Weekend Open Thread
I just want all of you to know that in October this year, an asteroid about 330+/- feet in diameter is (MAYBE) going to possibly, but also possibly not, hit Earth.
It is NASA 2007 FT3, with an 8-year orbital period. You may recall that in the winter of 2012-2013, a (not 300-foot) – correction, per Hondo – 60 ft +/- small asteroid that NASA had not detected approached Earth at a shallow angle and punched its way through the skies of Chelyabinsk, in Russia, during the morning’s commute.
An enormous number of Russian people love dash cams so the Flight of This Intruder was caught on many, many of them. It was destructive, coming in at such a high speed and such a shallow angle that, while it created a massive water vapor trail as it blew off its outer layers, it also shattered windows by the hundreds, including those in a school. Over 1,000 people had to get emergency medical help because of the glass shards. Chelybinsk 2013 also set off car alarms as it went, and knocked down partially-built brick walls. Who says there’s no fun in science, anyway?
When it finally ran out of water vapor, Chelyabinsk 2013 continued its path at high speed to an unknown destination, finally fragmenting, with one large fragment finally being tracked to a frozen lake.
This is a collection of videos of the Chelyabinsk meteor from the 2013 Feb event in Russia.
The next one, as I said, NASA 2007 FT3, is being watched as I write this.
NASA had an uncomfortable surprise when a smaller asteroid (2019 OK) that they didn’t know about approached Earth in June. They got calls from the news media about the “city-killer asteroid”, which someone had picked up by accident in his telescope.
(Dammit, Jim, you’re supposed to report all the oddball asteroids to NASA! RIP D. Kelly)
Now the next one, 2007 FT3 is due in October this year. At least, we know about it.
Have a nice weekend!
Category: "Your Tax Dollars At Work", America, Geezer Alert!, It's science!
1st
Ok, this getting creepy.
You got an inside angle doncha?
Oh, congrats on the win.
You did it again!!! Congrats, my man!
Tanks Mates! Not creepy perse, just a little freaky…And blessed. I’m on a mission to be the FIRST ACE of the Friday TAH Weekend Open Thread. I was 4/5ths of the way when the Chipster NASA caused a misfire. I’m concentrating all guns on this mission, bypassing all distractions and rescheduling provision runs.
Collusion! 5th/77th is conspiring with the Russians! He’s stealing FIRSTS! Get Comey on the phone, Mueller needs to investigate this!
With this batting average for firsts, I suspect there is a strong likelihood that 5th/77th is a Russian bot from a secret Ruskie troll farm in Transylvania. He is likely under orders from Vlad and Trump to spreadb disinformation on the net. I bet he gets an instantaneous secret alert every time the admins hit enter at the end of typing the Weekend Open Thread.
Now Now Now boys. My Uncle “Impaler” would not take kindly to revealing or giving Will Robinson a Warning Warning Warning Danger Danger. Sleep watchfully, you know he only comes out at night. The last “Soviet” he sent out took up with a certain Marine and makes him “do things.” I doubt if either one of y’all would look good in a fuzzy pink robe or bike shorts.
BAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMM 3pete TIME ON TARGET!!!!!
FIRE MISSION FIRE MISSION FIRE MISSION!!!
KING OF BATTLE RULES!!!!!!!!!!!
Grilled Sausage DAWGS and Hoagies with Cold Beer all around!!!!! My Treat!!!!!!!!!
Now back to the phonies!!!!!!
Okay, you get the Firstest of the Firsters,but others will follow in your footsteps… or pawprints.
WOW…Thanks Mi’Lady. This one got hairy. There I was, minding my own bidness, I wasn’t bothering nobody. Trying to keep an eye on the time when out of the blue came a heads up on the MP notice for the walrus seal, aka James Leo Diprato FAKE SEAL, lying POS. Commenting on his fat whale blubbered self when another shot from TAH on the fake seal James Leo Diprato dropped. Multitasking like a Navy team trying to score in a women’s prison with a handful of signed pardons and still NOT scoring. Then another volley fire from Dave Hardin. Him setting down the Scots Whiskey glass, thumping the ash off of a cheap seegar, AND taking his paws off of the Soviet long enough to make another post on the lying embellishing Lester Kent Brown (stain). Who says a man can’t multitask? Oh, I was also keeping a spare eye on the orasting beef beast that’s been percualting lowly in the crockett pot. The struggle WAS/IS real; but I did it. What a week it’s been!
Another FIRST on the TAH Friday Weekend Open Thread. A most happy and joyous weekend to all of my loyal miscreant DWs.
At least is was a woman’s prison, doggy.
” orasting beef beast”
Snark Alert!!
“Spelling errors are horrible. Mix up two letters and your whole post is urined.”
(Smile)
Claw, “orast” spelling is a hat tip to Ex-PH2. Do believe it was FIRST spelled that way on her FIRST Thursday’s are for cooking. IIRC there was a lot of chuckling about where in the meat department the “orast” were kept.
I have spelled it that way in her Honor since then. Now you know. (grin)
The orast beeves are kept in the bin next to the roast beef and prime rib. Occasionally, they show up as smoked beef sausages.
orast ye swabbie scurves!
Arrr!
Congrats to the Chief Of The Dickweeds for the coming week. You sure seem to enjoy the glory!
Thanks GB, and yes I do literally BASK in the glory of FIRSTNESS. Entertainment is at a low ebb here at Firebase Magnolia. For years I could only lurk around the fringes of TAH because of work. I could not stay current, but would spend weekend or rainy day time playing catch up. My enforced medical retirement gave me the time and the computer support to make a run for it. There are many other commenters with more FIRSTs than mine, theirs are just spread out more. The Holy Grail of Firstness is just around the corner and I’m bringing all weapons to bear.
Take care of Mrs. GB. Hope she didn’t break her foot when she was trying to motivate you.
No, she motivates me in other ways >grin<
Seriously, she developed bone spurs in her big toes that makes it painful to walk, and they fixed them. We are hoping she can go hiking in the mountains again when she heals.
Dear 2007 FT3,
I’ll send you a PM with the coordinates for my ex.
FT3? Hopefully not FTW.
5th
And that’s using my phone!
Wife is out of foot surgery. Will be serving my wife hand and foot for the next few a bit more literally than usual.
Congrats, and please give your wife my best regards for recovery.
Thanks, Ex. Will do
So … another first eludes me thanks to work. If there were only a way to earn a living without working … Anyway, friends (and other dickweeds), here’s this week’s trivia column. May it bring smiles aplenty! DID YOU KNOW…? Was Christopher Columbus’ voyage really taken to prove that the Earth is round? By Commissioner Wretched The “Dog Days” are upon us again. And they do make me feel dog-gone tired. (Insert rimshot here.) I’ve explained before why we call these days the “Dog Days,” but if you missed it, I’ll repeat it here. Back in the mists of antiquity, ancient people believed that the brightest star in the night sky somehow sent enough heat to Earth to join with that produced by the Sun, thus making this particular month feel hotter than the others. The star I’m referring to is known as Sirius, the brightest star in the Canis Major constellation. Sirius is also known as the “Dog Star.” (Yes, I am being totally Sirius. Another rimshot.) Since they believed that the “Dog Star” made things warmer, these became the “Dog Days.” And, dog gone it, I’ve used up another column introduction. Amazing how that happens, isn’t it? So, on to the trivia! Did you know … … Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) was one of the first people in America to manufacture playing cards? (So you have old Ben to thank for that weekly game of canasta that you enjoy. … boxing is the only sport in which nobody – neither spectators nor participants – know the score or the winner until the contest ends? (If you’re the one stretched out on the canvas, you also don’t care.) … the King Ranch in Texas, established in 1853, is larger than the state of Rhode Island? Its 1.25 million acres were the first to be completely fenced in as well. (This place is so big it probably has its own zip code.) … the state motto of New Hampshire is, “Live Free or Die”? That’s not what makes it interesting, though. The motto is shown on the state’s auto license plates… Read more »
“…the moons of all planets in the Solar System except one are named after characters in Greek and Roman mythology?”
Commissioner Wretched:
What is the name of Earth’s Moon?
Luna? Selene?
Asking for a Friend. *Smile*
Technically, they say, it’s “Luna.” I always called it “Moon.”
Either way, I get your point. 🙂
In Spanish, they call it “Luna”.
We say “Earth” and “moon” due to Germanic influences. Both have Latin names that matched Roman goddesses. The Romance languages retain a derivative of the Latin versions of the names.
In soccer only the Ref knows when the game will officially end. He or she keeps track of down time for injured players and the like, and tags that onto the clock.
Another fine job CW. Your getting these weekly posts is what may give me “the Edge” I need in the pursuit of FIRSTNESS.
Had an ancestor on Papa’s side that went into Kaintuck with Ol Dan’l. Had one on Mama’s side that died with Davy on the wall of the Church in Bexar/San Antone.
Yup, as soon as we covered history in school, we learned that Columbus’s push west was part of the West’s response to the Muslims’ “gatekeeping” their end of the silk road. They effectively shut it down from the European Kingdoms.
The European kingdoms responded by upping their maritime game. It was common knowledge that the world was round, not flat. Both technology and maritime practices kept them under the “hug the coastline in most instances” paradigm.
They didn’t have the maritime technology, or mindset, to sail straight west where they knew they would end up in the “Indies”.
The push to improve maritime technology, and the following age of maritime exploration, contributed to the Western European nations gaining massive superiority over the Islamic Caliphates. In a sense, their attempts to force the west on its knees lead to the west eventually conquering many Islamic kingdoms.
As I recall, back in the days of Ptolemy the Egyptians calculated the circumference of the round Earth within 1% of the correct total.
Twelfth and Honorary First once again.
((((OVER))))
King of Battle:
Congrats on being FIRST….AGAIN!
Thanks Bro. The best dog (dawg) days are those between Labor Day and The National Championship. We have lost some heartbreakers over the years, but no stain on the silver britches.
With all due respect, Farva’s number one!
https://youtu.be/fJQnM_4gn1A
Poetrooper sends a link to that gaffaholic, Gropy Joe. No further explanation is needed.
Joe Biden: ‘We Choose Truth Over Facts’
By Matt Margolis
Read the rest here: PJ Media
Thanks, Poe.
And from the “I’m not racist, I worked for a black president” files. His Thursday gaffes went full on racist/white supremacist with a telling line about how “poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids.”
Yeah, we really need to make sure that he gets the nomination this next time. I didn’t know that “poor kids” had a dermal color category. We need his wrinkly ass this next time. He makes such profound statements, stuff that is memorable and should engraved on plastic McDonals’d cups.
Biden was recently asked to name two non-president historical figures he admires. His response: Thomas Jefferson and JFK. I don’t think the guy puts his brain in gear before he speaks off teleprompter.
Present.
I welcome our new asteroid overlord!
If he’d like to ‘drop by’, 41.7258 -72.6212, putting the kettle on now.
For those two or three people who may be mildly interested in the continuing saga of my experiences with the Walther PPK/S .22LR…
I received it back Wednesday evening. As I compute it, I had at that point in the spatio-temporal continuum be the owner of said firearm 40 days, and had it in my possession for 10.
To fix the rear sight, they replaced the slide. This is now the 3rd slide I’ve had on this firearm.
It shoots, it still wants .22LR high velocity ammo only though. I’ve looked through everything I can find on the official Walther webpages and through the manual that came with the piece, and this requirement for high velocity is not stated anywhere.
When they replaced the slide, they did not check to see that I had replaced the front sight. (It comes with 3, the medium-height sight installed with a roll pin.) I called them, and they are sending me another front sight.
The pleasant lady on the customer service line asked “Do you know how to install these?”
>|< After I’ve told her that they did not return the sight I’d installed.
Regardless, it should shoot passably fair when I get the new sight installed. Fortunately, the Aquila Super Extra copper-plate ammo is “high velocity” — 1,255 fps at the muzzle as per the box, in contrast to the Federal Target Match’s 1,200 fps per the box.
At our local Academy Sports + Outdoors, a box of 50 Aquila Super Extra (either standard or high velocity) is going for $2.49/box. Until you buy in bulk (350 rds/box or more) about the least expensive ammo on the shelf.
Hopefully next week – if the heat advisories cease for our AO – grandson will get to actually pull the trigger on this thing.
Tanks for the update GB. Still in triple digits for awhile here. Keep us posted.
Definitely want a range report, GB.
Well, AW1Ed, Thursday I put 25 rounds through it.
From a makeshift rest at 25′:
5 rounds of the Federal – with a fail to feed on every round but the last, which stovepiped.
10 rounds of the Aquila (in two 5-round batches).
They patterned the same: 1-2″ high, and over a spread of 4″ left to right. My rest was my range bag on top of a rickety folding table that had some lateral movement to it, so the left-right spread could be operator error.
Then 10 rounds of Aguila from a standing position, still 25′, patterning 2-4″ high with a couple of flyers, and still the 4″ spread laterally.
With a 3.3″ barrel, this isn’t a target pistol. I will need more time with the pistol to determine if my grip needs modified – this thing is swallowed by my paws, which are used the larger geometry of a Sig P220. I took a video of my shooting, and could not at first evaluation find any issues with my trigger finger position or the smoothness of the squeeze.
Which is to say I still have some learning to do about running this piece.
When the new sight comes in, I hope to get some time at a real range with a stable bench and sandbags, which should give me a better feel for the capabilities of this gun. And at different distances.
I ought to also invest in some other brands of high velocity, to see if the gun prefers one over the others.
I’ll try to give a good report of what I learn when I can preform a reliable and proper evaluation.
Thanks! As mentioned, CCI mini-mags are the fodder of choice for my .22s for training and plinking. For more serious shooting I like Ely for consistency, even though I have to reset zero on the optics.
Hope you and grandson have a great range day!
Here is a little something I cobbled together about the pistol.
https://youtu.be/_fBD9AfTWRg
Is your firing grip the same as for a major-caliber pistol?
Hold it as if the shot will rip it out of your hand. Allow zero roll at the wrist.
Does that reduce misfeeds?
If so, the loose grip is absorbing energy needed to run the slide back far enough to cycle rounds reliably.
Next, check the magazine. Out of the weapon, do rounds strip out by hand, or do they tend to catch and stick? Feed lips too tight, or dinged up, can cause misfeeding.
Next, remove the slide spring and reassemble without it. Can you slowly cycle the slide without binding or sticking? Try it both clean and dirty. (Don’t shoot it that way, of course).
Hi, 11B. In order
Firing grip: yes
Watching a video of me shooting it, attempting to critique my form, my trigger pull is straight back and smooth and I did not see any movement until recoil.
New magazine – so no dings/damage. Rounds do go in and come out smoothly by hand.
I’ll have to try the slide spring removal test. I’ve been wondering if I needed to have the rails polished a wee bit.
Ran a range test today – similar problems with Aquila Super Extra High Velocity, CCI MiniMag Varmit, and Remington Golden Bullet – all high velocity. Believe it or not, the CCI had the worst problems with feeding: one casing had its mouth jam in the extractor and I had to disassemble the pistol to get it out. All of them would stovepipe, jam an empty casing in with the next round, fail to feed, etc. CCI just did it more often and more drastically.
Details at https://youtu.be/-LZU3h3xo6U
I tried this new body wash last night. The instructions on the bottle said “Apply Liberally” so I washed up with it screeching about Russian collusion, etc and it felt like just another liquid soap anyway!
>groan<
41ST
In case anyone missed it, some alert amateur astronomer down in Texas was able to catch a meteor impact on Jupiter’s left side.
https://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-blogs/explore-night-bob-king/texas-amateur-detects-possible-impact-on-jupiter/
The Perseids are supposed to be visible now, and you may see, later on, the remainders of Comet Swift-Tuttle’s demise as well.
He posted some of his pics over at an astronomy website called “Cloudy Nights”. Been reading about this over the last couple of days.
Hate to be the “skunk at the garden party”, but best estimates say the Chelyabinsk meteor was a roughly 20m in diameter (approximate 66ft) NEA that struck the earth’s atmosphere – NOT a 300ft diameter one. It had an estimated mass of between 13,000 and 14,000 short tons, and created a detonation of roughly 500kT or so.
Volume (and at a constant density, mass) scales with the cube of radius. If composed purely of ice, assuming a weight of 62.4 lbs per cubic foot, a 330 ft ice sphere would weigh around 587,000 tons. With the same composition as the Chelyabinsk boldie, it would weigh roughly 3x that – or somewhat over 1,760 million tons.
Assuming the velocities were the same on entering the atmosphere, the resulting detonation at a minimum would scale more-or-less linearly with the change in mass. That means a 330 ft asteroid would produce a detonation at least some 125 times larger – or around 62 megatons. Further: the resulting detonation could be even larger, as the Chelyabinsk boldie is thought to have shed about 50% of its energy before detonation. A larger, heavier rock might not shed as much energy proportionally in the atmosphere before detonation or impact.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelyabinsk_meteor
62MT is considerably larger than the Tsar bomba – and that’s the lower end of what we could expect if this one impacts. We do not want this rock to hit Earth.
That’s okay, Hondo. There have been many, many guesses regarding the size of that rock, so I take your view in good grace.
Fixed it. Thanks for the heads up!
Don’t worry. I work for NASA.
We’ve got this.
“Don’t worry. I work for NASA.”
[starts to visibly worry]
J/k
I’m so worried about those guys! NASA keeps missing the Big Rocks from Outer Space.
I’m so worried about those guys! NASA keeps missing the Big Rocks from Outer Space.
Change over in leadership in the army. A new chief, and new SMA sworn in.
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2019/08/09/jim-mcconville-saved-my-life-baghdad-milley-hands-new-army-chief-staff.html
CDR Salamander made mention on his blog of his USNI post about the NTSB report on the USS John S McCain collision two years ago. Since I was an Army quartermaster, could one of you surface warfare types read it and give us your impressions? It’s not long as such things go, about 56 pages. See https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/MAR1901.pdf.
I also saw on USNI news that DDGs are going to be retrofitted with physical throttles, and the McCain accident was part of the reason.
Was there an NTSB report on the Fitzgerald and has it been released?
Clinton bodycount +1
Question for the admins/stolen valor ninjas:
Anybody happen to be working on a project that involves how the immediate past commander-in-chief of a major VSO was allowed to gain membership in that VSO in the year 2000 despite the fact that the service medal that established his eligibility was not approved/announced by the DOD until 2004?
Just asking/s
Added note: This comment may be deleted at any time if found to be too inflammatory.
Claw:
Good question.
Am a Lifetime VFW Member and receive the VFW Magazine every month.
Know EXACTLY who you are addressing as well as the Service Medal. 😉
The person that Claw is inquiring was the recent VFW Commander-In-Chief until this month. He just replaced the Executive Director of the VFW’s Washington Office.
That individual joined the US Army in May 1983. From the end of 1983 through 1984, he was based at Camp Stanley, Korea with C Battery, 2nd BN, 61st Air Defense Artillery as a Crew Member on a Chaparrel Air Defense Missile System.
He later PCSed to Fort Hood and was discharged from the Army in August 1986.
He joined VFW Post 7686 in Alamogordo, New Mexico in 2000 and was elected Post Commander in 2003.
Claw is speaking of the Korean Defense Service Medal, which was established in 2002 and first awarded in February 2004 (retroactive to 1954).
So yes, Claw has asked a very good question. How was that person eligible to join the VFW in 2000, let alone become a Post Commander in 2003?
Inquiring minds want to know.
😉🙄🤔
Claw,
Look what I discovered:
https://www.vfw.org/media-and-events/latest-releases/archives/2019/5/recruiting-korea-duty-veterans
“Since 1995, all members of the U.S. armed forces who served in Korea have been eligible for VFW. One such veteran is VFW Commander-in-Chief B.J. Lawrence, who served at Camp Stanley, South Korea, with C Btry., 2nd Bn., 61st Air Defense Artillery from the end of 1983 through much of 1984. He worked as a crew member on a Chaparral air defense missile system.”
“Likewise, VFW Adjutant General Kevin Jones logged a tour of duty with the Air Force at Osan Air Base in South Korea beginning in December 1986. He coordinated travel pay and accounting as a staff sergeant with the 51st Comptroller Squadron”.
This is from the VFW Website dated 20 May 2019.
Interesting. May 2019. Right before the Former Commander left his position this month.
Was not aware that the VFW changed their ROE in 1995 to open membership to ALL who served in Korea.
More research is needed to see if in fact that ROE for membership was implemented in 1995.
Claw,
This June/July 2018 VFW Magazine states the same:
https://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00040750/00086
Yep, I read all that before. Again, I think it’s a case of “I said it and it’s in writing, so it must be true” kind of a deal.
Petitioning Congress for permission to change the rules and actually changing the eligibility rules are two different things.
But ever since that medal came out, the big push has always been “New Members!!! New Members!!!”, while all the time the legitimate pool of members has gotten more diluted as each day passes.
A typical example of that dilution is the current post adjutant of embellisher Hollingsworth’s post down south of me. He has taken the medal to new heights by adding an additional seven commemorative Korean medals to his ribbon rack, and yes, that KDSM is his only “qualifier” to being able to be a member of the VFW.
In so many ways, it’s really sad to witness this kind of decline in what was once a great organization.
This is just my humble opinion as a Life Member-At-Large of the VFW.
Oops, my bad. It’s not an additional seven commemorative Korean medals, but eight commemorative Korean medals and the Cold War Victory Medal that is currently being worn by the embellisher Hollingsworth’s post adjutant/quartermaster.
I humbly beg your forgiveness in breaking Gibbs Rule #6./s
Public Law 104-3 signed by Bill Clinton covers it.
https://www.congress.gov/104/plaws/publ3/PLAW-104publ3.pdf
Article from 1995 mentioning it. https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1995-04-11-1995101098-story.html
Still trying to figure out how all this factored in because it took until 02 Feb 2004 before the KDSM was approved/awarded by DOD. Sure would be nice to see a paper copy of the eligibility rules in say, 1997, 98, 99 or 2000.
Oh, well, the great mouse hunt continues.
Did you open up the first link I put up? That law was directed specifically at the VFW and was signed in 1995. I imagine that it didn’t take but a hot minute afterwards for the VFW to announce the new eligibility rule.
Cut/paste from the law:
An Act
To amend the charter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars to make eligible for membership those veterans that have served within the territorial limits of South Korea.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section
5 of the Act of May 28, 1936 (36 U.S.C. 115), is amended to
read as follows:
‘‘SEC. 5. A person may not be a member of the corporation
created by this Act unless that person—
‘‘(1) served honorably as a member of the Armed Forces
of the United States in a foreign war, insurrection, or expedition, which service has been recognized as campaign-medal
service and is governed by the authorization of the award
of a campaign badge by the Government of the United States;
or
‘‘(2) while a member of the Armed Forces of the United
States, served honorably on the Korean peninsula or in its
territorial waters for not less than 30 consecutive days, or
a total of 60 days, after June 30, 1949.’’.
Approved March 7, 1995.
Yes, Sir. I read it. I gather what that says is for an almost nine year period eligibility was granted based on paper proof and not on medal proof.
Learn something new every day here at TAH.
Thanks for the link.