Hero Playmonaut lost at sea as SPEARS ditches in Channel
It's with heavy hearts that we report the loss of the Special Project Bureau's heroic playmonaut, after the Low Orbit Helium Assisted Navigator (LOHAN) balloon launch on Saturday ended in the English Channel off the coast of Sussex. Click here for a bigger version of the LOHAN graphic The flight was intended to test the Special …
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But did it fire?
> test the Special Project Electronic Altitude Release System (SPEARS) control board at altitude - specifically to see if it would fire the igniter
Was there any telemetry to say whether the firing took place - or will this need another test flight?
Re: But did it fire?
Agreed - it would be good to know if the mission goal was reached or not.
More importantly...
Where do we sign the onlin Book of Condolence for our dear, departed hero (denominational leader of choice) rest his soul.
He will be missed
It is with heavy heart I write this. I will be hoisting a pint in honor of our fallen compatriot later this evening.
*On a side note we don't have a backup pilot for LOHAN?
O Ludonauta, requiescas in pace!
Lacrimosa dies illa,
Qua resurget ex favilla
Judicandus homunculus.
Huic ergo parce, Deus.
Pie Jesu Domine,
Dona ei requiem.
Amen.
Re: O Ludonauta, requiescas in pace!
Scene: flagellating monks
Pie Jesu Domine,
<fx="*Thwack*">
Dona ei requiem.
<fx="*Thwack*">
RIP
Our thoughts are with the family and friends of this brave and pioneering Playmonaut who has done so much in following the manifest destiny of Plamobil to conquer the sun and the stars, if not, unfortunately the sea.
Re: RIP
At least he made the most of his last shore leave!!
Live fast, die young
Re: RIP
"Live fast, die young"
Who's to say he died?
Does Playmobil float?
Re: RIP
Not so fast!
He's exploring the depths!
Onwards and downwards- yoho!
Glad to see...
...the asembley team were eating the right biscuits
Perhaps next time...
...the playmobile pirate should ride the balloon as he'll be better qualified to deal with unscheduled interactions with the sea.
<--- as is he
Wow, it's dusty in here again? Really making my eyes water...
Maybe too soon to suggest it?
Lego should have a turn now?
Re: Maybe too soon to suggest it?
Oi, there's a pile of firewood and a stake in the middle for heretics like you!
Re: Maybe too soon to suggest it?
Oi! That's booked for those using unsmoked bacon in their butties. Get yer own.
Re: Maybe too soon to suggest it?
Must agree TeeCee, not only unsmoked bacon but compounded by the sacrilege of using the word muffin in the same sentence as bacon buttie and no butter either! Where will it all end I ask?
From injection mould to watery grave
Alas, what price the advancement of science?
FIP
Float in peace
An epic saga indeed
Just epic!
I shall follow this continuing saga, forgetting not those who fell in the pursuit of glory.
I do not doubt the playmonaut was taken (by Valkyrie) to a place in the great hall of Valhalla, the only fitting place for a hero of his stature. I shall raise a horn filled to the brim with my best mead this evening, or failing that a tot of finest Usge beatha!
"tethered to the structure with a safety line"
That's why heroic Playmonaut drowned. You killed it!
Re: "tethered to the structure with a safety line"
SPB must not combine with H&S...
Phoenix...
Fear not, a new Playmonaut will rise, Stig-like, from the wreck...
Presumably SPEARS 2 will have a drop the payload now button, and/or a flotation device, hopefully in the form of a couple of airbags.
Re: Phoenix...
>>>hopefully in the form of a couple of airbags.
You mean Bulgarian airbags??? Now that would make the mission video MUCH more interesting...
Hydrogen?
Low Orbit Helium Assisted Navigator
When did the switch to hydrogen happen?
God speed Playmonaut - I like to think you're not lost and are riding LOHAN hard across the channel towards Paris.
Re: Hydrogen?
When I was asked to help.
Helium is for softies.
Re: Hydrogen?
"Helium is for softies."
Indeed, such was the frequent point made in the forums/comments sections and disregarded every time. Glad it's changed, just surprised there wasn't a browbeaten article from Lester :-)
Re: Re: Hydrogen?
Contrary to what you lot might think, I don't discriminate against elements for no reason, although I'll admit I prefer the company of noble gases.
Re: Hydrogen?
Don't forget the tree-hugging smugness you get from hydrogen - which is abundant, manufacturable from solar, and fun in a flammable way - compared to "once it's gone it's gone" helium.
Re: Hydrogen?
SPB is soft-peddling the diplomatically sensitive decision by a jealous NASA to not allow U.S. helium to be used by "the competition".
Hoisting a glass in memory of Playmonaut, but he'll be immortalized on the wall of Pancho's Happy Bottom Riding Club...
Re: Hydrogen?
Noble gas is lazy gas. Boooring! ;-)
But won't that be a serious dent in the proper boffins' appearance? (see icon)
Wot no butter...?
Are you men or mice, SPB eating BBs without butter!
Nay, and again I say Nay to the dry butties...
Re: Wot no butter...?
No. the fat from the bacon and a suitable amount of sauce would be all the lubrication your throat needs. Butter is for people who auto-spread any piece of bread without thinking. I like the muffin twist in this episode, as I have been bettering the bland McOffering for several years with suitable inclusion of a quality cheese, better sausagemeat/bacon and the delicious inclusion of a slice of crispy black pudding (SuperTimuffins). Maybe there is another breakfast competition in the offing, but in the mean time it may be wiser to let the beast sleep.
Re: Wot no butter...?
Well sir, apart from the neglect of butter and the inclusion of muffin in favor of bread (pita works but need egg as well) you are getting on the right track. I trust you don't actually buy a McMuffin and put other stuff in, more illegal than Muffin the Mule in my book.
Re: Wot no butter...?
No. the fat from the bacon and a suitable amount of sauce would be all the lubrication your throat needs. Butter is for people who auto-spread any piece of bread without thinking.
I think you'll find butter is for people who prefer not to eat tomato flavoured sucrose-fructose syrup. ;-)
fitting
Fitting that a boatload of Seamen was used in the recovery process.
I'll get my coat.
Maybe the addition of a self inflating life vest and beacon to the next legonaught to take a leap of faith with your team may at least increase their chance of survival in similar water situations.
equipment revision list for Playmonaut No. 2
Water immersion triggered safety line separation
positive buoyancy device (piece of polystyrene foam)
waterproof luggage label "if found please call........."
of course there's a chance that a battered and faded Playmonaut No1 will turn up on a coast some day and someone will wonder where he came from (imagines plastic amnesiac in Dutch boy's toybox)
I do know of an expert in tidal flows around the UK....hmmm might know where the little fellow could be found.
A poem by Words of Art 2008
Floating endlessly on the waves
The shore no longer beckons
Surrounded by the billows and gales
A force with which he reckons
Longing and anguish fills his heart
Faces fill his mind
As the sun and salt beat down and sting
He holds tight and waits for a sign
Those he left are lifting prayers
To the unseen One above
He prays himself as he holds on
And tries to feel their love
Never has loneliness held such meaning
Nor sorrow held such weight
What he would give out on this sea
To know his ending fate
Should he give in to sleep or fight it back
Cry for help or mercy
Relive his memories or stay alert
Oh would that help would hurry!
The day is done, the sun rides low
O'er all the salty waves
Tomorrow is another day to fight
And pray that he'll be saved.
Goodbye playmonaut - your sacrifice will not go unnoticed.
Its sad that the payload and playmonaut were lost at sea, But it was fun tracking the baloon and watching the car chase!
High Flight
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air....
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace.
Where never lark, or even eagle flew —
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
- Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
Re: High Flight
From Landscape With The Fall Of Icarus by William Carlos Williams
unsignificantly
off the coast
there was
a splash quite unnoticed
this was
Icarus drowning
Re: High Flight
As the Sun breaks above the ground
A playmonaut stands on the hill
As the ground warms to the first rays of light
A birdsong shatters the still
His eyes are ablaze
See the madman in his gaze
Fly, on your way, like an eagle
Fly as high as the Sun
On your way, like an eagle
Fly, touch the Sun
Iron Maiden - Flight of Icarus
Harmless?
"Harmless Scientific Experiment" ? Say that to the poor plastic person that you just deep sixed.
That is some pretty impressive distance covered, how much flight time did you actually achieve? When I read the headline my first instinct was "Why would anyone do this experiment so close to the sea." When I actually saw the track I ate my own words. No one would think of Newbury as "Costal".
Re: I always assumed that...
'No one would think of Newbury as "Costal"'
I'm surprised you haven't taken a ribbing for that one.
Still a chance?
It was mentioned on the IRC channel that there was a dredger in the area of the splashdown, which seemed to make a detour from its previous route to investigate. Is there any hope that the Plucky Playmonaut was plucked to safety?
Re: Still a chance?
We're investigating a report that a survey vessel was very close to the splashdown.
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