Jan 222009
Jan 212009
An incredibly friendly farmcat.
Jan 202009
My fellow citizens:I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.
Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often, the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebearers, and true to our founding documents.
So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans. Blah, blah, blahbibippityblah blah.
Human response:
ZZZZzzzz ZzzzZZ zzzzz snork zzzz ZZZzzzz
Feline response:
Raedthinn sez: “Well I had to do something to get the taste of Obama’s lameness out of my mouth.”
Go on. Read his speech. Try to find Obama spouting anything but lame, meaningless platitudes. Oh, and the sort of religious drivel that would have made the press go ape had Bush spouted it.
Jan 202009
Declaring victory on the Orion Battleship model. There is a vast amount more that could be done… but at this stage, there’s nothing more I’m *gonna* do with this model.
Jan 192009
A few drawings of the Nexus designed at Convair in 1962-63 for the Post-Saturn program (the vehicle that would obviously replace the Saturn V in the mid 1970’s… at the time, the idea that progress would stop was unthinkable). One million pound payload reusable SSTO, made using straightforward tech. Make it bigger and get 2 million pounds payload. Sad to see what could have been.
Jan 192009
So. The next issue of APR has an article on the Large Orions. Prominently included in this is the “Orion Battleship” concept, armed with 5-inch naval guns and 500 20-megaton offensive nukes.
In all the years I’ve written APR, I’ve never delved into fiction. But I thought it’d be a neat little lark to include a half-page or so “scenario” depicting the Orion battleships in action. Note: half-page or so. So I started scribbling last night. At 5 AM I packed it in with six pages written, and only just now getting to the good stuff.
Back in my college days, I was a prolific writer of really quite aweful sci-fi stories. Cranked out probably a novel or two’s worth of utter rubbish. Since graduation in ’95, my fiction writing dropped to approximately nil. So I’m rusty; I’ll have to do some massive trimming. I still think the half-page little story’s a good idea.
One thing that’ll have to be lost in the edit: details of just what the hell’s actually going on. The Orion battleship was meant to fight World War III, and was equipped with the ability to lay waste to the entire Soviet Union. A vehicle like this would not be used for trivial problem; it would not be used over Grenada, or Panama, or Afghanistan or Iraq. It would only be used to fight global thermonuclear war, with hundreds of millions if not billions killed outright. It’s just a little difficult spinning that background into a lighthearted yarn.
Jan 172009
Work on the Orion article continues, with more modeling. The modeling I’m fairly good at, the rendering… meh. To do it right would require a whole lot of texture map work, and I just don’t have the time for that. So… the Orions will look a bit bland, I guess.
I need to model the 20-meter Orion yet, as well as the Advanced Interplanetary Ship, and make some refinements to the Regular Interplanetary Ship.
Jan 172009
Another contest: the winner gets one free download (APR, drawings, documents, whatever).
So… what is this? These are all closeups of one single “thing.” What is it?
First responder with the correct answer wins.
NOTE: Researching all this wacky stuff takes time and money. You can support the cause by Buying My Stuff, which includes aerospace drawings and documents, as well as the journal of unbuilt aircraft and spacecraft projects, Aerospace Projects Review.
Or just plain Give Me Money.
Jan 172009
In 1966, the Aeronutronic division of Ford Motor Company (remember the days when automotive companies had important aerospace divisions working on manned spacecraft for interplanetary exploration? Cuz I sure don’t) reported to NASA on an unconventional lunar rover: the Worm. Basically a tube, but with a number of external ring segments, each ring having a flattened “foot.” By undulating the rings (“travelling wave bellows”), the vehicle could trundle along over pretty much any sort of expected lunar terrain. Tops speed would be Dead Slow (5 mph), and probably Deafeningly Loud. But at least it’d be disturbing to watch.
Range was to be 100 miles, carrying a 1000 pound payload.
Jan 162009
Just as a solar panel must be opened to its furthest extent and oriented properly to catch the suns rays, so much a cat alter its geometry to maximize capture area. This is especially important in these colder winter months.
