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/…
Taron Egerton sang “I’m Still Standing” by Elton John as the Gorilla in the movie “Sing” prior to starring in the movie “Rocket Man” as Elton John where he sings the same song. youtu.be/pHZneOidj9A
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/…
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/2019/02/12…
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/n…
In 1633, a Turkish gentleman by the name of Lagâri Hasan Çelebi 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/Lag…
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_…
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/Wil…
Today I learned about US Army Technical Manual 31-210, a manual designed by the US Military for the US Armed Forces to fabricate guns, explosives, ammunition, mortars, rockets, and incendiary devices with locally available/ unassuming materials on enemy soil. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TM_…
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. SpaceX’s technical advances and cost reductions have changed the direction of U.S. space policy. theconversation.com/how-s…
The first cat in space was a black and white stray named Félicette. She travelled on a French rocket Veronique and stayed 15 minutes in space. She returned safely home, before being euthanized by scientists to research the brain's activity after travelling to space. mentalfloss.com/article/5…
The period 1955-1972, the development of nuclear rocket engines in the USA began with the "Rover" project. The first experimental nuclear engine was named "KIWI" and experiments were performed on it until 1964. They constructed a compact nuclear reactor with U235 carbide in a graphite housing. needforscience.com/astron…
Fruit Flies were the first living organisms in outer space. They were launched in a captured Nazi V-2 rocket on Feb. 20, 1947. The flies reached an altitude of 68 miles (108 km) and were recovered alive by parachute. space.com/20648-animals-i…
In WW2 on D Day, the Germans had a devastating thermobaric weapon called Taifun B, based on kerosene & coal dust, to be delivered over the battlefield by rocket propelled canisters. They positioned it in Calais, so it didn’t get used against the landings. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The…
A NASA Little Joe 2 rocket ripped itself apart during an escape system test, a failure thay ultimately was an important demonstration of how well the system worked after the boilerplate capsule was pulled safely away from the doomed rocket. rocketrundown.com/the-suc…
The flag of the East India Company is said to have inspired the Grand Union Flag of 1775, ultimately inspiring the current flag of the United States. Mysorean rockets were also used in the Battle of Baltimore, and are mentioned in The Star Spangled Banner: "And the rockets' red glare..." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ind…
After conquering China, by 1241 the Mongols were expanding their empire to the west, using Chinese rockets (self-propelled flying bombs) in battles across Eastern Europe. And with them came secret of black powder - the recipe was first written down around 1250 by English scholar Roger Bacon. needforscience.com/astron…
In 1959 USS Barbero launched the first official Mail Rocket, it was Regulus Cruise missile that had its nuclear warhead replaced with two mail containers. The missile carried 3000 pieces of mail and the launch was assisted by the Post Office Department. engadget.com/amp/2019-02-…
Rocket Lab successfully tested their ability to catch a rocket falling back to Earth after launch. Completed in April 2020, the test involved the used rocket, a parachute, a helicopter, and a grappling device on a cable. youtube.com/watch?v=N3CWG…
Just after the end of WW2 Sweden and Greece both had thousands of sightings of UFO's called Ghost Rockets. The US government took them seriously enough that Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower sent war hero Gen. Jimmy Doolittle to Sweden to investigate in 1946. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gho…
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/pan…
Today I learned of a French territory in South America called French Guiana, who’s got the 17th best GDP mainly due to its primary income being their rocket-launching base in the capital, Kourou. britannica.com/place/Fren…
Today I learned about the "Super Guppy," an oddly-shaped, massive plane designed for transporting really really large cargo (rocket parts). Five were built, and they look kind of like flying beluga whales. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aer…
Spacex offered all the residents of Boca Chica, Texas a buyout so they could increase the size of rockets being launched in their municipality. theatlantic.com/amp/artic…
Out of the 270 Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Boosters launched, all but four were recovered. Over 5,000 parts were refurbished for reuse after each flight, and the final set of SRBs that launched STS-135 (2011) included parts that flew on 59 previous missions, including STS-1 (1981). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spa…
The Saturn V rocket carrying the Apollo 12 mission was hit twice by lightning. 36.5 seconds after launch. lightning hit as it ascended the cloud layer, setting off alarms due to guidance systems errors. 15 second later it was hit again and instruments no longer displayed meaningful information history.nasa.gov/afj/ap12…
In addition to cars, Mitsubishi also produces rockets to launch satellites and probes for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency(JAXA). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H-I…
In 1975 Otrag, a West-German company, developed cheap transport rockets. The USSR became nervous, and American corporations concerned about low-cost competitors. American media came to use crude Soviet propaganda to sabotage them, making Otrag evicted from their Congolese base (more in comments) astronautix.com/o/otrag.h…
The reason rockets used to be painted with a large black and white checkered pattern was to make it obvious if the rocket rolled in flight. popsci.com/why-was-saturn…
One of the first recorded applications for a closed circuit television system (CCTV) was back in 1942 in Nazi Germany, where it was used to monitor the launch of V2 rockets. timesofindia.com/india/Le…
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/whats…
The acoustic sound wave from the Saturn V rocket on takeoff would have melted the concrete on the launchpad without the water-based acoustic suppression system interestingengineering.co…
The character Rocket Raccoon of the Guardians of the Galaxy was inspired by the Beatles' 1968 song 'Rocky Raccoon' from their White Album comicbookwire.com/comic-c…
When NASA launches a rocket from Kennedy Space Center, you dont see smoke, but stream. They flood the launch pad with 450,000 gallons of water to prevent the rockets from melting the launch pad. It also lowers vibrations that may have an effect in sensitive equipment on the ship. nasa.gov/audience/forstud…
While aerospikes could offer the greatest rocket engine performance, no company has yet to produce a commercial engine (despite many trying) because they are so complicated. youtube.com/watch?v=D4Sao…
In the 1780s an Indian king named Tipu Sultan was the first person ever to effectively use Iron cased rockets against the British East India Company. Later in 1800s British adopted this technology and fought with it in Napoleonic wars en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mys…
Today I learned of fission-fragment rockets. They use the products of nuclear fission to generate thrust. It can, in theory, produce a very high specific impulse while being within the abilities of current technologies. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fis…
The worlds biggest airplane by wingspan is the Stratolaunch. The twin-fusalage aircraft with a wingspan of 385ft will serve as an airborne rocket launching pad capable of holding a 550,000 pound payload such as the Pegasus XL rocket and launch it into low earth orbit during flight. jalopnik.com/this-taxi-te…
The Gyrojet was a family of firearms that fired tiny rockets called Microjets. In theory the rockets accelerate over a distance making them non-fatal at close range and fatal at greater distances. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyr…
Lodestones (natural magnetic stones) are very probably made when a lightning strikes ferrite stones ; a scientist proved it by sending a small rocket containing this type of stone into a storm cloud and the stone returned magnetic cambridge.org/core/servic…
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/Qia…
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/…
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/Lun…
HMS Terror, of the doomed Franklin Expedition, mortared Fort McHenry inspiring Francis Scott Key's "Bombs bursting in air". A ship called HMS Erebus, not of the Franklin Expedition, launched Congreve rockets, inspiring Key's "Rocket's red glare." numa.net/2014/11/sunken-s…
Jack Parsons, one of the minds behind rocket engine, was a Thelemite occultist- A. Crowley's cult- practiced sex magic, had romance with Sara N. Hollister, which later with his friend L. R. Hubbard starts Scientology, and the two ruin his reputation. He died in explotion in his house at 37 vice.com/en_us/article/vv…
75% of the Aluminum ever mined is stillin use today, meaning a soda can you once used could have ended up being recycled for use in a Satellite or rocket booster aluminum.org/industries/p…
The NASA Saturn V program (rocket for moon landings) cost $34.4B in 2018 dollars over its life. That's compared to the total 2020 NASA budget of $22.6B en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sat…
In 1920 The New York Times ridiculed the notion of rockets in space, calling it absurd, and criticized rocket scientist Robert H. Goddard as being less educated than a high school student. They issued a retraction in 1969 just days before Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon. popsci.com/military-aviat…
Sputnik, the famed Soviet satellite that launched in 1958, wasn’t the first spaceflight. Instead, the Nazi's launched a V-2 rocket to space in 1942, and the first image of Earth taken from space came from a U.S. launched V-2 rocket in 1947. astronomy.com/news/2018/0…
When Norway launched a rocket to study the Aurora Borealis, a mistake led to Russia not being informed of this launch. The russian president, Boris Jeltsin, opened the nuclear briefcase and were on the verge of starting a nuclear war. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nor…
Today I learned of Nedelin catastrophe at Baikanur Cosmodrome when 78 people burnt alive after a Soviet ICBM exploded during tests, everyone but rocket designer who was out for a smoke during launch - died. And there is a video of it. youtube.com/watch?v=_ybnj…
The famous science fiction novel The War of the Worlds inspired engineer Robert H. Goddard to invent the liquid fuel rocket and multistage rocket, making the Apollo moon landings possible. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The…
Today I learned about the legend of Wan Hu, a supposed Chinese man who became the “first astronaut” in 2000BC by tying 47 firework rockets to a chair. Dressed in regal splendour, he had 47 servants light each of the rockets and then took off as they ran for cover. When the smoke cleared, he was gone. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wan…
The largest loss of life from a single V-2 rocket attack in WW2 occured in Belgium when one struck Antwerp's Rex Cinema killing 567 people in 1944. v2rocket.com/start/chapte…
The sex noises in the Guns N’ Roses song “Rocket Queen” were audio recordings of Axl Rose having sex with the drummer’s girlfriend in the studio. Shortly after, the girl involved developed an alcohol/drug addiction to help cope with the guilt. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roc…
Nazi Germany developed the only operational rocket-powered fighter aircraft in history (Me 163) with unsurpassed speed and climb rate for the time. However, it proved ineffective in engaging slower Allied aircraft as its target was reached and passed in seconds limiting its attack opportunities. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mes…
In 1896, Irish-American inventor Patrick Cunningham sabotaged a town rally for presidential candidate William McKinley by firing his rocket-powered "flying devil" torpedo down the main street. independent.ie/regionals/…
John Houbolt helped put man on the moon by arguing the case for Lunar Orbital Rendezvous rather than the preferred approach of a single (massive) direct rocket. Despite being relatively junior and having his idea constantly dismissed, he wrote directly to seniors at NASA to prove his point. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joh…
The Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, established in 2007, is the first university in Asia to be solely dedicated to the study and research of Outer space. Students created a Sounding Rocket in 2012 and the mission was a total success en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ind…
While A Rocket Generates A Maximum Equivalent of About 37 Million Horsepower, The Fuel Pump Alone Delivers as Much As 71,000 Horse Power In Order To Supply The Engine With The Oxygen It Requires. nasa.gov/missions/highlig…
Today I learned about Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, the Russian father of rocketry. He was a self-educated man, but he developed insights into space travel and rocket science that are still in use over a hundred years later, earning him a place in history as one of the pioneers of astronautics. space.com/19994-konstanti…
One of the main engineers behind NASA's Challenger rocket, which exploded in 1986, revealed that after NASA would not heed his warnings against launching in the cold weather, he told his wife the night before the launch, "It's going to blow up." npr.org/sections/thetwo-w…
The Saturn V Rocket, built for the Apollo Missions is the most powerful machine ever made. The first stage produced approx 160,000,000 horsepower. deskarati.com/2014/10/29/…
Wernher Von Braun's early years at NASA included a failed "four-inch flight" during which the rocket only rose a few inches before settling back onto the launch pad. It was determined to be the result of a power plug with one prong shorter than the other because a worker filed it to make it fit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wer…
When Robert Goddard, pioneer of American rocket propulsion, proposed the concept of a moon mission in 1920, the New York Times published an editorial explaining a rocket in space could not work because there would be no air for the exhaust to push against. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob…
Jeff Bezos funded a team that searched the Atlantic Ocean for discarded NASA rockets. By 2013, the team salvaged two rockets. After careful inspection, the team realized they found part of the rockets used to carry Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins to the moon on Apollo 11. space.com/22044-apollo-ro…
A V-2 A4 rocket launched from Peenemünde, an island off Germany's Baltic coast, became the first known man-made object to reach space, travelling 118 miles on October 3, 1942. edn.com/electronics-blogs…
Today I learned about the trials for Rocket Mail. Since 1810 inventors have tried to deliver mail via artillery, and later rockets. In 1959 the US navy fired a cruise missile filled with mail from a submarine to a Naval base in Florida. Despite enthousiasm by the Postmaster General it was a one time thing. smithsonianmag.com/smart-…
The $60 million(over $679 million in 2019 dollars) Mariner I rocket launched by NASA in 1962 exploded 5 minutes into flight. The root cause? A missing hyphen in the flight control software. gizmodo.com/the-typo-that…
In 1920, the New York Times published an editorial titled "A Severe Strain on Credulity," mocking scientist Robert Goddard's contention that a rocket could conceivably leave the atmosphere and even reach the moon. They later printed a retraction, the day after the launch of Apollo 11. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob…
In 1956 the USAF used interceptors armed only with unguided rockets to try and shoot down a runaway target drone. All 208 rockets missed, starting bush fires as well as hitting buildings and cars in a nearby town. In total over 1,000 acres of land was burnt but there were no fatalities. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat…
The accidental detonation of a single rocket on the USS Enterprise in 1969 led to a chain reaction of 17 more explosions that nearly destroyed her. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS…
In 1983, an Israeli F-15 was involved in a mid-air collision shearing off one wing. The pilot engaged the afterburners and recovered control. At those speeds, the plane behaved more like a rocket than an airplane, and the pilot was able to land safely with 20 feet of runway remaining. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/198…
Today I learned of the Legend of Wan Hu, a Chinese official from the 16th century who attempted to launch himself into space by attaching 47 rockets to a chair. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wan…
The US military has a modified version of the M1 Abrams tank called the M1150 Assault Breacher Vehicle that can plow through minefields with ease and launch a rocket propelled "explosive sausage" capable of destroying barricades in an area the size of a football field (the M58 MICLIC). youtu.be/WmvG_CMsge4
During the Space Race, the Soviet chief rocket engineer Sergei Korolev was never referred to by his real name. He was always identified as the "Chief Designer" to avoid a potential assassination attempt by the US. Not even cosmonauts working with him knew his real name. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ser…
In 1920 the New York Times wrote space flight was doomed because "after the rocket quits our air and really starts on its…journey, [it] would be neither accelerated nor maintained by the explosion of the charges it then might have left." They retracted in 1969, when Apollo 11 went to the moon. en.wikisource.org/wiki/Th…
Rockets struck by lightning are rare. "In November 1969, lightning struck a Saturn V rocket twice during the launch of NASA's Apollo 12 mission," it "successfully reached orbit." In May 2019 "lightning struck a Russian Soyuz rocket during a satellite launch," it "successfully reached orbit." space.com/russian-rocket-…
The largest non-commercial rocket launch in European history was done for an episode of Top Gear where they tried to send a Reliant Robin into space. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rel…
For India's first mission to space in the year 1963,rocket parts were carried on bicycles and bullock carts to the launch pad. defenceupdate.in/the-fasc…
When the engineering team behind the moon rocket, Saturn V, retired; important knowledge on how the rocket worked was lost. Today it is practically impossible to rebuild it. vice.com/en_us/article/vv…
In the 1950s, rocket designer Wernher von Braun and NASA collaborated multiple times with Walt Disney to create several space-themed television shows and help influence public perception of space exploration nasa.gov/centers/marshall…
The first photograph of Earth from space was taken after WWII using a German V2 rocket that was captured and re-purposed for science. cosmosmagazine.com/space/…
Today I learned about Ogbunigwe, a family of surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missiles developed in Biafra during the war with Nigeria. They were the first rockets developed in Africa. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogb…
NASA's Apollo program considered sending people to the Moon atop a massive Nova rocket instead of the Saturn V. At nearly twice the power of the Saturn V, Nova was a mind-blowingly large rocket capable of delivering 12 million pounds (5.4 million kg) of thrust at launch. astronomy.com/news/2019/0…
America's first successful interplanetary probe mission nearly failed when its rocket began rolling out of control in flight due to a loose part. Centrifugal force from the roll pushed the part back into place, the roll ended, and the mission succeeded. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar…
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