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Men Into Space ship

 art, models, rockets, science fiction, spacecraft  20 Responses »
Jun 042016
 

Well, here it is. There’s still a bit of time yet before it needs to be shipped off to be 3D printed, so if you see something that you think needs to be added or changed, let me know. Not shown here is the airlock door (fits flush). Also not shown is a yet-to-be-sculpted *probable* astronaut doing a spacewalk. A metal rod would connect the spaceship to the base.

This model is to be made available through Fantastic Plastic and will be 1/48 scale, a bit over 9″ long.

2016-06-04

UPDATE: turns out there’s a book about “Men Into Space.” Anybody know if it’s any good? Specifically… good imagery, diagrams, etc.?

 

 Posted by at 12:29 pm

I am reminded of Bruce

 AARRRGH, cats, ಠ_ಠ  4 Responses »
Jun 042016
 

Kind People Saw a Photo of Abandoned Cat Crying on the Street and Did Something Incredible

Well, not really *that* incredible, but still. In short, this cat was clearly abandoned out on the street, his litter box and other cat stuff piled up; the cat stayed near his stuff and cried to passersby. Sadly a street sweeper scared it off, but a search was put together and he (and one other cat) were found and are being treated at the vet and being readied for adoption.

I guess I can understand that fr0m time to time people might need to let go of their pets. But given how many people there are who would happily take them in, just dumping them out on the street, as was done With Bruce and with “Nostrand” here, just doesn’t make the slightest damn bit of sense to me.

 Posted by at 10:16 am

That’s not how you science, kid

 Crazy, dumbassery, Hmm..., news, science, ಠ_ಠ  13 Responses »
Jun 032016
 

Remember the kid who found a “lost Mayan city” that turned out to more likely be an old corn field? He seems to be taking the Donald Trump approach to dealing with criticism.

Teen Who ‘Discovered’ Lost Maya City Says Scientists Are Jealous

“I think scientists are jealous,” the teen declared. “Sometimes they are scared of new ideas. They’re afraid to have their established ideas criticized.” Ultimately, Gadoury wants scientists “to have more open minds and to listen to other ideas.”

Oy. I’ve heard this sort of response many, many times. And from adults, it’s virtually always a prelude to scientific crackpottery. Some goofball has some idea about why Newton or Kepler or Einstein was wrong, his ideas don’t pass basic scientific and/or mathematical scrutiny, and then he goes apoplectic. Scientists don’t promptly believe them because the scientists are idiots, or jealous, or closed-minded, whatever.

 Posted by at 9:18 pm

Half a Kiloton

 awesomeness, news, youtube  2 Responses »
Jun 022016
 

Fireball Lights Pre-Dawn Sky over Arizona

Based on the latest data, a small asteroid estimated at 5 feet (1-2 meters) in diameter – with a mass of a few tons and a kinetic energy of approximately half a kiloton – entered Earth’s atmosphere above Arizona just before 4 a.m. local (MST) time. NASA estimates that the asteroid was moving at about 40,200 miles per hour (64,700 kilometers per hour).

Neato. Kinda weak compared to the ones that keep whackin’ Russia, though.

 Posted by at 8:24 pm

Yay! We’re doomed! Ahead of schedule.

 news, science  8 Responses »
Jun 022016
 

Evidence, as yet un-backed-up, is starting to come in suggesting that the universe is expanding faster than previously thought. If true, this would tend to support the concept of “phantom energy,” creating an anti-gravity force that’s going to blow the universe into a vanishingly thin haze of sub-elemental particles.

NASA’s Hubble Finds Universe Is Expanding Faster Than Expected

The improved Hubble constant value 45.5 miles per second per megaparsec. (A megaparsec equals 3.26 million light-years.) The new value means the distance between cosmic objects will double in another 9.8 billion years.

Better start scratching off stuff on your bucket list, time’s runnin’ out.

 Posted by at 8:03 pm

Find the humor in tragedy

 AARRRGH, blather, Crazy, dumbassery, Forward!, Gah., news, politics, wisdom, ಠ_ಠ  12 Responses »
May 312016
 

So, the kid climbs into the gorilla enclosure at the Cincinnatti Zoo, gets dragged around by one of the gorillas, who gets whacked by the zoo personnel in order to save the kid. There is a whole lot of stupid to go around here… the zoo that made an enclosure easily breached, the parents who couldn’t or wouldn’t keep track of their kids. Lots of stupid, but little actual humor. In the end, the basic story is jsut sad… the gorilla pretty much *had* to die once it started dragging the kid around, but the kid didn’t *have* to be in the position to be dragged around. Stupid. Not funny.

But right on schedule, leave it to politically minded idiots to inject humor into the situation. Gentlemen, behold:

Killing a gorilla to save a ‘white boy’ was a ‘racist’ move, according to outcry

The Twitterstorm of racist dumbassery includes:

And there are a great many more in this vein. That in and of itself is funny, in a kind of predictably sad, pathetic way. But you know what brings the story to the point of high comedy? Here’s the kid and his parents:

Now, I admit that I’m not as “awakened” or “enlightened” to racial issues as many people, but there seems to be something here that makes me scratch my head in confusion about this white kid.

 Posted by at 8:56 pm

It’s an obvious question

 Crazy, dumbassery, Forward!, Hmm..., news, politics, ಠ_ಠ  5 Responses »
May 312016
 

Bernie Hits Bump on Univision: Speechless on Socialism’s Failures

Leave it to someone other than the major US media outlets to ask about the relevant policy issues:

LEÓN KRAUZE, UNIVISION: I am sure that you know about this topic: various leftist governments, especially the populists, are in serious trouble in Latin America. The socialist model in Venezuela has the country near collapse. Argentina, also Brazil, how do you explain that failure?

BERNIE SANDERS: You are asking me questions…

LEÓN KRAUZE, UNIVISION: I am sure you’re interested in that.

BERNIE SANDERS: I am very interested, but right now I’m running for President of the United States.

LEÓN KRAUZE, UNIVISION: So you don’t have an opinion about the crisis in Venezuela?

BERNIE SANDERS: Of course I have an opinion, but as I said, I’m focused on my campaign.

Hmmm.

 

 Posted by at 12:01 am

Space-Positive

 art, blather, Hmm..., youtube  7 Responses »
May 302016
 

Here’s an odd thing. If you listen to popular music for songs about space, you’ll hear very few. If you do hear one, it’ll almost certainly have lyrics describing space and space travel in unfortunate terms. If you see spaceflight in the movies, it’s almost always showing terrible things happening… war, aliens invaders, “space madness,” ships and stations falling apart, space diseases, so on. It seems that popular culture would have you believe that space is just… bad.

And yet: if someone needs to reference uplifting ideas, to show in graphic terms childlike wonder… one sure-fire way to succeed is to reference spaceflight. Gentlemen, behold: an American Family Insurance commercial that jumps straight into “the dream of space is awesome” pool.

 Posted by at 9:26 pm

New Vector-PDF Diagrams

 aircraft, art, drawings, new products, projects, rockets, spacecraft, US Bomber Projects, US Fighter Projects, US Launch Vehicle Projects, US Transport Projects  4 Responses »
May 302016
 

I’ve recently figured out how to get reliably good-quality vector graphic PDF files from my AutoCAD diagrams.These differ from standard “raster” graphics like GIFs and JPGs in that they are composed of scalable lines rather than pixels; this means that they can be printed off at many scales and they’ll retain clarity.

I think a lot of the diagrams would look quite good printed in large format; I’ve previously mentioned that I’m working on a few diagrams specifically for printing off on large format (24X36) mylar, but I’ve others that I think would also look good scaled for 18X24. I’m making these first seven diagrams available, formatted and scaled for 18X24. They can be viewed on screen, printed on a standard printer or printed by a large format printer all with equal clarity.

If this idea appeals, be sure to tell your friends, family, foes, anyone you think might be interested. Also be sure to comment if there are any diagrams I’ve previously created for APR, USXP or elsewhere that you’d like to see in this format. Some of them would be best as multi-sheet diagrams. Suggestions on how to improve also appreciated.

CAD007

CAD 007: Northrop Low Altitude Penetrator

A 1/72 diagram of a 1979 design for a B-2 alternate configuration

Download for $3

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CAD006

CAD 006

A 1/96 scale diagram of the 1979 Rockwell D645-4a spanloader bomber.

Download for $3

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CAD005

CAD 005

A 1/144 scale diagram of the Manned Spacecraft Center MSC Orbiter 020, a 1972 Space Shuttle concept with a single 260″ solid rocket booster.

Download for $3

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CAD004

CAD 004

A 1/350 scale diagram of the 1971 Boeing Resource Air Carrier (AKA RC-1, AKA “Brute Lifter”) designed as a flying oil tanker for the arctic.

Download for $3

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CAD003

CAD 003

A 1/72 scale diagram of the Martin-Marietta “Zenith Star” experimental space-based laser for the Strategic Defense Initiative.

Download for $3

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CAD002

CAD 002

A 1/24 diagram of the Lockheed “Harvey,” the initial concept for a low radar cross section strike platform that eventually became the F-117.

Download for $3

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CAD001

CAD 001

A 1/32 diagram of the North American Rockwell D-541-4 “Surprise Fighter” from 1973, an early stealth concept designed to sneak up on Soviet AWACS planes.

Download for $3

 

Download all seven for $18.90 (10% off)

 

 Posted by at 12:37 pm
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