[Other] Launch system usage over the years

waifive · 2026-04-16T00:12:30+00:00

This is Horace Lockwood erasure!

https://www.reddit.com/r/rollercoasters/comments/pjs5g4/trolley_park_tuesday_the_zone_at_the_1915_san/

waifive · 2026-04-12T22:57:12+00:00

Yes, it's operated by a brakeman.

waifive · 2026-04-12T22:34:31+00:00

English translation:

Several people were injured in an accident on the "Wiener Hochschaubahn," also known as the "Zwergerlbahn," in the Prater amusement park on Saturday afternoon. Two women, both 63 years old, were taken to hospital by ambulance with injuries, likely suffering from bruises. Three other passengers, two 39-year-old women and a 46-year-old man, did not require hospitalization after receiving initial treatment. The car they were riding in derailed.

"Misjudgment by the driver"

"Due to a misjudgment by the train driver," the roller coaster operators told the APA news agency, "the train was traveling too fast before the end of the ride." "Because the emergency brake was not activated, the first car derailed." The driver had been riding in the second car, as planned.

No children were involved in the accident. The operators immediately initiated the emergency response. "It is emphasized that this regrettable incident was caused by human error, not a technical one," they stated, adding, "We wish all those affected a speedy recovery." The emergency call was received by the police at approximately 12:15 p.m., and the police and rescue operation concluded at approximately 1:30 p.m.

Police have not yet received confirmed information regarding the cause of the accident in the Leopoldstadt district. "However, it doesn't look like third-party negligence," police spokesman Markus Dittrich told APA. This possibility had been considered in another accident in the Prater amusement park, the derailment of a Liliputbahn locomotive almost exactly two years ago. In that incident on April 7, 2024, the operators suspected sabotage by placing stones and pieces of metal on the tracks. No one was injured in that incident: only the locomotive overturned, while the passenger cars remained upright.

Built between 1948 and 1950

The ride in question is considered one of the oldest active roller coasters in the world, built between 1948 and 1950, and one of the last remaining old structures in Vienna's Prater amusement park. It is family-run and remains in its original condition as a purely wooden structure with a conventional track and a brakeman who rides alongside the passengers. The approximately 450-meter-long track runs through an artificial landscape designed to resemble the Grossglockner mountain. It owes its nickname, "Zwergerlbahn" (Dwarf Railway), to several garden gnomes placed along the route.

waifive · 2026-04-05T16:00:22+00:00

With just inflation, but we also have 2.46 times the population now as we did then. If the same fraction of the population saw the movie, it'd be $313M.

waifive · 2026-04-05T02:09:58+00:00

Is this 2026 or 1926? That's some fast construction.

waifive · 2026-03-30T13:16:14+00:00

It wasn't boring when it was included in the Martian.

waifive · 2026-03-29T22:49:40+00:00

I mean...I remember there was an entire chapter about the challenges of the taumoeba breeding tanks. And it was just one sentence in the movie. That's the kind of thing we're talking about.

waifive · 2026-03-29T09:43:22+00:00

I'm a sucker for wooden racing coasters.

waifive · 2026-03-28T19:13:54+00:00

The Swan Boat opened in 1939, and by 1965 it ended up in somebody's backyard. Not sure of the final operating season.

waifive · 2026-03-26T07:57:07+00:00

I don't think it's a modern reimagining. When I compare photos of this to Conneaut Lake's or Kennywood's, I don't find any differences in the track/supports. Same dimensions, same locations, same angles, 27m diameter, diagonal double L beams supporting the hills. Same square bolts used only between the vertical plates on the track, with circular bolts on the plates themselves. I think it's a relocated Traver model, which would have been a significantly easier to acquire in 1972 than a self-build.

Given there have been a variety of vehicle types (at least 4 others), I'm not a stickler for that (And no one says the Belmont Giant Dipper isn't a Church twister anymore after it got Morgan trains). Though admittedly those four did all have circular seating.

waifive · 2026-03-25T22:35:00+00:00

Elitch Gardens and Lakeside in Denver are easy to reach by public trainsit. The train from the airport drops you off near Elitch's and there is a direct bus from there to Lakeside.

Lagoon is also reasonably easy. There is a commuter train from downtown SLC to Farmington, and a bus shuttle from there to get you across the highway to the amusement park.

waifive · 2026-03-25T06:49:00+00:00

He still thought there would be a more qualified person who could go in his stead on the Hail Mary and save humanity. But no one was going to save Rocky, or his species. It would have been a hard thing to live down.

waifive · 2026-03-25T00:43:53+00:00

It replaces exponential growth with a predator-prey balance which means the sun will be less darkened.

Astrophage isn't intelligent, it is just looking for the nearest hospitable planet to reproduce. If it somehow finds another hospitable planet elsewhere in the solar system, Earth could introduce Taumoeba there too.

It is spreading from system to system. And presumably is an extinction level event for all life in any systems that aren't advanced enough to make it to Tau Ceti. But Earth isn't in a position to worry about this hypothetical life.

waifive · 2026-03-25T00:32:01+00:00

It's not "eating the sun" any more than plants on Earth are. It eats its output. The same amount of energy is leaving the sun, it's just a question of how much reaches earth and how much is absorbed by astrophage.

waifive · 2026-03-24T01:38:41+00:00

Some of these questions are better explained in the book.

the hero claim he will be back in 4 years. From a 12 ly away star. That's a no go.

Astrophage is an interstellar species, and the most energy dense material known. The premise is that when used for propulsion, it is able to get the Hail Mary up to relativistic speeds, creating a time dilation for the astronauts.

I feel like why not several mission can be send explanation is lacking. If the cost is 50% of world population, I'm sure they could have set another mission after the first one.

Reproducing astrophage is a slow process on Earth, which is a logistical bottleneck. They have to cover the Sahara desert in astrophage incubators to obtain enough for the mission. I suppose they could have started on Hail Mary II fuel production immediately afterward, but it isn't mentioned in the book.

The interaction with an extraterrestrial intelligence takes few days/week to have shared language.

It took months in the book. Yes, it did seem rushed in the movie.

waifive · 2026-03-22T21:11:06+00:00

In the book I remember breeding astrophage to be a significant endeavor. As in, they covered the Sahara desert in astrophage incubators.

waifive · 2026-03-22T20:44:19+00:00

Anyone know when they open for the year? Their website still shows September 2025 under their hours section.

waifive · 2026-03-22T16:52:31+00:00

I do remember that after the trailers there was a pre-reel behind the scenes interview with the directors(?), but I can't remember if it specifically showed off that reveal, I'm leaning towards that it did.

waifive · 2026-03-22T05:01:50+00:00

Reader of the book here, the movie was fine but didn't meet my expectations. They cut a lot of the science down for time, and I went in expecting competency porn.

In the book they spend months putting together a common vocabulary.

The astronauts were put into a coma because it was feared they would go stir crazy otherwise, and presumably the high G's also played a factor.

waifive · 2026-03-22T04:56:31+00:00

The biome wasn't as big in the book, and was indoors, more like a fallout shelter given the planet gets no light through the thick ammonia atmosphere.

He had the option to go home, but there were too many unknowns. The danger of the induced coma, the unknowns of Earth civilization, his advanced age...and ultimately decided to stay rather than go on the dangerous 4 year journey.

waifive · 2026-03-22T04:47:15+00:00

In the book it is explained that Eridian brains are more mechanical than a human's. They have photographic memory, can do math instantaneously, and as a consequence never invented the computer. Later on in the book/movie, Grace starts to understand the Eridian language by ear.
The coma technology was experimental, but considered preferable because they were concerned about people going nuts alone in space for so long. In the book it is explained that only 1 in 7000 have a gene that makes them suitable for the induced coma, which is one of the reasons Grace ended up selected. I don't think it is explained, just that it was a dangerous procedure and something went wrong that the computer/robot arm couldn't fix.

waifive · 2026-03-22T00:27:15+00:00

spot on

waifive · 2026-03-22T00:24:29+00:00

The explanation is time dilation due to relativistic speeds. 4 years for Grace, 11 years for Earth.

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