Author Archives: gmcdavid

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About gmcdavid

Retired IT professional with a wide range of interests. Married. Three sons, two with autistic-spectrum disorders and the third being transgender with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. From Chicago but now living in the Twin Cities metro, Minnesota. Episcopalian. Carleton College (BA 1972, physics) and Stanford University (MS 1974, Applied Physics; MS 1976 Statistics).

Russia’s Soyuz Spacecraft

46 Years and Still Soaring High

While many improvements have been made to the Soyuz rockets and spacecraft since the first launch in 1966, the bottom line is that the Soyuz have become the world’s most used launch vehicles due to their consistent performance and relatively low cost.

“This is a safe and reliable and proven way to leave the Earth, and each successive Soyuz is different; each one has small changes. The role of the astronaut is to learn those small changes… and learn to apply them.”
– Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield

Statistics Hell

From Andy Field.

You hate statistics, you despise maths, you stain your pants at the mention of sphericity. Normal people love these things, but you, barrel of number-fearing sputum that you are, are terrified. Afraid for your worthless life you leapt pathetically to the internet for guidance. A freak spark of lightening hit your house sending a bolt of electricity through your computer. Sparks flew like tendrils from the screen, fusing with your face and sucking your head and body into the number vortex that is statistics hell. Your crime is evacuating your bowels at the mention of a t-test, your punishment is eternity in statistics hell. I am the gatekeeper, the evil ruler of this world of numbers. Although you might confuse me for a human full of empathy and compassion for those taking their first wobbly steps through this horrific world of equations, underneath my skin I am numbers without a soul.