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The Sky Thief: Beebo Russell's Last Flight

12 points by ColinWright 5y ago

gumby 5y ago
There may not be locks on the planes, but I was surprised to see at the russian space museum in Moscow that Soyuz spacecraft do have ignition keys.
- pvg 5y ago
  Are you thinking of these? https://space.stackexchange.com/a/2109 https://space.stackexchange.com/a/2109 They're used in the launch facilities on the ground, not the spacecraft itself.
  - gumby 5y ago
    Yes, I took pretty much the identical photo myself because I thought it was pretty cool. It's not as funny that the key is on the ground (I guess like the launch keys on the nuclear missiles) but that makes sense.
- sandworm101 5y ago
  >> Soyuz spacecraft Soyuz rockets. In english, "spacecraft" usually only means the bit that actually reaches and travels in space. The closest Russian word refers to the entire launch vehicle and so often gets mistranslated. Spacecraft don't have keys for the same reason as aircraft: People will die if someone looses the key in flight.
  - gumby 5y ago
    The Russian Wikipedia entry* distinguishes between the Soyuz spacecraft and the rocket system. I don't want to assert that the Wikipedia is an authority on anything (in fact its "no original research" position deliberately avoids being one) but I suspect it's not a translation error at least. Could still be a misuse of the term; I'm certainly no expert. > Spacecraft don't have keys for the same reason as aircraft: People will die if someone looses the key in flight. Before steering column locks were required (steering wheel doesn't turn unless key is engaged) the automotive key really often was merely an ignition key; you could remove the and the car would continue to operate. In fact this happened to me once with my late 60s Chevy Malibu - I got out of the car in a noisy place, locked the car, and came back to discover the engine had been running the whole time. So in that case the only risk of losing track of the key in flight is that it might hit something, not that the device would cease to operate. It would suck to be on the moon and unable to take off because someone lost the key thought! (of course it's complicated enough to launch a rocket that a joyrider isn't really an issue). * https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Союз_(космический_корабль) https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Союз_(космический_корабль)
underseacables 5y ago
After 9/11 I remember there was a lot of talk about Ground control being able to take remote control of an aircraft. Is that possible now? Could ground control have taken control of this aircraft? Poor guy seems to have just snapped.
- bombcar 5y ago
  No. Maybe such a system exists for some military aircraft, but even then, unlikely.

12 points by ColinWright 5y ago

There may not be locks on the planes, but I was surprised to see at the russian space museum in Moscow that Soyuz spacecraft do have ignition keys.

pvg 5y ago
Are you thinking of these? https://space.stackexchange.com/a/2109 https://space.stackexchange.com/a/2109 They're used in the launch facilities on the ground, not the spacecraft itself.
- gumby 5y ago
  Yes, I took pretty much the identical photo myself because I thought it was pretty cool. It's not as funny that the key is on the ground (I guess like the launch keys on the nuclear missiles) but that makes sense.
sandworm101 5y ago
>> Soyuz spacecraft Soyuz rockets. In english, "spacecraft" usually only means the bit that actually reaches and travels in space. The closest Russian word refers to the entire launch vehicle and so often gets mistranslated. Spacecraft don't have keys for the same reason as aircraft: People will die if someone looses the key in flight.
- gumby 5y ago
  The Russian Wikipedia entry* distinguishes between the Soyuz spacecraft and the rocket system. I don't want to assert that the Wikipedia is an authority on anything (in fact its "no original research" position deliberately avoids being one) but I suspect it's not a translation error at least. Could still be a misuse of the term; I'm certainly no expert. > Spacecraft don't have keys for the same reason as aircraft: People will die if someone looses the key in flight. Before steering column locks were required (steering wheel doesn't turn unless key is engaged) the automotive key really often was merely an ignition key; you could remove the and the car would continue to operate. In fact this happened to me once with my late 60s Chevy Malibu - I got out of the car in a noisy place, locked the car, and came back to discover the engine had been running the whole time. So in that case the only risk of losing track of the key in flight is that it might hit something, not that the device would cease to operate. It would suck to be on the moon and unable to take off because someone lost the key thought! (of course it's complicated enough to launch a rocket that a joyrider isn't really an issue). * https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Союз_(космический_корабль) https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Союз_(космический_корабль)

underseacables 5y ago

After 9/11 I remember there was a lot of talk about Ground control being able to take remote control of an aircraft. Is that possible now? Could ground control have taken control of this aircraft? Poor guy seems to have just snapped.

bombcar 5y ago
No. Maybe such a system exists for some military aircraft, but even then, unlikely.