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[jwhouk]

No poll this week; I might not be available to change it.

However, I will make a bold prediction: We WILL see Hannerdad!

[akronnick]

That would be awesome!!!

I also want to see his space station and the mode of conveyance he uses to get back and forth from same.

[Carl-E]

...an oversized, rocket powered roomba?

[akronnick]

That would be cool, but I'm holding out hope for a space elevator!

[gprimr1]

Space elevator would be the most economic form of travel most likely, since in one comic it does reference humans having advanced development of structures in Earth orbit. (Don't remember the strip number).

[bunnyThor]

No poll this week; I might not be available to change it.

I'm not trying to tell anyone the right way to do things, oh my no. But if you don't feel like you can do everything you like with the weekly thread, you could . . . and this is just a crazy suggestion here . . . let someone else create it instead. I'm not trying to make a fuss here; I'm just pointing out historical precedent.

[akronnick]

Comic's up and Marten is genuinely missing CoD.

Maybe this will be the week when he makes his triumphant sheepish return to his old haunt, where he runs into...

[Skewbrow]

I am prepared to be very wrong about this, but wouldn't a space elevator take you up to the geosynchronous orbit? As Hanners was able to spot Dad's station from the ground I would think that the said station is at a much lower orbit? Of course, having a space elevator at hand would make the construction of massive space habitats at or near a geosynchronous orbit a less daunting task, so I may be contradicting myself.

And, Marten, Sometimes a coffee shop is just a coffee shop. Or may be a wave of nostalgy will soon carry Marten back to CoD?

[Is it cold in here?]

Hannerdad's space station was moving across the sky, so it's not in geosynchronous orbit.

What does everyone think is the meaning of Padma's expression in the last panel?

[iduguphergrave]

Either she's a sadistic succubus who secretly enjoys other people's profound discomfort, or she's genuinely oblivious to the awkwardness that she constantly causes. We don't really know her well enough yet to tell which....

[Watched Pot]

at this rate, Marten and Padma will have three kids in college before she even realizes they're dating.

[Kugai]

He uses an Asgard Transporter.


Marten, it's time to go 'Home' to CoD.

[Method of Madness]

No poll this week; I might not be available to change it.

I'm not trying to tell anyone the right way to do things, oh my no. But if you don't feel like you can do everything you like with the weekly thread, you could . . . and this is just a crazy suggestion here . . . let someone else create it instead. I'm not trying to make a fuss here; I'm just pointing out historical precedent.

Dude, he hasn't created it in a few weeks.  (The past two were me) He probably just created it this week because it was almost Monday and nobody had yet.  That being said, I'm surprised he didn't at least create a poll anyway, since a poll for the week is better than no poll at all.

As for the comic itself, anyone else think that Padma seems a little too happy?  What's her angle?

[manu]

I think there is a good message in today's strip.

Even in a comic universe where Marten is by all means the center, Jeph isn't going to contour every character to Marten's whims and needs. I hope people take this to heart: sometimes it isn't all about you. I know I wish I could just say that to certain people's faces haha

[Skewbrow]

Hannerdad's space station was moving across the sky, so it's not in geosynchronous orbit.

I would think that a space station at a geosynchronous orbit would only appear as an immobile dot, if the orbit were exactly on top of the equator. An object on a non-equatorial orbit with a 24 hour period would move (approximately) North-South across the sky.

[Carl-E]

As for the comic itself, anyone else think that Padma seems a little too happy?  What's her angle?

I think she's just being her cheerful self as she moves on to check on the next customer - Marten's little pity-party of a self revelation is already out of sight, out of mind...

So now, Marten realizes it's not  an alternate CoD, "where everybody knows your name".  It may become one, but it won't have a chance to if he goes back to CoD! 

[Somnus Eternus]

Awkwarrrrd.

Marten, did you remember your fancy dress and monocle?

[Carl-E]

He could always borrow Pintsize's!

[Tergon]

I think there's a much simpler solution to this.  Marten's been to the Secret Bakery twice, and bumped into Padma in a bar where she mistakenly thought he was gay.  She recognises his face enough to be friendly to him, but considering the number of regular customers the Secret Bakery probably has, there's a good chance she's just not really all that concerned about Marten's awkward feelings.  She doesn't know the guy, why would she need to start hitting the Empathy button with him?

[Method of Madness]

I don't know, it seemed to be that's been his go to place for coffee since he broke up with Dora, so I'd say he's gone at least a dozen times.

[J]

her expression in the last panel combined with that shirt remind me of raven

[westrim]

There are few moments as depressing as realizing you're one human sentient being among 6,893,245 248 253 257 - screw it, I'm posting - billion.

[snubnose]

Space elevator would be the most economic form of travel most likely, since in one comic it does reference humans having advanced development of structures in Earth orbit. (Don't remember the strip number).

It would be ECONOMIC but I doubt its FEASIBLE.

They have a material that theoretically could do it, yes. But that doesnt change the fact that any object hitting the elevator will have a massive impact. Practically it will be bullets flying at about 8 km/s, much stronger than normal bullets (which are between 300 m/s for subsonic bullets and something like 2 km/s for amor penetration bullets). And thats assuming we talk about satelite objects in fixed orbit. Meteors will have even greater speeds. I talk about the lower end of the elevator here, though. The upper parts will see much smaller impact speeds.

Besides, space elevator only means you have a fast way to get to geosynchronous orbit at 36,000 km from earth (at 36,000 km, you will orbit earth once every 24 hours, thus being always above the same point of earth. Thats why, by simply going up, you would be able to enter a stable orbit.

For example, it wont allow you to easily get to the international space station, which is in an orbit of ~350 km, which is cheap to reach (with normal rockets).

You still could try, though. If you leave the elevator at a point before the geosynchronous point, you would enter an orbit that would fall to earth in an eclipse. If you choose the right point, your lowest orbit point would indeed be 350 km. If you slow that orbit down, you will be able to enter the 350 km orbit at much less needed acceleration than directly starting with a rocket, and more importantly, as you dont need to fight earth gravitation, you might use an iron engine for this, which produces very little thrust, but is extremely fuel efficient. It also needs a lot of electricity, but thats what solar panels are for. However, the travel time would still be so slow its not really an option for manned flight.

The other option is of course leaving earth orbit altogether at points much above 36,000 km.

[Antario]

my theory on the smile:  she put something special in there....maybe Prozac, or that spice crap they did at COD a long time ago, or maybe just different coffee....

but she's still completely blowing off marten sadly

[SJCrew]

Padma is the best. I almost forgot about her in the midst of this sentimental Hannelore business. I love how Jeph plays on her obliviousness, and it always seems to get a laugh out of me.  

[Welu]

Padma's smile and wide-eyedness forces me to smile in kind. She seems to mean well, being attentive to a customer but doesn't know Marten well enough to get further into his story. She at least let him finish his mini-story, well when Marten interrupted her to finish it.

[westrim]

Space elevator are nearly impossible in the real world.

You are aware that this is a comic with superspies at volcanoes and sentient robots the size of a dachshund and human eating allosauruses and sexually reproducing, rocket equipped, flying roombas, right?










Right?

[Odin]

I think there's a much simpler solution to this.  Marten's been to the Secret Bakery twice, and bumped into Padma in a bar where she mistakenly thought he was gay.  She recognises his face enough to be friendly to him, but considering the number of regular customers the Secret Bakery probably has, there's a good chance she's just not really all that concerned about Marten's awkward feelings.  She doesn't know the guy, why would she need to start hitting the Empathy button with him?

This is pretty much spot-on. A barista isn't going to give a shit about your first world problems if she doesn't already know you outside of work.

[dr. nervioso]

I think we'll be meeting HannerDad, but not actually seeing him. I just had this vision of a large robot that HannerDad sends to Earth to check in on Hanners

[westrim]

I think there's a much simpler solution to this.  Marten's been to the Secret Bakery twice, and bumped into Padma in a bar where she mistakenly thought he was gay.  She recognises his face enough to be friendly to him, but considering the number of regular customers the Secret Bakery probably has, there's a good chance she's just not really all that concerned about Marten's awkward feelings.  She doesn't know the guy, why would she need to start hitting the Empathy button with him?

This is pretty much spot-on. A barista isn't going to give a shit about your first world problems if she doesn't already know you outside of work.

Which makes sense. If they regularly did so, it would mess with their monkeysphere*.


* No, it's not a TvTropes link .

[akronnick]

Telepresence from orbit, saves on the commuting expenses.

Also, Marten knew Faye from the bar, not from work, so he had an in with the CoD gang.

Of course, if things had gone differently and he had actually hooked up with Sara, he may have been forced to switch to TSB earlier.

[Akima]

I am prepared to be very wrong about this, but wouldn't a space elevator take you up to the geosynchronous orbit? As Hanners was able to spot Dad's station from the ground I would think that the said station is at a much lower orbit? Of course, having a space elevator at hand would make the construction of massive space habitats at or near a geosynchronous orbit a less daunting task, so I may be contradicting myself.

Be careful not to confuse geosynchronous orbit and geostationary orbit. The latter is a special case of the former, and is always above the equator. A space elevator, assuming it could be built at all, would have to be anchored at a location on the equator, and terminate at or above geostationary orbit.

And yes, at TSB Marten is just a customer.

[Border Reiver]

The only shop where I was ever something more than just a customer, I ended up marrying the proprietrix.

Nobody else I know runs anything.

[Skewbrow]

Be careful not to confuse geosynchronous orbit and geostationary orbit. The latter is a special case of the former, and is always above the equator. A space elevator, assuming it could be built at all, would have to be anchored at a location on the equator, and terminate at or above geostationary orbit.

Correct. I googled for more information and this was the first hit. I do think that if they have a network of space elevators (or just one) in QCverse, then using that as a intermediate step would be the most fuel efficient way of sending anything to any kind of a geosynchronous orbit (with minimal thrust for correcting the orbit from geostationary to geosynchronous).

Also building the space elevator necessitates a massive clean up -project of getting rid of a bunch of satellites in danger of hitting the elevator (I have read my ACC) for the reasons described by snubnose.

I was just sorta hoping that HannerDad put his station on a geosynchronous orbit that brings him over Northampton every day. As a kind of a fatherly, yet a tad creepy geeky sign of affection.

[pwhodges]

A space elevator, assuming it could be built at all, would have to be anchored at a location on the equator, and terminate at or above geostationary orbit.

For a fictional account of this, see Arthur C Clarke.  I also have a copy of his original book on artificial satellites .

[Tergon]

I prefer to think of it as an orbit-capable Great Glass Elevator.  So much more stylish than a regular old Space Elevator.

[Jabberwocky]

A space elevator, assuming it could be built at all, would have to be anchored at a location on the equator, and terminate at or above geostationary orbit.

For a fictional account of this, see Arthur C Clarke.  I also have a copy of his original book on artificial satellites .

Also in Red Mars, and several other accounts.

[jwhouk]

Hannerdad's space station was moving across the sky, so it's not in geosynchronous orbit.

What does everyone think is the meaning of Padma's expression in the last panel?

One word: clueless

[nonethousand]

Hannerdad's space station was moving across the sky, so it's not in geosynchronous orbit.

What does everyone think is the meaning of Padma's expression in the last panel?

One word: clueless

Why no one is suggesting a new romance? 

[jwhouk]

I prefer to think of it as an orbit-capable Great Glass Elevator.  So much more stylish than a regular old Space Elevator.

You and your old-fashioned WonkaVator.

[pwhodges]

Why no one is suggesting a new romance?

Because there's no sign of it?  Because it's not necessary?  Because we don't know what Jeph has in mind?  Because everyone else has read the rules and stickies?

[Tergon]

You and your old-fashioned WonkaVator.

Laugh all you want, but when the Vermicious Knids come, you see if I'll give you a ride to safety.

[Varian7]

Certainly time for Marten to go back to CoD!

[Black Sword]

I really, sincerely, deeply hope Jeph does not send Marten back into CoD. It's be a massive step back in the the development he's shown thus far, especially his nigh-violent defense of our little sister Hanners. CoD would likely result in Marten falling into familiar patterns, negating all we've seen. I would rather Marten succeed in getting to join the social circle at the SB.

Besides, he has an in. It's Elliot.

[Carl-E]

You and your old-fashioned WonkaVator.

Laugh all you want, but when the Vermicious Knids come, you see if I'll give you a ride to safety.

This made me smile. 

When we dye easter eggs (yes, my daughters are 17 and 21 and we still dye and hide easter eggs, dammit), there's always one that's dyed puke green with a purple tip and a horrible face with red eyes, representing a vermicious Knid.  It started the year I read the great glass elevator to them as a bedtime story. 

I think that was about fourteen years ago...

As for Marten falling into old patterns, I don't see that he's really changed much - he (and the others) have always  been protective of Hanners.  I think Jeph may be building to the awkward return, and the realization that they can  still be friends and get on with life! 


And now that I've said it...

[gprimr1]

I hope he does go back to CoD. This new coffee shop has not won me over.

[Odin]

I really, sincerely, deeply hope Jeph does not send Marten back into CoD. It's be a massive step back in the the development he's shown thus far, especially his nigh-violent defense of our little sister Hanners. CoD would likely result in Marten falling into familiar patterns, negating all we've seen. I would rather Marten succeed in getting to join the social circle at the SB.

Besides, he has an in. It's Elliot.

Marten has not shown any real development as a character, though (and someone being violently protective of Hanners is pretty much par for the course in this comic, so that example literally means nothing).

If anything, the only way I'd like to see a CoD return is if Marten gets similar treatment there that he got today ("The world doesn't revolve around you, asshat!").

[Border Reiver]

Marten'll be back at CoD at some point. 

Two of his good friends work there afterall. 

And the initial awkwardness will be positively delicious.

[DSL]

The realization thst the world isn't just going to fall into your lap is a significant step in the development of anyone. So, yeah, sucking it up, going back to CoD and meeting that world on its terms  (yeah, that price board on the wall applies to you, too, Marty) and reaching out to people who are probably still his friends if he'd let them be such ... We'd see some progress toward Marten 2.0.
Something that's nagged me about our hero ... Have we ever seen him initiate a relationship -- of any kind? Faye introduced herself. ProtoHanners introduced herself. Cosette introduced herself. Faye introduced Dora, who took it from there. Hell, Jimbo introduced himself. I can think of two attempts ... Girl in bar just before Hanners's debut (with Marten  trying more to make a point to Steve rather than introduce himself to said girl) ... And, well, there's Padma in the Horrible Revelation, which probably counts as Marten's first on - screen attempt. Looking for a job and meeting Tai probably counts, sorta -- but I say she initiated the friendship.

[Odal]

I have the opposite problem as Marten.  If I go to a coffee shop regularly the workers will recognize me and try to strike up conversation.  All I want is coffee to feed my addiction.