MetaFilter posts tagged with rocket

More was Lost than Just the Rocket

Chinese Jet Pilot — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 13:26:51 -0800

Lost with yesterday's third failure of Space Exploration Technologies' Falcon 1 rocket were the ashes of actor James "Scotty" Doohan, who, along with astronaut Gordon Cooper and over two hundred other cremains, attempted to reach orbit not once, but twice.

Jack Parsons

unpoppy — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:22:27 -0800

Jack "Marvel" Whiteside Parsons was the right hand man to Aleister Crowley, a founder of modern US rocket science, and early partner to L Ron Hubbard. Celebrate July 4th by investigating this major character in the birth of our age. Why a major motion picture has not been made about Jack Parsons is at first, amazing to most. If such a film were made, it would reveal a great deal about the rise to power of L Ron Hubbard, the occult reality of the birth of rocket science and the atom bomb. An attempt to make a film about Parsons has been attempted by David Duchovny and Marilyn Manson (to name 2), but Scientology will not let that happen.

Dr. Ernst Stuhlinger, 1914-2008

Chinese Jet Pilot — Tue, 27 May 2008 16:54:10 -0800

Before developing exotic space propulsion systems like the ion engines on deep space probes, he developed guidance systems for Nazi Germany's ballistic missile, the V2. As Dr. Werner von Braun's Chief Scientist, he was one of the brilliant minds that founded the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama and sent astronauts to the moon atop MSFC's Saturn V rocket. Dr. Ernst Stuhlinger, one of the last surviving rocket scientists extracted from Nazi Germany in Operation Paperclip, died today at 94.

Real men drive these

dg — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 05:43:43 -0800

Once upon a time in the postwar, before the advent of EPA and OSHA and the Consumer Products Safety Commission and weenies in bike helmets and multilingual warning stickers on stepladders, crazy people walked this earth. Good, fun-loving Americans who knew that "instructions" were something you threw in the trash along with the empty Falstaff bottles. A halcyon era filled with manly men who savored the wholesome virtues of a rugged game of un-seatbelted automotive chicken. One of these men was Gene Middlebrooks, who founded Turbonique. Want a real bolt-on performance boost for your Chev? How about spending the weekend whacking a 1,000 horsepower "turbo drag axle" under the family sedan? Of course, this won't work on your modern namby-pamby front-wheel drive pretend cars - real cars only apply here. Not enough room in the garage for one of these? How about a rocket-powered go-kart? Will 5.95 seconds and 240mph in a standing quarter-mile get your heart pumping? Anything that has wheels, skids or a hull, it seems can be fitted. What are you waiting for?

Video of USA193 satellite being shot down

6am — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 09:34:10 -0800

A video has been posted showing the shooting down of satellite USA193 high over the Pacific! Extra wicked photos. The pricey missile used. How to keep an eye out for flaming debris...

Cryogenic Venting

brownpau — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 08:42:32 -0800

Light Reflection: a brilliant fan of cryogenics venting from a relief valve on STS-122 Atlantis' ET (external tank) post-separation. Also see this handheld video of the ET, with money shots at 2:15 and 3:55. Atlantis just landed yesterday, completing the delivery and installation of Columbus. Next up, STS-123 Endeavour delivers Kibo.

HobbySpace

Upton O'Good — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 00:22:33 -0800

HobbySpace hosts an exhaustive collection of information and links about space-related hobbies, including amateur astronomy, satellite design, and rocketry for both beginners and experts.

N1 Scale Model Launch

Chinese Jet Pilot — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 08:56:09 -0800

The Soviet Union’s answer to Saturn V, the massive, complex, and top-secret N1 rocket, failed win the moon race after four disastrous launch explosions between 1969 and 1972. In 2004, Polecat Aerospace had much better luck launching their 1/16 N1 scale model.

Peak oil?

klangklangston — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 17:59:36 -0800

Go faster, shoot tankers (flash)

"All guilty had been punished already."

Alison — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 10:53:03 -0800

The Nedelin disaster remains the most fatal catastrophe in the history of rocketry. On October 26, 1960 an R-16 ICBM designed by Mikhail Yangel accidentally ignited killing over 100 within moments. The incident remained in strict secrecy for thirty years until it was unearthed by James Oberg. The true casualty rate remains a mystery and Kazakhstan still sees more than its fair share of rocket mishaps.