a fun thing you learn about reading NTSB airline crash reports...

The problem with aircraft automation is that the pilot in command can easily cause a problem by incorrect use of main control panel. Most crashes are probably pilot error using the autopilot systems & checklists. My CFI instructor used to fly 737 & 747 as Captain & once had the female first office reading from the check list say positive rate gear up & the aircraft had not even left the ground never mind 400 foot minimums. Hand god the aircraft weight was still activating the wheel sensors & stopped the wheels from going up. As for aircraft without pilots oh god no, too much to fail & cascade that a good pilot can correct.
 
ngnicholson said:
the aircraft had not even left the ground
Click to expand...
Interesting bug in the F104 control software (the startfighter) : it was meant to stop illegal pilot commands.
  1. Pilot presses "gear up", while still before the hangar.
  2. Plane checks if that is OK, checking height
    1. no ground radar because no power.
      1. no power because no engine rotation.
      2. That's ok, ignition not set.
    2. Second measurement, barometric...
      1. Airfield in the mountains
      2. Estaminated height plenty of space over NN.
  3. Gear moves up
  4. Airframe trashed
 
atax1a said:
this is a post about so-called "generative AI"
Click to expand...
Automation of vehicles and navigation is not close to generative AI. It is a mechanical algorithm. In its simplest form, A* path finding is closer to a sorting algorithm rather than any kind of intelligence.

Yes, the media will call a "bubble sort" AI because its a buzzword. But it has never been intelligent. The guidance computer on the original Apollo moon mission was not "intelligent".

Determinism and reproduction is very important for vehicles. We don't really want stochastic intelligence (human or LLMs) in the mix. Following on from what SirDice mentioned, other than mechanical / physical failure, human error has been the next largest source of air crashes.

As an overly simplistic example. If two cars are racing towards each other for a head on collision. It will be 50:50 chance that both drivers turn the same way as an avoidance reaction and ultimately crash. If two deterministic algorithms were in the same position and they both favor trying left before right (or only the northmost vehicle avoids), they will consistently avoid the crash. Algorithms have their place in this world (whether it is under the technical umbrella of LLM or not is irrelevant).

... but yes, I do avoid airplanes because I know so much software is terrible.
 
loveydovey said:
Yeah, they had bigger problems than Microsoft Outlook. That female's giant bush of hair almost crashed the entire spacecraft! Did you all see that? She was basically flipping switches with just brushing her hair all over the panels and the interior of the craft ALL THE TIME. That's literally attempted murder, she needed to have all that hair in a ponytail or a bun. And the fact that SHE didn't have the self-awareness to do that is pretty damning. They need to send NTSB to whoop NASA's bum because NTSB has their stuff together - female pilots are not allowed their hair to be uncontrollably floating around the pilot cabin, and for very good reasons. Such a major hazard.
Click to expand...
It does seem to be a risk. I noticed Suni had the same thing in her ISS tour video, I remember the first time I watched it I felt nervous about her hair. I guess they must think it's not a major hazard, but like you say, it's a bit surprising. Perhaps the hair brushing against control panels isn't enough to activate them? I guess it doesn't weigh anything in space. Of course it only needs to happen once, with the wrong switch or control knob, to be potentially catastrophic. I would have thought it's more a risk to her personally, if her hair gets caught in all those cables and other gear that is floating around. Well, they must have assessed it and decided it's not a problem. If that was any kind of industrial site or factory here, or anything military, they would be required to have the hair well under control, guys as well as girls. I would have thought safety would be of absolutely overriding priority in space, even if weightless conditions mean it's less of a problem than down here.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkM_04Ch76E

To be honest I think it would simply annoy the hell out of me having all that hair floating around if I was up there, I'd rather cut it. 😂 After all it doesn't have to be a crew cut, but a bit shorter wouldn't hurt 😁
 
loveydovey said:
Yeah, they had bigger problems than Microsoft Outlook. That female's giant bush of hair almost crashed the entire spacecraft! Did you all see that? She was basically flipping switches with just brushing her hair all over the panels and the interior of the craft ALL THE TIME. That's literally attempted murder, she needed to have all that hair in a ponytail or a bun. And the fact that SHE didn't have the self-awareness to do that is pretty damning. They need to send NTSB to whoop NASA's bum because NTSB has their stuff together - female pilots are not allowed their hair to be uncontrollably floating around the pilot cabin, and for very good reasons. Such a major hazard.
Click to expand...
guys really will go online and post all these weird hangups they have about women as if those hangups were the woman's fault. absolutely wild.
 
blackbird9 said:
It looks like they've been doing long hair in space for many years... this was posted 12 years ago...
Click to expand...
Out of all the other uncomfortable things astronauts need to do (catheters, recycled urine, etc); I am surprised they don't just mandate a buzz cut for both males and females in all fairness. That surely isn't an issue for them.

But lets be honest, the hair flying around like that is to make the footage more fun and relatable for us plebs. If it keeps NASA funded and the kids engaged, I am all for it. When the camera is off, its extremely likely that she ties her hair up as per boring corporate safety policy and procedures. Just like someone peeling carrots in a restaurant ;).
 
kpedersen said:
but yes, I do avoid airplanes because I know so much software is terrible.
Click to expand...
I've been looking so hard for a nice cargo ship to catch a ride on. What a stupendous thing that would be if we could just go 'cross the Atlantic in cargo ships (those who can afford the time). Cheaper, healthier, funner, more interesting, and of course safer. I mean if we could just even have that option available. But good luck. It's like Mission Impossible. There are some roundabout ways which are god knows how reliable and trustworthy. Mmmmm, just imagine the starlit skies in the total absence of light pollution....fresh marine air....simple pleasures....
 
blackbird9 said:
To be honest I think it would simply annoy the hell out of me having all that hair floating around if I was up there, I'd rather cut it
Click to expand...
It's, like, it sheds too, all over the place (if you ever lived with a woman, you'd know). Which compounds the safety issue.

She was probably:
954bbd3b4804d85fffc28274e8b31151.gif
42nN.gif

Let me show you how to pilot this thing with my hair.

It's really the series of most unlikely sequence of events that can happen that will create a major safety incident. The exact sequence of events will not be foreseeable too and will be exotic, but the series will have one easily preventable element - long loose hair. We really need N*S*TSB (National Space Transportation Safety Board) - because piloting a spacecraft is transportation...do we really need an accident to happen for them to get involved?
 
kpedersen said:
But lets be honest, the hair flying around like that is to make the footage more fun and relatable for us plebs. If it keeps NASA funded and the kids engaged, I am all for it. When the camera is off, its extremely likely that she ties her hair up as per boring corporate safety policy and procedures. Just like someone peeling carrots in a restaurant ;).
Click to expand...
I guess you're right. Traditionally most astronauts came up through being jet fighter pilots or test pilots, I'm pretty sure all that hair would have a hard time fitting underneath a flight helmet. Although it looks like Christine came up through the science route, good for her. I'm sure the training is "gruelling", if the truth be known.
abcnews.com

Get to know Christina Koch, the 1st female NASA astronaut to travel around the moon

Christina Koch, a NASA astronaut since 2013, is making history with Artemis II as the first female to travel around the moon aboard the Orion spacecraft.
abcnews.com abcnews.com
Don't get me wrong, I have total admiration for all of them, you need to have an enormous amount of guts to sit in a little capsule on top of that huge rocket and go out past the moon, they are much braver than I would be, and the most dangerous part of the mission is yet to come, coming back to earth. Atax1a...I expected a better response from someone of your obvious intelligence. It's nothing to do with 'weird hangups about women', it's an entirely rational safety concern about long hair in a mission critical environment like a space capsule, as you will also find on just about any industrial site or military or aerospace environment on the earth's surface. Anyone who has ever worked in industry or served their country will recognise the safety concern. I would have exactly the same concern if any of the guys had long hair (like Garth!). I was more concerned for her own safety, you can see the capsule is full of all kinds of cabling and other gear all over the place and getting hair tangled up in any of it would be a safety concern to my mind. On a space mission you really want to eliminate any and all possible ways for accidents to happen. I don't know if hair can activate a switch or button by accident, but it sounds at least plausible that it might. I'm sure the safety of the crew is of paramount importance to the mission planners. When they are out there 250000 miles from earth they can't exactly call the thunderbirds to come and rescue them.

Still... the fact that they've been wearing their hair long for many years on the ISS must mean that the safety aspects have been thoroughly assessed and found acceptable, I am quite sure it won't have been overlooked by the safety officers. I am guessing that in a weightless environment it is not such a risk as it would be down here on earth. It would actually be quite interesting to know how they arrived at allowing it. Every single thing is planned in infinite detail on that kind of mission, absolutely nothing is left to chance.
 
I really liked Gene Kranz. Fighter pilot..
Have been project manager myself, telecom, never been pilot and budget was limited.
Nice times, but then came modern times with modern management.
Nothing more for me.
Fun in work was gone.
Now lucky retired.
Some thing in the past where good ; music with real drums, bass guitars, higher guitars.
 
loveydovey said:
I've been looking so hard for a nice cargo ship to catch a ride on. What a stupendous thing that would be if we could just go 'cross the Atlantic in cargo ships (those who can afford the time). Cheaper, healthier, funner, more interesting, and of course safer. I mean if we could just even have that option available. But good luck. It's like Mission Impossible. There are some roundabout ways which are god knows how reliable and trustworthy. Mmmmm, just imagine the starlit skies in the total absence of light pollution....fresh marine air....simple pleasures....
Click to expand...
You can, and I know people who have done it! Many container boats have (usually a small number of) private cabins that you can book a berth in. One guy I knew who did that said it was brilliant, the food was great, he ate at the captains table... and had a real break away from it all, unlike flying. The downside is it's pretty expensive, much more expensive than flying, and it's slow. It all depends on what you like! This site has some basic information about it.
BTW... the air is fresh some of the time... when the smoke from the funnel isn't blowing down onto the deck! They burn very heavy fuel oil and the smoke can be pretty bad if you're in the wrong place at the wrong time, or so I've been told!
 
Between Mars & Venus there is Earth. Our home planet. Like a ying and yang.
But as I identify as an attack helicopter, nothing more gross , then thinking everything is gross.
 
blackbird9 said:
BTW... the air is fresh some of the time... when the smoke from the funnel isn't blowing down onto the deck! They burn really heavy fuel oil and the smoke can be pretty bad if you're in the wrong place at the wrong time, or so I've been told!
Click to expand...
Thanks! One day... We need like an Airbnb for cargo ships or something. I doubt they fill up the beds. Cargo companies might even invest in some extra passenger capacity little by little, who knows.
 
loveydovey said:
It's really the series of most unlikely sequence of events that can happen that will create a major safety incident. The exact sequence of events will not be foreseeable too and will be exotic, but the series will have one easily preventable element - long loose hair. We really need N*S*TSB (National Space Transportation Safety Board) - because piloting a spacecraft is transportation...do we really need an accident to happen for them to get involved?
Click to expand...
I had exactly the same concern, and I remember feeling pretty queasy when I saw the videos with long hair on the ISS. All it takes is that one in a million thing to happen that no-one is expecting to screw things up. I'm really quite surprised that they allow it, even now. Anyone who has had any kind of exposure to safety in industry will know what I'm talking about.
 
As expected... long hair in space has been considered in depth. Quite interesting. In passing, beards are a problem too... of course they are: helmets. This is just a summary... I expect there are books full of NASA regulations about these kinds of problems.

Can Astronauts Have Long Hair? Nasa's Surprising Rules Explained | ShunSalon

Discover NASA's surprising rules on astronauts' hair length. Learn why long hair isn't prohibited and how it's managed in space.
shunsalon.com shunsalon.com
 
loveydovey said:
Thanks! One day... We need like an Airbnb for cargo ships or something. I doubt they fill up the beds. Cargo companies might even invest in some extra passenger capacity little by little, who knows.
Click to expand...
I've been told they usually have long waiting lists to get a berth, you have to book months in advance, or even a year, depending on the route. There are usually only a small number of berths on each boat, if it's a container ship... maybe only around 5 per ship, and plenty of people wanting to take the trip. They don't usually have empty beds to spare.

There's an introductory video here
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RHVXn4HXkY
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top