Intrepidation

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Space shuttle Atlantis thundered away on its final voyage to orbit Friday, hoisting an experienced crew of six and a full shipment of space station gear. Atlantis sped through a perfectly clear afternoon sky, blazing a trail over the Atlantic before huge crowds eager to catch one of the few remaining shuttle launches. Its destination is the International Space Station, which was soaring over the South Pacific at the time of liftoff. The shuttle should catch up with the orbiting complex and its six residents Sunday. More than 40,000 guests — the biggest launch-day crowd in years — descended on the Kennedy Space Center, all of them eager to witness Atlantis' last launch. The shuttle obliged, roaring off the pad right on time. "Good luck, godspeed and have a little fun up there," launch director Mike Leinbach told the astronauts just before liftoff. He said he was speaking on behalf of all those who have worked on Atlantis since construction began in 1980. "Like you said, there are thousands of folks out there who have taken care of this bird for a long time," replied commander Kenneth Ham. "And if you don't mind, we'll take her out of the barn and make a few more laps around the planet." The astronauts — all repeat space fliers and all men — couldn't resist a little humor before they got down to business. They showed up for their steak and cheeseburger breakfast wearing blue and black smoking jackets, white shirts and black bow ties. The only concern during Friday's countdown involved a small ball bearing found in Atlantis' payload bay earlier this week. Engineers scrambled to determine the bearing likely came from a spacewalk camera, and cleared the launch with just minutes remaining. The 12-day mission is the last one for Atlantis, the fourth in NASA's line of space shuttles. Only two flights remain after this one, by Discovery and Endeavour. NASA plans to end the 30-year program by the end of this year. Atlantis rocketed into orbit for the first time in 1985. This will be its 32nd trip and the 132nd shuttle flight overall. The shuttle is loaded with fresh batteries and a Russian-built compartment for the space station. The 20-foot-long module is crammed with food, laptop computers and other U.S. supplies. Ham and his men will install the compartment on the space station, and carry out three spacewalks to replace six old batteries and hook up an antenna and other spare parts. Launch spectators included late-night TV host David Letterman and dozens of Russians. About 150 Twittering guests were invited to Kennedy's media complex. Matt Balan, 29, of Alexandria, Va., lost his network connection right at liftoff as he was trying to tweet. He finally got this message out a few minutes after the fact: "That was spectacular!!!!" Even off-duty astronauts marveled at the sight of Atlantis rising one last time, snapping pictures with their cell phones. "That was an incredible launch," said Rick Mastracchio, who flew last month on Discovery. President Barack Obama wants NASA to focus on getting astronauts to an asteroid by 2025 and into orbit around Mars by 2035. He canceled the previous administration's plan to return to the moon. Friday's launch was NASA's fourth shuttle liftoff in six months. Now the pace will slow a bit. Discovery isn't due to fly until September, followed by Endeavour in November — at the earliest. There's a chance that Atlantis could fly again after it returns to Earth on May 26. The shuttle will be prepped in case a rescue mission is needed for the last flight, by Endeavour. Assuming there's no emergency, Atlantis could be used for another supply run if the White House approves it, and that would close the shuttle program for good. Then the shuttles would head off to museums. Immediately after watching Discovery soar, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., told The Associated Press that he's encouraging one more flight for Atlantis and noted: "There's a good chance the president will approve it." He flew Columbia into orbit in 1986. Under the Obama plan, NASA astronauts will hitch rides to the space station on Russian Soyuz rockets for the near future. NASA expects to keep the space station running through 2020. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100514/ap_on_sc/us_space_shuttle

What an idiot, but it makes for good comedy fodder. Yes, people like Beck (which there seem to be a lot of) paint conservatives as nut jobs.

How long is your work commute? If it's a long commute, how do you manage it? I'm curious because I a company has contacted me with interest, but if I hypothetically got the job, it's 1 hour and 49 minutes each way. I don't know if I could do that 5 days a week. If you have a commute like that, how do you manage it?

Welcome to C&G!

3.5's best was 29.7 mpg

Well most of us are in the US so it we go by MPG VS L/100km. The only thing liter is really used for is as a drink bottle measurement.

He could have at least bought a car cover for it.

The internets are a series of tubes.

THE INERNETS IS SERIOUS BUSINESS

Testing...

The Gran Marquis, which probably weighs as much as a small moon around gets 26 mpg regularly on highway trips.

Well of course when it comes to practicality reasoning or what's more economical on the wallet these builds don't make much sense, but I admire people who do something different, because they want to and aren't hung up on "well I could just get a RWD car for cheaper like everyone else". The mid engine Integra is cool. Now that's tuning done right.

So what are the mpg numbers? You left that bit out. The 4.6 gets pretty impressive fuel economy I've found.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLtsUp5uSUc Discuss.

Would be cool, however it's a tight it as it is for the 3.5 the cars came with. I believe the Hemi is too long to fit in the bay. There's another car, and LHS that's got a 6.0L GM LS2 V8 and a Tremec T56 6-speed manual, though their hasn't been an update to that project in a year or so.

I'm going to guess that 1.) It's something different and 2.) it's fun to do.

I thought I'd share this with you guys, I figure the tinkerers, RWD fans, V8 fans, and plain crazy people will get a kick out of this. It's a 1999 Dodge Intrepid that a member of LHF has been converting RWD, V8 powered. There's 30 pages and counting of the progress so far. It's a very cool read, check it out. http://www.lhforums.net/forums/showthread.php?t=16536 And of course,a video.

That's because they prefer mass market "games" as opposed to real games. Also waving a stick around is apparently OMFGOSMTASTIC.

You win this thread.

Ketchup, sometimes with cheddar.

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. -- The victim has probably forgiven the woman who ran him down in a Northampton crosswalk. The police haven't. Police say a Pittsfield woman has been cited for running down Lord Jesus Christ as he crossed the street in Northampton. Officers responding to Tuesday's incident checked the 50-year-old Belchertown man's ID and discovered that, indeed, Lord Jesus Christ is his legal name. He was taken to the hospital for treatment of minor facial injuries. Police say 20-year-old Brittany Cantarella was cited for failing to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk. (Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/bizarre/BO141599/

Go to My Settings > Profile > Signature and you can insert there.

QFT