Your Bag of Nothing for Tuesday, April 15, 2025

 

  • Blue Origin crew safely back on Earth after all-female space flight
    • It’s ridiculous to consider any of these passengers astronauts.​ A person who is merely a passenger on a spaceflight—without performing any operational duties or contributing to mission safety—is not considered an astronaut. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), such individuals are designated as “spaceflight participants” rather than astronauts.
    • In 2021, the FAA updated its criteria for awarding commercial astronaut wings. To qualify, a person must not only travel above 50 miles (80 km) but also demonstrate activities during flight that are essential to public safety or contribute to human spaceflight safety. This change excluded individuals like Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson, who did not meet these criteria during their suborbital flights.
    • But I will give Jeff Bezos this, he’s done a fine job marketing this company. The plethora of free coverage by sending morning television show hosts like Michael Strahan and Gayle King, and celebrities like William Shatner and Katy Perry first thing in the morning for the world to talk about is a genius move.  So, how does their flight compare to the flights of the first two men in space? Well, here ya go.
      Feature Vostok 1 (1961) Mercury-Redstone 3 (1961) Blue Origin NS-31 (2025)
      Date April 12, 1961 May 5, 1961 April 14, 2025
      Crew Yuri Gagarin Alan Shepard Six Women
      Flight Duration 108 minutes 15 minutes, 28 seconds Approximately 11 minutes
      Maximum Altitude 203 miles (327 km) 116.5 miles (187.5 km) Over 65 miles (105 km)
      Maximum Speed 17,000 mph (27,400 km/h) 5,180 mph (8,340 km/h) Over 2,200 mph (3,540 km/h)

      A couple of the women kissed the ground when they exited the capsule. That reminded me of when Pope John Paul II used to do that. I thought he did it all the time, but a little research tells me he was known to kiss the soil on his first visit to a new country as a gesture of respect for the land and the people. I do have memories of when he was old and feeble, and his hosts would bring the ground (soil) up to him. I wonder if any other popes do this in some form.

  • A lad who has spent ‘over 158 days’ working out one of his trap muscles is also attempting to do the same with his legThe 19-year-old, known as ‘The Crooked Man’ (@thecrookedman10) on socials, is going seriously viral for having one heck of a trap, or trapezius. It’s the large muscle group in the upper back and neck.

  • Johnny Depp has gone grey for a role and looks like the Most Interesting Man in the World.
  • These are the most mispronounced words in the United States in 2025, study says
    • In 2025, several words and names are proving to be challenging for people to pronounce correctly. The top mispronounced words, according to a study by Mondly, include Chappel Roan, SZA, Croissant, Demure, and Oregon.

  • Honestly, I always thought they were singing “Snoopy.”

  • I’m a big Buster Keaton fan.

  • I guess it’s time to support the Dallas Wings as the Mavs will be hard to support as a franchise, especially with their ownership.
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