Evolution

 blather, Hmm..., humor, nukes, science, science fiction, youtube  8 Responses »
Jan 052016
 

Interesting timing. The Norks set off a nuke, and MTV premieres “The Shanarra Chronicles.” This latter is something I’ve never paid much attention to; apart from Tolkein, I just don’t get much into fantasy. Bring up elves and magic and my eyes tend to glaze over. But Shanarra is set not in some mythical alternate world or some magical past, but apparently this world, thousands of years after (apparently) nuclear/biological warfare has destroyed human civilization and caused several subspecies (elves, trolls, dwarves, gnomes, etc) to spring up*. And, of course, magic. So, there’s that.

So, now with the Norks getting frisky with nukes and biowar getting easier on a daily basis, the idea of humanity evolving a tad  makes this video more relevant. It is a handy, concise explanation of the process of evolution, using computer graphics on a scale rarely encountered, and with a level of accuracy far exceeding what you’re likely to find in a public school post-Department of Education.

 

*See also “Adventure Time.”

And because why not, here’s this again. If you think evolution is bunk, by all means go through this and figure out what statements are wrong:

 Posted by at 10:33 pm

Nork nuke test?

 news, nukes  4 Responses »
Jan 052016
 

CNN TV says they have confirmation that this was a man made event.

Magnitude 5.1 seismic disturbance recorded in North Korea

Yay, nukes! Can we test our own now, please?

UPDATE:

North Korea says it successfully conducts hydrogen bomb test

Granted, North Korea in the past has proved to be as honest as a Chicago politician, so who knows. A 5.1 magnitude quake equates to *roughly* 0.67 kilotons, which would be one hell of a weak H-bomb, but it’d be in line with the kinda sad nukes the Norks have set off in the past.

 Posted by at 8:13 pm

NIMF Art

 aircraft, art, history, nukes, Patreon, projects, rockets, spacecraft  7 Responses »
Jan 032016
 

propellant tank, structure, landing gear and a nuclear rocket engine, to be used for landing a payload on Mars and for flying or hopping around. The propellant would be liquid carbon dioxide, easily compressed from the Martian atmosphere; the performance would be, by conventional liquid hydrogen nuclear rocket standards, reasonably awful, but it would be adequate to lurch back into Mars orbit or to do long range hops.

Two main designs seem to have been studied: a conical “ballistic” vehicle that would be a dedicated “hopper,” landing on its tail, and a winded vehicle that would land vertically in a horizontal attitude. This latter design was sent to me in the form of diagrams and five computer renders. The renders – early 1990’s vintage – came as viewgraph transparencies, clearly photographs of a computer monitor. The winged vehicle had simple shock absorbers for landing gear, terminating in dishes rather than wheels meaning that a rolling start or stop was impossible. The available information sadly doesn’t explain how the thing was supposed to land vertically.

martin-marietta_nimf0009

The full-rez scans of the viewgraphs have been made available to APR Patrons in the 2016-01 APR Extras Dropbox folder. If you’d like to help out and gain access to this and many other pieces of aerospace history, please check out the APR Patreon.

patreon-200

 Posted by at 1:25 am

Pax Orionis: The Blast From Jackass Flats, Part One

 drawings, My Fiction, new products, Nuclear Pulse Propulsion, nukes, Patreon, Pax Orionis, projects, rockets, science fiction, spacecraft  No Responses »
Dec 192015
 

It has been a while since I’ve put out a Pax Orionis story, but a new one has just been made available to the Pax Orionis Patreon patrons. This one tells of the maiden voyage of the Columbia and the resulting changes in geopolitics…

The bonus version (available to $2 & up patrons) includes diagrams and data on the Nova-class lofter as well as a bonus news article. If interested, check out the Pax Orionis Patreon. It’s cheap!

For those unaware: Pax Orionis is an alternate history project. In short, the Cuban Missile Crisis goes a little “funny,” resulting in the US fielding nuclear pulse propelled spacecraft (Orions). The goal is hard SF covering a number of decades of events, good, bad and really quite awful.

blast1

 Posted by at 1:17 pm

AGM-129 Flashback

 aircraft, books, drawings, history, nukes, photography, weapons  5 Responses »
Dec 162015
 

I was reminded of the AGM-129 Advance Cruise Missile today, which reminded me of the small heavily illustrated booklet on the AGM-129 I put together a few years ago. It’s probably not too late to buy a couple hundred of these as Christmas presents for your friends and family. Here’s a retread of the original post from Back Then:

– – – – – –
Literally years in the making, I’ve put together two versions of a photo essay of several surviving examples of the AGM-129 Advanced Cruise Missile. Available free for the downloading is Stagger Around #3: AGM-129 Advanced Cruise Missile, Abridged Edition as a 13 page PDF booklet. This contains photos of the AGM-129s on display at Hill Aerospace Museum in Utah, the USAF Museum in Dayton and the Strategic Air & Space Museum in Nebraska, ready to print.

Also available is Stagger Around #3: AGM-129 Advanced Cruise Missile, Full Edition. This 34-page edition includes more photos of these missiles, along with the missile at the San Diego Aerospace Museum restoration facility, a rare General Dynamics display model, official USAF photos of the AGM-129 in test and in service and drawings of the missile, including 1/32 scale layout diagrams. This is available through MagCloud, either as a downloadable PDF ($5.75) or as a professionally printed and bound edition ($11.80).

Don’t forget to check out my other MagCloud publications, including Justo Miranda’s Reichdreams Dossiers, Aerospace Projects Review, Historical Documents, and Photographing Stuff.

And don’t forget to check out Stagger Around #1, F-104A Starfighter, and Stagger Around #2, Starship Enterprise.

NOTE:

If you liked this and want to see more like it… feel free to toss fifty cents, a buck, a hundred bucks, whatever, my way. Think of it as a donation to a worthy cause. Or a bribe. Whatever you’re more comfortable with.

– – – – – – –

When I originally put this out in 2012, the PDF version was orderable through MagCloud. If anyone wants to order it straight from here like most of my other stuff, let me know.

 Posted by at 1:31 pm

USLP #3, Large Format USBP 10-12, 13-15 Now Available

 aircraft, drawings, history, new products, nukes, projects, rockets, spacecraft, US Bomber Projects, US Launch Vehicle Projects  1 Response »
Dec 072015
 

USLP 03

Issue 03 of US Launch Vehicle Projects is now available (see HERE for the entire series). Issue #03 includes:

  • Juno V/Titan/Nomad: A 1958 concept for a space launcher using an ICBM for upper stages
  • Convair ATE Nova: A 1963 idea for winged airbreathing boosters
  • B-70/Gemini: Using a bomber as a booster
  • Phase II VTOHL Orbit-On-Demand: a 1985 concept for a relatively small two stage to orbit spaceplane
  • NASA Lewis Saturn Ib/Centaur/Kick Stage: a high energy upper stage
  • NASA MSC 042B/Titan IIIL6: a straight-winged orbiter atop a large Titan derivative
  • Heavy Lift Titan: A large diameter Titan core with three Shuttle boosters
  • Escher “Unshackled”: An unconventional idea for a lunar rocket

uslp03ad2 uslp03ad1

USLP #03 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $4:

——–

—–

Large format USBP drawings, Issues 10-12

The CAD drawings created for USBP reformatted and rescaled for 11X17 collected in a separate volume. Drawings have in some cases been corrected, improved and added to.

USBP 11X17 10-12 collects the diagrams created for issues 10, 11 and 12, including:

Boeing Model 464-34-3, Republic mach 7, Lockheed CL-1301-1, Convair WS-125A, Boeing 484-415, Martin Model 223-10, Boeing Model 814-1010 Dyna Soar, Martin Model 192-5, Boeing Model 464-40, Boeing Model 701-218, Northrop Nuclear flying wing, North American D118, Martin Model 223-11, North American Model 705-00-04, Bell/Martin 464L, Boeing B-1, Boeing Big Bird BB 6800, Boeing Model464-41, Douglas MX-2091-E, Boeing Model 701-238, Martin Model 223-12, Northrop Nuclear Flying Wing, Rockwell MRCC, Lockheed CL-820-8

usbp11x17_10-12ad1

USBP11x17-10-12 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $10:
————–

—-

Large format USBP drawings, Issues 13-15

The CAD drawings created for USBP reformatted and rescaled for 11X17 collected in a separate volume. Drawings have in some cases been corrected, improved and added to.

USBP 11X17 13-15 collects the diagrams created for issues 10, 11 and 12, including:

Ryan Model 162, Boeing Orbital bomb, Northrop Atomic Wing, Consolidated Vultee High Speed Flying Boat, Martin Model 189, Boeing Model 464-046, Curtis F-87C, Boeing Model 701-247, Lockheed WS 464L Dyna Soar, McDonnell WS 464L Dyna Soar, North American WS 464L Dyna Soar, Republic WS 464L Dyna Soar, Convair WS 464L Dyna Soar I, Convair WS 464L Dyna Soar II, Douglas WS 464L Dyna Soar, Northrop N206 WS 464L Dyna Soar, Boeing Model 814-1010 Dyna Soar II, Bell/Martin WS 464L Dyna Soar, Boeing Model 2050E Dyan Soar, Boeing Dyna Soar/ Titan IIIc, Bell D2001 TS-149, Lockheed Harvey; Convair Model 35, Rockwell D661-27, Boeing Model 464-49, Boeing Model 988-123, Boeing Manned Orbital Bomber, Boeing Model 701-251

usbp11x17_13-15ad1

USBP11x17-13-15 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $10:
————–

—-

 Posted by at 2:35 pm

Proposed Cyanotypes

 aircraft, art, cyanotype blueprints, drawings, history, Hmm..., new products, Nuclear Pulse Propulsion, nukes, projects, rockets, spacecraft  7 Responses »
Dec 032015
 

I’m planning on producing some new cyanotype blueprints at some point. Some will be copies of vintage blueprints, but some will be all-new CAD diagrams. Below are some CAD diagrams at various stages of completion. All are based on a 10-inch by 40-inch format; this will make them appropriate for folding into a book, or hanging on a wall. They would go for $25 per sheet as cyanotypes; I might also do them in frosted (white) mylar for probably a bit cheaper and maybe on regular paper for a lot cheaper. However, before plowing ahead I’d be interested in feedback… which of these are of interest? Which might you actually plunk down funds for? Additionally: I’ve produced a *lot* of CAD diagrams for APR and USXP. Is there anything I’ve done you’d like to see expanded out like this?

1: USAF 10-meter Orion, two sheets, 1/96 scale

NPP-0500X-Model

2: Have Sting orbital railgun, one sheet, 1/200 scale

ussp03-02-wide railgun-Model

3: X-15A-3, 1 sheet, 1/35 scaleussp 02-03 wide X15A-3-Model

4: Rockwell MRCC, 1 sheet, 1/60 scaleusbp-12-107 wide rockwell MRCC-Model

5: Rockwell D645-3, one sheet, 1/144 scaleusbp-07-104 wide rockwell d645-3-Model

6: X-20/Titan IIIc, two sheets, 1/72 scalemisc-132 wide X-20-Titan III-Model

7: XB-70, one sheet, 1/144 scalemisc-127 wide XB-70-Model

8: ITHACUS troop transport, two sheets, 1/200 scale

ustp04-002-1 wide ithacus-Model

 Posted by at 11:26 pm
 Older Entries  Newer Entries