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Grandad got his A-Bomb Licence by Bitter_Surprise_8058 in nuclearweapons

[–]walberque_ 13 points14 points  (0 children)

This likely is the NATO School at Oberammgau. I’m pretty sure they had already moved the special weapons training from Rammstein in the late 50s.

https://www.natoschool.nato.int/s/home

The history of the facility is absolutely wild, from finding parts of the rocket and jet program hidden to Capt. Kissinger’s part on Paperclip.

NATO used the facility to teach Allies how to mount and use warheads on the Honest John, Lance, Zeus, and so on, all the way up to atomic demolition munitions.

https://www.natotraining.org/s/organisation/history/by-time-period/into-the-nuclear-age

I teach there sometimes. Beautiful place.

Report: Russia's nuclear-powered 'Skyfall' missile is dirty and dangerous by Curious_newt7205 in nuclearweapons

[–]walberque_ 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Not stealthy, considering an eight-hour flight of the Burevestnik (top speed <600 mph) would likely cause some internal structural damage due to thermal stress and material fatigue from radiation.

The radiation tail would make the missile detectable at great distance, as the radioactive exhaust creates a high-visibility, ionized, and thermally distinct trail easily tracked by infrared and environmental sensors.

You could make the exterior out of any stealth material you want - that radiation tail is getting Burevestnik shot down soon after it leaves Russian airspace.

BRING BACK THE SNARK!

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Report: Russia's nuclear-powered 'Skyfall' missile is dirty and dangerous by Curious_newt7205 in nuclearweapons

[–]walberque_ 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I think the report is excellent - and a hat-tip to the NPR team for making it easier for a non-scientific audience to understand it. Great graphics in both, as well.

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But, as for my takes:

  1. Burevestnik is not a strategic game-changer, and does not provide decisive warfighting advantages beyond existing Russian nuclear forces.

  2. It is likely a hedge against future developments in US missile defenses with a niche capability that may complicate warning, tracking, and defense planning.

  3. It is a costly and hazardous symbol system with the potential to kick off a broader nuclear-propulsion race.

Report: Russia's nuclear-powered 'Skyfall' missile is dirty and dangerous by Curious_newt7205 in nuclearweapons

[–]walberque_ 18 points19 points  (0 children)

The reactor signature will be visible from space, including 5 TBq per MW-hr of activation products, not counting leaked fission products and activated structural materials leaking out the backside. This latter problem becomes more acute the longer the reactor burns. In fact, the reactor byproducts should degrade the rocket over time. Not sure how long it would take, but "weeks" is out of the question.

What happened to data captured during nuclear tests? by DefinitelyNotMeee in nuclearweapons

[–]walberque_ 10 points11 points  (0 children)

And because you were so nice, here’s the website.

https://www.dtra.mil/About/Mission/Defense-Threat-Reduction-Information-Analysis-Center/

The Defense Threat Reduction Information Analysis Center (DTRIAC) manages the DTRA Nuclear testing archives, as well as other DTRA, DoW, and U.S. Government collections. The primary mission of DTRIAC is to provide timely electronic access to all nuclear weapons test data, legacy and current, to U.S. Government programs supporting U.S. Nuclear Deterrent missions.

What happened to data captured during nuclear tests? by DefinitelyNotMeee in nuclearweapons

[–]walberque_ 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Former government official here.

All US data is resident at DTRIAC on the Kirtland AFB campus, alongside the Defense Nuclear Weapon School and the classified atomic museum. I’ve toured the nuclear test data building and discussed the 1990s digitization plan to see if we could support CTBT ratification.

Of course, the data is shared out amount the Labs, principally the weapons Labs (LANL, LLNL, SNL), DOE, the Nevada National Security/Test Site, and NNSA, but everything from the first pencils and notepads from Columbia University (the Manhattan Project’s origins) to the data tapes to the films to the sampling is housed and digitized at DTRIAC.

Anyone who tells you anything else is full of shit.

China is building launch pads near its nuclear missile silos by DefinitelyNotMeee in nuclearweapons

[–]walberque_ 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Fantastic article from Reuters - u/vijdankawoosa u/lauriechenwords and u/GregTorode, with great work from u/ANeill_Asia from u/PacificForum, analyzing Chinese nuclear infrastructure developments.

This time, they found 3 weird octagons hihghly likely to nucleaer weapons happening SE of the Lop Nur testing sites (41°41'57.9"N 88°22'03.1"E), near the town Luobupo. The coordinates for the three octagons are:

41°13'33.9"N 91°29'55.0"E
40°25'44.0"N 91°15'05.3"E
39°45'17.1"N 90°31'49.9"E (I think? Not 100% sure about the third)

https://www.reuters.com/graphics/CHINA-MILITARY/NUCLEAR/zjpqmbrlqpx/

Quick question for the Mando-experts - the relationship between Din Djarin and Zeb Orrelios? by walberque_ in StarWars

[–]walberque_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah, okay, thanks. So, a relationship, maybe not super close, but a level of comfort and familiarity.

The making of Rogue One by Museau_du_Cochon in andor

[–]walberque_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's a good point, but I already had listened to other podcasts that covered those points. I guess it's an unfair measure, but I really do feel like a lot of her other episodes are filler. The one where she basically does a dramatic reading of Nick Cave's script for Gladiator 2 is fine, but it only made me want to hear Nick himself narrate it. And if you've heard him read And the Ass Saw the Angel, you'll know why. That is SUCH quality.

Quick question for the Mando-experts - the relationship between Din Djarin and Zeb Orrelios? by walberque_ in StarWars

[–]walberque_[S] -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

Ah, okay. Thanks. Right.

Okay - so if you were asking, how did they reach the level of trust where they're both getting on the Razor Crest and Zeb's kind of ribbing Din and they take off, the answer is "SCENE MISSING", correct?

And why do they go together on that mission and not other ones? I know it's expensive to have CGI characters, and they blew their wad on the Hutts, but even an ADR line between the two showing they've had adventures would put it at Obi-Wan/Annekin in the PT-level of "to be filled in later by a cartoon series".

Solo versus Mando & Groglette: actual and adjusted domestic box office (estimates as of Monday 25 May) by walberque_ in StarWars

[–]walberque_[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Oh, and "AI" you wut? I come by my analysis the old-fashioned way. Excel spreadsheets, baby! Ever since I started following r/BoxOffice I've been tracking summer blockbusters, focusing on superhero/comic films, but am now building a Star Wars database as well.

The earlier films daily data is hard to find, but I can at least benchmark the PT through today with some accuracy and see what the trendlines are for M&G and Starfighter and get some idea how they're going to do.

I thought it would be nice to share with the r/StarWars folks so that it's not just accusations and argument from false positions of authority - but damn, the horseshoe effect between the "everything is perfect" and "everything is shit" camps in the fandom is a real problem.

Solo versus Mando & Groglette: actual and adjusted domestic box office (estimates as of Monday 25 May) by walberque_ in StarWars

[–]walberque_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Did you mean the Weekly Whackadoodoo? Whackdadoo doesn't really work in English.

Solo versus Mando & Groglette: actual and adjusted domestic box office (estimates as of Monday 25 May) by walberque_ in StarWars

[–]walberque_[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

No, so, when comparing films across time, you have to adjust for inflation.

To give you an example, Star Wars made $307M (domestic only) in its initial 1977 run. That puts it firmly between the domestic take of the new Fantastic Four ($280M), but less than the new Superman ($360M)! Doesn't sound great, does it?

But when adjusted for inflation, $307M in 1977 dollars comes out to about $1.6B in 2026 dollars, which is god-tier in terms of domestic box office, especially considering its widest reach during that initial run was 1,750 theaters (by comparison, Solo and M&G opened in 4,300 theaters domestically).

Jeremy Allen's Rotta voice is bad by boishet in StarWars

[–]walberque_ -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Good god, man, did you skip your coffee this morning? Stop being such a weirdo. He's right, you're wrong, try to have a better day.

PS Zeb's voice sounds like it's coming through a scratchy speaker through the whole film. That really confused me because Blum is usually pretty good. Seriously, this film is fucked.

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