10 / 09 / 26 – Launch Status Check

Monday March 13th 1989 while in Dayton Beach for Spring Break I caught the takeoff of Space Shuttle Discovery (Mission STS-29 – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/sts-29 ) from Kennedy Space Center. Note, the 09:57:AM launch from ‘The Cape’ (62 mile north) was the 28th flight of the Shuttle, 8th flight of the Discovery, and the 3rd since the 1986 Challenger disaster.

For orbital missions, ahead of take-off a ‘Launch Status Check‘ (also known as a Go / No Go Poll) occurs in which flight controllers monitoring various systems are queried for operation and readiness status before a launch can proceed. With the current iteration of Falcon 6 design, SpaceX takes Launch Readiness Poll (aka Launch Status Check) one hour and three minutes before planned liftoff. It precedes the start of fuel loading at T-1  hour. A member of the launch team called Launch Conductor (LC) is the one calling out the stations for their Go/No-Go, and here’s a partial list of the operators; VC (Vehicle Controller), GC (Ground Control), GS (Ground Software), PROP (Propulsion), AVI (Avionics), RAD (Radiation), FS (Flight Software), GNC (Guidance, Navigation, Control), GROUND (Ground Systems), RC (Range Coordinator), RECOVERY (Falcon 9 Recovery), & FTS (Flight Termination System).

For the October 9th Essay I offer the following in-jest ‘Go / No Go‘ Poll as the (RELA) Re-launch of Monolith Media approaches . . .

01 FAFO – Accomplishing exactly zero between college and entering the family business (CHECK)
02 BUYO – Sling tractors for 22 years followed by a harmonious buyout (CHECK)
03 WAFL – Waffle around collecting interest without purpose (CHECK)
04 FIPU – Find purpose in the creation of a political themed website (CHECK)
05 FVIN- For vindication, run the concept by my ‘Financial Adviser’ who’s been patiently waiting for me to ‘do something’ (CHECK)
06 WHTB – Meet his ‘Website Guy’ and whiteboard the concept (CHECK)
07 HDIF – Time spent differentiating how ‘this’ will be different then what’s already out there (CHECK)
08 LUC1 – Luckily catching ‘Tucker: A Man and his Dream’ which inspired to press on (CHECK) *Sb1
09 LUC2- Luckily catching ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ which prompted the name (CHECK) *Sb2
10 DEMA – Decision making in early alliterations as this was developed from scratch (CHECK)
11 ONLD = Witness the site going live only to have it caught up in divorce mediations (CHECK) *Sb3
12 HUAW – Hurry up and wait period (CHECK)
13 SIGN – fYes period as separation signing day approaches (CHECK)
14 LNNO – Long National Nightmare over, papers signed (CHECK)
15 OFFD – You’re officially divorced, nobody cares, stop bitching, move on (CHECK)
16 SOFW – Solicit first in-house Writer (CHECK)
17 SOFP – Solicit first Advertiser / Partner (CHECK)
18 SOQI – Solicit an over-qualified Intern (CHECK)

19 FTPR – Full time prep ahead of relaunch (ONGO)
20 BODA – Build out the database (ONGO)

21 CUP1 – Phase 1 when we’re curating 30 articles, once a day (Soon)
22 M101 – As the face of it, begin marketing push (November)
23 CUP2 – Phase 2 when we’re curating 60 articles, once a day (Late November )
24 CUP3 – Phase 3 when we’re curating 60 articles, twice a day (December) *Sb4
25 GLWS – Hosting the Global Writer’s Summit (Feb’27) *Sb5
26 HF1M – Hypothetical F1 meeting in Monaco about partnering (Apr’27)
27 HUKM – Hypothetical meeting in UK officials during Wimbledon (Jul’27)
28 HOTM – Hypothetical meeting in Ottawa during the National Exhibition (Aug’27)
29 Y1AN – One Year Anniversary (Oct’27)

Sidebar #1 (aka *Sb1) – While debating pressing forward I caught the 1998 movie, ‘Tucker: A Man and His Dream” which offered inspiration to, ‘Come up with a better idea.” and I’ll wager at the time Jules Winnfield / Samuel L. Jackson nailed it when he said so eloquently, ‘God got involved‘)

Exact quote . . . “When I was a boy I used to, uh…I used to read all about Edison and the Wright brothers, Mr. Ford… they were my heroes. Rags to riches, that’s not just the name of a book, that’s what this country was all about. We invented the free enterprise system where anybody, no matter who he was, where he came from, what class he belonged to, if he came up with a better idea about anything, there’s no limit to how far he could go. I grew up a generation too late, I guess, because now the way the system works, the crackpot who comes up with some crazy idea that everybody laughs at, that later turns out to revolutionize the world, he’s squashed from above. The bureaucrats would rather kill a new idea than let it rock the boat. Today, Benjamin Franklin would be arrested for sailing a kite without a license. It’s true. We’re all puffed up with ourselves now ’cause we invented the bomb. Dropped the… Beat the daylights out of the Japanese, the Nazis. But if big business closes the door on the little guy with a new idea, we’re closing the door on progress and sabotaging everything we fought for, everything that the country stands for. We’re going to find ourselves at the bottom of the heap, having no idea how we got there, buying radios and cars from our former enemies. I don’t believe that’s going to happen. I can’t believe it because… if I stop believing in the common horse sense of the American people, there’d be no way I could get out of bed in the morning. Thank you.”

Sidebar 2 (*Sb2) – The micro details of naming this Monolith Media is extensively covered in the 09/25/26 Essay ‘What’s in a Name’

Sidebar 3 (*Sb3) – Don’t get divorced, just don’t as what really happens is a steady depletion of hard earned monies that would otherwise be earmarked for colleges among another 5668 negatives. It’s a soul crushing, bank account dwindling, relationship taxing (during which, to cope as a social leper / at least that’s what I did / you attempt to drink Tennessee out of whiskey) exercise that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. That said, once the two primaries agree on the broad strokes the what I’ll call the ‘Matrix Period‘ begins. It’s at that point when all interested parties (lawyer one, paralegal one, receptionist one, lawyer two, paralegal two, receptionist two, wife, husband, bankers) strive towards simplifying the Matrix’s Digital Rain which is thousands of random numbers, letters, and symbols endlessly parade up and down (aka issues) eventually ceasing on ‘signing day.’ The only lasting memory of September 22 (14 months in the making) was my unceremonious ‘walk of shame‘ stroll from parking lot to office building, up an elevator, down a hallway, and through and office door to a windowless conference room full of books, lawyer, paralegal, and shredder. To sum up the whole experience (10 years, 2 months, 18 days – not that I was counting) I’ll leave to Will Paxton / PFC William L. Hudson who whined in 1986’s Aliens, ‘That’s it, game over man, game over.‘

Sidebar 4 (*Sb4) – I believe for the site to curate 120 fresh articles (written ‘day of’) our author database will need be at least 1500 (probably more like 3500) political writers

Sidebar 5 (*Sb5) – Once were up and cooking advertisers and writers (who’ve paid the $100 fee to have a personalized presence on the site) will be invited to the 1st annual Global Summit (Key West or Sarasota) where we’ll convene to partake in culinary, libations, cigars, and begin the process of finding common ground.

TrL – 10/09/26