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25-Dec. Shout-out to everyone else at work

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: 25-Dec. Shout-out to everyone else at work

#181

Post by dev_tty01 »

ivve wrote: post #169
rootbear wrote: post #11

Quite a few of my NASA colleagues worked today to launch the James Webb Space Telescope, and I'm sure most of them didn't mind working on Christmas. And I certainly appreciate all of those who work on the holidays to keep us safe.

I was wondering this today: why did they launch on Christmas? Were there conditions which made it unavoidable?

Delays got us to this month. Other delays got us to this week. Weather issues delayed it from earlier this week to Christmas. Once you are spooled up for launch, unwinding all of that just to avoid a holiday is not worth it.

Re: 25-Dec. Shout-out to everyone else at work

#182

Post by driverdan »

hashimotonomora wrote: post #106
dlivingston wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yawn. Christmas is ostensibly a religious holiday, yet those from all faiths and cultures celebrate it. I am an atheist and it is my favorite holiday by far. I know Jews and Buddhists and Hindus who celebrate. It is a cultural holiday, not a religious holiday. This is a very important point.

Christmas is literally Christ’s mass. If there’s a widespread religious celebration it’s that.

Christmas is literally Christian hijacking of Saturnalia.

Re: 25-Dec. Shout-out to everyone else at work

#183

Post by euske »

FWIW, the rest of the world where Christianity isn't a major religion, Christmas isn't special either. In Japan, people perceive this as a fancy Western festive event, just like Valentine's Day but there's no holiday. Our real seasonal holiday is a New Year Day and it's common that people work at late night in Christmas to prepare for it.

Re: 25-Dec. Shout-out to everyone else at work

#184

Post by dlivingston »

fortran77 wrote: post #147
dlivingston wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not trying to shove it down anyone’s throat; I’m just saying that culturally it has separated itself from religion almost completely and, because of that, is celebrated by people of all backgrounds and faiths.

I'm Jewish. None of the Jews I know celebrate Christmas, or any holiday of another faith. I spent today (in London) at synagogue.

Very interesting. Is it safe to assume Orthodox?

Re: 25-Dec. Shout-out to everyone else at work

#185

Post by codeisawesome »

grogenaut wrote: post #127
omarhaneef wrote: post #29

There are lots of people for who Xmas isn’t a thing — different background etc. I always thought it would make sense to let us handle Xmas duty so others — people for whom it really, really matters - can do their Xmas stuff. I used to try to volunteer for this when it was relevant (really, it’s not a thing for me), but I rarely saw a systematic opportunity to do so. I think it gets harder as time goes because the rep…

When I worked in Amazon retail many of the India and China immigrants happily and proactively traded Christmas and New Years oncall for black Friday/Cyber Monday. Or many other holidays. Heck the kids who were spending their first holidays away from home did it to have something to do. Pre pandemic there was always a cool feel of working a chill holiday day with just a few others, compared to the insanity of those ma…

> “the India and China immigrants”

While factually correct, a more elegant wording to express this would be “colleagues from India and China”.

Re: 25-Dec. Shout-out to everyone else at work

#186

Post by grogenaut »

codeisawesome wrote: post #185
grogenaut wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I worked in Amazon retail many of the India and China immigrants happily and proactively traded Christmas and New Years oncall for black Friday/Cyber Monday. Or many other holidays. Heck the kids who were spending their first holidays away from home did it to have something to do. Pre pandemic there was always a cool feel of working a chill holiday day with just a few others, compared to the insanity of those ma…

> “the India and China immigrants” While factually correct, a more elegant wording to express this would be “colleagues from India and China”.

Thanks, I didn't know how to phrase it, too late to go back now tho :(

Re: 25-Dec. Shout-out to everyone else at work

#187

Post by codeisawesome »

grogenaut wrote: post #186
codeisawesome wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> “the India and China immigrants” While factually correct, a more elegant wording to express this would be “colleagues from India and China”.

Thanks, I didn't know how to phrase it, too late to go back now tho :(

No problem; I think my own comment could be better by being more appreciative of the interesting info you shared, before focusing on the area of improvement straightaway. Thanks!

Re: 25-Dec. Shout-out to everyone else at work

#188

Post by jonas21 »

dnautics wrote: post #144
hahajk wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There very specific times you can launch to establish desired orbits. Typically these windows only come once every month or two.

Is that the case for an orbit around the earth-sun Lagrange point? It seems like anytime should be GTG

I believe the launch windows are fairly constrained due to the precise positioning requirements as well as the requirement to avoid eclipses throughout the lifetime of the telescope. This study [1] was for a planned 2018 launch, but I'm sure there were similar constraints in this time period too.

In addition, the fuel required to position the spacecraft varies a lot depending on the day - and any fuel saved can be used to prolong the operational lifetime of the telescope.

[1] https://issfd.org/ISSFD_2014/ISSFD24_Paper_S2-6_Yu.pdf

Re: 25-Dec. Shout-out to everyone else at work

#189

Post by grogenaut »

codeisawesome wrote: post #187
grogenaut wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks, I didn't know how to phrase it, too late to go back now tho :(

No problem; I think my own comment could be better by being more appreciative of the interesting info you shared, before focusing on the area of improvement straightaway. Thanks!

I prefer the direct and succinct feedback than a shit sandwich, or in this case a shit flatbread. Thanks again. Happy holidays to you!

Re: 25-Dec. Shout-out to everyone else at work

#190

Post by theonething »

tomcam wrote: post #114

I retired from an easy job (sold the business for a dollar) and I’m now building a new business from scratch. Heading into my seventh decade and working seven days a week for months now. Mine is definitely not a truly important job. I have the same attitude as you and sometimes I’ll forget it’s a holiday and when I go out, say to the local McDonald’s, I’ll leave a huge tip and thank them for working.

You literally sold it for a dollar? Must be a interesting story behind this.
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