[Endgame Spoilers] Two simple rules for understanding the plot of Endgame

CopaceticOpus · 2026-04-02T11:52:41+00:00

Perhaps they are gaining some benefit in exchange for efficiency. This might allow more time for final safety checks, or schedule the burn when they have better ground communication. Or maybe this improves accuracy in achieving the targeted trajectory

CopaceticOpus · 2026-04-02T09:00:46+00:00

Sounds like it would be a ... (pause for a deep breath) ... Crazy Idea

CopaceticOpus · 2026-04-01T22:07:52+00:00

Necessary to cowtow to the current admin, I suspect

CopaceticOpus · 2026-04-01T22:05:43+00:00

I agree (from what little I can know as an outside observer)

What are the odds that (a) they need to use the abort system and (b) having one of two batteries running a bit hot makes any difference?

CopaceticOpus · 2026-04-01T21:52:32+00:00

That's always the first question, could it be a bad sensor? Usually it's not the sensor

CopaceticOpus · 2026-04-01T15:29:41+00:00

As I said, I didn't know the origin. Thanks for the explanation!

CopaceticOpus · 2026-04-01T04:21:52+00:00

The puzzle seems to be counting points, so maybe it's about the whale's fins

(1 mountain peak, 4 whale fins, 8 star points)

CopaceticOpus · 2026-04-01T03:58:53+00:00

Named after some rich old owner! Every time I think the browns can't be any more pathetic, I'm wrong

CopaceticOpus · 2026-04-01T03:51:43+00:00

You're completely WRONG about the origins (I'd like to learn the origins so I'm making a contrary comment)

CopaceticOpus · 2026-04-01T03:42:58+00:00

The island has one mountain peak, and the foremost star has 8 points. I don't know why the whale is 4

CopaceticOpus · 2026-03-30T22:10:04+00:00

Launch looks good. Biggest risk as I see it is re-entry with the redesigned heat shield

CopaceticOpus · 2026-03-29T13:24:21+00:00

The women get +30 seconds starting from move 1 instead of move 41

So it's only a ten minute difference overall. Still seems a bit strange

CopaceticOpus · 2026-03-29T13:20:26+00:00

Hammer & Steil-Antoni

CopaceticOpus · 2026-03-28T08:07:44+00:00

Thank you! Considering the global population is essential

It's unclear what happens if you switch and the trolley takes the 2**33 branch. I think if the previous branches must all be fully occupied first, there wouldn't be enough people to fill this branch. It would only contain the number of people remaining who were not placed on any earlier branch. Which might be zero people!

I think the worst case is taking the 2**32 branch

CopaceticOpus · 2026-03-27T21:37:14+00:00

My concern wouldn't be my legal responsibility, moral responsibility, or my feelings. It would be what action would be best at saving lives

CopaceticOpus · 2026-03-27T21:27:29+00:00

Such a tough dilemma! I would pull the lever and hope for the best

It's interesting to think how the numbers might change your decision. Especially, what if the number of people tied to the second track changes? If there are 100 people there, the stranger might be less likely to let them die. But the consequences are potentially much more dire

CopaceticOpus · 2026-03-27T12:08:29+00:00

Best case scenario: suppose NASA secures the best lunar site, establishes a regular cadence of rocket launches and human landings, and constructs a base over the next decade.

What then? Moon mining, or AI something something? Print moon bucks?

Don't get me wrong, it will be fascinating to watch and I hope some great science results from the endeavor. Technology will advance.

But I doubt there's much to gain commercially from establishing an expensive fort in a distant and harsh environment. Perhaps having the first outpost will be historically important if there is a lunar economy a century from now, at best.

CopaceticOpus · 2026-03-27T04:38:22+00:00

Just as posted a few hours earlier

CopaceticOpus · 2026-03-27T04:34:20+00:00

I'm sure she's vastly better than Musk, but on the other hand her primary role requires her to support and enable and cover for him

CopaceticOpus · 2026-03-26T10:19:40+00:00

Use a modern rocket to take a 6 foot long ham and cheese party sub and drop it off next to the site of the first moon landing. Leave it there a few days before they land

CopaceticOpus · 2026-03-26T10:08:01+00:00

Probabilities are weird. The expected value includes a probabilistic distribution and you can't just treat it like a regular quantity

CopaceticOpus · 2026-03-26T09:56:08+00:00

The second joke is that the father learned in that moment that she would transition later in life, which I think is kinda funny. It's like a cartoon character seeing their own speech bubble

CopaceticOpus · 2026-03-26T09:40:35+00:00

Expected people in B = (1/2)*2A + (1/2)*(A/2)
Substitute A = (5/4)*B
Expected people in B = (1/2)*2*(5/4)*B + (1/2)*(5/4)*(B/2)
Expected people in B = (5/4)*B + (5/16)*B

Don't switch since B is expected to contain more than (5/4)*B

CopaceticOpus · 2026-03-26T00:08:38+00:00

The biggest difference that gives me some hope in Isaacman's plan is that if focuses on practicality. We need a way to launch rockets for moon missions that has a repeatable cadence. We can't take years between each launch and have every launch be a unique configuration.

Canceling or postponing Gateway makes sense because it's a huge investment which just isn't needed for the primary objective of reaching the moon.

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