Monthly Archives: March 2010

STS-131 rolls out to launch pad 39A

This is a time lapse of the roll out from the VAB (Vertical Assembly Building) to the launch page, I’d guess it’s about an hour of moving per minute. I’ll admit it’s not the most exciting time lapse video but it’s a lot faster than the live video was last night (it was about seven hours until attached).

STS-131_patch.pngJust before midnight last night, space shuttle Discovery began its slow roll from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39A. Riding aboard the crawler-transporter, the shuttle completed the 3.4-mile trip and was secured to the pad by 7 a.m. EST.

— NASA’s Kennedy Space Center

Here’s the direct link to the roll out video.

So I’m pretty excited about this, not the roll out itself, but once it’s been on the launch pad a few more days and the figure out if there are any issues it’ll help firm up the launch date. I figure once the GOES-P mission goes off this week that’ll help too, I don’t think there is anything else big in the meantime.

Torchwood – Countdown

I’m not one for much fan fiction but this is a pretty good Torchwood story. It’s titled “Countdown” and I’d estimate that it takes place shortly before Children of Earth (season 3).

torchwood-countdown-fanfic.gif

It’s listed as Torchwood Virtual Series (Season) three, episode two so I guess I should look around for more.

If you read the story, but you’re not a huge Doctor Who or Torchwood fan, I’ll explain one detail that might not be clear in the story. UNIT stands for UNified Intelligence Taskforce (formerly United Nations Intelligence Taskforce) and is an Earth-based alien and paranormal task force; think of them as a more formal/military version of Torchwood. UNIT made a few appearances in the 2005+ Doctor Who series (recently and intergral to the plot of 2009’s Planet of the Dead special) and an occasional mention on Torchwood. UNIT is where Martha Jones has been working since she’s stopped traveling with The Doctor. I believe it was much more prominently featured in some of the older Doctor Who series (and might be make more appearances in the new 2010 Doctor Who).