Lewis McL

I like small things and really big things…

[Lewis McL @mcl_lewis]

@jan_murray This is the most terminally online bullshit I have ever seen

[Lewis McL @mcl_lewis]

Just found this cool photo of the archimedes engine.

From the Molly O’Shea interview

[Lewis McL @mcl_lewis]

@IanDodds_ Maybe increasing the weld length, more surface area to join the 2 parts?

[ふじぃ @fuji_504]

稼働部無し、ソリッドステートスピンドライブの案です。
アストロファージは光量によって速度が変化するので、僅かな時間だけとても弱い光をスイッチングして燃焼後のアストロファージを排出するアイデア

[Goose @megagoose11]

BIG BROTHER IS LISTENING🦻

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

Life cannot just be about one sad thing after another.

There must also be things that make us super excited and inspired about the future. This is one of things. Bigtime.

[The Ocean Cleanup @TheOceanCleanup]

Final numbers are in: In 2025, we prevented 27,385,000 kg of trash from reaching the ocean, making it our most impactful year yet.

Stay tuned for our progress in 2026, as we scale up through our 30 Cities Program.

[Neuralink @neuralink]

ALS took Nick’s arm mobility. Now, he can control a robotic arm with his Neuralink device to feed himself.

“Life with my BCI has been and continues to be so surreal and so rewarding. Can’t wait to see what comes next!”

[Homer Hickam @realhomerhickam]

VP Mike Pence announced Artemis on Mar 26, 2019 in Huntsville during a National Space Council meeting with a directive to land Americans on the moon in five years "by any means necessary." I had talked to Mike about it beforehand & knew it was coming. Jim B. clearly did not. That look of concern and surprise on his face after the meeting while I was talking to the VP was very real. He had a golden opportunity to gather our best aerospace folks together and put together a system that would have gotten us there and kept us going back. Instead, he squandered it by going to the SLS/Orion/Gateway playbook which I had argued against in previous NSC meetings. Jim's not a bad person for doing that. It was what all his HQ people & Senators like Cruz wanted. Then Covid hit, the election heated up, the VP got fully distracted, the NSC fell aside, and the Rube Goldberg architecture we have now got put in place. Kamala Harris had no clue and things just rocked on under Bill Nelson and now here we are. The worst thing is neither the VP, Jim, Bill, Mr. Trump, Ted Cruz nor anyone with their hands on the levers of power have ever sat down and figured out "why" we should go to the moon - and beating the Chinese (the only "why" you'll hear these days) is simply not good enough for a sustained presence. The "why" (for Mr. Trump in terms he would understand) is essentially it's undeveloped real estate with all the possibilities of such.

[Lewis McL @mcl_lewis]

@xdNiBoR Would love to join 🤟

[Lewis McL @mcl_lewis]

Found a bunch of pregnant females around my house recently. My guess is they are trying to find a warm dry place to lay their eggs.

[Lewis McL @mcl_lewis]

Thought this little guy was cute till I saw his “teeth”

[Lewis McL @mcl_lewis]

Stink bug. Found down in NZ shame they are a pest cause they look so cool.

[Andrew Jones @AJ_FI]

Wow. China's Tiangong space station transiting Jupiter, captured by 沈老思347 and shared via China航天
https://t.co/UnYkKMqG9n

[Chun @satofishi]

I presumed that viewing Earth from 400+ km above would feel like gazing at something infinitely far, where depth perception wouldn’t matter. However, that’s not true—you can distinctly see Earth’s spherical shape, and the layers between the clouds and the ground stand out vividly.

For Apple Vision Pro with Moon Player: https://t.co/r5O8mF9zII

For Meta Quest and others: https://t.co/ciFNtPMlbI

Captured with Canon EOS R5 C with RF5.2mm F2.8 L DUAL FISHEYE. Unfortunately, 8K resolution isn’t enough for all the details. Will bring a better camera next time.

[LΛUNCHER @launcher]

At our Mojave, CA test site, E-2 ran at boosted thrust for a 1-minute duration, achieving 25,000 lbf thrust and measured 295 seconds Isp. Although E-2 is a kerosene/LOX engine, its plume is blue and transparent, demonstrating its 99%+ combustion efficiency.

E-2 is now available for sale.

[Lewis McL @mcl_lewis]

@YourMomDave1 @mcrs987 @Entropy8ynamics You consistently have the best takes on my feed. Feels nice to have someone posting what I’m thinking because I don’t post my opinions often. Thanks 🙏

[Robotbeat🗽 ➐ @Robotbeat]

Elon’s gonna say “F*** Nazis” and then folks are gonna be like “omg, he means slowly.”

[Amy @Amy787]

ALTITUDE MATTERS!
For Starship 7 Launch the FAA issued a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) that specified the closed airspace area around the launch, and a broader warning area under Starship’s planned path. Starship 7’s rapid unscheduled disassembly occurred over the NOTAM’d WARNING area.

Why was this airspace not CLOSED to begin with?

EXPLOSION IN SPACE
Because SpaceX and the FAA calculate what Starship’s ALTITUDE will be along its path. Starship was in already in SPACE (~90 miles above the earth) when it exploded.

ROCKETS TRAVEL IN SPACE & AIRLINERS FLY IN THE ATMOSPHERE
Most airliners have a max service ceiling of 41,000 feet or ~7 miles above the earth. The explosion, while spectacular, posed no immediate danger to planes far, far below. It occurred more than 83 miles above them!

PLAN ACTIVATED
What happens next? SpaceX notifies the FAA of Starship 7´s rapid unscheduled disassembly, the FAA activates the warning area, & ATC follows normal procedures and vectors planes out of or around the Warning zone airspace—long before any debris could possibly fall to the altitude of a plane below. These calculations are done, and contingency plans made, in advance. The FAA doesn’t HOPE for the safety of the airliners, it KNOWS they will be safe, by DESIGN.

Anytime some airspace is restricted—TFRs can be issued for the President’s movement, the SuperBowl, Military airspace—it can create delays. Since this was NOTAM’d prior to the launch, airlines can choose to flight plan around the warning area, or carry extra contingency fuel to hold, or plan to divert if required. From a pilot’s perspective, this is the same type of contingency planning we do for weather, like thunderstorms. Today a few planes rerouted, a few held, a few experienced ground stops. To put it in context, a few DOZEN planes were effected today whereas the average Houston Thunderstorm, or a Presidential fundraiser typically create HUNDREDS of delays…

STUNNING VIDEOS!
The videos are attention getting and stunning. This video from the flight deck is my favorite! Lucky pilots, I’m so envious. But some are misinterpreting the videos (because people aren’t used to judging altitudes of objects, and to them it looks close). These space debris are MILES further away than they appear.

The FAA did its job. SpaceX followed protocol. SpaceX already identified the mechanical issue, and potential fix, allowing the cadence of launches to stay on track. @spacex @elonmusk

(Note: My apologies in advance for providing inconvenient facts that contradict false outrage).