Were the Lunar Rovers faked?

[VQ]

Well, I like knots myself, and its fun to be different.

(Runs from room snickering)

Since I don't have a stake in the "units" race, can I complain about the apostrophe error?

Now your just being silly.

[Sus_pilot]

Well, I like knots myself, and its fun to be different.

(Runs from room snickering)

Since I don't have a stake in the "units" race, can I complain about the apostrophe error?

Sure, why not (no pun).  It's what I get for posting from an iPhone.

Fortunately, at the e-newsletter and "slick" magazine where I have to fill space all the time (Lord, how I hate deadlines!), I've got a really good editor to keep me in line...

[Captain Swoop]

Draught beer can only legally be sold as a pint, half a pint or a third.
Cars still use MPH and road distance is still in miles.

Beer is a cultural hang over and the road distances was sn economic one. It was going to cost a lot of money to change all the road signs so they didn't bother.

[Peter B]

Draught beer can only legally be sold as a pint, half a pint or a third.
Cars still use MPH and road distance is still in miles.

Beer is a cultural hang over and the road distances was sn economic one. It was going to cost a lot of money to change all the road signs so they didn't bother.

I suppose I can understand the reasons, but presumably the signs will have to be changed in due course as they age. Are they going to be replaced with more signs in miles?

In Australia's case the changeover was complete within a few years, as far as I can remember. For road distances, the signs were at the time mostly concrete marker posts (triangular prisms) with a letter and a number. The letter was the first letter of the next town's name and the number pretty obvious. They were replaced with simple signposts saying the same thing, only in kilometres, and only at 5 km intervals. At greater intervals there are bigger signs listing the distances to the next few towns and cities. I think the old concrete posts were left in place, but soon disappeared as souvenirs. Presumably part of the difference is the comparative density of populations in the UK and Australia (the UK's is nearly 100 times greater than Oz).

As for beer, measurements are in mls, but they're odd fractions of a litre, thanks to direct conversions of old Imperial measurements: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_beer#Beer_glasses

[smartcooky]

Draught beer can only legally be sold as a pint, half a pint or a third.
Cars still use MPH and road distance is still in miles.

Beer is a cultural hang over and the road distances was sn economic one. It was going to cost a lot of money to change all the road signs so they didn't bother.

Hell matey, you've obviously never been to Australia!

Depending on which state you're in (as in "territory" not "condition"), and sometimes even which town in that state, you can buy beer in a variety of different containers.

You can order a...

Jug
Pint
Half
Handle
Minny
Middy
Schooner
Seven
Pony
Pot
Five
Butcher
Ten
Bobbie
Shetland
Six
Glass
Small Glass
Eight

Here a complete guide to confuse assist you should you ever wish to undertake a journey to the "Land of the Bouncing Rat"

[DataCable]

Now think about what you have to do to handle the calendar, leap seconds, and daylight savings time. Our time and calendar system is really quite absurdly complicated, to very little benefit.

Partially unavoidable, since the only 2 natural units of time we commonly use are based on the average rotation and revolution rates of the earth, which have little to do with each other, and all the rest are arbitrary derivations thereof.  I've sometimes wondered, if an when we colonize Mars, how long it will be before terracentric time units are abandoned for Mars-centric by the colonists.  I know operators of Mars probes already work shifts based on Martian time.

[Abaddon]

Draught beer can only legally be sold as a pint, half a pint or a third.
Cars still use MPH and road distance is still in miles.

Beer is a cultural hang over and the road distances was sn economic one. It was going to cost a lot of money to change all the road signs so they didn't bother.

In Ireland, it pretty much happened overnight. From mph to kph, all signs changed. There was a pre-change campaign, telling everyone about it. Beer is still in pints though.

[Tedward]

Re signage in the UK. There has been enough of a fuss over metric weights and measures in the UK that I think they will not try it for a while. That and the touchy subject of the EU. But one or two vans we have are km on the digital milage.... km...counter but obviously both on the speedo.

I still get a pound of sausages but weighed out in kilos etc. Awkward sod that I am.

[JayUtah]

Back in the 1980s a few places in the U.S. appended kilometer measurements to their milepost signs, but the practice was short-lived.  Not surprising to me, because the addenda were panels bolted to the right edges of the signs in slap-dash fashion -- sloppy.

[Noldi400]

Speaking of Hunchbacked, I see that he's posted a new YT vid with his critique of the "technical aberrations" of the "lunatic lunar rover".  I wonder if he's been lurking this thread for ideas.

Being willing to take one for the team, I'll go watch all 26:42 of it and see whether he has any new ideas.

[raven]

It's doubtful, but I am grateful for you taking the time and effort.

[Noldi400]

Well, the good news is that, like many of the HB posters here, I usually end up doing some interesting research as a result of his lunacy.

[Noldi400]

OK, this is me asking for a little help in dealing with some HB foolishness...

Is there anyone around who has either actually had the opportunity to look first hand at the controls of an LRV? I've read all the documentation I can locate and there's something (probably obvious) that I'm having trouble grasping.

Heres a diagram of the T-Bar hand controller...



Now. To go forward, you pivot the controller forward - like a joystick [green arror on the diagram]. The farther you push it, the faster the LRV goes. Pivot it back and and you slow down.

Now here's where I'm running into trouble. The LRV Handbook says:

"With the reverse inhibit switch in the down position, the hand controller can be pivoted forward only, thereby preventing inadvertently placing the vehicle in reverse."

So far, so good. But then under Braking Control, it says:

"Braking is initiated in either forward or reverse by pivoting the hand controller rearward about the brake pivot point."

I seem to be missing something. How do you pivot the controller backward to brake if the controller can only be pivoted forward? Are there two different pivot points? How does the driver control which one he pivots the controller around?

[ka9q]

I seem to be missing something. How do you pivot the controller backward to brake if the controller can only be pivoted forward? Are there two different pivot points? How does the driver control which one he pivots the controller around?

I think the difference is that you tilt the controller handle back to drive the motors in reverse, and you "translate" (slide) the entire handle backward without tilting it to engage the brakes.

[gwiz]

I seem to be missing something. How do you pivot the controller backward to brake if the controller can only be pivoted forward? Are there two different pivot points? How does the driver control which one he pivots the controller around?

I think the difference is that you tilt the controller handle back to drive the motors in reverse, and you "translate" (slide) the entire handle backward without tilting it to engage the brakes.

...and the inhibit switch stops you inadvertently selecting reverse when applying the brakes.