I have a morbid curiosity about this, and from what I've read, some who've survived vacuum experiments gone wrong said they felt their saliva start to boil before they p***ed out!? Literally, hot-rodders.
Stop it with the Teflon references. Invented by DuPont in 1938. Ball point pen was 1935. GPS invented by Raeython (sp) in the fifties, then had to wait for technology to catch up.
I don't remember the name of the scientist but to demonstrate it, but he placed his arm in a hypobaric chamber, sealed it and turned on the pump. I don't think he lost his arm but he was severely handicapped there after by the damage. No you don't explode in space, your eyes don't pop out you simpley boil, from the inside out! I have only been unpressurised in an aircraft between 40 and 50 thousand feet. I really don't care to go higher without a suit. At that al***ude you only had 10-15 odd seconds of usable consciousness. When we were doing the training for high al***ude operations they put us in a chamber and took us to 25 thousand feet. We had to take our masks off and complete a set of basic questions. I got through a fair bit of it, but I distinctly remember thinking I had messed up on 199-188, I got 1 down then for the next hour it seemed I was trying to work out what the hell 90-80 could be! I had 10 but thought it was wrong. I gave up when the guy across from me while drooling on himself with a stupid happy smile fell flat on his face. Hypoxia instills the most amazing sense of euphoria just before you p*** out! Doc.
Dr. Robert Goddard, American, developed the first successful liquid fueled rocket engines, that the Germans used. It wasn't ALL the Germans. Each advancement in technology builds on the work of others, and is often funded by the desire for military strength. The Germans only developed that technology because Hitler chose to fund it. Americans put their money into nuclear research. Spinoffs from from military quests throughout history are why we don't live in caves today. If cavemen hadn't invented the club, we wouldn't have the comforts we have today.
That would need balls the size of weather balloons! It just doesn't seem right throwing yourself out of a perfectly good aircraft (or in this case balloon). When I see the pilot jumping then I will to.
Looks like the near starboard engines are running a little leaner than the other six. Great pics, and I love teflon.
The material is called Inconel X. It's much more common these days than it was in the mid '50s. Today's space program (and society in general) is missing one big element: optimism
That Pontiac convertible towing the M2-F1 was actually built by Mickey Thompson, at least that's what is written in a book i have. [THE FASTEST MEN ON EARTH] It mentions Whitey Whiteside and Mickey were old racing buddies and it was Whitey that sent the car to Thompsons,where he finely tuned the engine,added roll bars,installed radio equipment,turned around the front p***enger seat to face aft, removed the rear seat and installed a second bucket seat facing sideways for a second observer. They also added racing stripes and the NASA logo on the side but the author also mentions the car used was a Pontiac Bonneville. Mickey was also well known at Edwards Air Force Base since his exploits with Challenger I. Just one more thing to add. If you want to see something crazy, I mean really crazy **** then check out this story. www.ejectionsite.com/stapp.htm
Yes, this is a Hot Rod site, hence, we talk about fast ****, like ROCKETS! Space Rules! And WD-40 was created right here in San Diego!
Not an old picture but hey it has my 40 and the Space Shuttle in it. It was taken at KSC launch complex 39A in April of this year.
Canada's fastest sky hot rod was the "avro arrow" started in 1952, sadly the project was canclled in 1959, 40,000 people lost there jobs and most of the brains went and worked for NASA, heres a news story about it's history. all planes were distroyed http://archives.cbc.ca/science_technology/aeronautics/topics/275/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWuZ...fficialgallery/?p=380&feature=player_embedded
Man, that is just flat out short sighted. Like others said, you really need to look at the bigger, overall picture. Sure your '30's era hotrod may not need some of the stuff created as a spin off of the space program, but the person (I'm ***uming you) building it certainly has benefited from NASA and the space program. Ponderous, man. Just ponderous.
Something a little more related to the thread and the site.. They still use the original Airstream motorhome to transport the astronauts to the paddock. I thought that was cool in itself. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/behindscenes/astrovan.html
I remember reading about that stuff in a 1950's National Geo mag. Thanks for the link - crazy ****, just like you say.
I love the B-52.. its one of my favorite im having like a major flash back right now. My brother and I, we used to built plastic little planes. They were scales 1:32, 1:48 and sometimes 1:72.... I remember we built B-52, tha black Bird, Apache, Cobras, F-15, F14, Migs, Phantoms, KC-135 I think it was, B1B-bomber, both Stealths, even the YF-22, man... the list keeps on going.. there were maybe 130+ planes in my house hahaha.. we won a couple of contests... those are reeeally good memories..
You're kidding right? 'Squirrel' had a good reply to that one once. Went something like this; Haven't you noticed the way people drive in just 2 dimensions these days, and you would like them to be able to move in 3 dimensions aswell?
It's really great to see the enthusiam you all have for NASA. I've been working at the Langley Research Center for 25 years. Most of the locals get us, but it's hard when I'm talking to someone who thinks it's a huge waste of money or welfare for geeks. I'm proud to have spent my career working along side of the smartest and nicest people there are on stuff that has not only changed our lives, but the world as we know it.
It is modern tangible history that effects every day life, with out the advances from NASA modern life would be stone age. BTW to our wonderful poster whom thinks NASA does not effect his hot rod.... what kind of rings do you have crmo thank NASA , your o-rings and hoses, thank NASA, your fluids again you need to than NASA with out their improvements or demands for longer life/ better resistance to environment chnges your so called rod would not be.
Back in the late 1980s/early 1990s I worked for an aerospace firm that did a lot of contracting for NASA (a company named Fluidyne, we built wind tunnels.) I spent quite a bit of time at Langley and got to know some of the old timers - they had some great stories about the early days.
Hey what would this thread be without mentioning a NASA hot rod http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/apollo_lrv.html
Cool! I taught Turboprop Mechanics at the old Chanute AFB back in the '80's. They still have the C-130 pieces we used at the air museum there.
The aviation stuff really carried over into the hot rod world on the West Coast. After WWII the best and most beautiful Indy roadsters came from aviation mechanics and fabricators who honed their skills keeping America free. Thanks guys!! Cape Canaveral and the National Air and Space Museum offer great inspiration if you care to study the fabrication of early aircraft and space vehicles. Another must see for hot rodders is the museum at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Great thread!!
You got that right, brother. It's going to take something we can all get behind. Not a war or something negative, something positive like the resolve we once had as a nation to get to the damn moon in the first place.
The Jalopy Journal
