On 8 Feb 2007 02:11:48 -0800, "riverman" wrote:

On Feb 7, 8:30 pm, wrote:
On 6 Feb 2007 22:49:47 -0800, "riverman" wrote:





On Feb 7, 1:24 pm, "riverman" wrote:
On Feb 7, 12:40 pm, wrote:

This NASA gal drives 900 miles in diapers so she wouldn't have to
stop...er, OK...what the hell is she driving, a gas tanker...with a
REALLY good gas gauge? Eh, maybe she's just stupid...

Your comment appreciated...stuff the links,
R

That being said, I still think she sounds a bit high maintenance.

D-oh. My reading comprehension ain't what I think it is. You were
apparently commenting on the range of her vehicle, not that she was
wearing diapers...funny that I missed that.

Is it that unusual to have a vehicle that has a range of 900 miles?
Something with a 26 gallon tank that gets 32+ mpg could easily do it.
I once had a diesel Jetta with a 28 gallon tank that got 45 mpg...I
filled that baby up each year on my birthday.

Um, care to guess what 26 x 32 might equal?

You forgot to carry the "+", but you got me. Mea Culpa, sloppy
math...I meant to imply the type of car that gets mileage in the lower
30s, but I wouldn't give myself partial credit for what I wrote.

Still, you got my drift, I see. ;-)


IAC, there aren't many "cars" (and I include most pickup trucks) that'll
go 900 miles, and really, Houston to Orlando would probably take more
gas than a pure, simple 900 mile range, assuming the 900 mile range was
based upon a constant 60 mph/120 kph-ish speed. Few "high mpg" type
cars have large tanks - fuel is heavy, and more fuel means more weight,
and more weight means less fuel economy.

I know I've commented on this before, but its amazing the difference
in vehicles used inside and outside the US. Of course, in Congo I did
not keep up with the current trends in automobiles, but in Latvia the
roads were filled with very fuel efficient vehicles where 900 miles
(1440 kn) would not have been unresonable for some of them. I had a
4WD SUV that averaged 32-35 mpg, with a 4-cylinder engine and a 24
gallon tank.

You could be completely right that there aren't many cars in the US
that have a 900 mile range. I am curious what she was driving...do you
think she really was able to do the drive nonstop? If not, what was
all that diaper stuff about?

--riverman

I'd offer that it has very little to do with anything other than the
fact that in the US and much of Europe, there's no reason to have a 900
mile range on a vehicle. Most sane folks aren't interested in wearing
diapers and going on themselves instead of stopping at the
readily-available facilities, which offer everything from fuel to, well,
diapers, if you just LIKE wearing them...

I'm sure there's a route or two you could plan (without simply going in
circles or some attempt at _avoiding_ fuel) somewhere in the Americas
or Europe where a 900 mile range in a standard "car" (IOW, not a
special-purpose vehicle) might be a necessary thing, but given the
_extremely_ limited number of "cars" that have it, obviously, it
wouldn't be an oft-desired "feature."

And I have no idea what she was driving, but even if it did have a
900-mile range, I know the route she took about as well as I know my
driveway (mostly "interstate highway"), and if, as the "news" is
alleging, she's some genius and great planner, she would have known it
wouldn't have saved all that much time. I heard they found two used
diapers - I'd say that saved maybe 10 minutes. Which leads me to my
next thing - how the hell did she change herself without stopping? I
have no memory of what it was like as a baby to have worn them, much
less ever change myself, but I've changed a few. I'm still a fairly
dextrous, albeit big, athlete. I don't think I could change myself and
drive. I know these are supposedly some special space diapers or
something, but why would they design 'em to be changed while driving a
car?

I think the bottom line is there are lots of folks at least two places,
the Navy and NASA, that don't want too many folks realizing that they
spent millions and millions of (tax-payer) dollars testing and training
a loony, who they then let play with billions and billions of
(tax-payer) dollars' worth of toys.

TC,
R