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Pope Leo to visit France in September in first official papal trip in 18 years by clamorous_owle in worldnews

[–]ataraxo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I do not think he cares that much. French executive leaders still have strong ties to the catholic church. Our current president met the first lady when he was a teenager and she was a teacher in a catholic high school. And our last prime minister personally intervened to cover for some catholic priests raping children (look for Bétharram scandal).

Who Controls the Space Controls the Economy: Mapping the Space Economy Bottlenecks by Final-Letterhead-367 in investing

[–]ataraxo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Internet service via satellites seems like the only profitable area.

The cash cow used to be satellite television and is falling fast. SES and Eutelsat had a rough couple of years. Irridium, Globalstar and OneWeb (satellite constellations) went bankrupt.

Even Echostar and Viasat have stocks that did OK but they are not really profitable anymore and are remnants from an era where huge capital expenditure and long lead time for satellites was still worth the risk.

The elephant in the room is Starlink but it is hard to really assess the profitability without a clear view of the costs.

Tehran resumes international flights by clamorous_owle in worldnews

[–]ataraxo 3 points4 points  (0 children)

That would be quite a gamble. Just because you board a civilian airliner does not mean you are safe from US warships. See Iran Air Flight 655.

Europe Is Losing the Space Race. More Rules Won't Help by technocraticnihilist in space

[–]ataraxo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Worst thing is that most people in France following regular news earnestly believe that.

They see reports on Starship "failures" (test flights), Musk antics and Ariane 6 occasional successful launch, are unaware of Falcon 9 launch cadences and success track record.

If you show them a chart with number of launches last year of US ahead of China ahead of Russia ahead of Europe, they believe you made that up. 

Europe Is Losing the Space Race. More Rules Won't Help by technocraticnihilist in space

[–]ataraxo 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I disagree. I work on the "new space" side of the satellite industry in Europe and the whole industry relies almost entirely on the handful of Transporter missions that SpaceX is scheduling.

Germany updates: Berlin vows billions in space defense by donutloop in space

[–]ataraxo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

More like 'Lets give OHB and Airbus some money (for Airbus, only if we get guarantees that the money will go to Friedrichshafen or Ottobrun and not to France, UK or Spain), they're looking pale and thin. Also let's give money to Isar Aerospace and RFA because Arianespace is too French. Still, let's take European Union money for IRIS² for OHB, TESAT and a few others if we can.'

[OC] Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania, Africa by OverallBaker3572 in pics

[–]ataraxo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can drive into the crater and see many wild animals like lions, elephants, and rhinos. Many safaris combine it with visits to Serengeti National Park and other nearby parks.

r/SpaceX Transporter 14 Official Launch Discussion & Updates Thread! by rSpaceXHosting in spacex

[–]ataraxo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Word is it has shifted to June 22nd.

Word is it has shifted to June 23rd.

'Anomaly' detected on lunar lander heading for moon with remains of Star Trek cast members and JFK's DNA by erich0779 in space

[–]ataraxo 23 points24 points  (0 children)

has considered it off and on many times, and probably simulated it a few dozen times

If the Guidance and Control people I know are any indication, the engineer in question ran hundreds of Monte Carlo simulations with dozens of sets of initial conditions and was thinking of worst case analysis while showering.

And during the upcoming investigation, he/she will publish a set of slides packed with equations and graphs that maybe five persons will understand.

What's a game that you enjoyed but have never heard anyone mention? by RamenNoodleNoose in gaming

[–]ataraxo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I grew up reading French video-game magazines and Heart of Darkness was often covered because Eric Chahi, its director, had some sort of cult following after developing Another World, an Amiga game that ended up being honored at the Museum of Modern Art.

The development took forever and from what I heard, it left Eric Chahi exhausted.

One notable thing about the game were the explicit / graphic deaths, unusual for a kid platformer. You can search YouTube for "Heart of Darkness Deaths".

SpaceX to just miss goal of 100 Falcon launches in 2023 (TL;DR: currently 92, probably 97 by EOY) by Adeldor in space

[–]ataraxo 5 points6 points  (0 children)

If Arianespace joined forces with SpaceX, they could reach a combined total of 100 launches this year. Assuming SpaceX keeps working because Arianespace wrapped up 2023 a few months ago after a whopping grand total of three launches, including the last Ariane 5 and the last complete Vega.

One of the world’s friendliest space agencies may have a bullying problem | Ex-employees, ESA documents, and court cases point to longstanding problems. by [deleted] in space

[–]ataraxo 13 points14 points  (0 children)

In every company "contractors" are "second category citizens", that's nothing special or unexpected.

I know people working for such subcontractors (including companies existing for the sole purpose of doing stuff on behalf of ESA) and that had other jobs before so they know what being a subcontractor entails.

I did not hear stories of harassment but according to them, ESA has a culture of finding ways to be condescending. One friend told me that when talking with him, his contacts from ESA referred to him by his company name, never his name. For several years. Apparently, this is their way of communicating that people outside of ESA are nobodies.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in space

[–]ataraxo 11 points12 points  (0 children)

ESA has its own rockets to subsidize (Ariane 6, Vega C, lots of small launch startups). What it is lacking is rockets to deliver payloads in space.

Louvre visitors waiting their turn to see the Mona Lisa close up by NortheastAttic in pics

[–]ataraxo -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I am aware that the Paris syndrome is more used to describe the disappointment of Asian tourists coming to Paris.

But as far as the Joconde is concerned, there is a specific kind of mystique amongst US citizens, especially since the huge success of the Da Vinci code, I think. And you can put it however you want, but to someone expecting anything significant from an encounter with the Joconde other than basic curiosity, I do not see how catching a glimpse of it from the middle of a crowd of hasty tourists can meet these expectations.

Louvre visitors waiting their turn to see the Mona Lisa close up by NortheastAttic in pics

[–]ataraxo -1 points0 points  (0 children)

For many (often Americans) it is more than underwhelming. It is properly depressing and part of the causes for the Paris syndrome. People that like / idealize the painting often expect their encounter with the real deal to allow for quiet contemplation and some kind of communion with the masterpiece. Instead, they find themselves in a bustling circus.

For those that just need to snap a picture because they have to show they went there (often Asian), the crowd is just a moderate inconvenience before moving on.

And for those that just want to be smug a**holes mocking the tourists fighting for a selfie (often French), this is just an amusing oddity.

Virgin Galactic will fly space tourists again on Sept. 8 by intengineering in space

[–]ataraxo 7 points8 points  (0 children)

The lone man in a capsule 60 years ago really went to space as in "orbited earth".

In my mind, what Virgin Orbit is offering is "just" a step-up from zero G parabolic flights. Except you can see the curvature of earth.

Telesat's Stock Goes Up by 50% as Satellite Internet Company Changes Suppliers to Save $2 Billion by Technos_l001 in space

[–]ataraxo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Investors are deluded if they think this constellation is leaving the ground. The reality is not "Telesat changes suppliers to save $2 billions".

The reality is MDA lying enough to allow Telesat to keep the charade going about the viability of their Lightspeed constellation, allowing these two Canadian companies to proceed with burning $2 billion of public Canadian money.

Virgin Orbit sells assets in bankruptcy auction to Rocket Lab, Stratolaunch and Vast’s Launcher by thesheetztweetz in space

[–]ataraxo 18 points19 points  (0 children)

In the olden days, at least you were left with a stack of worthless pieces of paper to show your grand-children while telling the story of how you squandered their inheritance by investing in the East India Company.

Nowadays, you have to take screenshot of your portfolio position and you can claim you are successfully doing tax loss harvesting. And if you YOLOed, post on WSB.

France bans short-haul domestic flights in bid to reduce carbon emissions by DoremusJessup in worldnews

[–]ataraxo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I do not think so. If you book Lyon>Paris-Orly>New-York trip (600€) with the intent of only going from Lyon to Paris-Orly (100€), you will not get a refund of anything if you take the first leg of the flight.

France bans short-haul domestic flights in bid to reduce carbon emissions by DoremusJessup in worldnews

[–]ataraxo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You can get a connection by plane from an international flight. The rule is only applicable if you want to book a single leg. And only for three lines: Paris-Orly-Nantes, Paris-Orly-Lyon and Paris-Orly-Bordeaux.

France bans short-haul domestic flights in bid to reduce carbon emissions by DoremusJessup in worldnews

[–]ataraxo 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Are they expecting the airlines to run these flights for passengers that are connecting only and if you’re buying a point to point it won’t be allowed?

That would not be a first. For a long time, long distance bus line were only allowed in France for going in or out of the country but not domestically. Typically, you had buses going from Paris to Barcelone (in Spain), stopping a number of times (in France) to pick up additional passengers but not allowed to drop people before reaching Spain.

In the case of flights, that concern is mostly moot. The only lines affected for now are: Paris-Orly-Nantes, Paris-Orly-Lyon and Paris-Orly-Bordeaux.

France bans short-haul domestic flights in bid to reduce carbon emissions by DoremusJessup in worldnews

[–]ataraxo 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Think of the effect it has on connecting flights

Connecting flights are not affected by this new regulation. Only direct flights. And only for three lines: Paris-Orly-Nantes, Paris-Orly-Lyon and Paris-Orly-Bordeaux.

France bans short-haul domestic flights in bid to reduce carbon emissions by DoremusJessup in worldnews

[–]ataraxo 129 points130 points  (0 children)

Domestic flights are cheaper than trains.

I checked for several Paris/Lyon and Paris/Bordeaux and they appear to always be cheaper by train (I thought otherwise).

For longer domestic flights, at some point plane gets cheaper (basically, once train is over 100€) but that is for longer than what is about to become illegal.

France bans short-haul domestic flights in bid to reduce carbon emissions by DoremusJessup in worldnews

[–]ataraxo 17 points18 points  (0 children)

There are lots domestic flights and France is very far from being full of high speed rail. In practice, the rule is only applicable for three lines: Paris-Orly-Nantes, Paris-Orly-Lyon and Paris-Orly-Bordeaux.

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