An Aerojet rendering, unfortunately not in color, of the Small ICBM (MGM-134 “Midgetman”) from the 80’s. This was a single-warhead missile meant specifically to be carried by and launched from an off-road truck/trailer capable of withstanding a reasonably nearby nuclear blast. The image hear focuses on the second stage; like all post-Minuteman US ICBM’s, the SICBM was solid fueled. The USSR gave up the ghost and as a consequence the SICBM program was cancelled in 1992.
Still a little clunky, but they’re getting close to a practical unit. The graphics it can place over reality remain monochromatic and low-rez, basically text (looks like circa 1980 home computer stuff), but the fact that they can get *anything* is impressive. I doubt something like this would be a good idea for fighter pilots; G-forces would doubtless suck the things out of place. But for commercial pilot or astronauts? Maybe. Though it’d probably be easier and all-around better for this sort of thing to be integrated into the faceplate of a space helmet. The Hollywood use for this would be communications with secret agents and assassins; an advanced version of this would look invisible and would automatically use facial recognition to spot targets in a crowded room. It would be handy for electricians, bomb techs, surgeons and the like, overlaying schematics and 3D models atop the thing/patient being worked on. For the civilian market, an obvious use would again be facial recognition: you get on a subway, look around, and you’re informed just which of the creepy weirdoes surrounding you have criminal records and for what. Some people might be dismayed to find that random people around them are suddenly maintaining a safe distance, out of pocket-picking and rail-pushing range.
David DePape is an illegal alien, having come from Canada through the Mexican border and overstayed his visa. But he was in California, a “sanctuary state,” and more specifically San Francisco, a “sanctuary city.”
I wonder if Pelosi will ever wonder if the immigration laws were enforced, maybe this wouldn’t have happened? But then, how can you possibly hold back the vast, virtually infinite tide of illegal alien nudist drug addicted BLM supporting pride flag flying hippie MAGA supporters? There are so many of them that they pose a threat to democracy.
Not a threat to democracy:
From earlier: American flag stolen from church and burned outside White House on H St #protests2020 #dcprotest pic.twitter.com/yD5tFYixw0
— Steven Nelson (@stevennelson10) June 1, 2020
It’s an old video, but hey, it’s new to me. And it’s freakin’ hilarious.
A gearbox with a gear ratio of ten to the power of 169. The last gear will *never* turn once; it’s unlikely to turn even a detectable amount. Not just because there are probably no plans to hook the *first* gear up to a perpetual motion machine, but the fact that mo matter how fast it’s spun, that last gear will succumb to proton decay before it could turn the least bit. never mind the fact that it’s made of plastic and will crumble to dust in less than geological timescales.
Someone will doubtless improve upon this.
The filming miniature of the USCM Dropship from “Aliens” is being auctioned off. It’s a bit incomplete and showing its age, but it’d be a hell of a thing to own. I’d love to have one in 1/35 scale to go with the APC model kit.
Sigh.
Now THIS is damned interesting. The delay in ignition is simultaneously both surprising and perfectly sensible.
This guy tells a joke, the short from of which is that learning about science in school is useless, because he didn’t become a scientist. Now it could well be that he doesn’t actually believe that; perhaps a longer video with more context has him redeem himself later. But the basic notion expressed here grates on me more than a lame joke by an unknown standup comic really aught to. It would be better by far for kids to learn about science and math and then have them not go into STEM fields, than to replace science and math with the latest trendy identity politics subjects. Because even if the kids *do* go into the fields of gender studies or LGBTQ studies or racial grievance activism… society is *worse* off. Learning math helps a kid order their mind. Learning science helps a kid learn skepticism. Learning critical race theory helps a kid become a racist monster. Learning about the latest innovation in pronoun-invention helps a kid become schizophrenic and sterile.
A Mil-8 got thwacked by a MANPAD and set alight. It flew in a controlled and sensible manner for a lot longer than I would have expected given that it seemed to be a raging inferno, but the end was kind of a bummer for the crew. I suspect the passengers were already out of the picture by that point. Gotta wonder why the pilot kept it in the air that long. I would have thought “Ground. Now.” would have been the overriding priority.
The October 2022 rewards are available for APR Patrons and Subscribers. This latest package includes:
Large format art: A Bell Aerospace painting of the D188A VTOL fighter/bomber
Document: “Standard Aircraft Characteristics – Convair Class VF Seaplane Night Fighter (SKATE)” diagrams and data for seaplane jet fighter
Document: “21St Century Aerospace – The 20th Century Challenge,” General Dynamics presentation, late 80’s about hypersonics/NASP. From photographs.
Document: “Prototype X-14 VTOL Aircraft,” Bell Aerospace presentation, 1971, on the “SeaKat” operational naval VTOL. From photos, but art and diagrams were also scanned for clarity.
CAD Diagram ($5 and up): XB-70 Valkyrie forward fuselage configuration
If you would like to help fund the acquisition and preservation of such things, along with getting high quality scans for yourself, please consider signing on either for the APR Patreon or the APR Monthly Historical Documents Program. Back issues are available for purchase by patrons and subscribers.
