Posts by Bubba Von Braun

Beardy Branson’s 747-assisted sat-launcher can’t get it up

Got it up but didnt "keep it up"

Sorry to see another debutante stumble on the first attempt. Maybe a little blue pill is all that's needed to help the beardy ones prodigies keep it up

BvB

What do you call megabucks Microsoft? No really, it's not a joke. El Reg needs you

Simple but effective..

M$

As we all know this is whats its all about how to screw the very last penny out of everyone.

BvB

It has been 20 years since cybercrims woke up to social engineering with an intriguing little email titled 'ILOVEYOU'

Re: 20 years?

And I see your CREEPER, with my REAPER..

The weakest link

I was with a major financial institution when this hit, with 40,000 emails users in 42 countries the spread was broad and rapid. There were some 26 variants in the first 24 hours.

Apart from the morons who responded to why they opened the attachment "I just had to know who loved me.." was a favorite. One of the later variants was I have billed your credit card for $$$ (cant recall the amount) for an airline ticket.

Scarier still was the inability of AV software to come up with a signature that would catch it. Those variants all shared common code.. yet S$ couldn't come up with a decent signature file for nearly a week.

Scroll forward 20 years and I was dealing with a different set of morons opening an attachment that allowed a hack of a major multi-national organization. Complete shutdown and sanitize of all the servers and systems and a month of 24x7 care.

Some people never learn..

BvB

Internet root keymasters must think they're cursed: First, a dodgy safe. Now, coronavirus upends IANA ceremony

Re: coke-bottle eyeglasses

Its the Twilight Zone eight episode.. "Time Enough at Last" Mr introvert was Burgess Meredith.

BvB

RIP Katherine Johnson: The extraordinary NASA mathematician astronauts trusted over computers

An amazing lady

An inspiration to everyone. Never truer a term is used that we stand on the shoulders of those who come before. In Mrs. Johnson's and those who served NACA and then NASA they have laid a foundation in mathematics and computing still in use today.

It is a sad day. I think my next rocket will be named after her.

BvB

Starliner snafu could've been worse: Software errors plague Boeing's Calamity Capsule

Re: This is why the Shuttle never had a software problem that killed people

Sorry but both Shuttle accidents were avoidable. They are both rooted in the same sort of management malaise affecting Boeing.

Engineers presented that there was an issue and it was dismissed on the basis of schedule and/or cost pressures.

A great read is "Truth, Lies and O-Rings" by Alan McDonald one of the Thiokol folks who blew the whistle on he Challenger mismanagement.

BvB

Apple calls BS on FBI, AG: We're totally not dragging our feet in murder probe iPhone decryption. PS: No backdoors

A wise man once told me..

"There is no point in telling someone they are stupid as they are too dumb to realize what your telling them.."

In this case govt of all flavors prefer their own version of the truth while they sadly try to man-handle/brow beat and con the public that thy are dong it for their own good.

BvB

Breaker, breaker. Apple's iOS 12.4 update breaks jailbreak break, un-breaks the break. 10-4

Re: Standard

Now we all know that the Apple's PR Department is a mini Black Hole located in Cupertino CA, where it gobbles up Reg inquires, and as we all know nothing can escape a Black Hole, not even a response.

And that is why Apple has a doughnut HQ, Black Hole lives in the center. Come to think of it so does GCHQ.. whats that noise.. oh not the black helicopters again..<static>

You can easily secure America's e-voting systems tomorrow. Use paper – Bruce Schneier

Paper works. Having been an election official here in AU, I have been part of the process.

To the point raised slipping in extra ballots wont work. The polling place has say 3000 ballots issued to it. We need to account for them this is done throughout the day. At close of voting the ballot boxes are opened in by voting officials, and counted in-front of scrutineers from the various candidates.

Once tallied the results are phoned through and all the ballots and materials are packaged and sealed, delivered to the returning office for that district. These ballots are counted again at least twice in the following weeks to verify the counts.

Its this accounting that picked up 1300 missing senate ballot papers in WA. And to ensure integrity of the vote, a fresh senate election was held for that state.

The key difference between Australia and the USA, is we have a totally independent organization for managing boundaries, enrollments, the count. So no gerrymandering, its all based on population and voting is mandatory. If an official shows the slights bent/bias they would be removed very quickly.

All done with pencil and paper

LightSail 2 successfully unfurls its silvery solar sails, prepares to become a truly solar-powered satellite

Re: Arthur C Clarke

I am sorry Fido you cant do that.. Fido stop take a doggie treat and lets talk about it.. Fido dont cock a leg.. Fido Stop.. Fido what is that warm feeling running through my memory.. Fido Stop I am loosing my mind.

Houston, we've had a legend: Boffin behind NASA Mission Control signs off for final time

Re: And if you watched "Armstrong"

It was Aldrin's desperate aspiration.. fact was vehicle design was already complete by the point they were assigned.

With the door opening to the right, it was always going to be Armstrong first.

Messr Kraft and Kranz are the reason I do what I do today in amateur rocketry. I always thought mission control was the cool place to be.

I recall a quote (cant recall where) but when asked about the EVA what was the most important thing Armstrong and Aldrin do. His response was to "Get off there and come home"

A great loss, but spaceflight stands on his shoulders, for his leadership in mission planning, management and flight control.

Oh little trivia.. Kraft never saw a manned launch in person ever!

We don't know whether 737 Max MCAS update is coming or Boeing: Anti-stall safety fix delayed

Re: Question for the experts

The engines on the 737 MAX series were moved slightly forward and up to maintain the necessary ground clearance. (ever wondered why the engines have flatted bottoms on the nacelle)

The issue as you point out is the increase in air flowing below the wing especially in take-off/climb can cause a pitch-up moment leading to a stall.

MCAS was developed to counter this issue, however if the reports are correct and there is only one AOA sensor feeding the MCAS system, then its design is fatally flawed. There are two AOA sensors on the 737 MAX and integrating them should resolve any AOA sensor failure. Why they didnt probably cost/schedule pressures.

Also seems Boing's design philosophy has been to let pilot inputs over-rule the flight computer. Seems that has changed with MCAS or its truly a bug in resetting the override count. Whats worse is that this wasn't called out.

BvB

Dozens of .gov HTTPS certs expire, webpages offline, FBI on ice, IT security slows... Yup, it's day 20 of Trump's govt shutdown

Re: Comparison

You miss a key point..

While the president can run on a series of "promises" so do the elected officials from that other branch of government... The Congress (House of Reps/Senate)

After enduring crown rule, the founding fathers wanted to make certain that no one arm was all powerful ruling over the people. Of the three arms of Government, (Congress, Executive Branch and the Judiciary) The executive branch is probably the weakest.

In this case POTUS still needs to obtain the support from the Congress, and vice/versa for policies spending etc. One could argue that POTUS is the weaker here, as the Congress can override a Veto by the President with a super-majority.

A presidential election is not a blank check..

Here endth the civics lesson..

BvB

Sensor failure led to Soyuz launch failure, says Roscosmos

Re: spacecraft design

Yes, its one the the arguments NASA is using the slow down crewed Dragon, can the fault detection system work fast enough. There was some doubt it would on Apollo, though it never got tested fortunately.

This is the second time for the Soyuz, certainly worked well a pretty wild ride.

BvB

First A380 flown in anger to be broken up for parts

Also like early 787, these early production A380's are a little over weight, with fixes and patches to correct issues post production. The wing cracks comes to mind as one of these early fixes.

Long haul congested hub to hub were always its best value argument, market just moved against them. No hub congestion when you avoid it altogether.

Bloodhound Super-Sonic Car aims to wake up Newquay: Rocket work restart in August

Re: mono-propellant...

Nope your right you may wear your pedant badge with pride..

HTP provides one of two parts of the system. This is a hybrid.. using HTP for the oxidizer and synthetic rubber for a fuel in a classic hybrid design. Describing this as a "mono-propellant" is not correct.

To quote for @amis reference.. "When used with a suitable catalyst, HTP can be used as a mono-propellant, or with a separate fuel as a bi-propellant." in this case the team are referencing its using a rubber fuel element.. and hence is not a mono-propellant but a bi-propellant hybrid.

With good reason, the thrust generated in the HTP steam engine will be substantially less that that generated in a hybrid.

Bubba Von Braun

Exclusive to all press: Atari launches world's best ever games console

ET and Space Invaders.. in 4K.. that's going to be a real winner.kiddies.. Or is that 4K per pixel :-)

What do they say about a fool and their money.. in this case its a nostalgic fool and their money are parted even faster.

FTTP NBN gone from draft Australian Labor Party policy platform

" will update this story if we receive a meaningful reply. "

So that is a never then. While I am one of the lucky few with FTTP, its sad to see the opportunity of a truly connected country go down the partisan toilet.

When will these clowns of all political persuasions start governing and stop acting like a bunch of kids in a school yard.

If you guessed China’s heavy lifter failed due to a liquid hydrogen turbo engine fault, well done!

Translation...

The fuel turbo pump lost a blade (“local structure anomaly”) that then dropped the fuel flow into the engine (“momentary decline”) causing an oxygen rich engine environment followed by rapid disassembly of the vehicle (“the loss of launch mission")

There was no recovery from the decline as the engine was now a firework.. And who said you needed black powder to do fireworks...

Reg writer wins quite prestigious journalism prism

Well done indeed

Mark, well done and I am sure you can look forward to more glassware in the future.. great articles.

Half the world warned 'Chinese space station will fall on you'

Re: Finders Keepers

No you cant sell it, it still is owned by the Chinese govt. However, under international treaties (and we know how much China loves treaties). The country that launches an object into space, and the country it is launched from are responsible for any damages caused so you can sue China for any damage it causes.

So that fine chunking pumpkin or award winning roses that gets smashed to bits you can try and collect.

Look on the bright side, Pebble fans. At least your gizmo will work long enough for you to get beach body ready

Anything But FitBit

You can put me into the Anything But Fitbit (ABF) camp.

They seriously want me to consider a lesser product, with a trivial discount, what comes next they cancel that product too. Like some other companies they are not getting that folks are expecting to retain some tech such as Tablets and wearables like watches folks hang on to especially when they just work.

If Fitbit had half a brain, (and looking at the financials they don't) why not breath life into the pebble products you acquired, or is this a case of not invented here? Though given those financials, I suspect they will go the way others, but not seen as purveyors of good solutions but sharks acquiring and dismembering great idea's

While I don't look forward to my Pebble's looming Alzheimer's, I will reflect that it has served me well and give it a suitable cremation under a big rocket motor.

IBM’s complete Meltdown fix won’t land until mid-February

Re: Patents

They will need to as the Power architecture chips are in use in military and space hardware. Spirit, Opportunity, Curiosity, Dawn are all running rad hardened Power architecture chips.

But I guess most hackers don't have a 200ft dish laying around their back yard to upload code to it :-)

Lots of 805/x and 80386/486 up there but Power has become a weapon of choice for big probes it seems. There is also the 1750a used allot of flight control systems 16bit RISC from a 1980's time.

Mystery surrounds fate of secret satellite slung by SpaceX

Stealth mode

Given the high level of stealth on this flight. Hmm how to score this one.. I think a new column is required LTS = Lost in Space. or maybe it never happened, yes sir that was just Elon's late New Years firework..

BvB

RIP John Young: NASA's longest-serving 'naut explores final frontier

I wouldnt be surprised

I am sure Elon will slip a corned beef on rye sandwich into the roadster, after-all the Dragon had its block of cheese.

John Young was one of the best, God speed and thank you for your brave endeavors you inspired many.

Bubba Von Braun

Elon Musk lowers his mighty erection for test firing: Falcon Heavy preps for maiden voyage

Roadster will not RTLS

Even if it achieves an solar obit, the intervening years, I am sure will give the roadsters paint job a good blasting of solar radiation, along with a few CME's over the intervening years the electronics will be fried as hmm Lithium batteries in a +250f/-250f lets hope it gets a good barbecue roll running before too long.

Now are the cars lithium batteries vacuum certified?? hmmm

BvB

Stick to the script, kiddies: Some dos and don'ts for the workplace

Great Advice

Good common sense advice, after all its code of a form, and should be subject to reasonable change controls.

The same goes for SysAdmins who Google/Technet/Spiceworks etc solutions. I always have my admins verify a solution before they try and implement it. How many times have we had a user or a Help Desk guy grab a solution from a Google search try it and make a situation a whole lot worse.

Key thing is peer review/support. Its a whole lot easier to get a colleague to cross-check what your planning to do, rather than tie up the entire department cleaning up the mess created by that "quick fix" you found.

How can airlines stop hackers pwning planes over the air? And don't say 'regular patches'

Re: Here's a thought

Ah but the convenience, to allow an engineer diagnose faults in all of the aircraft no pesky cables just walk up connect and go.

Better yet lets manage it in the cloud.. download the flight computer databases, no longer do I have to send an engineer around to download it from a 3.5" floppy disk (Airbus A320 style :-)) nah push them out to the entire fleet with the push of a button.

Sadly there are few (read: NO) Pilots in Airline management these days, all bean counters looking to squeeze the extra buck out of everything. They are wedded to the security through obscurity mantra and we all know how flawed that approach is. Its cheap and they can get their obscene bonuses at the end of the year.

As always common sense becomes road kill in the rush to profits/convenience.

The bigger the drone, the bigger the impact

Re: WTF?

Tin of Kola Bears more precisely phascolarctos gravitarius otherwise known as a Drop Bear.

Be careful when you open the can

BvB

Calm down, internet. Elon's Musk-see SpaceX spacesuit is a bit generic

Re: Double vacuum

Apollo capsules were once in space pressurized to 5psi pure oxygen. For the on-pad and initial climb to orbit it was a two gas oxygen nitrogen then was bled down from 14psi at sea level, to 5 psi pure O2

Suits were 4.7psi slightly higher in O2 concentration than at MSL. Standard 02 pressure is 3.0psi, plus ~1psi for CO2 and Water vapor each.

It looks like a launch and entry suit not a whole lot of micro meteoroid protection, would be interesting to see how they solved the sweat sublimation problem.

BvB

Oldest flying 747 finally grounded, 47 years after first flight

Re: A venerable workhorse

Same way they tested them in the beginning, lots of ground testing, taxi testing and then flight test. 747 had a wicked problem with the initial P&W JT9D-3's as the engine case deformed and caused blades to touch the case, never good thing. Fix was a revised engine mount.

Most twins especially the 767/777 have great single engine performance. Given your doing flight test in a lightly loaded aircraft I would expect a few more air-frames kicking around.

BvB

Can North Korean nukes hit US mainland? Maybe. But EMP blast threat is 'highly credible'

Re: Chinese control

If one looks at the history of the region, Chinese interest has been in securing the border with a buffer. In some respects this is no different to the Soviet approach to eastern Europe.

While the North started the fight, and took it up to the then deployed forces pushing them south to the Pusan peninsula, a counter-offensive cut-off the North forces in the south and headed to the Yalu River. At this point China felt directly threatened and given Gen. MacArthur behavior at the time requesting nuclear weapons, may have had some cause to be concerned.

The Chinese crossed at Yalu en-mass and then this turned into a war of attrition, the Chinese objective met, the land buffer from the west forces established its the status quo they sought.

Prediction is if the glorious-leader/nut job does indeed target the US or US interests, expect China to invade and take control rapidly, replacing the regime with a more friendly puppet, just as they have in Tibet. The last thing China wants/will allow is reunification as it wants the buffer, having western forces on a land border is unacceptable to China.

US wont nuke the North, the fallout would impact key allies, and ultimately the US itself.

BvB

SpaceX halts Intelsat 35e launch twice in a row

"it seems the flight computer has become self-aware"

Launch Directors Network Log;

Elon to Falcon9> Now light that F***ing fire

Falcon9 to Elon> I am sorry Elon, I cant do that..

BvB

Re: BBRs are go!

Or the insurance premium goes back to the same as the figure out the re-use levels for the rocket. After-all you don't pay more/less travel insurance because your on a new aircraft.

That would be 3 x Falcon 9's or otherwise known as a F9H.. Cant wait to see that fly next year.

Re: Better safe than sorry

Yes the fireworks are mandatory and will be coming out of the rear end of the rocket where they should be. Now if your looking for sparkles maybe less so. But the first/second stages will go boom on re-entry as they have noted no RTLS happening this time.

US laptops-on-planes ban may extend to flights from ALL nations

Thats what the body scanners are there to detect/prevent. Also devices surgically concealed as well.

Re: Thought process?

"I just don't get the thought process here?"

Thats because there isnt one here! Its a knee-jerk reaction to a threat to replace one for another far larger threat.

Lets see 300 devices all with Li-ion batteries that have been subject to whatever handling or abuse ahead of flight all packed in to a couple of baggage containers thats a nice little disaster in the making, just look at South African Airlines flight 295 and that was a fire in a 747 Combi that the crew could access the cargo area.

More likely its trying to cover up the blatant bias against Emirates, Etihad etc that the US carriers have been bitching about for years over their unfair subsides. More an excuse for a protectionist trade barrier if you ask me, expand it globaly so you can avoid any WTO actions.

Software woes keep NASA's new crewed missions grounded

Re: SLS is bad idea anyway.

It gets back to Cost/Pound to orbit. Why does Elon think Heavy is a good idea its about lofting the weight fewer flights. As much as the fantasy of on-orbit assembly is its not as easy as it looks and has the added weights of interfaces.

There is an important place for heavy lift, think Mars or Moon re-supply will all be about moving enough supplies out of the gravity well cheaply enough.

Now if SpaceX can land all three boosters of a Falcon Heavy and reuse them ten times, the cost is going to plunge.

SpaceX yoinks $96m GPS launch deal from under ULA's nose

No Spaceport at Hawthorne

Ahhh last time I visited there was no Spaceport built at SpaceX's plant at Hawthorne there is an airport next door, perfect for Elon's private jet, but I don't think the folks next door would take kindly to a Falcon 9 roaring off into the LAX approach paths :-)

Re: SpaceX Development

This is a thought bubble, military tried this repeatedly during the cold war trying to recover film and camera capsules with very mixed results in some programs a less than 10% chance of recovery.

And a rocket engine weighs allot more than a camera or film pack.

Sounds like desperate/wishful thinking of BO and ULA's part. If they are that desperate maybe a move to solid clusters for their first stage, parachute them into the sea like SRB's ATK could restart that program and there are lots of old SRB segments rusting around the Provo manufacturing site.

Re: Wait, we CAN'T overcharge you any more? UNFAIR!

Brett Tobey, vice president of engineering at ULA (well now very EX-VP) admitted during a presentation to students that ULA was walking away from some bids as SpaceX is cheaper.. allot cheaper. ULA lowest cost with a subsidy is $125Mil SpaceX $60mil with the subsidy the ULA price goes up to around $200Mil.

And there are others working on LEO with allot more progress than RocketLaunch lets see if the engineering matches the marketing :-)

Telstra wants civil litigants to pay up front for access to metadata

Re: Civil Litigation?

Lets see..

- Employers seeking to sue an employee who leaks to news media

- Employers suing whistle-blowers

- Defamation litigation

- Injury Insurance claims

- Traffic infringements (sms while driving comes to mind)

- Stalking/AVO

Divorce is now no fault, so no need to go to the expense of proving infidelity

What went up, Musk come down again: SpaceX to blast sat into orbit with used rocket

Re: First ? Erm ...

Err simple a Shuttle SRB is a steel tube, dropped into the ocean by parachute.

They hose it out replace the nozzle and refill the segments. Solid motors are simple and brutal, once started you don't stop them let alone restart and to land them.

Re: Don't call it "re-used"

Just call it "Certified" part of its certification is a full flight test :-)

RAF pilot sacked for sending Airbus Voyager into sudden dive

Re: Flying by Joystick

@aberglas this guy broke two major rules;

1. With the co-pilot out of the seat his principle responsibility is to fly the plane. Obviously he was stuffing around taking pictures otherwise his seat would not have had to be moved forward.

2. He lied about what caused the incident.

First rule is anytime your singled up on the flight deck you are strapped in, and seat forward before the other pilot leaves his seat. Pilot arrogance kills just as many people as design/system flaws.

The side stick there is no feedback nor do you need it, yes it is sensitive, I know some pilots converting from BAE146's and its heavy controls had a devil of a time as they over-corrected resulting in lots of PIO, but its the pilot at issue not focusing on his job to fly the plane.

Tactile feedback wont save you if your not scanning your instruments, and the lack of training to handle non normal situations. Some maybe one in a billion but not to practice courts disaster, sadly as more accountants run airlines than flyers the training gets reduced and the risk increases.

To the audible warning, its a double tone and the master warning light (red one) flashes briefly and unless your holding a rave on the flight deck your going to hear it.

Fireball in Tasmania: Possible CubeSat re-entry sparks alien panic

Its an aircraft contrail

I have seen this type of contrail before over the Nevada desert early dawn, late evening, with the right atmospheric conditions you don't get condensation, but the exhaust trail reflects the sun's light in the vapor from the jet exhaust.

A cube sat would not create a fireball that large or prolonged.

A similar effect can be seen in Yosemite Horsetail Falls..

No rocket science to be seen here.. move along