return to article listing...

Sunday Things - rocketry edition

posted in Links by Cargo Cult on Sunday March 24 2013

Quick space-oriented edition while I catch up with stuff.

What goes up must come down.
F-1 Engine Recovery - if you launch a skyscraper-sized monster up into the air, it's not going to disappear. Some of it will come back to Earth - or the sea in this case. And decades later, a billionaire will fish rusty bits of rocket engine out of the ocean. Corroded, destroyed '60s space hardware? I'm happy. via Jeff S.
Soviet rust is the best kind of rust.
The Fading Grandeur of Abandoned Soviet Space Facilities - meanwhile, on the other side of the planet - a nice compilation of links, including the previously mentioned Lana Sator's rocket factory infiltration. See also: the fate of the Buran. via locworks
The only nation to develop its own satellite launcher and then abandon it completely.
BLACK ARROW - and then, on another side of the world, in Woomera, Australia - there's the remnants of the British space programme. Our first satellite is quite likely still beeping away up there, should anyone care to listen in...

Bonus Yet-to-upload-to-Flickr-but-there's-my-frequently-updated-photos-to-look-at corner:

  • Space Shuttle Discovery - saw it some weeks ago, outside Washington (DC). It's big, scarred and decidedly more impressive than my 1:72 scale model. This model has a much better paint-job than mine.
  • Space Shuttle Interior - I got inside! Albeit the full-sized trainer in Washington (state, just south of Seattle). Typed while watching this - at twenty minutes in? Piss off, that's not a Shuttle. Way too roomy for a start...

Article comments (now closed)

parm's gravatar

1. On the subject of rocketry...

Posted by parm at 11:16AM, Sunday March 24 2013

...I don't know if the dramatisation of Feynman's involvement in the Challenger disaster inquiry has made it across the pond, but it's definitely worth seeking out if it hasn't. Very well made, and made me happy that Feynman was a man who lived, and sad that we didn't have him or anyone quite like him any more.

(it's on the iPlayers, should you have suitable tunneling capability: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00zstkn/The_Challenger/)

phuzz's gravatar

2. Challenger

Posted by phuzz at 5:10AM, Monday March 25 2013

(parm, if you look at the last link then it has found it's way across the pond)
Really enjoyed that program about Feynman/Challenger, and I'd recommend it to any space/physics geeks (I'm sure BBC America or someone will carry it sooner or later).

May I also recommend this:
http://vimeo.com/27505192

parm's gravatar

3. Aha

Posted by parm at 1:37PM, Monday March 25 2013

I need better reading glasses, it seems. Teensy tiny letters are too squinty for my old eyes.

Cargo Cult's gravatar

4. Nature cannot be fooled

Posted by Cargo Cult at 9:09PM, Monday March 25 2013

The Sunday Things: filled with hidden goodness! (Anyone for a high-visibility stylesheet for the site? I could make it the 'mobile' version.)

I liked the recent BBC thing, especially the characterisation of Feynman - but it did seem to push a bit hard on the conspiracies and the drama. And if they'd wanted a Shuttle interior, then they could have come to Seattle. ;-)

I saw another take on the Challenger disaster on Channel 4's online doodah whatsit a few months ago: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/challenger-countdown-to-disaster/4od - much more real-world in terms of information, but pretty terrible at dramatic re-enactmens. (Feynman's introduction was pretty much 'O HAI, AM WACKY SCIENTIST PLAYING MY BONGOS LOL'.)

But enough drama, here's the real thing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCLgRyKvfp0

Pace's gravatar

5. Trees come from air?

Posted by Pace at 9:54PM, Monday March 25 2013

Feynman on fire:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1pIYI5JQLE
Charming!

Article is now closed for commenting.

return to article listing...