The space shuttles were secured to the launch pad by nothing but eight giant explosive bolts at the base of the solid rocket boosters until the SRB's were ignited for flight. heroicrelics.org/cosmosphโฆ
Today I learned about the U.S. Air Force's doomsday weapon, SLAM. The rocket was designed to fly fast and low over the Soviet Union, dropping hydrogen bombs over predetermined targets while its unshielded nuclear reactor contaminated everything in it's path. popularmechanics.com/miliโฆ
The highest g force voluntarily experienced by a person was 46.2 g's by John Stapp. He rode a rocket sled that reached a top speed of 632 MPH, The land speed record at the time and he stopped in 1 second. For a brief moment his body weighed 7700 pounds. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johโฆ
Today I learned of a NERVA upper stage for the Saturn V rocket, intended to carry far more payload with more power and speed on a four month crewed mission to Mars, it was cancelled in 1972. apollo11space.com/the-nucโฆ
The USSR's lead rocket scientist, Sergei Korolev, planted newspaper articles falsely suggesting approval for a Soviet space program. President Eisenhower responded by approving an American space program. This forced the Communist Party to approve the space program they previously denied. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serโฆ
The rocket in Jules Verneโs 1865 story From the Earth to the Moon launched from Florida and landed in the Pacific Ocean because of Verneโs calculations. In 1969, Apollo 11 took off from Florida and landed in the Pacific Ocean. io9.gizmodo.com/how-julesโฆ
Limonene (an extract from citrus peels) was used as an experimental liquid rocket fuel, and blanketed the entire testing area with the smell of lemon oil whenever it was fired. gilesorr.com/blog/ignitioโฆ
The US faced a nuclear threat in Arkansas in 1980 because someone dropped a socket wrench 20m which cut the outside of a rocket with 9megaton warhead on it. The cut caused fuel to explode ejecting it from the silo. One person died. i.stuff.co.nz/entertainmeโฆ
On December 9th 1944, the Nazi party held a celebration at Castle Varlar to display the power of the new V-2 rocket. In between launches, key figures were awarded medals for their success. All the while, the launched V-2 rockets were raining down horror on Belgium. guernicamag.com/v-2-and-sโฆ
Today I learned about the Sea Dragon. A 1960โs concept-only rocket so large, it was to be built at sea, and launched at sea. discovermagazine.com/the-โฆ
Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, was the first person to be โBuried in spaceโ. On April 21, 1997, his ashes were brought to the Canary Islands and loaded aboard the Pegasus-XL and launched out of the rocket. celestis.com/blog/how-genโฆ
Common Morel mushrooms can not be eaten raw (must be cooked), because they contain Hydrazine; the same chemical used as room temperature stable (but toxic & carcinogenic) rocket fuel youtu.be/ZfBDZhF9nLs?t=32โฆ
A Sperm whale can click at about 236 decibels, making it the loudest animal on Earth. Some researchers believe they can contact each other in the ocean even from opposite sides of the planet. For comparison, a jet engine takeoff registers 150 dB. NASA's Saturn V rocket launch registered 204 dB. youtube.com/watch?v=zsDwFโฆ
Today I learned of Jack Parsons, an American rocket scientist and occultist follower of Aleister Crowley. He was defrauded of his life savings by his friend L. Ron Hubbard, worked for Howard Hughes, homebrewed his own absinthe, and died in a lab explosion a colleague claims while trying to create a homunculus. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacโฆ
Today I learned of the Ismail brothers, Raghib, Qadry and Sulaiman, who played professional football in the 90s. Their nicknames; Rocket, Missile and The Bomb en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragโฆ
Today I learned about the 1967 Torrey Canyon Disaster, when the British government bombed a shipwrecked oil tanker with 62,000 lbs of explosives, high-powered rockets and napalm, causing far more environmental damage than if they had just left it alone bbc.com/news/uk-england-3โฆ
In the 1960's the US Air Force forced live black bears to ride rocket sleds and ejected them from jet planes at Mach 2 speeds youtube.com/watch?v=98cXGโฆ
Today I learned of William Howard Hughes, a United States Air Force officer with security clearance and expertise in rocket self-destruct technology, vanished in 1983. Authorities feared he had defected to the Soviet Union. In June 2018, he was found living in California under an assumed name. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilโฆ
In 1986, the night before the Challenger shuttle exploded, Allan McDonald, the director of the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Motor Project for the engineering contractor Morton Thiokol, refused to sign the launch recommendation over safety concerns. nasa.gov/centers/langley/โฆ
"Mad" Mike Hughes died after crashing in his homemade steam powered rocket. He launched from the California desert and hoped to reach the Kรกrmรกn Line, where Earth's atmosphere meets outer space 62 miles above the ground to prove that the Earth is a flat disk and not a sphere. popularmechanics.com/spacโฆ
A rockoon is a rocket launched from an atmospheric balloon to reach higher altitudes, and that in the first tests they'd fail to launch because the atmosphere was too cold, which was solved by putting heated cans of orange juice along with the rocket. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocโฆ
While the blueprints to the Saturn V rockets still exist, the manufacturing industries that built them do not, making building new ones prohibitively expensive. moonhoaxdebunked.com/2017โฆ
In 18th Century India, the Kingdom of Mysore and the Maratha Empire once practiced "Rocket Executions," which involved tying the condemned to rockets and launching them into the air, with the resultant fall killing them. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloโฆ
While many vehicular soccer games came before Rocket League, the first was an arcade game called Car Polo that released in 1977. arcade-museum.com/game_deโฆ
When the space shuttle was in operation, it could launch a payload of 27,500 kg for $1.5 billion, or $54,500/kg. For a SpaceX Falcon 9, the rocket used to access the ISS, the cost is just $2,720/kg. SpaceXโs technical advances and cost reductions have changed the direction of U.S. space policy. theconversation.com/how-sโฆ
Taron Egerton sang โIโm Still Standingโ by Elton John as the Gorilla in the movie โSingโ prior to starring in the movie โRocket Manโ as Elton John where he sings the same song. youtu.be/pHZneOidj9A
Tipu Sultan, ruler of Mysore, established the world's first rocket laboratories in Bangalore during the 18th century. And, in addition, led an economic renaissance which made Mysore the world's most industrialized region with per-capita income higher than The Netherlands and UK! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tipโฆ
Due to the use of Nazi concentration camp slave labor during the construction of V2 rockets, more people died during the building of it than were ever killed by it as a weapon. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werโฆ
A hypergolic propellant combination used in a rocket engine is one whose components spontaneously ignite when they come into contact with each other. The Apollo Lunar Module, used in the Moon landings, employed hypergolic fuels in both the descent and ascent rocket engines. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypโฆ
For 25 years, two brothers re-gifted each other the same pair of pants, in increasingly inventive and difficult packaging, including a 600lb safe, a double-glazed window, a 16-foot rocket ship, and a crushed car, with a card that read "Merry Christmas, the pants are in the glove box". snopes.com/fact-check/panโฆ
Today I learned of the Battle of Palmdale: in 1956 a radio controlled Hellcat drone intended for target practice went awry; two jets sent to shoot it down before it crashed into LA fired 208 rockets. No hits were made and instead burnt down 1000 acres of land. The drone then crashed harmlessly into the Mojave. youtube.com/watch?v=yipdlโฆ
How the US "attacked" Ciudad Juarez, Mexico with a Modified V2 Rocket. The V2 launched from White Sands USA but went in the wrong direction. Scientists then restrained the Range Safety Officer to stop him from pressing the vehicle destruction button until it crashed in Mexico. No one was killed. whiteeagleaerospace.com/tโฆ
The American flag deployed on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission was inserted only seven inches deep and was placed about 27 feet from the Eagle landing craft. As a result, it was blown over by the blast of the rocket exhaust during the takeoff back to Earth. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunโฆ
Today I learned of Qian Xuesen, a Chinese rocket scientist and mathematician, who worked on the Manhattan Project during WW2 to help America build the world's first atomic bomb. During the Cold War, he was accused of being a communist and fled America to China, where he helped China build its first atomic bomb. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qiaโฆ
The plasma globe was invented accidentally by an MIT undergrad, who was working in a lab to create electrical rocket engines. Right after inventing it, he naturally brought it to his girlfriend's house party. pubsapp.acs.org/cen/whatsโฆ
Today I learned about Project Retro, an idea proposed by the US Air Force around the 1960's that called for a thousand rocket engines to be strapped to the equator of Earth which would allow the US to slow/stop the rotation of the planet in an effort to "dodge" Soviet ICBMs. boingboing.net/2019/02/12โฆ
Rocket Raccoon from Guardians of the Galaxy was named for the Beatles song, Rocky Raccoon. The title of Rocket's first Marvel appearance was "Now Somewhere In The Black Holes of Sirius Major There Lived a Young Boy Name of Rocket Raccoon!", a play on the opening lyric of the song. looper.com/14156/guardianโฆ
The Reliant Robin Jeremy Clarkson drove on Top Gear had the differential modified to make it roll over more easily. Another Robin was used as a rocket on the show and was the largest non-commercial rocket launch in European history. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relโฆ
Germany has launched a rocket with yeast on board into space. When the rocket returns the yeast will be used to make beer. Making it effectively space beer. headbangerslifestyle.com/โฆ
The long-range bombardment of Fort McHenry, glorified by the Star Spangled Banner, was quite ineffective. Over 25 hours, the British fired 1,500-1,800 bombs and rockets but only killed 4 and wounded 25. nps.gov/fomc/holdthefort/โฆ
Prior to the Beijing Olympic games, China used contreversial weather manipulation techniques to ensure that there would be no rain during the opening ceremony. Its cloud-seeding weapons included 6,781 artillery guns and 4,110 rocket launchers. nbcnews.com/id/23397205/nโฆ
Tilman Fertitta owner of the Houston Rockets and third cousin of Frank and Lorenzo Ferrttia (former owners of the UFC) all have deep mafia family ties to the Maceo crime family of Galveston,Texas truehoop.com/p/fertitta-fโฆ
While Sputnik was the first man-made object to reach orbit, 13 years earlier the Nazis launched the MW 18014 rocket, the first man-made object to reach outer space. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MW_โฆ
In 1633, a Turkish gentleman by the name of Lagรขri Hasan รelebi launched himself into the air on a rocket filled with 140 lbs of gunpowder. He landed in the river and was rewarded with silver by the Sultan. Mythbusters later tested this story in 2009 and considered it implausible. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagโฆ
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