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The Cure / Disintegration
Track listing:
- "Plainsong" - 5:12
- "Pictures of You" - 7:24
- "Closedown" - 4:16
- "Lovesong" - 3:29
- "Last Dance" - 4:42
- "Lullaby" - 4:08
- "Fascination Street" - 5:16
- "Prayers for Rain" - 6:05
- "The Same Deep Water as You" - 9:19
- "Disintegration"- 8:18
- "Homesick" - 7:06
- "Untitled" - 6:30
(All lyrics are written by Robert Smith; all music is composed by Smith, Simon Gallup, Roger O'Donnell, Porl Thompson, Boris Williams, and (officially, in credits) Lol Tolhurst.)
Robert Smith – vocals, guitars, keyboards, production, engineering
Simon Gallup – bass guitar, keyboards
Porl Thompson – guitars
Boris Williams – drums, percussion
Roger O'Donnell – keyboards
Lol Tolhurst – credited with "other instrument"; basis for the song "Homesick"
Recorded: November 1988 – February 1989 at Hookend Recording Studios, Checkendon, Oxfordshire, England
sleeve design: cover art by parched art
Label: Fiction Records / 1989
ex Vinyl-Collection MTP
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disintegration_(The_Cure_album)
VWS1768 Copyright © VW Selburn 2017: This is one of my most favourite photographs of my trip to the Desert states of the USA. I love to see the world in its natural state. The colours in the rocks around Zabriskie Point are amazing. The clue is in their formation eons ago. For more information about how they were formed see here:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zabriskie_Point
See more of the photos taken on my American tour here: www.flickr.com/photos/vwselburn/albums/72157683361809916
And no car show would be complete without the beauty that is Rolls Royce's best selling car, the Silver Shadow. Saving the best till last I give you the car that took Rolls Royce out of the hands of the aristocracy and placed it into the hands of the people, a tradition that has continued ever since. Once rock-stars, pop-stars, TV presenters and alike were seen driving around in a car that was once the exclusive pride and joy of the established gentry, it was then and there that the Class System had truly disintegrated. The Victorian-era divisions of society were well and truly dead.
In 1965 it was apparent that the nearly 10 year old Silver Cloud was starting to look its age, and as time continued to crawl on the aristocratic look of the Rolls Royce was no longer its biggest selling point. Prior to the 1960's society was clearly defined, with what was known as the 'Glass Ceiling' through which none of the lower classes could rise up through the ranks. It was very easy for the Upper Class and Aristocracy to lose their titles and come down, but even if you were a Lower Class person who'd made it rich, you'd still be socially unacceptable due to your background. However, after World War I the emergence of the new Middle Class was starting to bend the rules, and as time went on the ways in which money could be obtained started to become easier thanks to stage and screen. After World War II the influence of the new generation distorted the lines of society even more with the appearance of the Beatles and Elvis Presley, people from low backgrounds who had managed to get a free ticket to the top due to their fame in the music industry. Of course when someone gets money, the first thing they want to do is spend it on luxury items, and nothing back then was more luxury than owning a Rolls Royce.
However, when the Cloud was designed society was still very much in the same Victorian ideal as before, and so its aristocratic look was about as hip and with-it as a China Cabinet in a Discotheque. In order to survive, Rolls Royce was going to have to adapt, so in 1965 they launched the Silver Shadow, a car that was designed for the new money, and the first Roller to be brought to the masses. What made it so appealing was a case of many things.
For starters, it was the first Rolls Royce to be a 'Driver's' car. Previous models had always been built with chauffeur driven passengers in mind, but the Shadow with upgraded suspension, an updated Rolls Royce V8 engine and the same general driving feel of a regular car (if not better with innovative power steering), made it ideal for the 'posers' of the upmarket realm. Secondly, the car was the first to be built with a monocoque, where the body and chassis are part of the same structure. Previously, Rolls Royce would provide the owner with a chassis, and then it was up to the owner what body would be put on it, with a variety of coachbuilders available to do the job including H.J Muliner Park Ward, Hoopers of London and James Young. The advent of the monocoque meant that potential buyers didn't have to go through the rigmarole of buying a chassis and then having a body constructed for it at extra cost.
As mentioned though, reception was something of a mixed bag, whilst motoring press and many people gave it critical acclaim for its revolutionary design, the usual Rolls Royce customer base saw it as something of a mongrel, appealing to the lowest common denominator rather than holding up the traditional standard that the Double R was famed for. But just because it was built for the masses didn't make it any less a car, each individual Shadow cost £7,000 new, weighed 2.2 tonnes and took 3 months to build. The interior was compiled of 12 square feet of wood, and three cows had to sacrifice themselves to create the leather hides that line the seats. Soft and springy Wilton Carpets made up the floor and power from Rolls Royce's astounding V8 engine could whisk the car to about 100mph, but why would you want a sporty Rolls Royce anyway? *Cough* Rolls Royce Wraith *Cough*
After launch the Silver Shadow was whipped up by pretty much anyone and everyone who wanted to show off their wealth, with a total of 25,000 examples being built during its 15 year production life, making it the most numerous Rolls Royce ever built. The Silver Shadow also formed the basis of several other designs, including the convertible Rolls Royce Silver Shadow 2-Door Saloon which later became the Corniche in 1971, the Bentley T-Series which was exactly the same only with Bentley badge and grille, and the controversial Rolls Royce Camargue of 1975 which was designed by Pininfarina.
For a time the Shadow was on top of the world, but things started to crumble fast in the 1970's. New American legislation meant that the car had to conform at the cost of its class, with the chrome bumpers being replaced by composite or rubber, and the ditch lights being slumped underneath on a rather unsightly chin-spoiler. In 1977 this revised car was launched as the Silver Shadow II, which I consider to be but a shadow of its former self due to the fact that this was when Rolls Royce started to become downplayed and underwhelming. Indeed the best intentions were in mind with safety, but without the chrome to adorn its lovely body, the Shadow was merely a husk.
This was added to by the fuel crisis of the mid-1970's, which made motoring a very expensive practice, especially if you ran a Shadow. Shadow's are incredible gas guzzlers at less than 20MPG, and refilling one will set you back in today's money about £80. At the same time it was considered socially unacceptable to be seen driving around in one of these after such a blow, almost as if you were driving a giant middle-finger down the street to everyone else who couldn't afford to drive. Because of this, owners turned to more subtle cars such as Mercedes so as not to fall victim to vindictive passers by. With sales starting to drop, Rolls Royce had to see off the Silver Shadow as soon as possible. After nearly 10 years of development, 1980 saw the launch of the much more angular and somewhat mundane Silver Spirit/Spur range, and with that now on the go the shadows grew long for the Silver Shadow, which was killed off the same year. Spiritually however, the design of the 60's lived on in the Corniche, which was to be built for another 15 years before that too was ended in 1995.
In some ways the Shadow became a failure of its own success, with Rolls Royce building far too many cars for the market that intended to buy them, with the result that the 2nd hand market became saturated with nearly new cars that fell into some disreputable company. Throughout the 1980's the Shadow was noted for being the ride of sleazy salesmen, gang lords and Members of Parliament (pure evil!). Additionally, many Shadows were bought cheap simply for the way they made the owner look.
If you were intending to use your cheapy Shadow to plunder yourself some girls and didn't have the attraction of money to back you up, you'd be out of luck and soon out of cash, because the bills required to run a hand-built luxury car would very quickly be walking through the door, both in terms of fuel and maintenance. Critical failures are rare and these cars are very reliable (although Jeremy Clarkson would have you think otherwise), but when they do happen, it would probably be cheaper to buy yourself another car. The worst problem you could face is a failure of the hydraulics that controlled the rear suspension, the steering and the brakes, which would render the car inoperable if something were to go awry.
Frequent maintenance of a Shadow however (every 4 to 6 months) will probably even out at about £100, which when you consider the £10,000 or more you'd be paying to replace the hydraulic system, is a small sacrifice. Rust is another problem, especially for early Shadows. The Chrome sills and guttering on the roof are especially prone, although the most critical problem is rust on the chassis, which if left can compromise the whole car and essentially write it off. A bit of a buying tip, if the car's body looks good, be sure to check underneath because you may see some costly rust gremlins down there that could ruin your investment.
Another place the Shadow has found itself is in the world of movies. Of course any film that has an upper-crust theme or feel to it would have to include a Rolls, but since 2nd hand Shadows could be picked up for a song you could easily put them in your movie. Sadly, most movies that feature Shadows are ones which feature them being destroyed.
So why do I love Shadows so much? Basically because it's a mixture of all things you'd want in a car. It has a spacious, luxury interior, it has a world beating design dripping with chrome and adorned with the finest hood ornament, and because it's dimensions aren't that far off a normal car, it can easily be used as an everyday machine unlike the Silver Cloud which is simply too big for everyday use. The Shadow is also a very personable sort of machine, if I was to own one I would treat it like a pet, and probably name it Sally (old girlfriend of mine).
Today, Shadows are by no means rare and the ones you'll find on the road are probably the best. Most of the poorer 2nd Hand ones rusted away and died back in the 1980's and 90's (or were blown up in movies, or put in swimming pools), which means that the survivors are largely under the ownership of avid enthusiasts who cherish their cars. You can find Shadows for next to nothing, with some examples going for as little as £4,000, but you'd have to be very desperate to get one of those as they'd probably be in very bad condition. Minters however can go for about £15,000 to £20,000, which when compared to some of the other cars of comparative size and quality such as the BMW's and Mercs of this world, is not a bad deal.
I give you the car that took Rolls Royce out of the hands of the aristocracy and placed it into the hands of the people, a tradition that has continued ever since. Once rock-stars, pop-stars, TV presenters and alike were seen driving around in a car that was once the exclusive pride and joy of the established gentry, it was then and there that the Class System had truly disintegrated. The Victorian-era divisions of society were well and truly dead.
In 1965 it was apparent that the nearly 10 year old Silver Cloud was starting to look its age, and as time continued to crawl on the aristocratic look of the Rolls Royce was no longer its biggest selling point. Prior to the 1960's society was clearly defined, with what was known as the 'Glass Ceiling' through which none of the lower classes could rise up through the ranks. It was very easy for the Upper Class and Aristocracy to lose their titles and come down, but even if you were a Lower Class person who'd made it rich, you'd still be socially unacceptable due to your background. However, after World War I the emergence of the new Middle Class was starting to bend the rules, and as time went on the ways in which money could be obtained started to become easier thanks to stage and screen. After World War II the influence of the new generation distorted the lines of society even more with the appearance of the Beatles and Elvis Presley, people from low backgrounds who had managed to get a free ticket to the top due to their fame in the music industry. Of course when someone gets money, the first thing they want to do is spend it on luxury items, and nothing back then was more luxury than owning a Rolls Royce.
However, when the Cloud was designed society was still very much in the same Victorian ideal as before, and so its aristocratic look was about as hip and with-it as a China Cabinet in a Discotheque. In order to survive, Rolls Royce was going to have to adapt, so in 1965 they launched the Silver Shadow, a car that was designed for the new money, and the first Roller to be brought to the masses. What made it so appealing was a case of many things.
For starters, it was the first Rolls Royce to be a 'Driver's' car. Previous models had always been built with chauffeur driven passengers in mind, but the Shadow with upgraded suspension, an updated Rolls Royce V8 engine and the same general driving feel of a regular car (if not better with innovative power steering), made it ideal for the 'posers' of the upmarket realm. Secondly, the car was the first to be built with a monocoque, where the body and chassis are part of the same structure. Previously, Rolls Royce would provide the owner with a chassis, and then it was up to the owner what body would be put on it, with a variety of coachbuilders available to do the job including H.J Muliner Park Ward, Hoopers of London and James Young. The advent of the monocoque meant that potential buyers didn't have to go through the rigmarole of buying a chassis and then having a body constructed for it at extra cost.
As mentioned though, reception was something of a mixed bag, whilst motoring press and many people gave it critical acclaim for its revolutionary design, the usual Rolls Royce customer base saw it as something of a mongrel, appealing to the lowest common denominator rather than holding up the traditional standard that the Double R was famed for. But just because it was built for the masses didn't make it any less a car, each individual Shadow cost £7,000 new, weighed 2.2 tonnes and took 3 months to build. The interior was compiled of 12 square feet of wood, and three cows had to sacrifice themselves to create the leather hides that line the seats. Soft and springy Wilton Carpets made up the floor and power from Rolls Royce's astounding V8 engine could whisk the car to about 100mph, but why would you want a sporty Rolls Royce anyway? *Cough* Rolls Royce Wraith *Cough*
After launch the Silver Shadow was whipped up by pretty much anyone and everyone who wanted to show off their wealth, with a total of 25,000 examples being built during its 15 year production life, making it the most numerous Rolls Royce ever built. The Silver Shadow also formed the basis of several other designs, including the convertible Rolls Royce Silver Shadow 2-Door Saloon which later became the Corniche in 1971, the Bentley T-Series which was exactly the same only with Bentley badge and grille, and the controversial Rolls Royce Camargue of 1975 which was designed by Pininfarina.
For a time the Shadow was on top of the world, but things started to crumble fast in the 1970's. New American legislation meant that the car had to conform at the cost of its class, with the chrome bumpers being replaced by composite or rubber, and the ditch lights being slumped underneath on a rather unsightly chin-spoiler. In 1977 this revised car was launched as the Silver Shadow II, which I consider to be but a shadow of its former self due to the fact that this was when Rolls Royce started to become downplayed and underwhelming. Indeed the best intentions were in mind with safety, but without the chrome to adorn its lovely body, the Shadow was merely a husk.
This was added to by the fuel crisis of the mid-1970's, which made motoring a very expensive practice, especially if you ran a Shadow. Shadow's are incredible gas guzzlers at less than 20MPG, and refilling one will set you back in today's money about £80. At the same time it was considered socially unacceptable to be seen driving around in one of these after such a blow, almost as if you were driving a giant middle-finger down the street to everyone else who couldn't afford to drive. Because of this, owners turned to more subtle cars such as Mercedes so as not to fall victim to vindictive passers by. With sales starting to drop, Rolls Royce had to see off the Silver Shadow as soon as possible. After nearly 10 years of development, 1980 saw the launch of the much more angular and somewhat mundane Silver Spirit/Spur range, and with that now on the go the shadows grew long for the Silver Shadow, which was killed off the same year. Spiritually however, the design of the 60's lived on in the Corniche, which was to be built for another 15 years before that too was ended in 1995.
In some ways the Shadow became a failure of its own success, with Rolls Royce building far too many cars for the market that intended to buy them, with the result that the 2nd hand market became saturated with nearly new cars that fell into some disreputable company. Throughout the 1980's the Shadow was noted for being the ride of sleazy salesmen, gang lords and Members of Parliament (pure evil!). Additionally, many Shadows were bought cheap simply for the way they made the owner look.
If you were intending to use your cheapy Shadow to plunder yourself some girls and didn't have the attraction of money to back you up, you'd be out of luck and soon out of cash, because the bills required to run a hand-built luxury car would very quickly be walking through the door, both in terms of fuel and maintenance. Critical failures are rare and these cars are very reliable (although Jeremy Clarkson would have you think otherwise), but when they do happen, it would probably be cheaper to buy yourself another car. The worst problem you could face is a failure of the hydraulics that controlled the rear suspension, the steering and the brakes, which would render the car inoperable if something were to go awry.
Frequent maintenance of a Shadow however (every 4 to 6 months) will probably even out at about £100, which when you consider the £10,000 or more you'd be paying to replace the hydraulic system, is a small sacrifice. Rust is another problem, especially for early Shadows. The Chrome sills and guttering on the roof are especially prone, although the most critical problem is rust on the chassis, which if left can compromise the whole car and essentially write it off. A bit of a buying tip, if the car's body looks good, be sure to check underneath because you may see some costly rust gremlins down there that could ruin your investment.
Another place the Shadow has found itself is in the world of movies. Of course any film that has an upper-crust theme or feel to it would have to include a Rolls, but since 2nd hand Shadows could be picked up for a song you could easily put them in your movie. Sadly, most movies that feature Shadows are ones which feature them being destroyed.
So why do I love Shadows so much? Basically because it's a mixture of all things you'd want in a car. It has a spacious, luxury interior, it has a world beating design dripping with chrome and adorned with the finest hood ornament, and because it's dimensions aren't that far off a normal car, it can easily be used as an everyday machine unlike the Silver Cloud which is simply too big for everyday use. The Shadow is also a very personable sort of machine, if I was to own one I would treat it like a pet, and probably name it Sally (old girlfriend of mine).
Today, Shadows are by no means rare and the ones you'll find on the road are probably the best. Most of the poorer 2nd Hand ones rusted away and died back in the 1980's and 90's (or were blown up in movies, or put in swimming pools), which means that the survivors are largely under the ownership of avid enthusiasts who cherish their cars. You can find Shadows for next to nothing, with some examples going for as little as £4,000, but you'd have to be very desperate to get one of those as they'd probably be in very bad condition. Minters however can go for about £15,000 to £20,000, which when compared to some of the other cars of comparative size and quality such as the BMW's and Mercs of this world, is not a bad deal.
"...Beginning about 15 years ago, images (many made with an “ugly” Holga camera) of disintegration became a recurring subject. It’s now one of the recurring themes in my work. As my body of work grows and I can take a meta view of it, I know I am drawn to certain subjects and approaches.
So, this billboard pulled me back into a working state of mind and I am grateful for it. I recently discovered William Basinski’s “The Disintegration Loops” (2002-3), and that work resonates (no pun intended) with its visual counterparts..."
From my Qwerky Studio Photo Blog at qwerkyphotography.com
The snowboarder has lost the ends of his snowboard; and the skier has lost his hands, poles and skis.
A 19th century map showing the Point, the (now-removed) hill, the (now-disintegrating) pier, the (now-filled-in) slough, and the town or area then known as Fleming.
Wikipedia says, "Fleming Point is a rocky promontory in the U.S. state of California. It is situated in Albany, on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay. Albany Bulb is an extension of the point, having been formed in the 1960s from construction debris. Fleming Point is named after John T. Fleming who lived in the area in 1853, having bought the land from Jose Domingo Peralta. In the 19th century, it was the site of the Judson Dynamite and Powder Company; the Point Fleming Powder Plant exploded in 1883. By the early 20th century, it was used by residents of Berkeley as a garbage dump. It is currently the site of Golden Gate Fields. Coordinates: 37.8858°N 122.3144°W" The city of Albany website says "A large area of the East Bay, including what is now the Albany waterfront – consisting mostly of a large salt marsh and an island called El Cerrito del Sur – was granted to Luís Maria Peralta in 1820 by the Spanish governor who controlled the region at the time. The Peralta family sold the island (which is now the site of the Golden Gate Fields grandstand) to John Fleming and what is left of that parcel is known today as Fleming Point. In 1879, the Giant Powder Company, suppliers of dynamite to the gold miners of the Sierra, selected Fleming Point as the company’s location after frequent accidental explosions made the company unwelcome in San Francisco. Dynamite factories dominated the Albany waterfront until 1905 when they were replaced with less explosive chemical factories." John CoastRanger on flickr.com writes, "1879 A plant opened on Fleming Point to produce explosives for use in gold mining. The operation was notorious for numerous accidental explosions...Late 1930’s A horsetrack operator was granted a lease from the State to build a track on Fleming Point. The Point’s bedrock hill was blasted away during construction of the track and the northern parking lot. The lot was created by filling marsh with rock and soil removed from the Point. Fleming Point is one of the only remaining segments of San Francisco Bay’s original shoreline." A photo of the pier and the Powder company on the now-removed hill in 1880, along with a description of the 1882 blast ("so large, that most of the plate glass windows were broken in Berkeley and at
the University") is at www.berkeleyhistoricalsociety.org/uploads/newsletters/201.... A "people's history" of the area with this map is at patch.com/california/albany/a-peoples-history-of-the-alba...
UPDATE 11/6/18 They are now bulldozing a trail by Fleming Point. "Now, a bright yellow bulldozer and a trampled dirt road indicate that change is afoot." -- Berkeleyside: www.berkeleyside.com/2018/11/05/construction-begins-to-cl...
The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster occurred on January 28, 1986, when Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, leading to the deaths of its seven crew members. The spacecraft disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of central Florida, United States at 11:39 a.m. EST (16:39 UTC).
Disintegration of the entire vehicle began after an O-ring seal in its right solid rocket booster (SRB) failed at liftoff. The O-ring failure caused a breach in the SRB joint it sealed, allowing pressurized hot gas from within the solid rocket motor to reach the outside and impinge upon the adjacent SRB attachment hardware and external fuel tank. This led to the separation of the right-hand SRB's aft attachment and the structural failure of the external tank. Aerodynamic forces promptly broke up the orbiter.
The crew compartment and many other vehicle fragments were eventually recovered from the ocean floor after a lengthy search and recovery operation. Although the exact timing of the death of the crew is unknown, several crew members are known to have survived the initial breakup of the spacecraft. However the shuttle had no escape system and the astronauts did not survive the impact of the crew compartment with the ocean surface.
The disaster resulted in a 32-month hiatus in the shuttle program and the formation of the Rogers Commission, a special commission appointed by United States President Ronald Reagan to investigate the accident. The Rogers Commission found that NASA's organizational culture and decision-making processes had been a key contributing factor to the accident. NASA managers had known that contractor Morton Thiokol's design of the SRBs contained a potentially catastrophic flaw in the O-rings since 1977, but they failed to address it properly. They also disregarded warnings from engineers about the dangers of launching posed by the cold temperatures of that morning and had failed to adequately report these technical concerns to their superiors. The Rogers Commission offered NASA nine recommendations that were to be implemented before shuttle flights resumed.
Many viewed the launch live due to the presence on the crew of Christa McAuliffe, the first member of the Teacher in Space Project. Media coverage of the accident was extensive: one study reported that 85 percent of Americans surveyed had heard the news within an hour of the accident. The Challenger disaster has been used as a case study in many discussions of engineering safety and workplace ethics and inspired the 1990 television movie, Challenger.
Crew:
One thing made this mission unique. It was scheduled to be the first flight of a new program called TISP, the Teacher In Space Program. The Challenger was scheduled to carry Sharon Christa McAuliffe, the first teacher to fly in space.
Selected from among more than 11,000 applicants from the education profession for entrance into the astronaut ranks, McAuliffe was very excited about the opportunity to participate in the space program. "I watched the Space Age being born and I would like to participate."
Besides McAuliffe, the Challenger crew consisted of mission commander Francis R. Scobee; pilot Michael J. Smith; mission specialists Ronald E. McNair, Ellison S. Onizuka, and Judith A. Resnik; and payload specialists Gregory B. Jarvis. Christa was also listed as a payload specialist.
Remains:
The remains of the crew that were identifiable were returned to their families on April 29, 1986. Two of the crew members, Dick Scobee and posthumously promoted Capt. Michael J. Smith, were buried by their families at Arlington National Cemetery at individual grave sites. Mission Specialist Lt Col Ellison Onizuka was buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii. Unidentified crew remains were buried communally at the Space Shuttle Challenger Memorial in Arlington on May 20, 1986.
source: wiki and space.about.com/cs/challenger/a/challenger.htm
Congratulations and a remembrance on the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission - the first manned lunar landing, July 20,1969.
The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster occurred on February 1, 2003, when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Palestine, Texas during re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, with the loss of all seven crew members, shortly before it was scheduled to conclude its 28th mission, STS-107.
The loss of Columbia was a result of damage sustained during launch when a piece of foam insulation the size of a small briefcase broke off the Space Shuttle external tank (the main propellant tank) under the aerodynamic forces of launch. The debris struck the leading edge of the left wing, damaging the Shuttle's thermal protection system (TPS), which protects it from heat generated with the atmosphere during re-entry. While Columbia was still in orbit, some engineers suspected damage, but NASA managers limited the investigation, on the grounds that little could be done even if problems were found.
Mission STS-107 was the 113th Space Shuttle launch. It was delayed 18 times over the two years from its original launch date of January 11, 2001 to its actual launch date of January 16, 2003. (It was preceded by STS-113.) A launch delay due to cracks in the shuttle's propellant distribution system occurred one month before a July 19, 2002 launch date. The Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) determined that this delay had nothing to do with the catastrophic failure six months later.
Crew:
* Commander: Rick D. Husband, a U.S. Air Force colonel and mechanical engineer, who piloted a previous shuttle during the first docking with the International Space Station (STS-96).
* Pilot: William C. McCool, a U.S. Navy commander
* Payload Commander: Michael P. Anderson, a U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel and physicist who was in charge of the science mission.
* Payload Specialist: Ilan Ramon, a colonel in the Israeli Air Force and the first Israeli astronaut.
* Mission Specialist: Kalpana Chawla, an Indian-born aerospace engineer on her second space mission.
* Mission Specialist: David M. Brown, a U.S. Navy captain trained as an aviator and flight surgeon. Brown worked on a number of scientific experiments.
* Mission Specialist: Laurel Clark, a U.S. Navy captain and flight surgeon. Clark worked on a number of biological experiments.
On March 26 the United States House of Representatives' Science Committee approved funds for the construction of a memorial at Arlington National Cemetery for the STS-107 crew. A similar memorial was built at the cemetery for the last crew of Challenger.
source:wiki
Congratulations and a remembrance on the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission - the first manned lunar landing, July 20,1969.
plainsong, pictures of you, high, the end of the world, lovesong, push, inbetween days, just like heaven, from the edge of the deep green sea, the hungry ghost, play for today, a forest, bananafishbones, lullaby, the walk, mint car, friday i'm in love, doing the unstuck, trust, want, wrong number, one hundred years, disintegration.
E1: the lovecats, close to me, let's go to bed, sleep when i'm dead, why can't i be you, boys don't cry
I got these disintegrating wedges a few months ago but couldn't get them on; my high instep wouldn't fit through the shaft
I finally bit the bullet and broke the lining, particularly where it was attached to the top of the shaft. Now I can squeeze my feet into them.
They are a women's size 6. Pretty snug, but the fake leather (now peeling) cloth uppers have a lot of give and fit like tight socks. Once I get them on, I can wear them comfortably.
They look like flats, but hide a two inch wedge. I think they are supposed to be "slouch" boots, but my feet are too tight to allow them to slouch.
I give you the car that took Rolls Royce out of the hands of the aristocracy and placed it into the hands of the people, a tradition that has continued ever since. Once rock-stars, pop-stars, TV presenters and alike were seen driving around in a car that was once the exclusive pride and joy of the established gentry, it was then and there that the Class System had truly disintegrated. The Victorian-era divisions of society were well and truly dead.
In 1965 it was apparent that the nearly 10 year old Silver Cloud was starting to look its age, and as time continued to crawl on the aristocratic look of the Rolls Royce was no longer its biggest selling point. Prior to the 1960's society was clearly defined, with what was known as the 'Glass Ceiling' through which none of the lower classes could rise up through the ranks. It was very easy for the Upper Class and Aristocracy to lose their titles and come down, but even if you were a Lower Class person who'd made it rich, you'd still be socially unacceptable due to your background. However, after World War I the emergence of the new Middle Class was starting to bend the rules, and as time went on the ways in which money could be obtained started to become easier thanks to stage and screen. After World War II the influence of the new generation distorted the lines of society even more with the appearance of the Beatles and Elvis Presley, people from low backgrounds who had managed to get a free ticket to the top due to their fame in the music industry. Of course when someone gets money, the first thing they want to do is spend it on luxury items, and nothing back then was more luxury than owning a Rolls Royce.
However, when the Cloud was designed society was still very much in the same Victorian ideal as before, and so its aristocratic look was about as hip and with-it as a China Cabinet in a Discotheque. In order to survive, Rolls Royce was going to have to adapt, so in 1965 they launched the Silver Shadow, a car that was designed for the new money, and the first Roller to be brought to the masses. What made it so appealing was a case of many things.
For starters, it was the first Rolls Royce to be a 'Driver's' car. Previous models had always been built with chauffeur driven passengers in mind, but the Shadow with upgraded suspension, an updated Rolls Royce V8 engine and the same general driving feel of a regular car (if not better with innovative power steering), made it ideal for the 'posers' of the upmarket realm. Secondly, the car was the first to be built with a monocoque, where the body and chassis are part of the same structure. Previously, Rolls Royce would provide the owner with a chassis, and then it was up to the owner what body would be put on it, with a variety of coachbuilders available to do the job including H.J Muliner Park Ward, Hoopers of London and James Young. The advent of the monocoque meant that potential buyers didn't have to go through the rigmarole of buying a chassis and then having a body constructed for it at extra cost.
As mentioned though, reception was something of a mixed bag, whilst motoring press and many people gave it critical acclaim for its revolutionary design, the usual Rolls Royce customer base saw it as something of a mongrel, appealing to the lowest common denominator rather than holding up the traditional standard that the Double R was famed for. But just because it was built for the masses didn't make it any less a car, each individual Shadow cost £7,000 new, weighed 2.2 tonnes and took 3 months to build. The interior was compiled of 12 square feet of wood, and three cows had to sacrifice themselves to create the leather hides that line the seats. Soft and springy Wilton Carpets made up the floor and power from Rolls Royce's astounding V8 engine could whisk the car to about 100mph, but why would you want a sporty Rolls Royce anyway? *Cough* Rolls Royce Wraith *Cough*
After launch the Silver Shadow was whipped up by pretty much anyone and everyone who wanted to show off their wealth, with a total of 25,000 examples being built during its 15 year production life, making it the most numerous Rolls Royce ever built. The Silver Shadow also formed the basis of several other designs, including the convertible Rolls Royce Silver Shadow 2-Door Saloon which later became the Corniche in 1971, the Bentley T-Series which was exactly the same only with Bentley badge and grille, and the controversial Rolls Royce Camargue of 1975 which was designed by Pininfarina.
For a time the Shadow was on top of the world, but things started to crumble fast in the 1970's. New American legislation meant that the car had to conform at the cost of its class, with the chrome bumpers being replaced by composite or rubber, and the ditch lights being slumped underneath on a rather unsightly chin-spoiler. In 1977 this revised car was launched as the Silver Shadow II, which I consider to be but a shadow of its former self due to the fact that this was when Rolls Royce started to become downplayed and underwhelming. Indeed the best intentions were in mind with safety, but without the chrome to adorn its lovely body, the Shadow was merely a husk.
This was added to by the fuel crisis of the mid-1970's, which made motoring a very expensive practice, especially if you ran a Shadow. Shadow's are incredible gas guzzlers at less than 20MPG, and refilling one will set you back in today's money about £80. At the same time it was considered socially unacceptable to be seen driving around in one of these after such a blow, almost as if you were driving a giant middle-finger down the street to everyone else who couldn't afford to drive. Because of this, owners turned to more subtle cars such as Mercedes so as not to fall victim to vindictive passers by. With sales starting to drop, Rolls Royce had to see off the Silver Shadow as soon as possible. After nearly 10 years of development, 1980 saw the launch of the much more angular and somewhat mundane Silver Spirit/Spur range, and with that now on the go the shadows grew long for the Silver Shadow, which was killed off the same year. Spiritually however, the design of the 60's lived on in the Corniche, which was to be built for another 15 years before that too was ended in 1995.
In some ways the Shadow became a failure of its own success, with Rolls Royce building far too many cars for the market that intended to buy them, with the result that the 2nd hand market became saturated with nearly new cars that fell into some disreputable company. Throughout the 1980's the Shadow was noted for being the ride of sleazy salesmen, gang lords and Members of Parliament (pure evil!). Additionally, many Shadows were bought cheap simply for the way they made the owner look.
If you were intending to use your cheapy Shadow to plunder yourself some girls and didn't have the attraction of money to back you up, you'd be out of luck and soon out of cash, because the bills required to run a hand-built luxury car would very quickly be walking through the door, both in terms of fuel and maintenance. Critical failures are rare and these cars are very reliable (although Jeremy Clarkson would have you think otherwise), but when they do happen, it would probably be cheaper to buy yourself another car. The worst problem you could face is a failure of the hydraulics that controlled the rear suspension, the steering and the brakes, which would render the car inoperable if something were to go awry.
Frequent maintenance of a Shadow however (every 4 to 6 months) will probably even out at about £100, which when you consider the £10,000 or more you'd be paying to replace the hydraulic system, is a small sacrifice. Rust is another problem, especially for early Shadows. The Chrome sills and guttering on the roof are especially prone, although the most critical problem is rust on the chassis, which if left can compromise the whole car and essentially write it off. A bit of a buying tip, if the car's body looks good, be sure to check underneath because you may see some costly rust gremlins down there that could ruin your investment.
Another place the Shadow has found itself is in the world of movies. Of course any film that has an upper-crust theme or feel to it would have to include a Rolls, but since 2nd hand Shadows could be picked up for a song you could easily put them in your movie. Sadly, most movies that feature Shadows are ones which feature them being destroyed.
So why do I love Shadows so much? Basically because it's a mixture of all things you'd want in a car. It has a spacious, luxury interior, it has a world beating design dripping with chrome and adorned with the finest hood ornament, and because it's dimensions aren't that far off a normal car, it can easily be used as an everyday machine unlike the Silver Cloud which is simply too big for everyday use. The Shadow is also a very personable sort of machine, if I was to own one I would treat it like a pet, and probably name it Sally (old girlfriend of mine).
Today, Shadows are by no means rare and the ones you'll find on the road are probably the best. Most of the poorer 2nd Hand ones rusted away and died back in the 1980's and 90's (or were blown up in movies, or put in swimming pools), which means that the survivors are largely under the ownership of avid enthusiasts who cherish their cars. You can find Shadows for next to nothing, with some examples going for as little as £4,000, but you'd have to be very desperate to get one of those as they'd probably be in very bad condition. Minters however can go for about £15,000 to £20,000, which when compared to some of the other cars of comparative size and quality such as the BMW's and Mercs of this world, is not a bad deal.
And no car show would be complete without the beauty that is Rolls Royce's best selling car, the Silver Shadow. Saving the best till last I give you the car that took Rolls Royce out of the hands of the aristocracy and placed it into the hands of the people, a tradition that has continued ever since. Once rock-stars, pop-stars, TV presenters and alike were seen driving around in a car that was once the exclusive pride and joy of the established gentry, it was then and there that the Class System had truly disintegrated. The Victorian-era divisions of society were well and truly dead.
In 1965 it was apparent that the nearly 10 year old Silver Cloud was starting to look its age, and as time continued to crawl on the aristocratic look of the Rolls Royce was no longer its biggest selling point. Prior to the 1960's society was clearly defined, with what was known as the 'Glass Ceiling' through which none of the lower classes could rise up through the ranks. It was very easy for the Upper Class and Aristocracy to lose their titles and come down, but even if you were a Lower Class person who'd made it rich, you'd still be socially unacceptable due to your background. However, after World War I the emergence of the new Middle Class was starting to bend the rules, and as time went on the ways in which money could be obtained started to become easier thanks to stage and screen. After World War II the influence of the new generation distorted the lines of society even more with the appearance of the Beatles and Elvis Presley, people from low backgrounds who had managed to get a free ticket to the top due to their fame in the music industry. Of course when someone gets money, the first thing they want to do is spend it on luxury items, and nothing back then was more luxury than owning a Rolls Royce.
However, when the Cloud was designed society was still very much in the same Victorian ideal as before, and so its aristocratic look was about as hip and with-it as a China Cabinet in a Discotheque. In order to survive, Rolls Royce was going to have to adapt, so in 1965 they launched the Silver Shadow, a car that was designed for the new money, and the first Roller to be brought to the masses. What made it so appealing was a case of many things.
For starters, it was the first Rolls Royce to be a 'Driver's' car. Previous models had always been built with chauffeur driven passengers in mind, but the Shadow with upgraded suspension, an updated Rolls Royce V8 engine and the same general driving feel of a regular car (if not better with innovative power steering), made it ideal for the 'posers' of the upmarket realm. Secondly, the car was the first to be built with a monocoque, where the body and chassis are part of the same structure. Previously, Rolls Royce would provide the owner with a chassis, and then it was up to the owner what body would be put on it, with a variety of coachbuilders available to do the job including H.J Muliner Park Ward, Hoopers of London and James Young. The advent of the monocoque meant that potential buyers didn't have to go through the rigmarole of buying a chassis and then having a body constructed for it at extra cost.
As mentioned though, reception was something of a mixed bag, whilst motoring press and many people gave it critical acclaim for its revolutionary design, the usual Rolls Royce customer base saw it as something of a mongrel, appealing to the lowest common denominator rather than holding up the traditional standard that the Double R was famed for. But just because it was built for the masses didn't make it any less a car, each individual Shadow cost £7,000 new, weighed 2.2 tonnes and took 3 months to build. The interior was compiled of 12 square feet of wood, and three cows had to sacrifice themselves to create the leather hides that line the seats. Soft and springy Wilton Carpets made up the floor and power from Rolls Royce's astounding V8 engine could whisk the car to about 100mph, but why would you want a sporty Rolls Royce anyway? *Cough* Rolls Royce Wraith *Cough*
After launch the Silver Shadow was whipped up by pretty much anyone and everyone who wanted to show off their wealth, with a total of 25,000 examples being built during its 15 year production life, making it the most numerous Rolls Royce ever built. The Silver Shadow also formed the basis of several other designs, including the convertible Rolls Royce Silver Shadow 2-Door Saloon which later became the Corniche in 1971, the Bentley T-Series which was exactly the same only with Bentley badge and grille, and the controversial Rolls Royce Camargue of 1975 which was designed by Pininfarina.
For a time the Shadow was on top of the world, but things started to crumble fast in the 1970's. New American legislation meant that the car had to conform at the cost of its class, with the chrome bumpers being replaced by composite or rubber, and the ditch lights being slumped underneath on a rather unsightly chin-spoiler. In 1977 this revised car was launched as the Silver Shadow II, which I consider to be but a shadow of its former self due to the fact that this was when Rolls Royce started to become downplayed and underwhelming. Indeed the best intentions were in mind with safety, but without the chrome to adorn its lovely body, the Shadow was merely a husk.
This was added to by the fuel crisis of the mid-1970's, which made motoring a very expensive practice, especially if you ran a Shadow. Shadow's are incredible gas guzzlers at less than 20MPG, and refilling one will set you back in today's money about £80. At the same time it was considered socially unacceptable to be seen driving around in one of these after such a blow, almost as if you were driving a giant middle-finger down the street to everyone else who couldn't afford to drive. Because of this, owners turned to more subtle cars such as Mercedes so as not to fall victim to vindictive passers by. With sales starting to drop, Rolls Royce had to see off the Silver Shadow as soon as possible. After nearly 10 years of development, 1980 saw the launch of the much more angular and somewhat mundane Silver Spirit/Spur range, and with that now on the go the shadows grew long for the Silver Shadow, which was killed off the same year. Spiritually however, the design of the 60's lived on in the Corniche, which was to be built for another 15 years before that too was ended in 1995.
In some ways the Shadow became a failure of its own success, with Rolls Royce building far too many cars for the market that intended to buy them, with the result that the 2nd hand market became saturated with nearly new cars that fell into some disreputable company. Throughout the 1980's the Shadow was noted for being the ride of sleazy salesmen, gang lords and Members of Parliament (pure evil!). Additionally, many Shadows were bought cheap simply for the way they made the owner look.
If you were intending to use your cheapy Shadow to plunder yourself some girls and didn't have the attraction of money to back you up, you'd be out of luck and soon out of cash, because the bills required to run a hand-built luxury car would very quickly be walking through the door, both in terms of fuel and maintenance. Critical failures are rare and these cars are very reliable (although Jeremy Clarkson would have you think otherwise), but when they do happen, it would probably be cheaper to buy yourself another car. The worst problem you could face is a failure of the hydraulics that controlled the rear suspension, the steering and the brakes, which would render the car inoperable if something were to go awry.
Frequent maintenance of a Shadow however (every 4 to 6 months) will probably even out at about £100, which when you consider the £10,000 or more you'd be paying to replace the hydraulic system, is a small sacrifice. Rust is another problem, especially for early Shadows. The Chrome sills and guttering on the roof are especially prone, although the most critical problem is rust on the chassis, which if left can compromise the whole car and essentially write it off. A bit of a buying tip, if the car's body looks good, be sure to check underneath because you may see some costly rust gremlins down there that could ruin your investment.
Another place the Shadow has found itself is in the world of movies. Of course any film that has an upper-crust theme or feel to it would have to include a Rolls, but since 2nd hand Shadows could be picked up for a song you could easily put them in your movie. Sadly, most movies that feature Shadows are ones which feature them being destroyed.
So why do I love Shadows so much? Basically because it's a mixture of all things you'd want in a car. It has a spacious, luxury interior, it has a world beating design dripping with chrome and adorned with the finest hood ornament, and because it's dimensions aren't that far off a normal car, it can easily be used as an everyday machine unlike the Silver Cloud which is simply too big for everyday use. The Shadow is also a very personable sort of machine, if I was to own one I would treat it like a pet, and probably name it Sally (old girlfriend of mine).
Today, Shadows are by no means rare and the ones you'll find on the road are probably the best. Most of the poorer 2nd Hand ones rusted away and died back in the 1980's and 90's (or were blown up in movies, or put in swimming pools), which means that the survivors are largely under the ownership of avid enthusiasts who cherish their cars. You can find Shadows for next to nothing, with some examples going for as little as £4,000, but you'd have to be very desperate to get one of those as they'd probably be in very bad condition. Minters however can go for about £15,000 to £20,000, which when compared to some of the other cars of comparative size and quality such as the BMW's and Mercs of this world, is not a bad deal.
I got these disintegrating wedges a few months ago but couldn't get them on; my high instep wouldn't fit through the shaft
I finally bit the bullet and broke the lining, particularly where it was attached to the top of the shaft. Now I can squeeze my feet into them.
They are a women's size 6. Pretty snug, but the fake leather (now peeling) cloth uppers have a lot of give and fit like tight socks. Once I get them on, I can wear them comfortably.
They look like flats, but hide a two inch wedge. I think they are supposed to be "slouch" boots, but my feet are too tight to allow them to slouch.
Jack Power is the son and third child of James and Margaret Power. James Power is an inventor who once made a device which (unbeknown to him) could destroy large parts of the universe.
The alien race known as the Snarks came looking for the device and thus came into conflict with the Power kids, whom moments before had received amazing powers from Whitey, an alien who died trying to warn the Power family of the nearing danger of the Snarks.
Jack was given the power of body density, which meant turning into cloud-form, and shrinking to small sizes, while his density stayed the same. His siblings also gained super powers: Alex could control gravity, Julie could fly and Katie could disintegrate matter and then fire energy balls. Jack adopted the code-name Mass-Master.
Although they four of them now had amazing powers, they could not stop the Snarks from kidnapping their parents and taking them of into space for further study of the humans. All seemed lost until the smart-ship (named Friday) of the now dead alien Whitey told the Power kids he could follow the Snarks and try helping them rescue their parents.
The foursome went of to outer space, in hot pursuit of the Snarks. After an intense battle the Power kids found their parents on the Snarks mother-ship, where able to save them and flee the forces of the Snarks.
After-wards, Jack's parents didn't have any memory of the Snarks or their kidnapping. The four siblings decided to keep their powers a secret to their parents and the world, and thus Power Pack was born, world's youngest superhero team.
Powers and Abilities
Primarily, Jack has the ability to control the density of the molecules of his body. He can disperse his molecules into a dense, cloud-like form, or reduce the space between them until he is a small, highly resistant 8" size.
He has also shown the ability to materialize a portion, or just a part of his body, such a his upper body while his lower half is in cloud form.
During the "Peer Pressure" Miniseries, Jack revealed that he could now form density fields in the form of shields or force-fields.
When his sister Julie had the powers as Molecula, she discovered that she could also assume an 8' form that was nearly intangible, but Jack has never shown this degree on control.
Julie was also the first to use a force-field as a shield but Jack was more innovative in his use of the force-field as more than just a shield.
As Counterweight, Jack had the gravity manipulation powers, and as Energizer, he had the energy absorption/projection powers.
Paraphernalia
Mass Master wears a special costume made of unstable molecules by the Kymellian Smartship Friday.
The costume shrinks and expands in size as Mass Master does, and turns gaseous and solid when he does.
Jack and the team usually rely on the Kymellian Smartship Friday.
Personality
Brash and ornery, Jack Power was the "wild child" of the Power siblings. He frequently insulted and argued, both with his teammates and his adversaries. Queen Maraud, Power Pack's archenemy, feared him more than the other children because she thought he would be the most likely to take advantage of the lethal nature of his powers.
However, his bold nature also made him the main fighter on the team. He possessed a tremendous amount of loyalty and courage, and usually kept a cool head even during stressful situations. Jack jumped into the East River to help his sister Katie escape from an ocean liner, and even taunted the Snark Jakal who was about to kill him with "Can't even kill someone until Mommy tells you to?!"
Jack was perhaps the most innovative member of the Pack in terms of developing new power variations. When he received new powers, he was able to figure them out quickly and invent new uses for them. He was significantly better at controlling his gravity powers than Alex.
Jack retained his bold personality, and continued to develop new applications of his powers, including a "density field," but he also showed a kinder, gentler side. Jack opted to leave the team to care for his mother.
At some point, Mass Master briefly rejoined the Power Pack and teamed-up with Devil Dinosaur, Gwenpool, and Moon Girl.
Quotes
" Your gravity power don't stop you from eating! Julie's lightspeed powers don't stop her! Neither do Katie's energy powers! But me? I'm starving and clouds can't eat!"
Profile
Real Name: Jack Power
Known Relatives: James Power (Father), Margaret Power (Mother), Katie Power (Sister), Julie Power (Sister), Alexander Power (Brother), Roy Craig (Grandfather).
Group Affiliation: Power Pack.
Base of Operations: New York City, New York, USA.
Power Pack Origin
Long ago the Kymellians destroyed their homeworld attempting to generate energy via a matter/anti-matter conversion, causing a cataclysmic chain reaction.
When Aelfyre "Whitey" Whitemane, a Kymellian studying humanity by tapping into mankind's transmissions and computer network, learned a human scientist, Dr. James Power, was about to test the same process on Earth, he felt he had to intervene in spite of his race's non-interference laws.
He sent a signal to his people requesting permission, but it was intercepted by the warlike Snarks (slang for the race translated to English as Z^nrx or Sn^rx), who sent ships to steal the process. They shot down Whitey's Smartship Friday, though not before he managed to remotely wipe Power's computers, leaving James the only person who knew the process.
The aerial battle was witnessed from the Powers' beachfront house by Katie, James' youngest daughter, but the rest of the family believed her sighting to be shooting stars.
Hoping for more stellar displays, the Power children-Alex, Julie, Jack and Katie-slept out on the porch; that night Katie spotted Friday floating in the sea, and they went to have a closer look.
Jack and Julie returned home to get their parents, but as they neared the house they saw the Snarks capturing James and Margaret Power. The children tried to stop the aliens, but were about to be killed when Whitey intervened.
Though he saved the kids, Whitey was badly wounded, and the Snarks escaped with the two adults. Before he expired, Whitey transferred his ability to control aspects of energy, mass, acceleration, and gravity to the children.
At Jack's suggestion they each chose super-hero names: Alex became Gee, able to control gravity; as Lightspeed, Julie could fly and left a trail of rainbow light; Katie became Energizer, able to convert physical objects to energy, then absorb and discharge it as destructive bolts; while Jack's ability to become cloud-like and later tiny and super-dense made him Mass Master (failing to appreciate that, perhaps due to human/Kymellian variation, he altered his density and volume, not his mass).
Friday provided them with unstable molecule costumes, and they dubbed themselves Power Pack.
They saved the world from annihilation by destroying their father's prototype conversion device, but his boss Carmody recognized them, assuming them to be mutants.
They rescued their parents from the Snarks, whose interrogation methods had destroyed portions of their father's memories, leaving him unable to recreate his process.
Carmody reported them to the government, but his anti-mutant obsession and attempts to harm them backfired; a mutant detector marked them as human, and after Carmody endangered the children, Dr. Power quit, taking a job in New York.
Within days of arriving in the Big Apple, Power Pack encountered Spider-Man, Cloak and Dagger, Dragon-Man, and Marina, as well as enduring the travails of starting new schools and making new friends.
They encountered the Morlocks and the X-Men in the sewers, being briefly kidnapped and brainwashed to replace Annalee's dead children. Carmody returned, using a Project: PEGASUS surplus battlesuit to become the Bogeyman, but was warned off by the children's new friends, the Asgardian Warriors Three.
Shortly after this, Franklin Richards, son of Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman, began to see Power Pack in prophetic dreams, while on Snarkworld Whitey's cousin Kofi learned that High Snark Jakal was heading to Earth to steal the children's abilities, hoping to use them to become the next Emperor.
Kofi raced to warn them, but was shot down, crashing near the Statue of Liberty. Franklin encountered the Power children in Central Park and led them to the injured Kymellian, but they were ambushed by Jakal. Assisted by Franklin and Kofi, they defeated him, and Franklin joined Power Pack as Tattletale.
Soon after they met the Beyonder during his super-hero phase, and fought Kurse after he hospitalized their mother, later assisting Thor and Beta Ray Bill in defeating the dark elf.
Next they stopped demons hoping to gain power to overthrow their ruler Magik (Illyana Rasputin), from sacrificing Katie, while Magik's teammate Mirage used her Valkyrie powers to keep Death from claiming Margaret Power.
Jakal's mother Maraud kidnapped the Power children and Kofi, taking them to Snarkworld, with Franklin pursuing in Friday.
Jakal stole the Pack's powers, and tried to kill Snark Emperor Bhadsha, but Franklin and an escaped Kofi rescued him. Meanwhile the transferred powers proved too much for Jakal, and they reverted back, but not to the original owners.
Alex gained the energy powers as Destroyer; Julie, the mass powers, becoming Molecula; Katie, the flight, to become Starstreak, while Jack became Counterweight with the gravity powers.
Jakal, his brain failing, allowed the dying Bhadsha's mind to be transferred into his healthy body.
Power Pack returned to Earth to be reunited with their worried parents, who learned of their unusual friends, but not their powers, at this juncture.
Soon after this, Power Pack fought Sabretooth during the Marauders massacre of the Morlocks and helped X-Factor rescue Leech and Caliban.
They met the Avengers and Fantastic Four, and Mr. and Mrs. Power befriended Franklin's superpowered parents.
Over the next few weeks Power Pack fought the drug dealing gang Trash and their employer, the Garbage Man, adventured with Madcap, stopped Master Mold from killing Franklin, and fought alongside X-Factor against the Horsemen of Apocalypse, preventing his ship from crashing into the Statue of Liberty.
They saved the young mutant Rebecca Littlehale from her out-of-control teleportation powers, but later she was kidnapped by the Bogeyman, who tried to sell her and Starstreak to the demon N'Astirh.
Though he was stopped by Power Pack and the New Mutants, he soon returned, transformed by N'Astirh into a demon, and attacked the Power family during Inferno, when demons invaded New York.
To save their parents, the children were forced to reveal their powers; Margaret and James seemed unable to cope with the revelation, so the New Mutant Mirage convinced them the superpowered children were illusions she had generated to fool the Bogeyman.
In the following months the Pack met Dakota North and the Punisher, and Katie fell into an extra-dimensional pocket of her costume, ending up in Elsewhere, the realm from which the costumes were cleaned and transported.
Then they visited the artificial Kymellian homeworld, where they met Force 4, Kymellian heroes, and learned that Kofi's father Yrik had brainwashed their parents to ensure the children's abilities could remain secret; it was this conditioning that had caused the adverse reactions when the powers were revealed.
Angered, Power Pack and Kofi ran away, just before Maraud attacked Kymellia. Meanwhile, Power Pack encountered Numinus, cosmic embodiment of the wonders of the universe, and learned she intended them to save the Kymellians from stagnation and extinction.
Returning to Kymellia, they ran into Maraud and were forced to transfer their powers to her, but when she broke her promise not to attack Kymellia again, they wrested them back.
Julie regained the flight powers, as Lightspeed; while Jack, Alex and Katie took the Destroyer, Mass Master, and Counterweight powers and names, respectively. They defeated Maraud, and the Kymellians moved from their artificial world to a verdant new planet, rejecting excessive technology.
The Kymellian Technocrat, unhappy with this, kidnapped the Power adults and replaced them with artificial duplicates at an unspecified point soon after, planning to extract the matter/anti-matter process from James Power's mind.
He hoped to use this to destroy the new homeworld and force his race back to an artificial one. Alex began to suspect the switch so he was also replaced.
Back on Earth Power Pack fought Typhoid Mary and prevented Mysterio from frightening everyone out of their apartment building.
"Alex" began to lose his hair, his form reverting to its true appearance. Power Pack battled the son of the Star-Stalker alongside Galactus' herald Nova (Frankie Raye), an Elan child, and a fireproof tramp called Raymond.
Seeing the battle on TV, "Margaret Power" had a breakdown, while "James" finally learned his children's secret. Soon after, "Alex" transformed physically into a Kymellian.
Mr. Fantastic tried to return him to normal, but an attack by the Red Ghost and his Super Apes interrupted the attempt. With "Margaret" catatonic and "Alex" stuck in his alien form, the Power family traveled the world looking for a cure, meeting Excalibur in Britain and the "Monster from the Lost Lagoon" family in the Caribbean.
Unable to find help on Earth, they flew to Kymellia, where Power Pack learned of the substitutions, and defeated both the Technocrat and Maraud. They switched powers around again, finally ending up with each having their original powers, and the reunited Power family returned to Earth.
⚡ Happy 🎯 Heroclix 💫 Friday! 👽
_____________________________
A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.
Secret Identity: Jack Power
Publisher: Marvel
First appearance: Power Pack #1 (Aug 1984)
Created by: Louise Simonson (Writer)
June Brigman (Artist)
* Alex Power seen here!
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/53157840259/
Katie Power seen here!
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/53094011876/
Julie Power seen here!
Hitting a Heineken bottle with a slingshot. The bottom half of the bottle completely disintegrated while the top have remains nearly intact (for a short while). Mike's angle and Kyle's angle
The monument was originally a memorial fountain, to commemorate the young aviator Charles James (Jimmy) Melrose.
Later changes added the metal silhouette at the top and the removal of the fountain.
Jimmy Melrose was the youngest competitor in the 1934 MacRobertson Trophy London-Melbourne air race in October 1934 and the only Australian to finish the race. He made the record solo flight in 8 days and 9 hours coming third on handicap.
The event was held in 1934: dreamt up by the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Harold Smith to celebrate Victoria’s centenary. It was sponsored by the Melbourne chocolate manufacturer Sir MacPherson Robertson, to test the feasibility of scheduled air services between Europe and Australia.
In 1936 Melrose was killed when his Heston Phoenix monoplane VH–AJM disintegrated in mid air at Melton South, Victoria. The tragedy was reported world-wide in the media at the time.
*Jimmy Melrose’s memorial is located on the edge of the Stirling Centenary Oval and was handed over to the District Council of Stirling. There was an infantile paralysis epidemic at the time and an unveiling was considered unwise.
It was erected by public subscription: Melrose was once a resident of the district. Of the £101 cost, £22 was raised by children of the following schools Stirling East, Bridgewater, Aldgate, Mylor, Scotts Creek, Heathfield, Upper Sturt and Crafers. [Ref: Mount Barker Courier and Onkaparinga and Gumeracha Advertiser 10-3-1938]
*Melrose Killed when Plane Crashes
MACHINE BURST INTO FRAGMENTS
Was on flight to Darwin
MR A G CAMPBELL ALSO A VICTIM
Charles James Melrose, 22, of Glenelg, Australia’s most popular airman, and Alexander George Campbell, 47 of Brighton, Victoria, who had a distinguished career as a soldier and as a mining engineer, were killed instantly when Melroses’ Heston Phoenix high-wing monoplane broke to pieces in dense clouds and crashed at South Melton, Victoria on Sunday morning.
They were on their way from Melbourne to Parafield on the stage of a flight to Darwin. Miss Lily Melrose, a cousin of the aviator, was about to leave Adelaide for the flying field to join the fliers when she received news of the fatality.
The wreckage was found over an area of two square miles, and the bodies of the two men were 400 yards apart.
Warm tributes were paid to the young airman by the Prime Minister (Mr Lyons), and by the Premier (Mr Butler), who recently took the air for the first time with Melrose as his pilot.
Melrose's place in the affection of South Australians was strikingly evidenced when the news was received. Mention of his death was made in many churches, and the Government immediately decided to arrange for a State funeral, subject to the approval of Mrs Melrose.
The tragedy of the disaster was increased by the fact that Mr Campbell had intended originally to go to Adelaide by train and join Mr Melrose there. Mr Melrose, however, flew his mother to Melbourne on Thursday for a holiday visit and then waited to fly Mr Campbell to Adelaide.
Mr Campbell had chartered Mr Melrose's machine on behalf of a syndicate of Melbourne and Adelaide business men. He intended to fly to Darwin, where he was to inspect gold mining areas at Pine Creek. He expected to be away for between 10 and 14 days.
The party was to comprise Miss Lily Melrose, cousin of Mr Melrose, and Mr O V Roberts, both of Adelaide, who intended to make the flight an opportunity for a holiday. Mr J Smith Roberts, a mining expert, was to be picked up at Tennant Creek.
Mrs Melrose went to the scene of tragedy and she wished to see her son's body at the City Morgue, but she was suffering from such prostration that it was considered inadvisable for her to do so.
The body was identified by the manager of the Oriental Hotel.
A watch which Mr Melrose was wearing had stopped at 8.34 am, indicating the time of the crash. A police wireless patrol prevented the souveniring of fragments from the main wreckage.
On the way to the Essendon aerodrome Mr Melrose and Mr Campbell were in high spirits, joking and discussing the projected flight to Darwin.
Mr Campbell had travelled in a taxi cab from his home in Brighton, and joined Mr Melrose at the Oriental Hotel, Collins street.
Light rain was sweeping over the aerodrome when they arrived, and Mr R Hart, of the Hart Aircraft Service Pty, Ltd, in whose hangar Mr Melrose had left his plane, advised Mr Melrose not to fly because of the inclement weather.
Mr Melrose had on Saturday postponed his flight because of the bad flying conditions, and when he saw a break in the clouds this morning he decided to make the flight, as he wished to reach Oodnadatta before night. He told Mr Hart that he expected to reach Port Augusta or Adelaide in three hours by flying at a height of 3,000 feet above the clouds.
Ascending toward a patch of clear sky, the machine reached a height of about 2,500 feet before it passed out of sight of the party on the aerodrome. Apparently Mr Melrose experienced difficulty in finding the break in the clouds, because the time which the machine took to travel the 15 miles to South Melton - 24 minutes - indicates that he spent some time searching for a clear sky.
Residents of South Melton saw the machine emerge from low-lying clouds above the railway station. Almost immediately there was a loud roar and many fragments were seen falling from the machine and drifting in the wind.
The engine and most of the fuselage spun at a steep angle toward the ground, while the starboard wing drifted in another direction towards the Toolern Creek, and hundreds of smaller fragments were carried by the wind to paddocks near the Ballarat road, which is about a mile and a half from the scene of the crash.
The two occupants were hurled out of the machine, but so many fragments were falling that none of the residents was certain of having seen them fall.
Mr Melrose's body was found on the southern end of the gorge of the Toolern Creek, about 50 yards from the engine, and the remnants of the fuselage, while Mr Campbell's body was found about 400 yards away in a paddock on the north side of the gorge. Both men had been killed instantly.
The two petrol tanks were found on different sides of the gorge. Tools and luggage were on the cliffs or in the flooded creek, and innumerable pieces of wood and fabric were scattered over an area of nearly two square miles to the north of the creek.
The desperate thoughts which must have passed through the minds of the victims in the few seconds before the crash were indicated by the condition of the safety belts. The pin had been drawn to release one safety belt, but in the other belt the pin was bent but still in the socket.
Apparently Mr Campbell had undone his belt so that, if he survived the crash, he could crawl from the machine.
Mr Melrose, who was probably struggling with the controls, apparently did not have time to withdraw the pin of his belt, consequently Mr Campbell was hurled further from the plane than Mr Melrose.
A close examination of the area over which the wreckage was strewn was made by the Air Accidents Investigation Committee soon after the tragedy.
The committee has no theory of the cause of the crash at present, but it is understood that it has reached several interesting conclusions.
From the range and position of the fragments it is considered possible that the machine disintegrated while it was in a wide spin with the engine running. If the spin was fast enough the strain might have caused the machine to collapse.
Because the port wing was found much farther from the engine and fuselage than the starboard wing, it is considered probable that the port wing was the first to crumple. The machine would then have become wholly out of control, and the increased strain would have quickly caused the collapse of the other wing, the tailplane, and other light parts of the machine.
The breaking up of the machine was described by Mr. Edward Wickham, of Melton South, who was gathering wood in the back yard of his home.
“For some time I heard the drone of an aeroplane in the clouds,' he said, 'but I could not see it. The clouds were low and a strong southerly wind was driving misty rain. Suddenly there was a roar and the plane came spinning out of the clouds. Just as it came into full view, the machine appeared to burst into fragments and the roar stopped.
“The engine and fuselage hurtled at a fairly steep angle towards the ground, but the other fragments drifted quite slowly with the wind and fell in the paddocks between the Toolern Creek and the Ballarat road.
“With three other residents, I ran over the paddocks. We lifted the refuse expecting to find someone beneath, but no one was there. Then we searched among the rocks at the edge of the gorge and we found Mr Melrose lying shockingly injured on two flat rocks, just below the top of the cliff about 50 yards from the wreckage. Mr Campbell's body was then found on the other side of the gorge.”
Although Mr Campbell had flown many miles on mining business, his wife did not like his flying, and had tried to dissuade him from continuing it. He insured his life for £2,000 for the period of the flight to Darwin.
“I regret exceedingly to learn that yet another of Australia's great airmen has passed away,” said the Prime Minister (Mr Lyons).
“In his brief flying career, Melrose won considerable fame,” continued Mr Lyons. “Not the least of his achievements was his skilful search for Sir Charles Kingsford Smith last year. Australia loses a chivalrous young knight of the air whom it can ill afford to lose.
“The sympathy of all the Australian people will, I feel sure, go to his devoted mother.”
Before the evensong service at St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne, the organist (Dr A E Floyd) extemporised in the form of a threnody.
The Precentor (Rev Oliver Hole) announced that, in view of the sudden and tragic death of a brave young airman, the anthem had been changed. The choir sang the Memorial Anthem by Sir George Elvey from the Book of Wisdom:— “The souls of the righteous are in the hands of God: in the sight of the unwise they seem to die, but they are in peace.” [Ref: Chronicle (Adelaide) Thursday 9 July 1936]
* MELROSE'S MEMORY HONOURED
Crowds Attend Mourning Services In Two Cathedrals
Moving tributes were paid in Melbourne and Adelaide yesterday to the memory of Mr C J Melrose, who was killed when his plane crashed at South Melton, Victoria, on Sunday. Melrose's body was cremated at the necropolis, Springvale. Melbourne, yesterday afternoon.
The ceremony was preceded by a simple service in St Paul's Cathedral, which was crowded. The Archbishop of Melbourne (Dr Head), in his address, referred to "this boy, who was so wonderfully young and so attractive in personality, that he can only be called just lovable”.
Adelaide mourned the loss of Melrose at a special memorial service in St Peter's Cathedral which, at the request of the aviator's mother, synchronised with the funeral service in Melbourne.
As the crowds left the Cathedral after an inspiring address by the Bishop of Adelaide (Dr Thomas), three Royal Aero Club machines soared overhead in a last tribute to the club's distinguished member.
Tributes were paid and the sittings of both Houses of Parliament were suspended, the Assembly rising until the evening. [Ref: Advertiser (Adelaide), Wednesday 8 July 1936]
*LONDON, July 5
The news of the death of Melrose has caused sorrow in aviation circles. Mr Pemberton Billing, the uncle of Melrose, said:— “What a rotten shame. Jimmie was a protege of mine, and always stayed with me. I do not know what his mother will do now. When Jimmie was here, his thoughts were always with his mother, in Adelaide”.
The Agent-General for South Australia (Mr McCann) who bade farewell to Melrose when he flew to Australia in April, says:— “I am dreadfully sorry. He was one of the most charming men it was possible to meet”. [Ref: Chronicle 9-7-1936]
*SIMPLE SERVICE IN MELBOURNE
St Pauls Cathedral Crowded July 7
Simplicity marked James Melrose's funeral today. There was no display, the only uniform to be seen being that worn by the officer representing the Air Board.
Long before the service in St Paul's Cathedral was timed to begin, all the available pews were occupied, and knots of silent people gathered in Flinders street.
Inside the Cathedral, the coffin of dark wood rested on a bier of flowers in the choir. Placed on it were only two wreaths, one of laurels from the dead airman's mother, and the other of purple flowers and dark green leaves, inscribed simply ''From Rosebank." [Rosebank has been the station home of Mr Melrose's family in South Australia for nearly a century.]
"We have come together today in very sad circumstances,” Archbishop Head said. "Your first thought will be of hue sadness and terribleness of such an event, and how frightful it is that so precious a life should have been cut off so suddenly.
After another hymn, the blessing was pronounced by Archbishop Head from the altar, and the congregation stood while Beethoven's "Funeral March on the Death of a Hero" was played.
Then the coffin was carried along the aisle down which Melrose had walked on the day he finished the Centenary air race to Evensong. The people in the crowded street stood bareheaded and silent. Through the suburbs, where streets were lined by children from the schools, the procession passed, and along the Prince's Highway to Springvale. Six planes circled overhead.
The service was brief. The last prayers were offered by Archbishop Head.
The chief mourners were Mr Melrose's mother and his cousins, Mr Melrose MP, and Mrs Melrose, and Miss L M Melrose, all of South Australia, and Mr Brian and Mr F Hickling, of Melbourne (second cousins).
Those who attended included Mr Schofield MHR (representing the Prime Minister and Commonwealth Government). Mr Hyland MLA, and Major H A F Wilkinson (representing the Premier and State Government), Mr McIntosh (South Australian Commissioner of Crown Lands and Minister of Repatriation), and Mr Young MLC, (representing the Premier and Government of South Australia), Mr J D Malcolm (NZ), Mr F Emerson (Queensland), Mr L F Bruce (Tasmania), Flight-Lieutenant C S Wiggins (Air Board), Mr R Bennett (Lord Mayor of Melbourne), Mr J W Collins (Australian Aerial Medical Services), Mr B Bremner (Australian Broadcasting Commission), and Mr A P Bevan (Elder, Smith & Co, Ltd, Adelaide).
The pallbearers were the Director-General of Civil Aviation (Captain E C Johnston). Mr T P Manifold (the Aero Clubs of Australia), Mr F Penny (Shell Company of Australia), Mr G R Lamprell (South Australian Government representative), Mr E H Chaseing (Holyman’s Airways), and Mr R Hart.
Mr Melrose, MP, who is remaining in Melbourne with Mrs James Melrose, said tonight that she had no plans for the future.
It had been arranged, he said, that she should go to Sydney and wait there for her son to join her after his flight to Darwin, but it was now impossible to say what her movements would be or her plans for the future. In the meantime, she would remain in Melbourne.
At the funeral, Mrs. Melrose wore a brown costume, a fur, and a green hat with a black armband. She thought that her son would have preferred that she wear the colours in which he liked her best.
Telegrams were received from persons in all parts of the world, including the Governor-General (Lord Gowrie) and Lady Gowrie, the Governor of South Australia (Sir Winston Dugan), the Prime Minister (Mr Lyons), and the Minister for Health (Mr Hughes). [Ref: Advertiser (Adelaide) Wednesday 8 July 1936:
* On his return today from Melbourne, where he represented the State at the memorial service in St Paul's Cathedral to the late Mr C J Melrose, the Commissioner of Crown Lands (Mr McIntosh) said that Melbourne's sorrow was a magnificent tribute to a wonderfully beloved young hero.
"Victoria had taken him to its heart equally with South Australia," said the Minister. "His fame in Melbourne was as renowned as in Adelaide. and his memory as dearly cherished”.
Mr McIntosh said that the cathedral was crowded long before the time for the commencement of the service, and thousands, unable to gain admission, congregated outside.
The route from the cathedral to the crematorium, a distance of 16 miles, was lined the whole way by thousands of citizens, who stood with heads bowed in final homage to a young hero, triumphant even in death.
The service at the crematorium, said Mr. McIntosh, was equally impressive as at the cathedral, and the wonderful fortitude and courage displayed by Mrs Melrose at both ceremonies provided an example and inspiration to all who mourned with her. There would be some solace for her in the wonderful tributes paid by the people to the memory of her son.
Combined with the deep sorrow for Mrs Melrose. there was a deep sympathy for Mrs A G Campbell and her young family in the death of Colonel Campbell, who was killed with Melrose. [Ref: News (Adelaide) 8-7-1936]
*Funeral of Mr A G Campbell
There were impressive scenes at the funeral of Mr Campbell.
Officers and men of the 8th Battalion, with whom Mr Campbell served in the Great War, and of the 39th Battalion, of which until recently he was Lieutenant-Colonel commanding, paid many touching tributes to his memory.
Every returned soldier present filed past the open grave and dropped his poppy on to the coffin, after which the whole gathering stood to attention as “Last Post” was sounded. [Ref: Chronicle 9-7-1936]
**From an article by Craig Cook, published in the Advertiser (Adelaide) 13 September 2013 –
The long lost possessions of world famous aviator Jimmy Melrose were recently discovered in Victoria. Among the items are his white leather flying helmet and documents signed by the aviator.
The possessions were given by his mother to Clive Hamer, who had dinner with Melrose the night before his last flight, and asked him to pack and store them. She never asked for their return. The artefacts were then passed on as part of the estate of a deceased relative, ending up with Wayne and Judy Perry of Victoria. Subsequently they were given to the South Australian Aviation Museum.
There also is a permanent exhibition of Melrose’s achievements at the Bay Discovery Centre in Glenelg. It is suitably entitled, Australia’s Forgotten Hero.
Such was Melrose’s fame at the time of his death the then state government of Sir Richard Butler considered a proposal to build him a memorial, to “fly over the city”, on Montefiore Hill. The idea was finally scrapped when the statue of Colonel Light, then situated in Victoria Square, was moved to the hill instead.
In the first clear sign the local hero’s story was already fading from history, Melrose failed to be recognised among the initial 170 “SA Greats”, that includes his uncle, Sir John Melrose, to have their name on a bronze plaque on the Jubilee 150 Walkway.
The Walkway, commissioned as part of the celebrations commemorating the 150th anniversary of the founding of the state, was established along North Terrace in 1986. Fellow air pioneers, Sir Ross and Keith Smith are honoured but, despite the year being the 50th anniversary of Jimmy’s death, he missed out.
The greater irony is that Melrose had agreed to be a major attraction at the 100th anniversary of the founding of South Australia, distributing flyers in the lead-up and flying over Adelaide on the anniversary day, December, 28, 1936. He died five months before the event.
An only child from a prosperous family, Jimmy Melrose grew-up with his mother, Hilda, in a grand house, on the Glenelg South esplanade. His prominent pastoralist father, James, had died in 1922 when his son was aged nine.
Throughout his life he had a fascination with the number 13, never regarding it as unlucky. It was both the date and year of his birth and the number of his imposing home, demolished in 1969.
A natural athlete, he exercised daily including a morning swim from the beach just outside his home. He was a fanatical early riser, neither smoked nor drank alcohol, and a devotee of the “Oslo lunch” that consisted of a wholemeal bread sandwich filled with cheese and salad, a glass of milk and an apple or other seasonal fruit.
While still a student at St Peter’s School he took flying lessons with the (Royal) Aero Club of South Australia at Parafield, gaining his licence at 19. As reward, his mother bought him his own plane, a DeH Puss Moth, which he named My Hildergarde, deliberately using 13 letters, in her honour.
In August 1934, aged 20, he flew 12,875km solo around Australia, reducing the previous record by almost two days, to five days, 10 hours, 57 minutes.
On his twenty-first birthday he left Parafield in his beloved Puss Moth for England, reaching Croydon in a record eight days, nine hours.
He became a global sensation, as the youngest entrant and only solo competitor, coming third, in the 1934 Centenary Air Race from England to Australia.
A dedicated diarist, he recorded the scenes as he left England: “Saturday 20 October 1934, the start of the greatest air race the world had ever seen. 60,000 people came around the aerodrome at Mildenhall at dawn. Thrilling is not the word: we raced across the countryside east of London, the Thames, the Channel off Dover. I shall never forget it!”
Soon after returning to Australia [After his search for the missing Sir Charles Kingsford Smith], and in his first major accident, Melrose crashed his Percival Gull, used in the search for Smith, at Penrose in New South Wales. Recovering quickly from severe injuries he sailed to England and flew back in a five-seater Heston Phoenix he intended to use to start the nation’s first flying taxi service.
An incredible crowd of 8000 assembled in Adelaide on Anzac Day, 1936, to greet him on his return. Just six weeks later he was dead.
In 1968, when his mother died, Jimmy Melrose’s ashes were buried with her at the North Road Anglican cemetery at Nailsworth, north of Adelaide.
There are some commemorations to the life and times of Jimmy Melrose. The suburbs of Melrose Park in South Australia and New South Wales, a look-out tower at the Glenelg Surf Life-Saving Club, Jimmy Melrose Park on the Glenelg foreshore and James Melrose Road bordering Adelaide airport are all named after him.
Mildenhall in Suffolk, England, where the 1934 Air Race began, has Charles Melrose Close and there is a simple inscribed cairn close to the fatal crash-site at Melton South.
WELL, WHEN IT CAME TIME for testing the Canadian designed, and produced Orenda Iroquois PS-13 jet engine…Avro Canada needed a BIG airplane.
You know, for doing some actual flight testing.
Someone suggested creating another Jet Lancaster.
That idea was immediately shot down. A much bigger airplane, a more weighty one, was needed…unless you wanted to send a disintegrated Lancaster right into deep space!
"Well, the Lancaster…that's the biggest airplane the RCAF has!"
"…but, America has the Boeing B-47 Stratojet , it's H-U-G-E!"
Get one.
And so the RCAF, somehow, got one. RCAF and Avro Canada pilots had to be trained to fly one.
But before you know it, before you could say, "greatest jet engine in the world", Canadair of Montreal, mounted the PS-13 Orenda Iroquois in an engine pod on the starboard side of the gigantic American bomber (see picture, and the pod…within the two yellow oblong circles), and those pilots learned how to fly a Stratojet.
As a test-pilot at Avro Canada you just never knew what the future would bring. One day you're falling asleep at a table playing craps, or solitaire…asking yourself why you took this job; the next day someone drops an 800 page Stratojet Flight Manual on the very same table, tells you to snap to it…and again, you wonder why you took this job!
The RCAF B-47B Stratojet—in Toronto, in both pics above, is the only B-47 to have ever served outside of the USAF. The Stratojet was America's frontline bomber in SAC (Strategic Air Command). These were the Cold War years, folks. The USAF had 600 of their 2,000 Stratojets on standby at bases everywhere…to take to the air with a nuclear payload at a moments notice. The Americans didn't take it lightly…loaning the world's first swept-wing bomber to a bunch of Canadian yahoos who were no longer just a bunch of brawling hockey goons… but had become, somehow, also, world-class aeronautical engineers! The B-47 would later evolve into the B-52, as we all know—
A 50 hour benchmark engine test had to be completed on the B-47 before anyone would start to take the Iroquois engine seriously.
At the 150 hour benchmark, the engine becomes viable, and can be sold worldwide.
Iroquois Jet Engine 1003 was so powerful that it could propel the massive bomber all on its own…with all six B-47 engines turned off!
Kidding? No, not kidding!
That PS-13 Orenda Iroquois jet engine turbine rotor blade (lower pic) is from Engine 1003, the Iroquois used to complete the 50 hour benchmark test. It belonged to E.K Brownbridge, Orenda Engines's Executive Vice-President and General Manager, during the time when Avro Canada was seriously marketing the engine…come one, come all.
And, yes, it is now owned by moi, me.
PS-13 Orenda Iroquois Jet Engine 1003 has a permanent home in Hamilton, Ontario at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum.
I gonna' tell you TWO SECRETS that you likely never knew before.
One, for sure.
What ever happened to the Orenda Engines Limited, which was once a subsidiary of Avro Aircraft of Canada Ltd? I mean, we know that Avro Canada, the manufacturing facilities that once churned out Lancasters by the hundreds, 700 CF-100s, and 37 Arrows in various stages of completion, were wrecked by GTAA lunatics, and bulldozed to the ground a few years back.
But what became of Orenda?
It makes me sick, BUT I'll tell you. It became, ARE YOU READY, Toronto's International Centre! Once a building that produced world-class jet engines, and flying saucers…has been reduced to a revolving warehouse clearance centre, and consumer and trade show emporium!
Oh…my ticker…
(self-talk…calm…calm…relax…,…, …)
T h a t ' s … b e t t e r …
And that final secret?
Everyone in Canada…and a handful of Americans know, how big the Arrow could have been.
Few know…the Orenda Iroquois jet engine could have easily surpassed the cutting-edge success of the Arrow interceptor. Certainly, commercially. The Iroquois was the superstar waiting in the wings… to save the day. Singularly capable of returning all of that Government of Canada, peoples of Canada' monetary investment, in both the Arrow and Iroquois programmes. A technological bumper crop. The PS-13 was an engine that WOULD HAVE been sold worldwide. It was simply…hands down…the best engine design available, at the time.
CURTIS-WRIGHT, in 1957, had ALREADY signed a deal with Orenda, to produce the Iroquois under license. The American engine maker believed that 12,000 Iroquois engines could be sold over the life of the engine. The deal was worth billions of dollars! All that Curtis-Wright needed from Orenda was for the company to complete the 150 hour benchmark test, successfully.
The IROQUOIS had sailed, SAILED, through the 50 hour benchmark test.
But before completing the 150 hour benchmark test, the gloomy Luddite Prime Minister of Canada, John G. Diefenbaker, on February 20th, 1959, cancelled both the production of the Avro Arrow, and any further testing on the PS-13 Orenda Iroquois.
America has ITS' Benedict Arnold…Canada HAS John G. Diefenbaker!
'nuff, said—
Get, Iroquois Rollout, by Peter Zuuring, for a good pictorial of the development of the Orenda Iroquois, right up to and past, the cancellation of the Iroquois programme.
Spaceflight (or space flight) is ballistic flight into or through outer space. Spaceflight can occur with spacecraft with or without humans on board. Yuri Gagarin of the Soviet Union was the first human to conduct a spaceflight. Examples of human spaceflight include the U.S. Apollo Moon landing and Space Shuttle programs and the Russian Soyuz program, as well as the ongoing International Space Station. Examples of unmanned spaceflight include space probes that leave Earth orbit, as well as satellites in orbit around Earth, such as communications satellites. These operate either by telerobotic control or are fully autonomous.
Spaceflight is used in space exploration, and also in commercial activities like space tourism and satellite telecommunications. Additional non-commercial uses of spaceflight include space observatories, reconnaissance satellites and other Earth observation satellites.
A spaceflight typically begins with a rocket launch, which provides the initial thrust to overcome the force of gravity and propels the spacecraft from the surface of the Earth. Once in space, the motion of a spacecraft – both when unpropelled and when under propulsion – is covered by the area of study called astrodynamics. Some spacecraft remain in space indefinitely, some disintegrate during atmospheric reentry, and others reach a planetary or lunar surface for landing or impact.
History
Main articles: History of spaceflight and Timeline of spaceflight
Tsiolkovsky, early space theorist
The first theoretical proposal of space travel using rockets was published by Scottish astronomer and mathematician William Leitch, in an 1861 essay "A Journey Through Space".[1] More well-known (though not widely outside Russia) is Konstantin Tsiolkovsky's work, "Исследование мировых пространств реактивными приборами" (The Exploration of Cosmic Space by Means of Reaction Devices), published in 1903.
Spaceflight became an engineering possibility with the work of Robert H. Goddard's publication in 1919 of his paper A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes. His application of the de Laval nozzle to liquid fuel rockets improved efficiency enough for interplanetary travel to become possible. He also proved in the laboratory that rockets would work in the vacuum of space;[specify] nonetheless, his work was not taken seriously by the public. His attempt to secure an Army contract for a rocket-propelled weapon in the first World War was defeated by the November 11, 1918 armistice with Germany. Working with private financial support, he was the first to launch a liquid-fueled rocket in 1926. Goddard's paper was highly influential on Hermann Oberth, who in turn influenced Wernher von Braun. Von Braun became the first to produce modern rockets as guided weapons, employed by Adolf Hitler. Von Braun's V-2 was the first rocket to reach space, at an altitude of 189 kilometers (102 nautical miles) on a June 1944 test flight.[2]
Tsiolkovsky's rocketry work was not fully appreciated in his lifetime, but he influenced Sergey Korolev, who became the Soviet Union's chief rocket designer under Joseph Stalin, to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles to carry nuclear weapons as a counter measure to United States bomber planes. Derivatives of Korolev's R-7 Semyorka missiles were used to launch the world's first artificial Earth satellite, Sputnik 1, on October 4, 1957, and later the first human to orbit the Earth, Yuri Gagarin in Vostok 1, on April 12, 1961.[3]
At the end of World War II, von Braun and most of his rocket team surrendered to the United States, and were expatriated to work on American missiles at what became the Army Ballistic Missile Agency. This work on missiles such as Juno I and Atlas enabled launch of the first US satellite Explorer 1 on February 1, 1958, and the first American in orbit, John Glenn in Friendship 7 on February 20, 1962. As director of the Marshall Space Flight Center, Von Braun oversaw development of a larger class of rocket called Saturn, which allowed the US to send the first two humans, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, to the Moon and back on Apollo 11 in July 1969. Over the same period, the Soviet Union secretly tried but failed to develop the N1 rocket to give them the capability to land one person on the Moon.
Phases
Launch
Main article: Rocket launch
See also: List of space launch system designs
Rockets are the only means currently capable of reaching orbit or beyond. Other non-rocket spacelaunch technologies have yet to be built, or remain short of orbital speeds. A rocket launch for a spaceflight usually starts from a spaceport (cosmodrome), which may be equipped with launch complexes and launch pads for vertical rocket launches, and runways for takeoff and landing of carrier airplanes and winged spacecraft. Spaceports are situated well away from human habitation for noise and safety reasons. ICBMs have various special launching facilities.
A launch is often restricted to certain launch windows. These windows depend upon the position of celestial bodies and orbits relative to the launch site. The biggest influence is often the rotation of the Earth itself. Once launched, orbits are normally located within relatively constant flat planes at a fixed angle to the axis of the Earth, and the Earth rotates within this orbit.
A launch pad is a fixed structure designed to dispatch airborne vehicles. It generally consists of a launch tower and flame trench. It is surrounded by equipment used to erect, fuel, and maintain launch vehicles. Before launch, the rocket can weigh many hundreds of tonnes. The Space Shuttle Columbia, on STS-1, weighed 2,030 tonnes (4,480,000 lb) at take off.
Reaching space
The most commonly used definition of outer space is everything beyond the Kármán line, which is 100 kilometers (62 mi) above the Earth's surface. The United States sometimes defines outer space as everything beyond 50 miles (80 km) in altitude.
Rockets are the only currently practical means of reaching space. Conventional airplane engines cannot reach space due to the lack of oxygen. Rocket engines expel propellant to provide forward thrust that generates enough delta-v (change in velocity) to reach orbit.
For manned launch systems launch escape systems are frequently fitted to allow astronauts to escape in the case of emergency.
Alternatives
Main article: Non-rocket spacelaunch
Many ways to reach space other than rockets have been proposed. Ideas such as the space elevator, and momentum exchange tethers like rotovators or skyhooks require new materials much stronger than any currently known. Electromagnetic launchers such as launch loops might be feasible with current technology. Other ideas include rocket assisted aircraft/spaceplanes such as Reaction Engines Skylon (currently in early stage development), scramjet powered spaceplanes, and RBCC powered spaceplanes. Gun launch has been proposed for cargo.
Leaving orbit
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Main articles: Escape velocity and Parking orbit
Launched in 1959, Luna 1 was the first known man-made object to achieve escape velocity from the Earth.[4] (replica pictured)
Achieving a closed orbit is not essential to lunar and interplanetary voyages. Early Russian space vehicles successfully achieved very high altitudes without going into orbit. NASA considered launching Apollo missions directly into lunar trajectories but adopted the strategy of first entering a temporary parking orbit and then performing a separate burn several orbits later onto a lunar trajectory. This costs additional propellant because the parking orbit perigee must be high enough to prevent reentry while direct injection can have an arbitrarily low perigee because it will never be reached.
However, the parking orbit approach greatly simplified Apollo mission planning in several important ways. It substantially widened the allowable launch windows, increasing the chance of a successful launch despite minor technical problems during the countdown. The parking orbit was a stable "mission plateau" that gave the crew and controllers several hours to thoroughly check out the spacecraft after the stresses of launch before committing it to a long lunar flight; the crew could quickly return to Earth, if necessary, or an alternate Earth-orbital mission could be conducted. The parking orbit also enabled translunar trajectories that avoided the densest parts of the Van Allen radiation belts.
Apollo missions minimized the performance penalty of the parking orbit by keeping its altitude as low as possible. For example, Apollo 15 used an unusually low parking orbit (even for Apollo) of 92.5 nmi by 91.5 nmi (171 km by 169 km) where there was significant atmospheric drag. But it was partially overcome by continuous venting of hydrogen from the third stage of the Saturn V, and was in any event tolerable for the short stay.
Robotic missions do not require an abort capability or radiation minimization, and because modern launchers routinely meet "instantaneous" launch windows, space probes to the Moon and other planets generally use direct injection to maximize performance. Although some might coast briefly during the launch sequence, they do not complete one or more full parking orbits before the burn that injects them onto an Earth escape trajectory.
Note that the escape velocity from a celestial body decreases with altitude above that body. However, it is more fuel-efficient for a craft to burn its fuel as close to the ground as possible; see Oberth effect and reference.[5] This is another way to explain the performance penalty associated with establishing the safe perigee of a parking orbit.
Plans for future crewed interplanetary spaceflight missions often include final vehicle assembly in Earth orbit, such as NASA's Project Orion and Russia's Kliper/Parom tandem.
Astrodynamics
Main article: Orbital mechanics
Astrodynamics is the study of spacecraft trajectories, particularly as they relate to gravitational and propulsion effects. Astrodynamics allows for a spacecraft to arrive at its destination at the correct time without excessive propellant use. An orbital maneuvering system may be needed to maintain or change orbits.
Non-rocket orbital propulsion methods include solar sails, magnetic sails, plasma-bubble magnetic systems, and using gravitational slingshot effects.
Ionized gas trail from Shuttle reentry
Recovery of Discoverer 14 return capsule by a C-119 airplane
Transfer energy
The term "transfer energy" means the total amount of energy imparted by a rocket stage to its payload. This can be the energy imparted by a first stage of a launch vehicle to an upper stage plus payload, or by an upper stage or spacecraft kick motor to a spacecraft.[6][7]
Reentry
Main article: Atmospheric reentry
Vehicles in orbit have large amounts of kinetic energy. This energy must be discarded if the vehicle is to land safely without vaporizing in the atmosphere. Typically this process requires special methods to protect against aerodynamic heating. The theory behind reentry was developed by Harry Julian Allen. Based on this theory, reentry vehicles present blunt shapes to the atmosphere for reentry. Blunt shapes mean that less than 1% of the kinetic energy ends up as heat that reaches the vehicle, and the remainder heats up the atmosphere.
Landing
The Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo capsules all splashed down in the sea. These capsules were designed to land at relatively low speeds with the help of a parachute. Russian capsules for Soyuz make use of a big parachute and braking rockets to touch down on land. The Space Shuttle glided to a touchdown like a plane.
Recovery
After a successful landing the spacecraft, its occupants and cargo can be recovered. In some cases, recovery has occurred before landing: while a spacecraft is still descending on its parachute, it can be snagged by a specially designed aircraft. This mid-air retrieval technique was used to recover the film canisters from the Corona spy satellites.
Types
Uncrewed
See also: Uncrewed spacecraft and robotic spacecraft
Sojourner takes its Alpha particle X-ray spectrometer measurement of Yogi Rock on Mars
The MESSENGER spacecraft at Mercury (artist's interpretation)
Uncrewed spaceflight (or unmanned) is all spaceflight activity without a necessary human presence in space. This includes all space probes, satellites and robotic spacecraft and missions. Uncrewed spaceflight is the opposite of manned spaceflight, which is usually called human spaceflight. Subcategories of uncrewed spaceflight are "robotic spacecraft" (objects) and "robotic space missions" (activities). A robotic spacecraft is an uncrewed spacecraft with no humans on board, that is usually under telerobotic control. A robotic spacecraft designed to make scientific research measurements is often called a space probe.
Uncrewed space missions use remote-controlled spacecraft. The first uncrewed space mission was Sputnik I, launched October 4, 1957 to orbit the Earth. Space missions where other animals but no humans are on-board are considered uncrewed missions.
Benefits
Many space missions are more suited to telerobotic rather than crewed operation, due to lower cost and lower risk factors. In addition, some planetary destinations such as Venus or the vicinity of Jupiter are too hostile for human survival, given current technology. Outer planets such as Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are too distant to reach with current crewed spaceflight technology, so telerobotic probes are the only way to explore them. Telerobotics also allows exploration of regions that are vulnerable to contamination by Earth micro-organisms since spacecraft can be sterilized. Humans can not be sterilized in the same way as a spaceship, as they coexist with numerous micro-organisms, and these micro-organisms are also hard to contain within a spaceship or spacesuit.
Telepresence
Telerobotics becomes telepresence when the time delay is short enough to permit control of the spacecraft in close to real time by humans. Even the two seconds light speed delay for the Moon is too far away for telepresence exploration from Earth. The L1 and L2 positions permit 400-millisecond round trip delays, which is just close enough for telepresence operation. Telepresence has also been suggested as a way to repair satellites in Earth orbit from Earth. The Exploration Telerobotics Symposium in 2012 explored this and other topics.[8]
Human
Main article: Human spaceflight
ISS crew member stores samples
The first human spaceflight was Vostok 1 on April 12, 1961, on which cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin of the USSR made one orbit around the Earth. In official Soviet documents, there is no mention of the fact that Gagarin parachuted the final seven miles.[9] Currently, the only spacecraft regularly used for human spaceflight are the Russian Soyuz spacecraft and the Chinese Shenzhou spacecraft. The U.S. Space Shuttle fleet operated from April 1981 until July 2011. SpaceShipOne has conducted two human suborbital spaceflights.
Sub-orbital
Main article: Sub-orbital spaceflight
The International Space Station in Earth orbit after a visit from the crew of STS-119
On a sub-orbital spaceflight the spacecraft reaches space and then returns to the atmosphere after following a (primarily) ballistic trajectory. This is usually because of insufficient specific orbital energy, in which case a suborbital flight will last only a few minutes, but it is also possible for an object with enough energy for an orbit to have a trajectory that intersects the Earth's atmosphere, sometimes after many hours. Pioneer 1 was NASA's first space probe intended to reach the Moon. A partial failure caused it to instead follow a suborbital trajectory to an altitude of 113,854 kilometers (70,746 mi) before reentering the Earth's atmosphere 43 hours after launch.
The most generally recognized boundary of space is the Kármán line 100 km above sea level. (NASA alternatively defines an astronaut as someone who has flown more than 50 miles (80 km) above sea level.) It is not generally recognized by the public that the increase in potential energy required to pass the Kármán line is only about 3% of the orbital energy (potential plus kinetic energy) required by the lowest possible Earth orbit (a circular orbit just above the Kármán line.) In other words, it is far easier to reach space than to stay there. On May 17, 2004, Civilian Space eXploration Team launched the GoFast Rocket on a suborbital flight, the first amateur spaceflight. On June 21, 2004, SpaceShipOne was used for the first privately funded human spaceflight.
Point-to-point
Point-to-point is a category of sub-orbital spaceflight in which a spacecraft provides rapid transport between two terrestrial locations. Consider a conventional airline route between London and Sydney, a flight that normally lasts over twenty hours. With point-to-point suborbital travel the same route could be traversed in less than one hour.[10] While no company offers this type of transportation today, SpaceX has revealed plans to do so as early as the 2020s using its BFR vehicle.[11] Suborbital spaceflight over an intercontinental distance requires a vehicle velocity that is only a little lower than the velocity required to reach low Earth orbit.[12] If rockets are used, the size of the rocket relative to the payload is similar to an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). Any intercontinental spaceflight has to surmount problems of heating during atmosphere re-entry that are nearly as large as those faced by orbital spaceflight.
Orbital
Main article: Orbital spaceflight
Apollo 6 heads into orbit
A minimal orbital spaceflight requires much higher velocities than a minimal sub-orbital flight, and so it is technologically much more challenging to achieve. To achieve orbital spaceflight, the tangential velocity around the Earth is as important as altitude. In order to perform a stable and lasting flight in space, the spacecraft must reach the minimal orbital speed required for a closed orbit.
Interplanetary
Main article: Interplanetary spaceflight
Interplanetary travel is travel between planets within a single planetary system. In practice, the use of the term is confined to travel between the planets of our Solar System.
Interstellar
Main article: Interstellar travel
Five spacecraft are currently leaving the Solar System on escape trajectories, Voyager 1, Voyager 2, Pioneer 10, Pioneer 11, and New Horizons. The one farthest from the Sun is Voyager 1, which is more than 100 AU distant and is moving at 3.6 AU per year.[13] In comparison, Proxima Centauri, the closest star other than the Sun, is 267,000 AU distant. It will take Voyager 1 over 74,000 years to reach this distance. Vehicle designs using other techniques, such as nuclear pulse propulsion are likely to be able to reach the nearest star significantly faster. Another possibility that could allow for human interstellar spaceflight is to make use of time dilation, as this would make it possible for passengers in a fast-moving vehicle to travel further into the future while aging very little, in that their great speed slows down the rate of passage of on-board time. However, attaining such high speeds would still require the use of some new, advanced method of propulsion.
Intergalactic
Main article: Intergalactic travel
Intergalactic travel involves spaceflight between galaxies, and is considered much more technologically demanding than even interstellar travel and, by current engineering terms, is considered science fiction.
Spacecraft
Main article: Spacecraft
An Apollo Lunar Module on the lunar surface
Spacecraft are vehicles capable of controlling their trajectory through space.
The first 'true spacecraft' is sometimes said to be Apollo Lunar Module,[14] since this was the only manned vehicle to have been designed for, and operated only in space; and is notable for its non aerodynamic shape.
Propulsion
Main article: Spacecraft propulsion
Spacecraft today predominantly use rockets for propulsion, but other propulsion techniques such as ion drives are becoming more common, particularly for unmanned vehicles, and this can significantly reduce the vehicle's mass and increase its delta-v.
Launch systems
Main article: Launch vehicle
Launch systems are used to carry a payload from Earth's surface into outer space.
Expendable
Main article: Expendable launch system
Most current spaceflight uses multi-stage expendable launch systems to reach space.
Reusable
Main article: Reusable launch system
Ambox current red.svg
This section needs to be updated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (August 2019)
The first reusable spacecraft, the X-15, was air-launched on a suborbital trajectory on July 19, 1963. The first partially reusable orbital spacecraft, the Space Shuttle, was launched by the USA on the 20th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's flight, on April 12, 1981. During the Shuttle era, six orbiters were built, all of which have flown in the atmosphere and five of which have flown in space. The Enterprise was used only for approach and landing tests, launching from the back of a Boeing 747 and gliding to deadstick landings at Edwards AFB, California. The first Space Shuttle to fly into space was the Columbia, followed by the Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour. The Endeavour was built to replace the Challenger, which was lost in January 1986. The Columbia broke up during reentry in February 2003.
The Space Shuttle Columbia seconds after engine ignition on mission STS-1
Columbia landing, concluding the STS-1 mission
Columbia launches again on STS-2
The first automatic partially reusable spacecraft was the Buran (Snowstorm), launched by the USSR on November 15, 1988, although it made only one flight. This spaceplane was designed for a crew and strongly resembled the US Space Shuttle, although its drop-off boosters used liquid propellants and its main engines were located at the base of what would be the external tank in the American Shuttle. Lack of funding, complicated by the dissolution of the USSR, prevented any further flights of Buran.
Per the Vision for Space Exploration, the Space Shuttle was retired in 2011 due mainly to its old age and high cost of the program reaching over a billion dollars per flight. The Shuttle's human transport role is to be replaced by the partially reusable Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) no later than 2021. The Shuttle's heavy cargo transport role is to be replaced by expendable rockets such as the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) or a Shuttle Derived Launch Vehicle.
Scaled Composites SpaceShipOne was a reusable suborbital spaceplane that carried pilots Mike Melvill and Brian Binnie on consecutive flights in 2004 to win the Ansari X Prize. The Spaceship Company has built its successor SpaceShipTwo. A fleet of SpaceShipTwos operated by Virgin Galactic planned to begin reusable private spaceflight carrying paying passengers (space tourists) in 2008, but this was delayed due to an accident in the propulsion development.[15]
Challenges
Main article: Effect of spaceflight on the human body
Space disasters
Main article: Space accidents and incidents
All launch vehicles contain a huge amount of energy that is needed for some part of it to reach orbit. There is therefore some risk that this energy can be released prematurely and suddenly, with significant effects. When a Delta II rocket exploded 13 seconds after launch on January 17, 1997, there were reports of store windows 10 miles (16 km) away being broken by the blast.[16]
Space is a fairly predictable environment, but there are still risks of accidental depressurization and the potential failure of equipment, some of which may be very newly developed.
In 2004 the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety was established in the Netherlands to further international cooperation and scientific advancement in space systems safety.[17]
Weightlessness
Main article: Weightlessness
Astronauts on the ISS in weightless conditions. Michael Foale can be seen exercising in the foreground.
In a microgravity environment such as that provided by a spacecraft in orbit around the Earth, humans experience a sense of "weightlessness." Short-term exposure to microgravity causes space adaptation syndrome, a self-limiting nausea caused by derangement of the vestibular system. Long-term exposure causes multiple health issues. The most significant is bone loss, some of which is permanent, but microgravity also leads to significant deconditioning of muscular and cardiovascular tissues.
Radiation
Once above the atmosphere, radiation due to the Van Allen belts, solar radiation and cosmic radiation issues occur and increase. Further away from the Earth, solar flares can give a fatal radiation dose in minutes, and the health threat from cosmic radiation significantly increases the chances of cancer over a decade exposure or more.[18]
Life support
Main article: Life support system
In human spaceflight, the life support system is a group of devices that allow a human being to survive in outer space. NASA often uses the phrase Environmental Control and Life Support System or the acronym ECLSS when describing these systems for its human spaceflight missions.[19] The life support system may supply: air, water and food. It must also maintain the correct body temperature, an acceptable pressure on the body and deal with the body's waste products. Shielding against harmful external influences such as radiation and micro-meteorites may also be necessary. Components of the life support system are life-critical, and are designed and constructed using safety engineering techniques.
Space weather
Main article: Space weather
Aurora australis and Discovery, May 1991.
Space weather is the concept of changing environmental conditions in outer space. It is distinct from the concept of weather within a planetary atmosphere, and deals with phenomena involving ambient plasma, magnetic fields, radiation and other matter in space (generally close to Earth but also in interplanetary, and occasionally interstellar medium). "Space weather describes the conditions in space that affect Earth and its technological systems. Our space weather is a consequence of the behavior of the Sun, the nature of Earth's magnetic field, and our location in the Solar System."[20]
Space weather exerts a profound influence in several areas related to space exploration and development. Changing geomagnetic conditions can induce changes in atmospheric density causing the rapid degradation of spacecraft altitude in Low Earth orbit. Geomagnetic storms due to increased solar activity can potentially blind sensors aboard spacecraft, or interfere with on-board electronics. An understanding of space environmental conditions is also important in designing shielding and life support systems for manned spacecraft.
Environmental considerations
Rockets as a class are not inherently grossly polluting. However, some rockets use toxic propellants, and most vehicles use propellants that are not carbon neutral. Many solid rockets have chlorine in the form of perchlorate or other chemicals, and this can cause temporary local holes in the ozone layer. Re-entering spacecraft generate nitrates which also can temporarily impact the ozone layer. Most rockets are made of metals that can have an environmental impact during their construction.
In addition to the atmospheric effects there are effects on the near-Earth space environment. There is the possibility that orbit could become inaccessible for generations due to exponentially increasing space debris caused by spalling of satellites and vehicles (Kessler syndrome). Many launched vehicles today are therefore designed to be re-entered after use.
Barney doing the BC stare - and the BC hunch too, not quite a sit, not quite a down... What you get Barn's too worked up to fully comply with a "lie down"! In honour of The Snow, I'd dug out an old squeaky tennis ball (squeaky tennis balls are obsessed over by Barney) that had been lurking hiding at the bottom of the basket I keep pet stuff in and Barney was very, very keen to reacquaint himself with it... Poor ball, there's a reason it had been hiding - 24 hours after I found it in that basket, the ball has already started to disintegrate! It's outer furry layer has split open and it seems to be losing its squeak too.
No toy, apart from large Kongs and his stag antler (a chew, rather than a toy but he'll play with it too) last Barney long. I learned long ago that there's no point giving him cuddly toys because he systematically destroys them in minutes... plastic squeaky toys go the same way. Large balls and frisbees excite him SO much that he just runs around shaking them to death (luckily I've trained him out of going for the footballs belonging to kids in the park!!), so again no point! Even solid rubber balls have to be replaced quite often because he chews them out of shape... Obviously, despite that, he does have lots of toys, they're just kept out of reach between play sessions, otherwise I have to buy new packs of balls every three days ;-)
Btw, antlers... anyone else give them to their dog? I "discovered" them being sold at Pets at Home about 6 months ago and after baulking slightly at the price bought one, just to see if Barney'd like it. He LOVES them - to chew, to roll on, to play with... and he stays interested too, unlike some durable chews/toys which get boring if left out and ignored after a while. They last him a good 3 months +, which considering the speed he can destroy most bones etc/ chew toys in, is impressive. Every afternoon he has a pounce, prance and roll with the antler and then chews it in utter contentment for ages :) I'd recommend them if you have a chewer... they don't seem to splinter, smell, or stain either!
I give you the car that took Rolls Royce out of the hands of the aristocracy and placed it into the hands of the people, a tradition that has continued ever since. Once rock-stars, pop-stars, TV presenters and alike were seen driving around in a car that was once the exclusive pride and joy of the established gentry, it was then and there that the Class System had truly disintegrated. The Victorian-era divisions of society were well and truly dead.
In 1965 it was apparent that the nearly 10 year old Silver Cloud was starting to look its age, and as time continued to crawl on the aristocratic look of the Rolls Royce was no longer its biggest selling point. Prior to the 1960's society was clearly defined, with what was known as the 'Glass Ceiling' through which none of the lower classes could rise up through the ranks. It was very easy for the Upper Class and Aristocracy to lose their titles and come down, but even if you were a Lower Class person who'd made it rich, you'd still be socially unacceptable due to your background. However, after World War I the emergence of the new Middle Class was starting to bend the rules, and as time went on the ways in which money could be obtained started to become easier thanks to stage and screen. After World War II the influence of the new generation distorted the lines of society even more with the appearance of the Beatles and Elvis Presley, people from low backgrounds who had managed to get a free ticket to the top due to their fame in the music industry. Of course when someone gets money, the first thing they want to do is spend it on luxury items, and nothing back then was more luxury than owning a Rolls Royce.
However, when the Cloud was designed society was still very much in the same Victorian ideal as before, and so its aristocratic look was about as hip and with-it as a China Cabinet in a Discotheque. In order to survive, Rolls Royce was going to have to adapt, so in 1965 they launched the Silver Shadow, a car that was designed for the new money, and the first Roller to be brought to the masses. What made it so appealing was a case of many things.
For starters, it was the first Rolls Royce to be a 'Driver's' car. Previous models had always been built with chauffeur driven passengers in mind, but the Shadow with upgraded suspension, an updated Rolls Royce V8 engine and the same general driving feel of a regular car (if not better with innovative power steering), made it ideal for the 'posers' of the upmarket realm. Secondly, the car was the first to be built with a monocoque, where the body and chassis are part of the same structure. Previously, Rolls Royce would provide the owner with a chassis, and then it was up to the owner what body would be put on it, with a variety of coachbuilders available to do the job including H.J Muliner Park Ward, Hoopers of London and James Young. The advent of the monocoque meant that potential buyers didn't have to go through the rigmarole of buying a chassis and then having a body constructed for it at extra cost.
As mentioned though, reception was something of a mixed bag, whilst motoring press and many people gave it critical acclaim for its revolutionary design, the usual Rolls Royce customer base saw it as something of a mongrel, appealing to the lowest common denominator rather than holding up the traditional standard that the Double R was famed for. But just because it was built for the masses didn't make it any less a car, each individual Shadow cost £7,000 new, weighed 2.2 tonnes and took 3 months to build. The interior was compiled of 12 square feet of wood, and three cows had to sacrifice themselves to create the leather hides that line the seats. Soft and springy Wilton Carpets made up the floor and power from Rolls Royce's astounding V8 engine could whisk the car to about 100mph, but why would you want a sporty Rolls Royce anyway? *Cough* Rolls Royce Wraith *Cough*
After launch the Silver Shadow was whipped up by pretty much anyone and everyone who wanted to show off their wealth, with a total of 25,000 examples being built during its 15 year production life, making it the most numerous Rolls Royce ever built. The Silver Shadow also formed the basis of several other designs, including the convertible Rolls Royce Silver Shadow 2-Door Saloon which later became the Corniche in 1971, the Bentley T-Series which was exactly the same only with Bentley badge and grille, and the controversial Rolls Royce Camargue of 1975 which was designed by Pininfarina.
For a time the Shadow was on top of the world, but things started to crumble fast in the 1970's. New American legislation meant that the car had to conform at the cost of its class, with the chrome bumpers being replaced by composite or rubber, and the ditch lights being slumped underneath on a rather unsightly chin-spoiler. In 1977 this revised car was launched as the Silver Shadow II, which I consider to be but a shadow of its former self due to the fact that this was when Rolls Royce started to become downplayed and underwhelming. Indeed the best intentions were in mind with safety, but without the chrome to adorn its lovely body, the Shadow was merely a husk.
This was added to by the fuel crisis of the mid-1970's, which made motoring a very expensive practice, especially if you ran a Shadow. Shadow's are incredible gas guzzlers at less than 20MPG, and refilling one will set you back in today's money about £80. At the same time it was considered socially unacceptable to be seen driving around in one of these after such a blow, almost as if you were driving a giant middle-finger down the street to everyone else who couldn't afford to drive. Because of this, owners turned to more subtle cars such as Mercedes so as not to fall victim to vindictive passers by. With sales starting to drop, Rolls Royce had to see off the Silver Shadow as soon as possible. After nearly 10 years of development, 1980 saw the launch of the much more angular and somewhat mundane Silver Spirit/Spur range, and with that now on the go the shadows grew long for the Silver Shadow, which was killed off the same year. Spiritually however, the design of the 60's lived on in the Corniche, which was to be built for another 15 years before that too was ended in 1995.
In some ways the Shadow became a failure of its own success, with Rolls Royce building far too many cars for the market that intended to buy them, with the result that the 2nd hand market became saturated with nearly new cars that fell into some disreputable company. Throughout the 1980's the Shadow was noted for being the ride of sleazy salesmen, gang lords and Members of Parliament (pure evil!). Additionally, many Shadows were bought cheap simply for the way they made the owner look.
If you were intending to use your cheapy Shadow to plunder yourself some girls and didn't have the attraction of money to back you up, you'd be out of luck and soon out of cash, because the bills required to run a hand-built luxury car would very quickly be walking through the door, both in terms of fuel and maintenance. Critical failures are rare and these cars are very reliable (although Jeremy Clarkson would have you think otherwise), but when they do happen, it would probably be cheaper to buy yourself another car. The worst problem you could face is a failure of the hydraulics that controlled the rear suspension, the steering and the brakes, which would render the car inoperable if something were to go awry.
Frequent maintenance of a Shadow however (every 4 to 6 months) will probably even out at about £100, which when you consider the £10,000 or more you'd be paying to replace the hydraulic system, is a small sacrifice. Rust is another problem, especially for early Shadows. The Chrome sills and guttering on the roof are especially prone, although the most critical problem is rust on the chassis, which if left can compromise the whole car and essentially write it off. A bit of a buying tip, if the car's body looks good, be sure to check underneath because you may see some costly rust gremlins down there that could ruin your investment.
Another place the Shadow has found itself is in the world of movies. Of course any film that has an upper-crust theme or feel to it would have to include a Rolls, but since 2nd hand Shadows could be picked up for a song you could easily put them in your movie. Sadly, most movies that feature Shadows are ones which feature them being destroyed.
So why do I love Shadows so much? Basically because it's a mixture of all things you'd want in a car. It has a spacious, luxury interior, it has a world beating design dripping with chrome and adorned with the finest hood ornament, and because it's dimensions aren't that far off a normal car, it can easily be used as an everyday machine unlike the Silver Cloud which is simply too big for everyday use. The Shadow is also a very personable sort of machine, if I was to own one I would treat it like a pet, and probably name it Sally (old girlfriend of mine).
Today, Shadows are by no means rare and the ones you'll find on the road are probably the best. Most of the poorer 2nd Hand ones rusted away and died back in the 1980's and 90's (or were blown up in movies, or put in swimming pools), which means that the survivors are largely under the ownership of avid enthusiasts who cherish their cars. You can find Shadows for next to nothing, with some examples going for as little as £4,000, but you'd have to be very desperate to get one of those as they'd probably be in very bad condition. Minters however can go for about £15,000 to £20,000, which when compared to some of the other cars of comparative size and quality such as the BMW's and Mercs of this world, is not a bad deal.
iPhone/Hipstamatic
My old Holga is slowly disintegrating so I grabbed this one when I saw it on deep discount at Adorama. Seen here with a wide-angle attachment. This Holga is like handling a Leica compared to the old one. It's got bulb mode! A tripod thread! A hot shoe! Foam stuff on the inside that keeps your film from unravelling/fat spooling (although who knows how long that will last)! Two different masks for two different negative sizes! (Actually I think my 120SF came with those as well, they're just long gone. There's no mask at all in there now.) I still don't trust it to not leak light, so I taped up the obvious places. Now to have some fun shooting things!
mamiya rz67
110mm f/2,8 with B+W orange filter
fuji neopan acros
stand development in rodinal (R09) 1+100, 50min
Somewhere in Opole, Poland.
I give you the car that took Rolls Royce out of the hands of the aristocracy and placed it into the hands of the people, a tradition that has continued ever since. Once rock-stars, pop-stars, TV presenters and alike were seen driving around in a car that was once the exclusive pride and joy of the established gentry, it was then and there that the Class System had truly disintegrated. The Victorian-era divisions of society were well and truly dead.
In 1965 it was apparent that the nearly 10 year old Silver Cloud was starting to look its age, and as time continued to crawl on the aristocratic look of the Rolls Royce was no longer its biggest selling point. Prior to the 1960's society was clearly defined, with what was known as the 'Glass Ceiling' through which none of the lower classes could rise up through the ranks. It was very easy for the Upper Class and Aristocracy to lose their titles and come down, but even if you were a Lower Class person who'd made it rich, you'd still be socially unacceptable due to your background. However, after World War I the emergence of the new Middle Class was starting to bend the rules, and as time went on the ways in which money could be obtained started to become easier thanks to stage and screen. After World War II the influence of the new generation distorted the lines of society even more with the appearance of the Beatles and Elvis Presley, people from low backgrounds who had managed to get a free ticket to the top due to their fame in the music industry. Of course when someone gets money, the first thing they want to do is spend it on luxury items, and nothing back then was more luxury than owning a Rolls Royce.
However, when the Cloud was designed society was still very much in the same Victorian ideal as before, and so its aristocratic look was about as hip and with-it as a China Cabinet in a Discotheque. In order to survive, Rolls Royce was going to have to adapt, so in 1965 they launched the Silver Shadow, a car that was designed for the new money, and the first Roller to be brought to the masses. What made it so appealing was a case of many things.
For starters, it was the first Rolls Royce to be a 'Driver's' car. Previous models had always been built with chauffeur driven passengers in mind, but the Shadow with upgraded suspension, an updated Rolls Royce V8 engine and the same general driving feel of a regular car (if not better with innovative power steering), made it ideal for the 'posers' of the upmarket realm. Secondly, the car was the first to be built with a monocoque, where the body and chassis are part of the same structure. Previously, Rolls Royce would provide the owner with a chassis, and then it was up to the owner what body would be put on it, with a variety of coachbuilders available to do the job including H.J Muliner Park Ward, Hoopers of London and James Young. The advent of the monocoque meant that potential buyers didn't have to go through the rigmarole of buying a chassis and then having a body constructed for it at extra cost.
As mentioned though, reception was something of a mixed bag, whilst motoring press and many people gave it critical acclaim for its revolutionary design, the usual Rolls Royce customer base saw it as something of a mongrel, appealing to the lowest common denominator rather than holding up the traditional standard that the Double R was famed for. But just because it was built for the masses didn't make it any less a car, each individual Shadow cost £7,000 new, weighed 2.2 tonnes and took 3 months to build. The interior was compiled of 12 square feet of wood, and three cows had to sacrifice themselves to create the leather hides that line the seats. Soft and springy Wilton Carpets made up the floor and power from Rolls Royce's astounding V8 engine could whisk the car to about 100mph, but why would you want a sporty Rolls Royce anyway? *Cough* Rolls Royce Wraith *Cough*
After launch the Silver Shadow was whipped up by pretty much anyone and everyone who wanted to show off their wealth, with a total of 25,000 examples being built during its 15 year production life, making it the most numerous Rolls Royce ever built. The Silver Shadow also formed the basis of several other designs, including the convertible Rolls Royce Silver Shadow 2-Door Saloon which later became the Corniche in 1971, the Bentley T-Series which was exactly the same only with Bentley badge and grille, and the controversial Rolls Royce Camargue of 1975 which was designed by Pininfarina.
For a time the Shadow was on top of the world, but things started to crumble fast in the 1970's. New American legislation meant that the car had to conform at the cost of its class, with the chrome bumpers being replaced by composite or rubber, and the ditch lights being slumped underneath on a rather unsightly chin-spoiler. In 1977 this revised car was launched as the Silver Shadow II, which I consider to be but a shadow of its former self due to the fact that this was when Rolls Royce started to become downplayed and underwhelming. Indeed the best intentions were in mind with safety, but without the chrome to adorn its lovely body, the Shadow was merely a husk.
This was added to by the fuel crisis of the mid-1970's, which made motoring a very expensive practice, especially if you ran a Shadow. Shadow's are incredible gas guzzlers at less than 20MPG, and refilling one will set you back in today's money about £80. At the same time it was considered socially unacceptable to be seen driving around in one of these after such a blow, almost as if you were driving a giant middle-finger down the street to everyone else who couldn't afford to drive. Because of this, owners turned to more subtle cars such as Mercedes so as not to fall victim to vindictive passers by. With sales starting to drop, Rolls Royce had to see off the Silver Shadow as soon as possible. After nearly 10 years of development, 1980 saw the launch of the much more angular and somewhat mundane Silver Spirit/Spur range, and with that now on the go the shadows grew long for the Silver Shadow, which was killed off the same year. Spiritually however, the design of the 60's lived on in the Corniche, which was to be built for another 15 years before that too was ended in 1995.
In some ways the Shadow became a failure of its own success, with Rolls Royce building far too many cars for the market that intended to buy them, with the result that the 2nd hand market became saturated with nearly new cars that fell into some disreputable company. Throughout the 1980's the Shadow was noted for being the ride of sleazy salesmen, gang lords and Members of Parliament (pure evil!). Additionally, many Shadows were bought cheap simply for the way they made the owner look.
If you were intending to use your cheapy Shadow to plunder yourself some girls and didn't have the attraction of money to back you up, you'd be out of luck and soon out of cash, because the bills required to run a hand-built luxury car would very quickly be walking through the door, both in terms of fuel and maintenance. Critical failures are rare and these cars are very reliable (although Jeremy Clarkson would have you think otherwise), but when they do happen, it would probably be cheaper to buy yourself another car. The worst problem you could face is a failure of the hydraulics that controlled the rear suspension, the steering and the brakes, which would render the car inoperable if something were to go awry.
Frequent maintenance of a Shadow however (every 4 to 6 months) will probably even out at about £100, which when you consider the £10,000 or more you'd be paying to replace the hydraulic system, is a small sacrifice. Rust is another problem, especially for early Shadows. The Chrome sills and guttering on the roof are especially prone, although the most critical problem is rust on the chassis, which if left can compromise the whole car and essentially write it off. A bit of a buying tip, if the car's body looks good, be sure to check underneath because you may see some costly rust gremlins down there that could ruin your investment.
Another place the Shadow has found itself is in the world of movies. Of course any film that has an upper-crust theme or feel to it would have to include a Rolls, but since 2nd hand Shadows could be picked up for a song you could easily put them in your movie. Sadly, most movies that feature Shadows are ones which feature them being destroyed.
So why do I love Shadows so much? Basically because it's a mixture of all things you'd want in a car. It has a spacious, luxury interior, it has a world beating design dripping with chrome and adorned with the finest hood ornament, and because it's dimensions aren't that far off a normal car, it can easily be used as an everyday machine unlike the Silver Cloud which is simply too big for everyday use. The Shadow is also a very personable sort of machine, if I was to own one I would treat it like a pet, and probably name it Sally (old girlfriend of mine).
Today, Shadows are by no means rare and the ones you'll find on the road are probably the best. Most of the poorer 2nd Hand ones rusted away and died back in the 1980's and 90's (or were blown up in movies, or put in swimming pools), which means that the survivors are largely under the ownership of avid enthusiasts who cherish their cars. You can find Shadows for next to nothing, with some examples going for as little as £4,000, but you'd have to be very desperate to get one of those as they'd probably be in very bad condition. Minters however can go for about £15,000 to £20,000, which when compared to some of the other cars of comparative size and quality such as the BMW's and Mercs of this world, is not a bad deal.
I give you the car that took Rolls Royce out of the hands of the aristocracy and placed it into the hands of the people, a tradition that has continued ever since. Once rock-stars, pop-stars, TV presenters and alike were seen driving around in a car that was once the exclusive pride and joy of the established gentry, it was then and there that the Class System had truly disintegrated. The Victorian-era divisions of society were well and truly dead.
In 1965 it was apparent that the nearly 10 year old Silver Cloud was starting to look its age, and as time continued to crawl on the aristocratic look of the Rolls Royce was no longer its biggest selling point. Prior to the 1960's society was clearly defined, with what was known as the 'Glass Ceiling' through which none of the lower classes could rise up through the ranks. It was very easy for the Upper Class and Aristocracy to lose their titles and come down, but even if you were a Lower Class person who'd made it rich, you'd still be socially unacceptable due to your background. However, after World War I the emergence of the new Middle Class was starting to bend the rules, and as time went on the ways in which money could be obtained started to become easier thanks to stage and screen. After World War II the influence of the new generation distorted the lines of society even more with the appearance of the Beatles and Elvis Presley, people from low backgrounds who had managed to get a free ticket to the top due to their fame in the music industry. Of course when someone gets money, the first thing they want to do is spend it on luxury items, and nothing back then was more luxury than owning a Rolls Royce.
However, when the Cloud was designed society was still very much in the same Victorian ideal as before, and so its aristocratic look was about as hip and with-it as a China Cabinet in a Discotheque. In order to survive, Rolls Royce was going to have to adapt, so in 1965 they launched the Silver Shadow, a car that was designed for the new money, and the first Roller to be brought to the masses. What made it so appealing was a case of many things.
For starters, it was the first Rolls Royce to be a 'Driver's' car. Previous models had always been built with chauffeur driven passengers in mind, but the Shadow with upgraded suspension, an updated Rolls Royce V8 engine and the same general driving feel of a regular car (if not better with innovative power steering), made it ideal for the 'posers' of the upmarket realm. Secondly, the car was the first to be built with a monocoque, where the body and chassis are part of the same structure. Previously, Rolls Royce would provide the owner with a chassis, and then it was up to the owner what body would be put on it, with a variety of coachbuilders available to do the job including H.J Muliner Park Ward, Hoopers of London and James Young. The advent of the monocoque meant that potential buyers didn't have to go through the rigmarole of buying a chassis and then having a body constructed for it at extra cost.
As mentioned though, reception was something of a mixed bag, whilst motoring press and many people gave it critical acclaim for its revolutionary design, the usual Rolls Royce customer base saw it as something of a mongrel, appealing to the lowest common denominator rather than holding up the traditional standard that the Double R was famed for. But just because it was built for the masses didn't make it any less a car, each individual Shadow cost £7,000 new, weighed 2.2 tonnes and took 3 months to build. The interior was compiled of 12 square feet of wood, and three cows had to sacrifice themselves to create the leather hides that line the seats. Soft and springy Wilton Carpets made up the floor and power from Rolls Royce's astounding V8 engine could whisk the car to about 100mph, but why would you want a sporty Rolls Royce anyway? *Cough* Rolls Royce Wraith *Cough*
After launch the Silver Shadow was whipped up by pretty much anyone and everyone who wanted to show off their wealth, with a total of 25,000 examples being built during its 15 year production life, making it the most numerous Rolls Royce ever built. The Silver Shadow also formed the basis of several other designs, including the convertible Rolls Royce Silver Shadow 2-Door Saloon which later became the Corniche in 1971, the Bentley T-Series which was exactly the same only with Bentley badge and grille, and the controversial Rolls Royce Camargue of 1975 which was designed by Pininfarina.
For a time the Shadow was on top of the world, but things started to crumble fast in the 1970's. New American legislation meant that the car had to conform at the cost of its class, with the chrome bumpers being replaced by composite or rubber, and the ditch lights being slumped underneath on a rather unsightly chin-spoiler. In 1977 this revised car was launched as the Silver Shadow II, which I consider to be but a shadow of its former self due to the fact that this was when Rolls Royce started to become downplayed and underwhelming. Indeed the best intentions were in mind with safety, but without the chrome to adorn its lovely body, the Shadow was merely a husk.
This was added to by the fuel crisis of the mid-1970's, which made motoring a very expensive practice, especially if you ran a Shadow. Shadow's are incredible gas guzzlers at less than 20MPG, and refilling one will set you back in today's money about £80. At the same time it was considered socially unacceptable to be seen driving around in one of these after such a blow, almost as if you were driving a giant middle-finger down the street to everyone else who couldn't afford to drive. Because of this, owners turned to more subtle cars such as Mercedes so as not to fall victim to vindictive passers by. With sales starting to drop, Rolls Royce had to see off the Silver Shadow as soon as possible. After nearly 10 years of development, 1980 saw the launch of the much more angular and somewhat mundane Silver Spirit/Spur range, and with that now on the go the shadows grew long for the Silver Shadow, which was killed off the same year. Spiritually however, the design of the 60's lived on in the Corniche, which was to be built for another 15 years before that too was ended in 1995.
In some ways the Shadow became a failure of its own success, with Rolls Royce building far too many cars for the market that intended to buy them, with the result that the 2nd hand market became saturated with nearly new cars that fell into some disreputable company. Throughout the 1980's the Shadow was noted for being the ride of sleazy salesmen, gang lords and Members of Parliament (pure evil!). Additionally, many Shadows were bought cheap simply for the way they made the owner look.
If you were intending to use your cheapy Shadow to plunder yourself some girls and didn't have the attraction of money to back you up, you'd be out of luck and soon out of cash, because the bills required to run a hand-built luxury car would very quickly be walking through the door, both in terms of fuel and maintenance. Critical failures are rare and these cars are very reliable (although Jeremy Clarkson would have you think otherwise), but when they do happen, it would probably be cheaper to buy yourself another car. The worst problem you could face is a failure of the hydraulics that controlled the rear suspension, the steering and the brakes, which would render the car inoperable if something were to go awry.
Frequent maintenance of a Shadow however (every 4 to 6 months) will probably even out at about £100, which when you consider the £10,000 or more you'd be paying to replace the hydraulic system, is a small sacrifice. Rust is another problem, especially for early Shadows. The Chrome sills and guttering on the roof are especially prone, although the most critical problem is rust on the chassis, which if left can compromise the whole car and essentially write it off. A bit of a buying tip, if the car's body looks good, be sure to check underneath because you may see some costly rust gremlins down there that could ruin your investment.
Another place the Shadow has found itself is in the world of movies. Of course any film that has an upper-crust theme or feel to it would have to include a Rolls, but since 2nd hand Shadows could be picked up for a song you could easily put them in your movie. Sadly, most movies that feature Shadows are ones which feature them being destroyed.
So why do I love Shadows so much? Basically because it's a mixture of all things you'd want in a car. It has a spacious, luxury interior, it has a world beating design dripping with chrome and adorned with the finest hood ornament, and because it's dimensions aren't that far off a normal car, it can easily be used as an everyday machine unlike the Silver Cloud which is simply too big for everyday use. The Shadow is also a very personable sort of machine, if I was to own one I would treat it like a pet, and probably name it Sally (old girlfriend of mine).
Today, Shadows are by no means rare and the ones you'll find on the road are probably the best. Most of the poorer 2nd Hand ones rusted away and died back in the 1980's and 90's (or were blown up in movies, or put in swimming pools), which means that the survivors are largely under the ownership of avid enthusiasts who cherish their cars. You can find Shadows for next to nothing, with some examples going for as little as £4,000, but you'd have to be very desperate to get one of those as they'd probably be in very bad condition. Minters however can go for about £15,000 to £20,000, which when compared to some of the other cars of comparative size and quality such as the BMW's and Mercs of this world, is not a bad deal.
I give you the car that took Rolls Royce out of the hands of the aristocracy and placed it into the hands of the people, a tradition that has continued ever since. Once rock-stars, pop-stars, TV presenters and alike were seen driving around in a car that was once the exclusive pride and joy of the established gentry, it was then and there that the Class System had truly disintegrated. The Victorian-era divisions of society were well and truly dead.
In 1965 it was apparent that the nearly 10 year old Silver Cloud was starting to look its age, and as time continued to crawl on the aristocratic look of the Rolls Royce was no longer its biggest selling point. Prior to the 1960's society was clearly defined, with what was known as the 'Glass Ceiling' through which none of the lower classes could rise up through the ranks. It was very easy for the Upper Class and Aristocracy to lose their titles and come down, but even if you were a Lower Class person who'd made it rich, you'd still be socially unacceptable due to your background. However, after World War I the emergence of the new Middle Class was starting to bend the rules, and as time went on the ways in which money could be obtained started to become easier thanks to stage and screen. After World War II the influence of the new generation distorted the lines of society even more with the appearance of the Beatles and Elvis Presley, people from low backgrounds who had managed to get a free ticket to the top due to their fame in the music industry. Of course when someone gets money, the first thing they want to do is spend it on luxury items, and nothing back then was more luxury than owning a Rolls Royce.
However, when the Cloud was designed society was still very much in the same Victorian ideal as before, and so its aristocratic look was about as hip and with-it as a China Cabinet in a Discotheque. In order to survive, Rolls Royce was going to have to adapt, so in 1965 they launched the Silver Shadow, a car that was designed for the new money, and the first Roller to be brought to the masses. What made it so appealing was a case of many things.
For starters, it was the first Rolls Royce to be a 'Driver's' car. Previous models had always been built with chauffeur driven passengers in mind, but the Shadow with upgraded suspension, an updated Rolls Royce V8 engine and the same general driving feel of a regular car (if not better with innovative power steering), made it ideal for the 'posers' of the upmarket realm. Secondly, the car was the first to be built with a monocoque, where the body and chassis are part of the same structure. Previously, Rolls Royce would provide the owner with a chassis, and then it was up to the owner what body would be put on it, with a variety of coachbuilders available to do the job including H.J Muliner Park Ward, Hoopers of London and James Young. The advent of the monocoque meant that potential buyers didn't have to go through the rigmarole of buying a chassis and then having a body constructed for it at extra cost.
As mentioned though, reception was something of a mixed bag, whilst motoring press and many people gave it critical acclaim for its revolutionary design, the usual Rolls Royce customer base saw it as something of a mongrel, appealing to the lowest common denominator rather than holding up the traditional standard that the Double R was famed for. But just because it was built for the masses didn't make it any less a car, each individual Shadow cost £7,000 new, weighed 2.2 tonnes and took 3 months to build. The interior was compiled of 12 square feet of wood, and three cows had to sacrifice themselves to create the leather hides that line the seats. Soft and springy Wilton Carpets made up the floor and power from Rolls Royce's astounding V8 engine could whisk the car to about 100mph, but why would you want a sporty Rolls Royce anyway? *Cough* Rolls Royce Wraith *Cough*
After launch the Silver Shadow was whipped up by pretty much anyone and everyone who wanted to show off their wealth, with a total of 25,000 examples being built during its 15 year production life, making it the most numerous Rolls Royce ever built. The Silver Shadow also formed the basis of several other designs, including the convertible Rolls Royce Silver Shadow 2-Door Saloon which later became the Corniche in 1971, the Bentley T-Series which was exactly the same only with Bentley badge and grille, and the controversial Rolls Royce Camargue of 1975 which was designed by Pininfarina.
For a time the Shadow was on top of the world, but things started to crumble fast in the 1970's. New American legislation meant that the car had to conform at the cost of its class, with the chrome bumpers being replaced by composite or rubber, and the ditch lights being slumped underneath on a rather unsightly chin-spoiler. In 1977 this revised car was launched as the Silver Shadow II, which I consider to be but a shadow of its former self due to the fact that this was when Rolls Royce started to become downplayed and underwhelming. Indeed the best intentions were in mind with safety, but without the chrome to adorn its lovely body, the Shadow was merely a husk.
This was added to by the fuel crisis of the mid-1970's, which made motoring a very expensive practice, especially if you ran a Shadow. Shadow's are incredible gas guzzlers at less than 20MPG, and refilling one will set you back in today's money about £80. At the same time it was considered socially unacceptable to be seen driving around in one of these after such a blow, almost as if you were driving a giant middle-finger down the street to everyone else who couldn't afford to drive. Because of this, owners turned to more subtle cars such as Mercedes so as not to fall victim to vindictive passers by. With sales starting to drop, Rolls Royce had to see off the Silver Shadow as soon as possible. After nearly 10 years of development, 1980 saw the launch of the much more angular and somewhat mundane Silver Spirit/Spur range, and with that now on the go the shadows grew long for the Silver Shadow, which was killed off the same year. Spiritually however, the design of the 60's lived on in the Corniche, which was to be built for another 15 years before that too was ended in 1995.
In some ways the Shadow became a failure of its own success, with Rolls Royce building far too many cars for the market that intended to buy them, with the result that the 2nd hand market became saturated with nearly new cars that fell into some disreputable company. Throughout the 1980's the Shadow was noted for being the ride of sleazy salesmen, gang lords and Members of Parliament (pure evil!). Additionally, many Shadows were bought cheap simply for the way they made the owner look.
If you were intending to use your cheapy Shadow to plunder yourself some girls and didn't have the attraction of money to back you up, you'd be out of luck and soon out of cash, because the bills required to run a hand-built luxury car would very quickly be walking through the door, both in terms of fuel and maintenance. Critical failures are rare and these cars are very reliable (although Jeremy Clarkson would have you think otherwise), but when they do happen, it would probably be cheaper to buy yourself another car. The worst problem you could face is a failure of the hydraulics that controlled the rear suspension, the steering and the brakes, which would render the car inoperable if something were to go awry.
Frequent maintenance of a Shadow however (every 4 to 6 months) will probably even out at about £100, which when you consider the £10,000 or more you'd be paying to replace the hydraulic system, is a small sacrifice. Rust is another problem, especially for early Shadows. The Chrome sills and guttering on the roof are especially prone, although the most critical problem is rust on the chassis, which if left can compromise the whole car and essentially write it off. A bit of a buying tip, if the car's body looks good, be sure to check underneath because you may see some costly rust gremlins down there that could ruin your investment.
Another place the Shadow has found itself is in the world of movies. Of course any film that has an upper-crust theme or feel to it would have to include a Rolls, but since 2nd hand Shadows could be picked up for a song you could easily put them in your movie. Sadly, most movies that feature Shadows are ones which feature them being destroyed.
So why do I love Shadows so much? Basically because it's a mixture of all things you'd want in a car. It has a spacious, luxury interior, it has a world beating design dripping with chrome and adorned with the finest hood ornament, and because it's dimensions aren't that far off a normal car, it can easily be used as an everyday machine unlike the Silver Cloud which is simply too big for everyday use. The Shadow is also a very personable sort of machine, if I was to own one I would treat it like a pet, and probably name it Sally (old girlfriend of mine).
Today, Shadows are by no means rare and the ones you'll find on the road are probably the best. Most of the poorer 2nd Hand ones rusted away and died back in the 1980's and 90's (or were blown up in movies, or put in swimming pools), which means that the survivors are largely under the ownership of avid enthusiasts who cherish their cars. You can find Shadows for next to nothing, with some examples going for as little as £4,000, but you'd have to be very desperate to get one of those as they'd probably be in very bad condition. Minters however can go for about £15,000 to £20,000, which when compared to some of the other cars of comparative size and quality such as the BMW's and Mercs of this world, is not a bad deal.