20-July-1969...

Sounds like a great time to launch a Saturn V!

Randy

I flew an Estes Oracle Saturday, not only because it was the anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch, but because July 16, 1968 was when I flew my first rocket.

Roy nar12605

That's cool Roy. That means we had our first flights within days of each other. I don't know the exact date but it was just after July 4, 1968.

I do know exactly where. I was by my elementary school this afternoon. The only bad thing is they are expanding the school and have just finished a new building right on top of the old baseball diamond. We used to launch off of the pitcher's mound.

Randy

How did you talk NASA into celebrating the one-year anniversary of your first launch so well???

David Erbas-White

When they heard about the fine job I did over the winter building a Centuri Saturn V that I was planning to launch for the anniversary they just had to launch theirs in tribute. Thankfully theirs did a little better than mine -- even with a car battery and Sure-Shots, I only got one C6-5 lit. I wouldn't meet John Langford and his flashbulbs for another few months.

Roy nar12605

That would have been last Saturday. Wednesday is the day for it to LAND. Somewhere else :-)

Maybe I'll just go out wednesday night. look at the moon, and lament that it's been 32.7 years since any one has been there...

Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L >>> To reply, there's no internet on Mars (yet)!

Any day is a good day to fly a Saturn V.

Besides, I don't think I could get it to stay in the air that long. ; )

Randy

ROFL!

Randy

Man, it is hard to believe that it's been 36 years! I remember sitting there with my mom watching the first images from the moon. geeze!

And look how far we've come since then! (note: dripping with sarcasm... :) )

Jim

Not quite 2 years ago, I went to a talk by Gene Cernan, "The Last Man on the Moon". He made it very clear how disappointed he was that in 30+ years, we haven't gone back. And with our current technology we couldn't get back there "before this decade is out..."

But the interesting thing Cernan said was that the whole 60s space program was an anomoly. It was as if someone took a decade out of the middle of the

21st century, and dropped it in the middle of the 20th century. We're now back on what should have been our normal timeline.

Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L >>> To reply, there's no internet on Mars (yet)!

Proving you cannot violate the timeline, by anecdotal evidence.

Of course we do not have the societal will to overcome that.

Jerry

There's a good full-screen panorama in QuickTimeVR from the Apollo 11 mission:

They also have a panorama from Apollo 17 on the site.

I've heard him also, in Oshkosh.

Don't worry Bob, I am working on it :)

"jflis"

Hey Jerry! remember me talking about a little project 6 months ago?

heh. I got the will. seems few others do tho. working on the way.

I keep saying that if we took the money NASA spent so far on coming up with the next generation space shuttle, and gave it all to Rutan, he'd have a fleet of them flying TODAY.

They may not end up with a flight safety record a whole lot better than what we have now, but they would be a whole lot cheaper to build and fly. And we'd have enough hardware to launch one every couple days.

Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L >>> To reply, there's no internet on Mars (yet)!

So format it as a formal NASA proposal.

Sounds good on paper Bob. He'd do it with about 1% of the staff too, so where do all the unemployed people go to work?

Randy

maybe. I think he is in the same boat as me.

I have most of the 1/8th scale prototype done. could probably stick some rail buttons on it and fly it this weekend. but I am busy packing and getting ready for my week in oshkosh.

I am also gathering all the parts for the 1/6th scale prototype, and could start building it now. money isn't a problem. time to build it is.

Rutan discussed this. by looking at the numbers, the shuttle is the most dangerous spacecraft out there. I know he skewed the numbers. but his point was that NASA tends to drop working spacecraft in order to adopt more expensive, more dangerous, yet more capable, spacecraft.

Now, as modelers, we tend to buy engines in bulk, and I think that is something that needs to be addressed in private space programs. you cannot get a stock engine for space ship one or any other private spacecraft. this is just ONE of the many things that needs to be looked at, but the one that will get the number of flights per year into the triple digits

point!

If I needed money more than time right now.