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"The Santa Fe Depot in San Diego, California, is a union station built by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to replace the small Victorian-style structure erected in 1887 for the California Southern Railroad Company. The Spanish Colonial Revival style station is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Its architecture, particularly the signature twin domes, is often echoed in the design of modern buildings in Downtown San Diego. A wing now houses the downtown branch of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego.
The Santa Fe Depot (as it was originally designated) officially opened on March 8, 1915, to accommodate visitors to the Panama-California Exposition. The depot was completed during a particularly optimistic period in the City's development, and represents the battle waged by the City of San Diego to become the West Coast terminus of the Santa Fe Railway system's transcontinental railroad, a fight that was ultimately lost to the City of Los Angeles."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Fe_Depot_(San_Diego)
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), left, Tory Bruno, president and CEO of United Launch Alliance, and NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine watch as a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft onbaord launches from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Friday, Dec. 20, 2019, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The uncrewed Orbital Flight Test launched at 6:36 a.m. EST and is Starliner’s maiden mission to the International Space Station for NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The mission will serve as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
No, it's not a photo of a stone rocket, but the robotic landing craft which is due to make the first ever touchdown on a comet today owes its name to this ancient Egyptian obelisk standing in the grounds of Kingston Lacy House in Dorset.
The Philae obelisk was discovered at the Temple of Isis on the Egyptian island of Philae in 1815 by explorer and Egyptologist William Bankes. He arranged for the monument to be brought back to his home at Kingston Lacy. The towering monument arrived on a converted gun carriage in 1829 and needed 19 horses to raise it upright onto the foundation stone on the south lawn, laid by the Duke of Wellington.
The hieroglyphs and Greek inscriptions on the Philae obelisk helped 19th century scholars unlock the secrets of the Rosetta Stone and the language of ancient Egypt. The obelisk bears the names of Ptolemy VII, Euergetes II and Cleopatra III, his second consort.
As the Rosetta Stone revealed the mysteries of a lost civilisation, two centuries later the Rosetta space mission hopes to unveil the enigmas of space. With the help of the Philae landing craft, named after this Philae obelisk, the mission will investigate comets, one of our solar system’s oldest building blocks.
After a decade-long journey through space, the Philae lander will send back information from comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko when it finally sets down on 12th November 2014.
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft onboard is seen on the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 ahead of the Orbital Flight Test mission, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Orbital Flight Test with be Starliner’s maiden mission to the International Space Station for NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The mission, currently targeted for a 6:36 a.m. EST launch on Dec. 20, will serve as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
We are all made of tiny balls — trillions upon trillions of chondrules that formed before the planets.
“In our understanding of how Earth came to be, there may be nothing as important as the mystery of the chondrule." — SciAm March 2021
Meteorite by Tim Gregory is one of the best non-fiction books I have ever read. It describes in sculpted prose how scientists have explored the mysteries of our solar system’s formation and dated the age of the Earth using the ancient time capsules that routinely rain on Earth — meteorites. Here are some of my favorite passages:
“Asteroids are not fragments of a shattered planet; they are fragments that never formed a planet in the first place.” (49)
“Billowing through the protoplanetary disc as a mass of brightly glowing droplets of lava, clouds of freshly sintered chondrule grains swarmed for five million years. Trillions upon trillions of chondrules, in numbers that far exceed the number of stars in the observable Universe, spiraled as gravitational vortices, and coalesced to build the asteroids and the planets. What a sight it must have been.” (p.140)
"The CAIs and chondrules (the circular grains) beautifully preserve pieces of cosmic sediment that formed in the collapsing nebula of our Solar System. The white CAIs are crystals formed directly from the nebular gas; they would resemble snowflakes growing out of thin air. They hold an exotic blend of oxygen isotopes unknown on Earth. Our sun has the exact same blend of oxygen isotopes. The CAIs formed next to the sun at 1,400°F like primordial white Sun snow. Stellar gusts from the surface of the sun blew the CAIs far outward to the colder distal regions of the protoplanetary disc. Scientist Sorby deduced their origin and called them “drops of fiery rain” in 1877. These small spheres formed separately over 5 million years, and they agglomerated over time."
"Some of the grains come from other solar systems that popped like supernova firecrackers in our midst. The diamond and silicon carbide grains “crystallized around other stars. They are pieces of bona fide stardust. Some pre-date the solar system by over three billion years! Tiny pieces of rock that are seven billion years old! The mind boggles. We call these most remarkable motes of cosmic sediment ‘pre-solar’ grains.” (p.179)
“Draped like glowing tapestries, the ejecta from a supernova explosion decorate the ocean of interstellar space.” (161)
“There is an epic written inside every piece of meteorite.” (130)
P.S. The oldest rock ever dated is the CAI called “SJ101” – 4.567 billion years old!
Here are my photos of my chondrites, including some 5x macro zooms from my collection to bring it to life. And here are the author's favorite meteorite photos and thin slices. His book is available at Amazon
And from the current SciAm, March 2021:
“Understanding chondrule formation could reveal our solar system’s earliest moments. And now, with fresh or prospective results from missions such as Hayabusa2 as well as other avenues of research, chondrule-obsessed scientists are on the cusp of answering the long-standing question of where they—and perhaps we—came from. “They are stained- glass windows to the earliest time period of the solar system,” says Harold Connolly, a cosmochemist and chondrule expert at Rowan University. “They are witnesses to processes that operated in the early solar system. The question is, What did they witness?”
For chondrules to form, dust must have been heated to temperatures of up to 2,000 degrees°C by some process in the early solar system, before rapidly cooling over just days or even hours. This process, whatever it was, most likely occurred throughout the solar system; that seems to be the only way to account for the large abundance of chondrules.
Hayabusa2 is not the only sample-return mission with extraterrestrial gifts in store for chondrule scientists. NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is scheduled to re- turn to Earth in September 2023 with recently acquired samples of another asteroid, called Bennu, that are expected to be chondrule-rich.”
Gare de Lyon 14/02/2019 12h13
Like if we were back in the 1980's and 1990's when the TGV colors were orange like here.
Set TGV 01, named ‘Patrick’, retires after 41 years of service. For this occasion, both power cars got back their original orange livery. Intermediate cars got back SNCF older blue-silver paint scheme, so TGV 01 now sports all three liveries it has had during its active career. The very first TGV logo. And Andy was willing to pose in front of 'le Patrick'.
TGV 01 "Patrick"
An explosion of colors to say farewell to the first TGV Sud-Est high-speed train. Set TGV 01, named ‘Patrick’, retires after 41 years of service. For this occasion, both power cars got back their original orange livery. Intermediate cars got back SNCF older blue-silver paint scheme, so TGV 01 now sports all three liveries it has had during its active career.
The SNCF TGV Sud-Est or TGV-PSE was a French high speed TGV train built by Alstom and operated by SNCF, the French national railway company. It is a semi-permanently coupled electric multiple unit and was built for operation between Paris and the south-east of France.
The TGV Sud-Est fleet was built between 1978 and 1988 and operated the first TGV service from Paris to Lyon in 1981.
Originally the sets were built to run at 270 km/h (168 mph) but most were upgraded to 300 km/h (186 mph) during their mid-life refurbishment in preparation for the opening of the LGV Méditerranée. The few sets which still have a maximum speed of 270 km/h (168 mph) operate on routes which have a comparatively short distance on the lignes à grande vitesse, such as those to Switzerland via Dijon. SNCF did not consider it financially worthwhile to upgrade their speed for a marginal reduction in journey time.
In December 2019, all TGV Sud-Est sets were retired from service. In early 2020, a farewell service which included TGV01 (Nicknamed Patrick), the very first TGV train ever build. This train included all 3 liveries that were worn during it's service.
FACTS & FIGURES (SNCF TGV "Sud-Est")
In service: 1981-December 2019
Manufacturer: GEC-Alsthom
Number built: 111
Numbers preserved / scrapped: 7 / 107
Formation: 10 cars (2 power cars, 8 passenger cars)
Capacity: 350
Length: 200 meters
Speed: 300 km/h
Electric system(s): 25 kV 50 Hz AC 1500 V DC
Safety system(s): TVM 300/TVM 430
[ Source & More: Wikipedia - SNCF TGV Sud-Est ]
Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad 251163 at McCook, Nebraska on May 19, 1974, photograph by Bruce Black, Marshall Pochay collection. According to Burlington Route Historical Society's Burlington Bulletin 17, OFFICE CARS, this car was built by the CB&Q at Aurora in 1889 as Office Car 95, sold in 1922 to Fort Worth & Denver City Railway ( a CB&Q subsidiary ) becoming FW&DC 919, rebuilt at Childress with a steel underframe, steel sheathing, and a distinctive Pullman rear platform railing, and named TEXLAND. The car was sold back to the CB&Q in 1943, reassuming number 95. In 1958 number 95 succeeded former 97 in maintenance of way service as an outfit car for one of the system's two rail detector cars. Renumbered 251163, it was repainted aluminum about 1969. It survived the BN merger and was still in use as a bunk car as late as 1982. It was retired by the BN in 1984 and dismantled.
The N64 is among Nintendo's best video game consoles while also among its poorest in sales. It sold only 30 million units, in comparison to the original Nintendo from the early '80s and the Nintendo Wii, which both sold over 100 million units. Later in the system's life around 1999, the console was released in jazzy clear colours such as the blue and white one pictured, which was surely an attempt to boost sales. There was also a special Pikachu N64 to exploit the Pokemon sensation of the late '90s and early 2000s. But no matter what, the N64 just could not compete with the Sony PlayStation, a product which could have been Nintendo's had they not fallen out with Sony while developing it.
The N64 saw some truly innovative titles, such as Super Mario 64, an early 3D platformer which Nintendo really invested in getting right. And GoldenEye 007 by British developer Rareware Ltd. A true classic, so popular it perhaps surpassed the film on which it is based in popularity. Another Rareware title is the game pictured in the system, Donkey Kong 64.
The wild three-prong controller featured a mechanical analogue control stick with excellent sensitivity, as well as a trigger button on the underside, perfect for a first-person shooter like GoldenEye.
In the mid '90s when the system was released, competitors such as Sega and Atari had already switched from game cartridges to CDs, while the Sony PlayStation was always CD-based. Nintendo stuck with cartridges for the N64, which scared away some developers. Cartridges are more expensive than CDs, and hold less data, but they are solid state and thus more reliable. There is no laser to become dirty, misaligned and worn out, and there are no discs to become scratched and broken. 26 years after the N64's release it is still very reliable.
That being said, Nintendo saw that developers wanted a cheaper storage medium with more space for their games. They developed a magnetic disk drive add-on using technology similar to the zip disk, the Nintendo 64 Disk Drive. Due to poor sales of the N64 in general, the 64 DD was delayed and eventually released only in Japan with few game titles to accompany it. The 64 DD is now a collector's item, these days fetching around £1,000.
NASA astronaut Suni Williams delivers remarks during a press conference ahead of the launch of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, Wednesday, May 18, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test-2 will be Starliner’s second uncrewed flight test and will dock to the International Space Station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The mission, currently targeted for launch on 6:54 p.m. ET on May 19, will serve as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Abraham Lincoln and David Hume, memorialised
Calton Burial ground, Edinburgh.
Taken with Olympus OM-System S Zuiko Auto-Zoom 100-200mm 1:5
NASA image captured March 29, 2011
Early this morning, at 5:20 am EDT, MESSENGER captured this historic image of Mercury. This image is the first ever obtained from a spacecraft in orbit about the Solar System's innermost planet. Over the subsequent six hours, MESSENGER acquired an additional 363 images before downlinking some of the data to Earth. The MESSENGER team is currently looking over the newly returned data, which are still continuing to come down.
The dominant rayed crater in the upper portion of the image is Debussy. The smaller crater Matabei with its unusual dark rays is visible to the west of Debussy. The bottom portion of this image is near Mercury's south pole and includes a region of Mercury's surface not previously seen by spacecraft.
Over the next three days, MESSENGER will acquire 1185 additional images in support of MDIS commissioning-phase activities. The year-long primary science phase of the mission will begin on April 4, and the orbital observation plan calls for MDIS to acquire more than 75,000 images in support of MESSENGER's science goals.
On March 17, 2011 (March 18, 2011, UTC), MESSENGER became the first spacecraft to orbit the planet Mercury. The mission is currently in its commissioning phase, during which spacecraft and instrument performance are verified through a series of specially designed checkout activities. In the course of the one-year primary mission, the spacecraft's seven scientific instruments and radio science investigation will unravel the history and evolution of the Solar System's innermost planet. Visit the Why Mercury? section of this website to learn more about the science questions that the MESSENGER mission has set out to answer.
Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
Credit: NASA Earth Observatory
To learn more about MESSENGER go to: messenger.jhuapl.edu/
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.
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The Dubai Metro (in Arabic: مترو دبي) is a driverless, fully automated metro rail network in the United Arab Emirates city of Dubai. The Red Line and Green Line are operational, with three further lines planned. These first two lines run underground in the city centre and on elevated viaducts elsewhere (elevated railway).[2] All trains and stations are air conditioned with platform edge doors to make this possible.
The first section of the Red Line, covering 10 stations, was ceremonially inaugurated at 9:09:09 PM on 9 September 2009, by Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai,[3] with the line opening to the public at 6 AM on 10 September.[4] The Dubai Metro is the first urban train network in the Arabian Peninsula.[5] More than 110,000 people, which is nearly 10 per cent of Dubai’s population, used the Metro in its first two days of operation.[6] The Dubai Metro carried 10 million passengers from launch on 9 September 2009 to 9 February 2010 with 11 stations operational on the Red Line.[7] Engineering consultancy Atkins provided full multidisciplinary design and management of the civil works on Dubai Metro.Architecture firm Aedas were the architect who designed for Dubai system's 45 stations, two depots and operational control centres.[8]
Guinness World Records has declared Dubai Metro as the world's longest fully automated metro network spanning at 75 kilometres (47 mi).[9]
According to statement by Adnan Al Hammadi, Chief Executive of the Rail Agency and Transport Authority, Dubai Metro transported 33.3 million people in Q1 of 2013, a significant increase, compared to the same period of the previous year.
__Wikipedia
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Citi Bike is a privately owned public bicycle sharing system serving the New York City boroughs of the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens, as well as Jersey City, New Jersey. Named after lead sponsor Citigroup, it was operated by Motivate (formerly Alta Bicycle Share), with former Metropolitan Transportation Authority CEO Jay Walder as chief executive until September 30, 2018 when the company was acquired by Lyft. The system's bikes and stations use technology from Lyft.
--- wikipedia
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft onboard is seen as it is rollout out of the Vertical Integration Facility to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 ahead of the Orbital Flight Test mission, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Orbital Flight Test with be Starliner’s maiden mission to the International Space Station for NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The mission, currently targeted for a 6:36 a.m. EST launch on Dec. 20, will serve as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana delivers opening remarks at a press conference ahead of the Boeing Orbital Flight Test mission, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The uncrewed Orbital Flight Test will be Starliner’s maiden mission to the International Space Station for NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The mission, currently targeted for a 6:36 a.m. EST launch on Dec. 20, will serve as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
The powerful primary mirrors of the James Webb Space Telescope will be able to detect the light from distant galaxies. The manufacturer of those mirrors, Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. of Boulder, Colo., recently celebrated their successful efforts as mirror segments were packed up in special shipping canisters (cans) for shipping to NASA.
The Webb telescope has 21 mirrors, with 18 primary mirror segments working together as one large 21.3-foot (6.5-meter) primary mirror. The mirror segments are made of beryllium, which was selected for its stiffness, light weight and stability at cryogenic temperatures. Bare beryllium is not very reflective of near-infrared light, so each mirror is coated with about 0.12 ounce of gold.
Northrop Grumman Corp. Aerospace Systems is the principal contractor on the telescope and commissioned Ball for the optics system's development, design, manufacturing, integration and testing.
The Webb telescope is the world's next-generation space observatory and successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. The most powerful space telescope ever built, the Webb telescope will provide images of the first galaxies ever formed, and explore planets around distant stars. It is a joint project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.
Credit: Ball Aerospace
Dolphin pier on shell beach on Tern Island in the French Frigate Shoals, Hawaii.
Camera: Olympus OM-1
Lens: Olympus OM-System S Zuiko MC Auto-Zoom f/4 35-70mm.
Film: Kodak Ektachrome E100D Expired 10/20
Developer: The Darkroom
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
In the late 1970s the Mikoyan OKB began development of a hypersonic high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft. Designated "Izdeliye 301" (also known as 3.01), the machine had an unusual design, combining a tailless layout with variable geometry wings. The two engines fueled by kerosene were located side by side above the rear fuselage, with the single vertical fin raising above them, not unlike the Tu-22 “Blinder” bomber of that time, but also reminiscent of the US-American SR-71 Mach 3 reconnaissance aircraft.
Only few and rather corny information leaked into the West, and the 301 was believed not only to act as a reconnaissance plane , it was also believed to have (nuclear) bombing capabilities. Despite wind tunnel testing with models, no hardware of the 301 was ever produced - aven though the aircraft could have become a basis for a long-range interceptor that would replace by time the PVO's Tupolew Tu-28P (ASCC code "Fiddler"), a large aircraft armed solely with missiles.
Despite limitations, the Tu-28P served well in its role, but the concept of a very fast interceptor aircraft, lingered on, since the Soviet Union had large areas to defend against aerial intruders, esp. from the North and the East. High speed, coupled with long range and the ability to intercept an incoming target at long distances independently from ground guidance had high priority for the Soviet Air Defence Forces. Even though no official requirement was issued, the concept of Izdeliye 301 from the Seventies was eventually developed further into the fixed-wing "Izdeliye 701" ultra-long-range high-altitude interceptor in the 1980ies.
The impulse for this new approach came when Oleg S. Samoylovich joined the Mikoyan OKB after having worked at Suchoi OKB on the T-60S missile carrier project. Similar in overall design to the former 301, the 701 was primarily intended as a kind of successor for the MiG-31 Foxhound for the 21st century, which just had completed flight tests and was about to enter PVO's front line units.
Being based on a long range cruise missile carrier, the 701 would have been a huge plane, featuring a length of 30-31m, a wing span of 19m (featuring a highly swept double delta wing) and having a maximum TOW of 70 tons! Target performance figures included a top speed of 2.500km/h, a cruising speed of 2.100km/h at 17.000m and an effective range of 7.000km in supersonic or 11.000km in subsonic mode. Eventually, the 701 program was mothballed, too, being too ambitious and expensive for a specialized development that could also have been a fighter version of the Tu-22 bomber!
Anyway, while the MiG-31 was successfully introduced in 1979 and had evolved in into a capable long-range interceptor with a top speed of more than Mach 3 (limited to Mach 2.8 in order to protect the aircraft's structural integrity), MiG OKB decided in 1984 to take further action and to develop a next-generation technology demonstrator, knowing that even the formidable "Foxhound" was only an interim solution on the way to a true "Four plus" of even a 6th generation fighter. Other new threats like low-flying cruise missiles, the USAF's "Project Pluto" or the assumed SR-71 Mach 5 successor “Aurora” kept Soviet military officials on the edge of their seats, too.
Main objective was to expand the Foxhound's state-of the-art performance, and coiple it with modern features like aerodynamic instability, supercruise, stealth features and further development potential.
The aircraft's core mission objectives comprised:
- Provide strategic air defense and surveillance in areas not covered by ground-based air defense systems (incl. guidance of other aircraft with less sophisticated avionics)
- Top speed of Mach 3.2 or more in a dash and cruise at Mach 3.0 for prolonged periods
- Long range/high speed interception of airspace intruders of any kind, including low flying cruise missiles, UAVs and helicopters
- Intercept cruise missiles and their launch aircraft from sea level up to 30.000m altitude by reaching missile launch range in the lowest possible time after departing the loiter area
Because funding was scarce and no official GOR had been issued, the project was taken on as a private venture. The new project was internally known as "Izdeliye 710" or "71.0". It was based on both 301 and 701 layout ideas and the wind tunnel experiences with their unusual layouts, as well as Oleg Samoylovich's experience with the Suchoi T-4 Mach 3 bomber project and the T-60S.
"Izdeliye 710" was from the start intended only as a proof-of-concept prototype, yet fully functional. It would also incorporate new technologies like heat-resistant ceramics against kinetic heating at prolonged high speeds (the airframe had to resist temperatures of 300°C/570°F and more for considerable periods), but with potential for future development into a full-fledged interceptor, penetrator and reconnaissance aircraft.
Overall, “Izdeliye 710" looked like a shrinked version of a mix of both former MiG OKB 301 and 701 designs, limited to the MiG-31's weight class of about 40 tons TOW. Compared with the former designs, the airframe received an aerodynamically more refined, partly blended, slender fuselage that also incorporated mild stealth features like a “clean” underside, softened contours and partly shielded air intakes. Structurally, the airframe's speed limit was set at Mach 3.8.
From the earlier 301 design,the plane retained the variable geometry wing. Despite the system's complexity and weight, this solution was deemed to be the best approach for a combination of a high continuous top speed, extended loiter time in the mission’s patrol areas and good performance on improvised airfields. Minimum sweep was a mere 10°, while, fully swept at 68°, the wings blended into the LERXes. Additional lift was created through the fuselage shape itself, so that aerodynamic surfaces and therefore drag could be reduced.
Pilot and radar operator sat in tandem under a common canopy with rather limited sight. The cockpit was equipped with a modern glass cockpit with LCD screens. The aircraft’s two engines were, again, placed in a large, mutual nacelle on the upper rear fuselage, fed by large air intakes with two-dimensional vertical ramps and a carefully modulated airflow over the aircraft’s dorsal area.
Initially, the 71.0 was to be powered by a pair of Soloviev D-30F6 afterburning turbofans with a dry thrust of 93 kN (20,900 lbf) each, and with 152 kN (34,172 lbf) with full afterburner. These were the same engines that powered the MiG-31, but there were high hopes for the Kolesov NK-101 engine: a variable bypass engine with a maximum thrust in the 200kN range, at the time of the 71.0's design undergoing bench tests and originally developed for the advanced Suchoj T-4MS strike aircraft.
With the D-30F6, the 71.0 was expected to reach Mach 3.2 (making the aircraft capable of effectively intercepting the SR-71), but the NK-101 would offer in pure jet mode a top speed in excess of Mach 3.5 and also improve range and especially loiter time when running as a subsonic turbofan engine.
A single fin with an all-moving top and an additional deep rudder at its base was placed on top of the engine nacelle. Additional maneuverability at lower speed was achieved by retractable, all-moving foreplanes, stowed in narrow slits under the cockpit. Longitudinal stability at high speed was improved through deflectable stabilizers: these were kept horizontal for take-off and added to the overall lift, but they could be folded down by up to 60° in flight, acting additionally as stabilizer strakes.
Due to the aircraft’s slender shape and unique proportions, the 71.0 quickly received the unofficial nickname "жура́вль" (‘Zhurávl' = Crane). The aircaft’s stalky impression was emphasized even more through its unusual landing gear arrangement: Due to the limited internal space for the main landing gear wells between the weapons bay, the wing folding mechanisms and the engine nacelle, MiG OKB decided to incorporate a bicycle landing gear, normally a trademark of Yakovlew OKB designs, but a conventional landing gear could simply not be mounted, or its construction would have become much too heavy and complex.
In order to facilitate operations from improvised airfields and on snow the landing gear featured twin front wheels on a conventional strut and a single four wheel bogie as main wheels. Smaller, single stabilizer wheels were mounted on outriggers that retracted into slender fairings at the wings’ fixed section trailing edge, reminiscent of early Tupolev designs.
All standard air-to-air weaponry, as well as fuel, was to be carried internally. Main armament would be the K-100 missile (in service eventually designated R-100), stored in a large weapons bay behind the cockpit on a rotary mount. The K-100 had been under development at that time at NPO Novator, internally coded ‘Izdeliye 172’. The K-100 missile was an impressive weapon, and specifically designed to attack vital and heavily defended aerial targets like NATO’s AWACS aircraft at BVR distance.
Being 15’ (4.57 m) long and weighing 1.370 lb (620 kg), this huge ultra-long-range weapon had a maximum range of 250 mi (400 km) in a cruise/glide profile and attained a speed of Mach 6 with its solid rocket engine. This range could be boosted even further with a pair of jettisonable ramjets in tubular pods on the missile’s flanks for another 60 mi (100 km). The missile could attack targets ranging in altitude between 15 – 25,000 meters.
The weapon would initially be allocated to a specified target through the launch aircraft’s on-board radar and sent via inertial guidance into the target’s direction. Closing in, the K-100’s Agat 9B-1388 active seeker would identify the target, lock on, and independently attack it, also in coordination with other K-100’s shot at the same target, so that the attack would be coordinated in time and approach directions in order to overload defense and ensure a hit.
The 71.0’s internal mount could hold four of these large missiles, or, alternatively, the same number of the MiG-31’s R-33 AAMs. The mount also had a slot for the storage of additional mid- and short-range missiles for self-defense, e .g. three R-60 or two R-73 AAMs. An internal gun was not considered to be necessary, since the 71.0 or potential derivatives would fight their targets at very long distances and rather rely on a "hit-and-run" tactic, sacrificing dogfight capabilities for long loitering time in stand-by mode, high approach speed and outstanding acceleration and altitude performance.
Anyway, provisions were made to carry a Gsh-301-250 gun pod on a retractable hardpoint in the weapons bay instead of a K-100. Alternatively, such pods could be carried externally on four optional wing root pylons, which were primarily intended for PTB-1500 or PTB-3000 drop tanks, or further missiles - theoretically, a maximum of ten K-100 missiles could be carried, plus a pair of short-range AAMs.
Additionally, a "buddy-to-buffy" IFR set with a retractable drogue (probably the same system as used on the Su-24) was tested (71.2 was outfitted with a retractable refuelling probe in front of the cockpit), as well as the carriage of simple iron bombs or nuclear stores, to be delivered from very high altitudes. Several pallets with cameras and sensors (e .g. a high resolution SLAR) were also envisioned, which could easily replace the missile mounts and the folding weapon bay covers for recce missions.
Since there had been little official support for the project, work on the 710 up to the hardware stage made only little progress, since the MiG-31 already filled the long-range interceptor role in a sufficient fashion and offered further development potential.
A wooden mockup of the cockpit section was presented to PVO and VVS officials in 1989, and airframe work (including tests with composite materials on structural parts, including ceramic tiles for leading edges) were undertaken throughout 1990 and 1991, including test rigs for the engine nacelle and the swing wing mechanism.
Eventually, the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 suddenly stopped most of the project work, after two prototype airframes had been completed. Their internal designations were Izdeliye 71.1 and 71.2, respectively. It took a while until the political situation as well as the ex-Soviet Air Force’s status were settled, and work on Izdeliye 710 resumed at a slow pace.
After taking two years to be completed, 71.1 eventually made its roll-out and maiden flight in summer 1994, just when MiG-31 production had ended. MiG OKB still had high hopes in this aircraft, since the MiG-31 would have to be replaced in the next couple of years and "Izdeliye 710" was just in time for the potential procurement process. The first prototype wore a striking all-white livery, with dark grey ceramic tiles on the wings’ leading edges standing out prominently – in this guise and with its futuristic lines the slender aircraft reminded a lot of the American Space Shuttle.
71.1 was primarily intended for engine and flight tests (esp. for the eagerly awaited NK-101 engines), as well as for the development of the envisioned ramjet propulsion system for full-scale production and further development of Izdeliye 710 into a Mach 3+ interceptor. No mission avionics were initially fitted to this plane, but it carried a comprehensive test equipment suite and ballast.
Its sister ship 71.2 flew for the first time in late 1994, wearing a more unpretentious grey/bare metal livery. This plane was earmarked for avionics development and weapons integration, especially as a test bed for the K-100 missile, which shared Izdeliye 710’s fate of being a leftover Soviet project with an uncertain future and an even more corny funding outlook.
Anyway, aircraft 71.2 was from the start equipped with a complete RP-31 ('Zaslon-M') weapon control system, which had been under development at that time as an upgrade for the Russian MiG-31 fleet being part of the radar’s development program secured financial support from the government and allowed the flight tests to continue. The RP-31 possessed a maximum detection range of 400 km (250 mi) against airliner-sized targets at high altitude or 200 km against fighter-sized targets; the typical width of detection along the front was given as 225 km. The system could track 24 airborne targets at one time at a range of 120 km, 6 of which could be simultaneously attacked with missiles.
With these capabilities the RP-31 suite could, coupled with an appropriate carrier airframe, fulfil the originally intended airspace control function and would render a dedicated and highly vulnerable airspace control aircraft (like the Beriev A-50 derivative of the Il-76 transport) more or less obsolete. A group of four aircraft equipped with the 'Zaslon-M' suite would be able to permanently control an area of airspace across a total length of 800–900 km, while having ultra-long range weapons at hand to counter any intrusion into airspace with a quicker reaction time than any ground-based fighter on QRA duty. The 71.0, outfitted with the RP-31/K-100 system, would have posed a serious threat to any aggressor.
In March 1995 both prototypes were eventually transferred to the Kerchenskaya Guards Air Base at Savasleyka in the Oblast Vladimir, 300 km east of Mocsow, where they received tactical codes of '11 Blue' and '12 Blue'. Besides the basic test program and the RP-31/K-100 system tests, both machines were directly evaluated against the MiG-31 and Su-27 fighters by the Air Force's 4th TsBPi PLS, based at the same site.
Both aircraft exceeded expectations, but also fell short in certain aspects. The 71.0’s calculated top speed of Mach 3.2 was achieved during the tests with a top speed of 3,394 km/h (2.108 mph) at 21,000 m (69.000 ft). Top speed at sea level was confirmed at 1.200 km/h (745 mph) indicated airspeed.
Combat radius with full weapon load and internal fuel only was limited to 1,450 km (900 mi) at Mach 0.8 and at an altitude of 10,000 m (33,000 ft), though, and it sank to a mere 720 km (450 mi) at Mach 2.35 and at an altitude of 18,000 m (59,000 ft). Combat range with 4x K-100 internally and 2 drop tanks was settled at 3,000 km (1,860 mi), rising to 5,400 km (3,360 mi) with one in-flight refueling, tested with the 71.2. Endurance at altitude was only slightly above 3 hours, though. Service ceiling was 22,800 m (74,680 ft), 2.000 m higher than the MiG-31.
While these figures were impressive, Soviet officials were not truly convinced: they did not show a significant improvement over the simpler MiG-31. MiG OKB tried to persuade the government into more flight tests and begged for access to the NK-101, but the Soviet Union's collapse halted this project, too, so that both Izdeliye 710 had to keep the Soloviev D-30F6.
Little is known about the Izdeliye 710 project’s progress or further developments. The initial tests lasted until at least 1997, and obviously the updated MiG-31M received official favor instead of a completely new aircraft. The K-100 was also dropped, since the R-33 missile and later its R-37 derivative sufficiently performed in the long-range aerial strike role.
Development on the aircraft as such seemed to have stopped with the advent of modernized Su-27 derivatives and the PAK FA project, resulting in the Suchoi T-50 prototype. Unconfirmed reports suggest that one of the prototypes (probably 71.1) was used in the development of the N014 Pulse-Doppler radar with a passive electronically scanned array antenna in the wake of the MFI program. The N014 was designed with a range of 420 km, detection target of 250km to 1m and able to track 40 targets while able to shoot against 20.
Most interestingly, Izdeliye 710 was never officially presented to the public, but NATO became aware of its development through satellite pictures in the early Nineties and the aircraft consequently received the ASCC reporting codename "Fastback".
Until today, only the two prototypes have been known to exist, and it is assumed – had the type entered service – that the long-range fighter had received the official designation "MiG-41".
General characteristics:
Crew: 2 (Pilot, weapon system officer)
Length (incl. pitot): 93 ft 10 in (28.66 m)
Wingspan:
- minimum 10° sweep: 69 ft 4 in (21.16 m)
- maximum 68° sweep: 48 ft 9 in (14,88 m)
Height: 23 ft 1 1/2 in (7,06 m )
Wing area: 1008.9 ft² (90.8 m²)
Weight: 88.151 lbs (39.986 kg)
Performance:
Maximum speed:
- Mach 3.2 (2.050 mph (3.300 km/h) at height
- 995 mph (1.600 km/h) supercruise speed at 36,000 ft (11,000 m)
- 915 mph (1.470 km/h) at sea level
Range: 3.705 miles (5.955 km) with internal fuel
Service ceiling: 75.000 ft (22.500 m)
Rate of climb: 31.000 ft/min (155 m/s)
Engine:
2x Soloviev D-30F6 afterburning turbofans with a dry thrust of 93 kN (20,900 lbf) each
and with 152 kN (34,172 lbf) with full afterburner.
Armament:
Internal weapons bay, main armament comprises a flexible missile load; basic ordnance of 4x K-100 ultra long range AAMs plus 2x R-73 short-range AAMs: other types like the R-27, R-33, R-60 and R-77 have been carried and tested, too, as well as podded guns on internal and external mounts. Alternatively, the weapon bay can hold various sensor pallets.
Four hardpoints under the wing roots, the outer pair “wet” for drop tanks of up to 3.000 l capacity, ECM pods or a buddy-buddy refueling drogue system. Maximum payload mass is 9000 kg.
The kit and its assembly
The second entry for the 2017 “Soviet” Group Build at whatifmodelers.com – a true Frankenstein creation, based on the scarce information about the real (but never realized) MiG 301 and 701 projects, the Suchoj T-60S, as well as some vague design sketches you can find online and in literature.
This one had been on my project list for years and I already had donor kits stashed away – but the sheer size (where will I leave it once done…?) and potential complexity kept me from tackling it.
The whole thing was an ambitious project and just the unique layout with a massive engine nacelle on top of the slender fuselage instead of an all-in-one design makes these aircraft an interesting topic to build. The GB was a good motivator.
“My” fictional interpretation of the MiG concepts is mainly based on a Dragon B-1B in 1:144 scale (fuselage, wings), a PM Model Su-15 two seater (donating the nose section and the cockpit, as well as wing parts for the fin) and a Kangnam MiG-31 (for the engine pod and some small parts). Another major ingredient is a pair of horizontal stabilizers from a 1:72 Hasegawa A-5 Vigilante.
Fitting the cockpit section took some major surgery and even more putty to blend the parts smoothly together. Another major surgical area was the tail; the "engine box" came to be rather straightforward, using the complete rear fuselage section from the MiG-31 and adding the intakes form the same kit, but mounted horizontally with a vertical splitter.
Blending the thing to the cut-away tail section of the B-1 was quite a task, though, since I not only wanted to add the element to the fuselage, but rather make it look a bit 'organic'. More than putty was necessary, I also had to made some cuts and transplantations. And after six PSR rounds I stopped counting…
The landing gear was built from scratch – the front wheel comes mostly from the MiG-31 kit. The central bogie and its massive leg come from a VEB Plasticart 1:100 Tu-20/95 bomber, plus some additional struts. The outriggers are leftover landing gear struts from a Hobby Boss Fw 190, mated with wheels which I believe come from a 1:200 VEB Plasticart kit, an An-24. Not certain, though. The fairings are slender MiG-21 drop tanks blended into the wing training edge. For the whole landing gear, the covers were improvised with styrene sheet, parts from a plastic straw(!) or leftover bits from the B-1B.
The main landing gear well was well as the weapons’ bay themselves were cut into the B-1B underside and an interior scratched from sheet and various leftover materials – I tried to maximize their space while still leaving enough room for the B-1B kit’s internal VG mechanism.
The large missiles (two were visible fitted and the rotary launcher just visibly hinted at) are, in fact, AGM-78 ‘Standard’ ARMs in a fantasy guise. They look pretty Soviet, though, like big brothers of the already not small R-33 missiles from the MiG-31.
While not in the focus of attention, the cockpit interior is completely new, too – OOB, the Su-15 cockpit only has a floor and rather stubby seats, under a massive single piece canopy. On top of the front wheel well (from a Hasegawa F-4) I added a new floor and added side consoles, scratched from styrene sheet. F-4 dashboards improve the decoration, and I added a pair of Soviet election seats from the scrap box – IIRC left over from two KP MiG-19 kits.
The canopy was taken OOB, I just cut it into five parts for open display. The material’s thickness does not look too bad on this aircraft – after all, it would need a rather sturdy construction when flying at Mach 3+ and withstanding the respective pressures and temperatures.
Painting
As a pure whif, I was free to use a weirdo design - but I rejected this idea quickly. I did not want a garish splinter scheme or a bright “Greenbottle Fly” Su-27 finish.
With the strange layout of the aircraft, the prototype idea was soon settled – and Soviet prototypes tend to look very utilitarian and lusterless, might even be left in grey. Consequently, I adapted a kind of bare look for this one, inspired by the rather shaggy Soviet Tu-22 “Blinder” bombers which carried a mix of bare metal and white and grey panels. With additional black leading edges on the aerodynamic surfaces, this would create a special/provisional but still purposeful look.
For the painting, I used a mix of several metallizer tones from ModelMaster and Humbrol (including Steel, Magnesium, Titanium, as well as matt and polished aluminum, and some Gun Metal and Exhaust around the engine nozzles, partly mixed with a bit of blue) and opaque tones (Humbrol 147 and 127). The “scheme” evolved panel-wise and step by step. The black leading edges were an interim addition, coming as things evolved, and they were painted first with black acrylic paint as a rough foundation and later trimmed with generic black decal stripes (from TL Modellbau). A very convenient and clean solution!
The radomes on nose and tail and other di-electric panels became dark grey (Humbrol 125). The cockpit tub was painted with Soviet Cockpit Teal (from ModelMaster), while the cockpit opening and canopy frames were kept in a more modest medium grey (Revell 57). On the outside of the cabin windows, a fat, deep yellow sealant frame (Humbrol 93, actually “Sand”) was added.
The weapon bay was painted in a yellow-ish primer tone (seen on pics of Tu-160 bombers) while the landing gear wells received a mix of gold and sand; the struts were painted in a mixed color, too, made of Humbrol 56 (Aluminum) and 34 (Flat White). The green wheel discs (Humbrol 131), a typical Soviet detail, stand out well from the rather subdued but not boring aircraft, and they make a nice contrast to the red Stars and the blue tactical code – the only major markings, besides a pair of MiG OKB logos under the cockpit.
Decals were puzzled together from various sheets, and I also added a lot of stencils for a more technical look. In order to enhance the prototype look further I added some photo calibration markings on the nose and the tail, made from scratch.
A massive kitbashing project that I had pushed away for years - but I am happy that I finally tackled it, and the result looks spectacular. The "Firefox" similarity was not intended, but this beast really looks like a movie prop - and who knwos if the Firefox was not inspired by the same projects (the MiG 301 and 701) as my kitbash model?
The background info is a bit lengthy, but there's some good background info concerning the aforementioned projects, and this aircraft - as a weapon system - would have played a very special and complex role, so a lot of explanations are worthwhile - also in order to emphasize that I di not simply try to glue some model parts together, but rather try to spin real world ideas further.
Mighty bird!
Not a mistake, just a happy accident 🌌
Silicon is one of the most common elements in the universe, but we’ve never found it in the atmospheres of Jupiter, Saturn, and other gas planets around other stars. Webb might have found the answer in a celestial “accident.”
A citizen scientist participating in a program that allows people to look through data collected by NASA JPL’s now-retired NEOWISE (Near-Earth Object Wide Field Infrared Survey Explorer), discovered an odd object in 2020. It was a brown dwarf, a ball of gas that’s neither a planet, nor a star. It was dubbed “The Accident” because even amongst oddball objects like brown dwarfs, this one was unusual.
It is so faint and odd that the infrared sensitivity of Webb was needed in order to examine its atmosphere. Webb data showed a molecule scientists initially could not identify. It turned out to be silane (SiH4), a molecule that researchers have expected to find (but haven’t yet) in our solar system’s gas giants. The Accident is the first object where this molecule has been identified.
Scientists are fairly confident that silicon exists in Jupiter and Saturn’s atmosphere, but is hidden. When silicon binds to oxygen, as it likely did on the gas planets, it forms oxides like quartz that can seed clouds that would sink beneath the lighter layers of water vapor and ammonia clouds, making the silicon-containing molecules invisible to spacecraft that have studied these planets up close.
The Accident, on the other hand, likely formed about 10 to 13 billion years ago. The universe is about 14 billion years old, so at the time The Accident developed, the cosmos contained mostly hydrogen and helium. Oxygen would later form in the cores of stars and become more abundant, meaning that the silicon in The Accident likely bonded instead with the available hydrogen, creating silane.
This explains why we haven’t detected silicon, or silane, in other places we expected to find it. When oxygen is available, silicon bonds so readily with it that there is almost no silicon left to bond with hydrogen to form silane.
Read more: www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-study-celestial-accident-sheds...
Image credit (Artist Illustration): NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/R. Proctor
Image description: Illustration of a large spherical object that looks like a gas giant planet or a brown dwarf glowing with wavy, horizontal bands of yellow, orange, and red. The background contains thousands of stars with orange and white gas and dust across the center. The words “Artist’s Concept” are in the lower left corner, and Webb Telescope in the lower right. The title “NASA Study: Celestial ‘Accident’ Sheds Light on Jupiter, Saturn Riddle.”
On a misty day, one of Scandanavian Airline System's Douglas
DC-9-40's noses onto Heathrow's Terminal 2 stands sometime in the late 1960's
Behind is a Dassault Mystere 20 executive jet - possibly Norwegian, along with another in the form of a Hawker-Siddeley 125.
To the left is another DC-9 from the Spanish carrier Iberia.
Scanned Instamatic 25 print
Many of the larger icy moons of the Sol system's gas giants have interior oceans of liquid water, kept liquid through tidal heating caused by the interactions of the two gravity wells. The exoplanet Krysto, home of the famed ICEPLANET team 2002, was a true planet rather than a moon, but it did have a particularly large and close moon.
It took the Iceplaneteers some time to realize the potential of Krysto's subsurface ocean - the deeply hostile surface conditions combined with Blacktron factional conflicts meant that their limited resources were mostly put to other tasks - but after some time a mission was planned to melt a shaft through the thick icecap to the internal sea of Krysto.
The Aquarius Project, as it was called, centered initially around a large submarine, the Interior eXploration Vessel Aquarius, but there were other vehicles besides the IXV Aquarius. The Delphinus-1 was a rover used for exploring the subglacial seabed, though it did have a limited swimming ability. The rather large laser cannon proved necessary as there were a number of very large and rather dangerous creatures that called the interior ocean their home.
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This has a little too much yellow and not enough white to really mesh well with my previous "Alt-Seatron" Aquarius Project creations, but I'm mostly pleased with the overall design. In order to mesh with but remain distinct from the Ice Planet factional colours, the intent is that the IP2002 colours are used on the surface, and for the Aquarius Project interior exploration stuff the blue is replaced by yellow and the trans neon orange by trans red.
Abandoned trolley car, Salt Lake City, UT
We spotted this abandoned trolley car near Trolley Sq in a garden of a small back street of Salt Lake City. The city had an extensive cable car system. The first cars was
"powered" by mules, but from 1890 the system was electronic. The 146 miles system's main hub was located at Trolley Sq. The fare was 7 cents. The electric system was dismanteled in 1941. (Because of the fuel shortege of the war, several cars were still running.)
The body of the car is in a good shape, it has a wonderful old lamp.Rests of the old inscriptions are still visible.
We find an other car near the ghost town of Ophir, which is in a very bad shape. That car was abandoned about 80 years ago.
NASA astronauts Doug Hurley, left, and Bob Behnken, right, who are assigned to fly on the crewed Demo-2 mission, watch the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft on the Demo-1 mission from firing room four of the Launch Control Center, Saturday, March 2, 2019 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Demo-1 mission will be the first launch of a commercially built and operated American spacecraft and space system designed for humans as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The mission will serve as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Japan Air System's MD-90 fleet wore seven different liveries created by well-known Japanese director Akira Kurosawa.
Sadly, these liveries began to disappear following the merger with JAL. This one was already carrying a JAL sticker and was later repainted into full JAL livery.
The MD-90 was retired by JAL in 2013 but the fleet will continue flying with Delta Air Lines.
The Backworth system’s loco-shed was situated alongside Eccles colliery. On 25th June 1971, Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns Austerity 0-6-0 saddle tank '49' (W/No.7098 built in 1943) and Hunslet Austerity No.48 (W/No.2864 built in 1943) are in residence. By this time the shed’s requirement was to provide four locos in steam daily, this being reduced to just two towards the end of steam traction on the remnants of the once extensive system. Backworth had been one of the two last outposts of steam traction in the North East, but in January 1976 diesels were introduced and the steam locos were put into store to await scrapping or preservation. In 1977, traffic to Weetslade coal preparation plant ended and the line to Burradon was subsequently lifted. The line to Seghill disposal point was also abandoned at this time and stone tipping then took place in a field at the start of the line to Burradon, the track being slewed to enable this to commence. The end was now in sight and Eccles colliery, the last of the highly productive former Backworth Coal Company’s pits to be worked, closed in May 1980, with all rail traffic ceasing on 17 July 1980. This brought not only an end to the Backworth Railway but also to deep mining in the Backworth area, after an unbroken history of more than 167 years.
© Gordon Edgar collection - All rights reserved. Please do not use my images without my explicit permission
Launch: January 22, 1992
Landing: January 30, 1992 Edwards Air Force Base, Cal.
Astronauts: Ronald J. Grabe, Stephen S. Oswald, Norman E. Thagard, David C. Hilmers, William F. Readdy, Roberta L. Bondar and Ulf D. Merbold
Space Shuttle: Discovery
The primary payload was the International Microgravity Laboratory-1 (IML-1), making its first flight and using the pressurized Spacelab module. The International crew was divided into two teams for around-the-clock research on the human nervous system's adaptation to low gravity and the effects of microgravity on other life forms such as shrimp eggs, lentil seedlings, fruit fly eggs, and bacteria.
Credit: NASA
Image Number: sts042-s-001
Date: October 1991
The M777 ultralight howitzer is a towed 155mm artillery piece which has served as the backbone of both the US Army and Marine Corps' artillery units since 2005.
The M777 uses a digital fire-control system similar to that found on self-propelled howitzers such as the M1303 Lancer to provide navigation, pointing and self-location, allowing it to be put into action quickly. Furthermore, the A3 upgrade rolled out in 2019 included the system's second major software update as well as new and improved communications hardware such as a touchscreen-enabled mission comuter and a digital radio.
The M777A3 may be combined with the Excalibur GPS-guided munition, which allows accurate fire at a range of up to 25 miles (40 km). This almost doubles the area covered by a single battery to about 1,250 square kilometers.
The model also folds up realistically and is able to be towed by a truck. Link to image.
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Never actually built a towed howitzer, so thought it was a nice simple and easy project I could do on LDD whie my bricks are 1,900 miles away. A few colors would need to be swapped but otherwise I'm pretty confident this will come together physically too.
Eat yer heart out Andrew.
In this video, it shows my area getting pummeled with a heavy shower (maybe a thundershower) during midday of Monday, March 7, 2016. The weather was actually nice and partly cloudy during the morning hours. However, as the day went on, I've noticed cumulus clouds around the area trying to tower. That's a good indication of an unstable airmass aloft. The same system that had brought heavy rain to our area just the previous evening was still slowly departing. It was this system's main low that was hovering above the region this day, which explains the thunderstorm activity... Even SoCal saw a decent line of t-storms move thru this same morning. However, we got some of the action up here as well, though not as 'great'. I didn't have my car at the time as well, since my dad used it to do his errands...ugh! I need my own storm chasing vehicle! Anyways, this brief heavy shower was the 'last hurrah' for this storm system before it headed eastward. This storm system was storm number 2 in an ongoing atmospheric river event...
Weather scenario & details:
An atmospheric river event was in store for California for early March 2016, despite a very dry & mild February. The 1st storm had hit by the 1st weekend of the month, bringing heavy rain & gusty winds. As we started the 2nd week of March, a 2nd strong system had brought more of the same thing across California. While we were still on the heels of that 1st storm that had battered us early month, a new storm had pushed in. Rainfall from this 2nd storm were to be 1-2 inches in NorCal and 0.50-1 inch in SoCal. Flooding was a concern, since the ground was already saturated from the 1st storm. In addition, t-storms were possible with this 2nd system due to its (more) unstable air mass. Even a line of strong t-storms had drifted right thru the Los Angeles area Monday morning (March 7, 2016). Although we need all the rain we can get due to our ongoing drought, the copious amounts that were falling in a short time have proven to be too much of a good thing...
Looking ahead:
Right when we were giving up on El Niño, especially after seeing such a dry February, a parade of strong winter storms were (finally) aimed at our drought-parched state. Impacts from the storms so far (Storms 1 and 2 in this atmospheric river event) had brought heavy rain & wind to my area in San Jose, CA within the first week of March 2016. At this moment (as of March 7), it looks like more rain was still in store for California in the foreseeable future. Looks like this was El Nino's last hurrah this winter! Are we on the verge of a 'Miracle-March'? Fingers crossed...we still have a long way to go in terms of relieving our serious drought here.
(Footage filmed Monday, March 7, 2016 around San Jose, CA)
The first in my new series of video game console mosaics - say hello to the Sega Master System II.
"The Master System II was released in 1990 and was popular in Europe and Brazil. It is smaller and sleeker than the original Master System, but in order to keep production costs low, it lacks the reset button, composite video and card slot.
All consoles included a game that plays when no cartridge is inserted. The built-in game was originally Alex Kidd in Miracle World, which was switched to Sonic the Hedgehog on later PAL consoles.
Sega marketed the Master System II heavily; nevertheless, the unit sold poorly in North America. By 1992, the Master System's sales were virtually nonexistent in North America and eventually ceased.
It is generally considered a success in Europe where it competed and managed to rival the NES." - Wikipedia
Ah yes, you pretty much had either a Master System II or a NES back in 1990, and Sega fans Vs Nintendo fans began a West Side Story style battle in schools across the land. Back then I was a Nintendo fan. Part of the joy of growing up and earning more that £5 a week means that you don't have to limit yourself to one console, and I now own both (along with many others.)
BTW, is anyone going to Game City in Nottingham at the end of October? gamecity.org/
After the disaster that was the Grouse I, the URE commissioned EP Industries to design a new system instead of relying on their in-house production and design crews. Using modified plans for the Grouse, EP Industries crafted the Grouse II, a far superior version. The system's limbs remain very similar to the original's, but the torso was completely reworked. In addition, the head was outfitted with better armor and sensor systems, bringing it up to date with the Greco-Roman's Gladius systems. Small changes to the Grouse II's armor and mechanics have made it more agile and sturdy than ever before.
Even though the orbital defense force is still made primarily of modified Grouse I's, the Grouse II can be outfitted with a variant version of the original jetpack, allowing for atmospheric and sub-orbital flight.
So I fixed up the grouse a bit, mostly making the chest a bit less chubby. I'm pretty satisfied with how it turned out. As always, fits a fig.
Likes and comments are highly appreciated. Thanks for viewing!
I've dipped into the archives from the recent past for this one. These trams are standing at the Póvoa de Varzim terminus of the Porto Metro system's line B (Red Line). This metro line was opened in 2005 and was built on the trackbed of part of the former metre-gauge network that used to serve this region of northern Portugal.
The Hispasat AG1 communications satellite completes the integration phase of testing in OHB System's cleanroom in Bremen, Germany. Hispasat AG1 will provide Spain, Portugal, the Canary Islands and the Americas with faster multimedia services through its reconfigurable Redsat payload.
AG1 is now at the IABG (Industrieanlagen-Betriebsgesellschaft) in Ottobrunn, Germany, undergoing environmental impact testing. There it will be placed in the thermal-vacuum chamber and its systems tested under ultra-high and low temperatures to simulate the conditions in space.
AG1 is the first satellite to use Europe’s new SmallGEO platform, developed through a public–private partnership between ESA and OHB. SmallGEO will strengthen the position of European industry in the commercial telecommunications market, expanding the current range of available products.
Credit:OHB
ASSEMBLY OF THE ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING INTEGRATED ENERGY (AMIE) 3D-PRINTED HOUSE.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory combines clean energy technologies into a 3D-printed building and vehicle to showcase a new approach to energy use, storage and consumption. It is a model for energy-efficient systems that link buildings, vehicles and the grid. ORNL team worked with industrial partners to manufacture and connect a natural-gas-powered hybrid electric vehicle with a solar-powered building to create an integrated energy system. The project's energy control center manages the system's electrical demand and load by balancing the intermittent power from the building's 3.2-kilowatt solar array with supplemental power from the vehicle.
For more information or additional images, please contact 202-586-5251.
In March 2011, MESSENGER became the first spacecraft to orbit the planet Mercury. In July of the same year, the Dawn spacecraft became the first to orbit a main-belt asteroid, Vesta. Both MESSENGER and Dawn are missions in the Discovery program, NASA's lowest-cost category of planetary mission.
The image above shows Mercury on the left, and Vesta on the right. Both surfaces are marked by impact craters, but the most immediately noticeable difference is that Vesta has a much more irregular shape. This is a consequence of Mercury's far larger gravity, which has squeezed the planet into a sphere. Vesta's weak gravity is less able to overcome the strength of the rocks. Mercury's mass is about 1300 times greater than that of Vesta.
The MESSENGER spacecraft is the first ever to orbit the planet Mercury, and the spacecraft's seven scientific instruments and radio science investigation are unraveling the history and evolution of the Solar System's innermost planet. Visit the Why Mercury? section of this website to learn more about the key science questions that the MESSENGER mission is addressing. During the one-year primary mission, MDIS is scheduled to acquire more than 75,000 images in support of MESSENGER's science goals.
Dawn Vesta image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA
MESSENGER Mercury image credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.
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I've been in the loft attempting to clear it out ready for our proposed move. Amongst all the junk, I found a box of railway paraphenalia that included several strips of negatives.
After some investigation (mostly through all my old spotting books!) I've managed to ascertain where most of the pictures were taken. What's not so clear is whether they are mine or my brother, Pete's original shots. If I have any doubt, then I'll accredit them to him.
The location here is undeniably St Pancras. Unfortunately I cannot deduce the identity of the two Peaks, but the Rat is certainly 25310 (the only one recorded as being seen at St Pancras that day).
I'm not sure what the original film was, but I have left it exactly as it has scanned. The almost sepia effect really works for me with this memory-jerker.
We were in London because we were supposed to be onboard the Western Memorial railtour. A friend's previously unknown paranoia of the London Underground system's escalators saw us miss the special. It took me another 30-odd years to get Wizzo haulage!
25310 was to later become 97250 (ETHEL1) used to provide electric heating on the West Highland sleeper services whilst the conversion of Class 37/0 to 37/4 was being made.
As such, she was withdrawn from service in August 1994 and swiftly cut-up at MC Metals in Glasgow. RIP.
Original shot by Pete Callaway.
New Croton Dam, also known as Cornell Dam, stretches across the Croton River forming the New Croton Croton Reservoir, part of the New York City water supply system. Construction started on the 266-foot broad masonry dam, designed by Alphonse Fteley, in 1892 and when completed in 1906, it was the tallest damn in the world at 297-feet from base to crest. It impounds up to 19 billion US gallons of water--a small fraction of the New York City water system's total storage capacity of 580 billion US gallons.
Croton Gorge Park is a 97-acre county park at the base of New Croton Dam.
The weathered hulk of the Park Royal B44D bodied 1959 British United Traction RETB1/2 trolleybus built by Leyland Motors (UK) that saw its last service runs on the Farmers' trolleybus route in Auckland in September 1980 at the time of the system's closure, captured sitting on a lifestyle property on the Foxton-Foxton Beach Rd. on Friday afternoon, 26 January 2018.
Would appear to be on the move, maybe for scrap.
Was acquired by the Foxton Trolleybus Museum in 1993.
Was later sold by Ian Little to the owner of a lifestyle property on the Foxton-Foxton Beach Road (1994? following an electrical fire which rendered it kaput) where it has since languished in open storage and also remained for many years as the only Auckland trolleybus example left in Foxton since the return to Auckland of Park Royal-bodied No. 120 from the Foxton trolleybus museum in February 2009, which since then has seen No. 127 as the sole Auckland example left in the Foxton, albeit not sited at the Foxton museum.
Ex Auckland 127 was the latest acquisition for the Foxton Trolleybus Museum in 1993 and it had been sitting intact on an Auckland property since its withdrawal in September 1980 at the closure of the Auckland system, and was being used as a sleepout. Incredibly, on arrival in Foxton after an 11-hour tow south, it needed only a quick check before the poles went up and it could run under power on the Foxton museum system.
Auckland No. 127 was the last trolleybus to operate on the pioneer Farmers free bus trolleybus route (of 1938) from Wyndham St. to Hobson St. on the last day of revenue service of the Auckland trolleybus system on Friday, 26 September 1980. It left Hobson St. Special for the City Depot (Gaunt St.) at 9pm.
ARA No. 127, working the Farmers Free Bus service, in Queen Street near Victoria Street West, June 25, 1980....
www.flickr.com/photos/lwdemery/14061583027/in/faves-51227...
Auckland No. 127 captured on the last day of the Farmers Free Bus service in September 1980......
www.flickr.com/photos/54165483@N07/5966154312/in/photolis...
Auckland 127 on the Foxton lifestyle property in 1997.....
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Bob Cabana, NASA associate administrator, deliver remarks during a press conference ahead of the launch of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, Wednesday, May 18, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test-2 will be Starliner’s second uncrewed flight test and will dock to the International Space Station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The mission, currently targeted for launch on 6:54 p.m. ET on May 19, will serve as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Boeing and NASA teams unload cargo from Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft after it landed at White Sands Missile Range’s Space Harbor, Wednesday, May 25, 2022, in New Mexico. Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) is Starliner’s second uncrewed flight test to the International Space Station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. OFT-2 serves as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft aboard is seen as it is rolled out of the Vertical Integration Facility to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 ahead of the Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) mission, Monday, Aug. 2, 2021 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test-2 will be Starliner’s second uncrewed flight test and will dock to the International Space Station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The mission, currently targeted for launch at 1:20 p.m. EDT Tuesday, Aug. 3, will serve as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft onboard is seen as it is rollout out of the Vertical Integration Facility to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 ahead of the Orbital Flight Test mission, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Orbital Flight Test with be Starliner’s maiden mission to the International Space Station for NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The mission, currently targeted for a 6:36 a.m. EST launch on Dec. 20, will serve as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
The Hispasat AG1 communications satellite completes the integration phase of testing in OHB System's cleanroom in Bremen, Germany. Hispasat AG1 will provide Spain, Portugal, the Canary Islands and the Americas with faster multimedia services through its reconfigurable Redsat payload.
AG1 is now at the IABG (Industrieanlagen-Betriebsgesellschaft) in Ottobrunn, Germany, undergoing environmental impact testing. There it will be placed in the thermal-vacuum chamber and its systems tested under ultra-high and low temperatures to simulate the conditions in space.
AG1 is the first satellite to use Europe’s new SmallGEO platform, developed through a public–private partnership between ESA and OHB. SmallGEO will strengthen the position of European industry in the commercial telecommunications market, expanding the current range of available products.
Credit:OHB
Manufacturer: BAE Systems
Operator BAE Systems / Royal Saudi Air Force:
Type: Mk165 Hawk (ZB122)
Event / Location: Delivery Flight / Warton Aerodrome
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft aboard is seen as it is rolled out of the Vertical Integration Facility to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 ahead of the Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) mission, Monday, Aug. 2, 2021 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test-2 will be Starliner’s second uncrewed flight test and will dock to the International Space Station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The mission, currently targeted for launch at 1:20 p.m. EDT Tuesday, Aug. 3, will serve as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Bus 65 (recently outshopped in this livery) is working a special tour to commemorate the closure of the Ipswich trolleybus system twenty years earlier (the last day was actually 23rd. August 1963 but the tour was staged on the nearest available weekend date). It's frightening to think that 2013 will mark the 50th. anniversary of the system's closure!
The bus is standing on the turning circle at the junction of Adair Road and Bramford Road (adjacent to the now demolished "Waveney" pub). Because of the railway bridge over Bramford Road, only single deck trolleybuses could be used on this route, one reason why it became the first service to go over to motorbus operation in 1953.
After the disaster that was the Grouse I, the URE commissioned EP Industries to design a new system instead of relying on their in-house production and design crews. Using modified plans for the Grouse, EP Industries crafted the Grouse II, a far superior version. The system's limbs remain very similar to the original's, but the torso was completely reworked. In addition, the head was outfitted with better armor and sensor systems, bringing it up to date with the Greco-Roman's Gladius systems. Small changes to the Grouse II's armor and mechanics have made it more agile and sturdy than ever before.
Even though the orbital defense force is still made primarily of modified Grouse I's, the Grouse II can be outfitted with a variant version of the original jetpack, allowing for atmospheric and sub-orbital flight.
So I fixed up the grouse a bit, mostly making the chest a bit less chubby. I'm pretty satisfied with how it turned out. As always, fits a fig.
Likes and comments are highly appreciated. Thanks for viewing!
The shipping container has been removed from the second of two Northrop Grumman-manufactured aft exit cones to arrive for the Space Launch System’s solid rocket boosters inside the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Dec. 9, 2019. The right aft exit cone was shipped from Promontory, Utah. It will be checked out and prepared for the Artemis I uncrewed test flight. The aft exit cones sit at the bottommost part of the twin boosters. The cones help provide added thrust for the boosters, while protecting the aft skirts from the thermal environment during launch. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
A rather glorious and beautifully produced (it is bound in slik tape) handbook describing the industrial and municipal services of the Lancashire borough of Salford and lavishly illustrated to show scenes of the borough and various industrial activities. It is obviously aimed at VIP visitors to the Civic Hall at the 1924 Briitsh Empire Exhibition at Wembley and as well as Salford's claims to fame and importance it includes descriptions of the various colonies and Dominions and their trade with Lancashire.
Salford was an important industrial centre in its own right, albeit often overshadowed by its neighbour Manchester, and indeed in 1926, two years after this publication, the County Borough was raised to City status matching that of its neighbour. Salford also shared the the spoils of the Manchester Ship Canal, that incredible engineering feat that had made landlocked Manchester one of the largest port facilities in the UK - if only because a large acreage of the docks themselves was administratively in Salford. It meant that the borough was well placed as an entrepot - handling imports and exports via rail and road links across the south and south east Lancashire conurbation. Needless to say cotton, raw in and finished goods out, made up a major part of this trade.
The book also describes Salford's municipal services such as transport, gas and electricity - seen as vital in 'selling' the borough to potential investors and traders. This advert is for Salford's Tramways Department and rather nicely shows an outline route map illustrating the tramways within the borough and the first few motor bus routes that where being operated. Salford, like many other Manchester area operators, ran an extensive system of linke and jointly operated services so for example both Manchester and Bury Corporation vehicles could be seen on Salford routes. The map shows the adjacent local authorities who, although they owned the actual tram tracks, leased operational rights to Salford Corporation. The system's tracks were also connected to those of a private operator, Lancashire United Tramways.
Salford was also famous in that due to the close proximity of the two city centres, divided by the River Irwell, many of its tram routes effectively terminated over the boundary in Manchester. The decision to scrap the trams was therefore bound up rather intimately with, in particular, Manchester's early decision to convert their system to buses, a process that strated in the 1930s but that was delayed by the outbreak of war in 1939. The last remaining trams soldiered on until 1947, two years before Manchester finally abandoned its last route and the motor bus reigned supreme. In 1969 Salford City Transport passed to SELNEC PTE although, in 1999, light rail returned to the City when the Metrolink system was extended to Eccles returning street operation to Eccles New Road.
A final touch is the coat of arms in the central cartouche of the map compass.