these magnificent birds over the past 30+ years, from the original design studies back in the days to the transition & retirement operations that will last for a year still.
We’ll most probably never get to see any other machine pushing boundaries like the Shuttle has done, and this is a gigantic loss for us all. One day people will realize…
If you aren’t familiar with the challenges faced by the Shuttle, with the advances in science and countless engineering disciplines brought by Shuttle and more generally with Shuttle and facts about the Shuttle, go read Wings in Orbit; a book by the people who built and operated the Space Shuttle, available freely in PDF format from NASA.
Did you know that the Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSME, RS-25) are the most powerful, most efficient engines ever built? They were designed 40 years ago. I won’t make a list, but this is true of a number of other components. What the hell have we been doing all these years?