Tom Bickmore 🚀

MDRS Crew #328!
Space, Robotics, Ham Radio, & Engineering Teacher!
Taught 1700 Students ages 5-18 in over 42 Countries
DM for private online classes/tutoring.

[Tom Bickmore 🚀 @The2x4]

Hey @projecthailmary!
I’m a rocket science teacher who became an astronaut for my students! I just returned from a 2-week Mars simulation at MDRS where my students and I ran a live interplanetary comms-delay experiment. During the event, these kids answered hundreds of space questions from a global audience, and also realized they were ALL (re)reading Project Hail Mary at the same time!
They have been studying rocket science with me (voluntarily) for 5 years on @Outschool and can hold their own with anyone in the space industry. They’re sharp on camera and asked & answered brilliant questions throughout.
We’d LOVE the chance to interview @RyanGosling, @andyweirauthor, or anyone from the team. The science-teacher-going-to-space-for-his-students angle really resonated strongly with us.
We’re based globally (I’m in Canada), so Zoom works perfectly on your schedule.
Any chance this is possible? We’d love to show your team, and the world, why these kids are the real future of space exploration!
Rocky says we make a good team together, after all!!
https://t.co/xhtUdM7qOB

[Project Hail Mary @projecthailmary]

@The2x4 All of you and me and Grace together. Good team.

[Tom Bickmore 🚀 @The2x4]

@Neutron622001 We told you about it yesterday. It worked. See you again about this tomorrow.

[Tom Bickmore 🚀 @The2x4]

@ZiptieEngineer @RGVaerialphotos @Starlink @StarbaseTX I've seen people post that they have it shut off in their car when they go over 100mph. I have not tested this myself.

[Tom Bickmore 🚀 @The2x4]

@ZiptieEngineer @RGVaerialphotos @Starlink @StarbaseTX It disables at that speed unless you pay for more speed.

[Tom Bickmore 🚀 @The2x4]

@ZiptieEngineer @RGVaerialphotos @Starlink @StarbaseTX I've seen posts where a Starlink notice (that it is disabled due to speed) informs a spouse that their other half is speeding that much with their Mini on their vehicle.

[Tom Bickmore 🚀 @The2x4]

@TylerG1998 This looks like one of those fancy stock photos, but better.

[Tom Bickmore 🚀 @The2x4]

@ImmortalitySong https://t.co/JPU4PtLF8J

[Tom Bickmore 🚀 @The2x4]

Herein lies deep wisdom:

[NOBUNAGA🇯🇵🏯_夏樹蒼依 @japan_nobunaga]

USA. A businessman shook my hand, and I require a moment.

In Japan, the bow carries everything — depth, duration, who rises first. The hands stay home. I knew that here, the hands MEET. I had practiced. I believed I was prepared.

I was not prepared for KENNETH.

Kenneth's handshake began before contact — his hand left his side at four paces, like a falcon leaving the glove. The grip: TOTAL. Not painful, but complete. A clasp communicating that Kenneth was glad to meet me, that Kenneth's business was thriving, and that Kenneth has risen at five a.m. for thirty consecutive years. Two pumps. Eye contact throughout. Frank as noon.

I returned what I could. Sincere grip. Matched rhythm. Held the eyes.

And Kenneth said the words:

"Now THAT'S a handshake."

I have had this sentence appraised by three separate neighbors, America. All three confirmed: highest praise. Rarely issued. Never false. One neighbor added, "Kenneth said that? About YOUR handshake?" — with a new respect that has not faded since.

I have studied the institution properly now. Your handshake is a complete diplomatic system compressed into two seconds: too soft, you are hiding something. Too hard, you are PROVING something — which is worse. The ideal is firm, dry, brief. Strength, shown but not used.

It is the bow, in grip form. We measure each other in my country too. We simply do it from farther away, and nobody risks a finger.

But understand what Kenneth gave me, America. In Japan, mastery of the bow takes a lifetime, and no one will EVER tell you that you have achieved it. That would be unthinkable.

Kenneth told me in FOUR SECONDS, in a hardware store, by the fasteners.

That's a handshake. A judgment, issued instantly, by a man qualified to issue it.

A man does not ask the falcon to land softly. He grips, gives two pumps, and is judged.

Kenneth and I shake hands every Saturday now. He advises me on bolts. The falcon flies at four paces, two pumps, full eyes, every time.

My bow I keep for my own people.

The handshake belongs to Kenneth, and honestly, America, he has earned it.

[Tom Bickmore 🚀 @The2x4]

On top of all that, I am always confused why people complain so much about "what is possible", and nobody realizes your fridge cools itself by heating your house.
Yes, the radiator is using convection, but it is literally freezing things while convecting that heat to room temperature air.
It is entirely possible to have the radiators much hotter than the GPUs with a simple heat pump like you have in your kitchen.

[Tom Bickmore 🚀 @The2x4]

@aaronburnett I volunteer to be a orbital tech support worked, using a jetpack to hop between sats and replace GPUs. (Way more efficient than a whole ship going around, right?)

[Tom Bickmore 🚀 @The2x4]

@megagoose11 Didn't realize the 2nd at CC was officially started yet.

[Stoke Space @stoke_space]

Big tank. Big tests. Big milestone.

Nova Stage 1 proto-qualification is complete.
46 structural objectives verified, plus key fluid systems, avionics, software, ground systems, and ops demos. (More detail in our linked blog post.)

This is where new rockets often find the hard stuff; Nova (and the Stoke team) handled it. Our local partners at the @PORTOFMOSESLAKE , the Grant County Sheriff's Office and Public Works department, plus our vendor Norco made sure we had the support we needed every step of the way.

Ad Astra.✨

https://t.co/TFKfrM2n2B

[Tom Bickmore 🚀 @The2x4]

@imut3eb @zackdfilms1 Depends on time of year and how far from equator you are.
This method does work most places if you track the whole day, or know exactly when noon is, but in 15 minutes, no.

[Tom Bickmore 🚀 @The2x4]

@mcrs987 @interkosmos_dog You see the vid of someone doing it a couple months ago?
(They also turned camera around to show their faces and open containers, so not the best judgement all around)

[Tom Bickmore 🚀 @The2x4]

@cnunezimages @SpaceIntel101 With a blank sky, this has no sense of scale.
Looks like a model in a photo studio is anything.

[Tom Bickmore 🚀 @The2x4]

It's not uncommon to see my @Outschool students joining class from the car 😂 so I'm sure many parents can relate to this. I know we do!

-Teacher Tom

[Dude Dad @dudedad]

We had it made in the 90s...

[Tom Bickmore 🚀 @The2x4]

@dudedad It's not uncommon to see my @Outschool students joining class from the car 😂 so I'm sure many parents can relate to this. I know we do!

-Teacher Tom

[Tom Bickmore 🚀 @The2x4]

@SpaceKoala Gas stations would be pointless without the huge market of cars being driven daily.
Cars would be pointless without the huge network of gas stations.

Both should be shut down because they rely on such an instable thing to make them possible.

[Tom Bickmore 🚀 @The2x4]

@tomhfh Did you maybe want to credit @AdrianDittmann for it. f you like it so much?
https://t.co/BsdXqJMeVr

[Adrian Dittmann @AdrianDittmann]

Starship Flight 12 - Cinematic Edit