The Palais de Chaillot is a building at the top of the Chaillot hill in the Trocadéro area in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France.

 

Design

The building was designed in classicising "moderne" style by architects Louis-Hippolyte Boileau, Jacques Carlu and Léon Azéma. The Palais consists of two separate wings shaped to form a wide arc, which are those of the former Palais du Trocadéro with new taller portions built in front. The pair of larger central pavilions are also those of the former Palais du Trocadéro, encapsulated in new construction. The large central hall and towers of the old palais were demolished, leaving only the basement, with a wide esplanade created on top, establishing an open view from the place du Trocadéro to the Eiffel Tower and beyond.

 

The buildings are decorated with quotations by Paul Valéry, and sculptural groups at the attic level by Raymond Delamarre, Carlo Sarrabezolles and Alfred Bottiau. The eight gilded figures on the terrace of the Rights of Man are attributed to the sculptors Alexandre Descatoire, Marcel Gimond, Jean Paris dit Pryas, Paul Cornet, Lucien Brasseur, Robert Couturier, Paul Niclausse and Félix-Alexandre Desruelles.

 

The buildings now house a number of museums:

the Musée national de la Marine (naval museum) and the Musée de l'Homme (prehistory and anthropology) in the southern (Passy) wing,

the Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine, including the Musée national des Monuments Français, in the eastern (Paris) wing, from which one also enters the Théâtre national de Chaillot, a theatre below the esplanade.

History

1937 Expo: Construction

For the Exposition Internationale of 1937, the old 1878 Palais du Trocadéro was partly demolished and partly rebuilt to create the Palais de Chaillot.

 

It was on the front terrace of the palace that Adolf Hitler was pictured during his short tour of the city in 1940, with the Eiffel Tower in the background. This became an iconic image of the Second World War. On VE Day, 8 May 1945, the U.S. Army in Paris celebrated their victory on the same spot. Over 2800 soldiers, sailors and airmen listened to the victory speech to the troops by President Harry S. Truman, and then an address by the ranking officer in Paris, Lt. Gen John C. H. Lee, commanding general of the Com-Z logistics operations of the U.S. Army in Europe since May 1942.

 

Post-World War II

1948/1951: United Nations General Assembly

In 1948, the Palais de Chaillot hosted the third United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), and, in 1951, the sixth UNGA It is in the Palais de Chaillot that the UNGA adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10 December 1948. This event is now commemorated by a stone, and the esplanade is known as the esplanade des droits de l'homme ("esplanade of human rights").

 

1952–1959: Temporary NATO headquarters

The Palais de Chaillot also served as temporary NATO headquarters in Paris, from 1952 until the permanent HQ at "Palais de l'OTAN" (now Université Paris Dauphine) was inaugurated in 1959.

 

The Eiffel Tower is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower.

 

Locally nicknamed "La dame de fer" (French for "Iron Lady"), it was constructed from 1887 to 1889 as the centerpiece of the 1889 World's Fair and was initially criticised by some of France's leading artists and intellectuals for its design, but it has become a global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognisable structures in the world. The Eiffel Tower is the most visited monument with an entrance fee in the world; 6.91 million people ascended it in 2015. It was designated a monument historique in 1964, and was named part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site ("Paris, Banks of the Seine") in 1991.

 

The tower is 330 metres (1,083 ft) tall, about the same height as an 81-storey building, and the tallest structure in Paris. Its base is square, measuring 125 metres (410 ft) on each side. During its construction, the Eiffel Tower surpassed the Washington Monument to become the tallest man-made structure in the world, a title it held for 41 years until the Chrysler Building in New York City was finished in 1930. It was the first structure in the world to surpass both the 200-metre and 300-metre mark in height. Due to the addition of a broadcasting aerial at the top of the tower in 1957, it is now taller than the Chrysler Building by 5.2 metres (17 ft). Excluding transmitters, the Eiffel Tower is the second tallest free-standing structure in France after the Millau Viaduct.

 

The tower has three levels for visitors, with restaurants on the first and second levels. The top level's upper platform is 276 m (906 ft) above the ground – the highest observation deck accessible to the public in the European Union. Tickets can be purchased to ascend by stairs or lift to the first and second levels. The climb from ground level to the first level is over 300 steps, as is the climb from the first level to the second, making the entire ascent a 600 step climb. Although there is a staircase to the top level, it is usually accessible only by lift.

 

The design of the Eiffel Tower is attributed to Maurice Koechlin and Émile Nouguier, two senior engineers working for the Compagnie des Établissements Eiffel. It was envisioned after discussion about a suitable centerpiece for the proposed 1889 Exposition Universelle, a world's fair to celebrate the centennial of the French Revolution. Eiffel openly acknowledged that inspiration for a tower came from the Latting Observatory built in New York City in 1853. In May 1884, working at home, Koechlin made a sketch of their idea, described by him as "a great pylon, consisting of four lattice girders standing apart at the base and coming together at the top, joined together by metal trusses at regular intervals". Eiffel initially showed little enthusiasm, but he did approve further study, and the two engineers then asked Stephen Sauvestre, the head of the company's architectural department, to contribute to the design. Sauvestre added decorative arches to the base of the tower, a glass pavilion to the first level, and other embellishments.

 

The new version gained Eiffel's support: he bought the rights to the patent on the design which Koechlin, Nougier, and Sauvestre had taken out, and the design was put on display at the Exhibition of Decorative Arts in the autumn of 1884 under the company name. On 30 March 1885, Eiffel presented his plans to the Société des Ingénieurs Civils; after discussing the technical problems and emphasising the practical uses of the tower, he finished his talk by saying the tower would symbolise

[n]ot only the art of the modern engineer, but also the century of Industry and Science in which we are living, and for which the way was prepared by the great scientific movement of the eighteenth century and by the Revolution of 1789, to which this monument will be built as an expression of France's gratitude.

 

Little progress was made until 1886, when Jules Grévy was re-elected as president of France and Édouard Lockroy was appointed as minister for trade. A budget for the exposition was passed and, on 1 May, Lockroy announced an alteration to the terms of the open competition being held for a centrepiece to the exposition, which effectively made the selection of Eiffel's design a foregone conclusion, as entries had to include a study for a 300 m (980 ft) four-sided metal tower on the Champ de Mars. (A 300-metre tower was then considered a herculean engineering effort). On 12 May, a commission was set up to examine Eiffel's scheme and its rivals, which, a month later, decided that all the proposals except Eiffel's were either impractical or lacking in details.

 

After some debate about the exact location of the tower, a contract was signed on 8 January 1887. Eiffel signed it acting in his own capacity rather than as the representative of his company, the contract granting him 1.5 million francs toward the construction costs: less than a quarter of the estimated 6.5 million francs. Eiffel was to receive all income from the commercial exploitation of the tower during the exhibition and for the next 20 years. He later established a separate company to manage the tower, putting up half the necessary capital himself.

 

The Crédit Industriel et Commercial (C.I.C.) helped finance the construction of the Eiffel Tower. According to a New York Times investigation into France's colonial legacy in Haiti, at the time of the tower's construction, the bank was acquiring funds from predatory loans related to the Haiti indemnity controversy – a debt forced upon Haiti by France to pay for slaves lost following the Haitian Revolution – and transferring Haiti's wealth into France. The Times reported that the C.I.C. benefited from a loan that required the Haitian Government to pay the bank and its partner nearly half of all taxes the Haitian government collected on exports, writing that by "effectively choking off the nation’s primary source of income", the C.I.C. "left a crippling legacy of financial extraction and dashed hopes — even by the standards of a nation with a long history of both."

 

Work on the foundations started on 28 January 1887. Those for the east and south legs were straightforward, with each leg resting on four 2 m (6.6 ft) concrete slabs, one for each of the principal girders of each leg. The west and north legs, being closer to the river Seine, were more complicated: each slab needed two piles installed by using compressed-air caissons 15 m (49 ft) long and 6 m (20 ft) in diameter driven to a depth of 22 m (72 ft) to support the concrete slabs, which were 6 m (20 ft) thick. Each of these slabs supported a block of limestone with an inclined top to bear a supporting shoe for the ironwork.

 

Each shoe was anchored to the stonework by a pair of bolts 10 cm (4 in) in diameter and 7.5 m (25 ft) long. The foundations were completed on 30 June, and the erection of the ironwork began. The visible work on-site was complemented by the enormous amount of exacting preparatory work that took place behind the scenes: the drawing office produced 1,700 general drawings and 3,629 detailed drawings of the 18,038 different parts needed. The task of drawing the components was complicated by the complex angles involved in the design and the degree of precision required: the position of rivet holes was specified to within 1 mm (0.04 in) and angles worked out to one second of arc. The finished components, some already riveted together into sub-assemblies, arrived on horse-drawn carts from a factory in the nearby Parisian suburb of Levallois-Perret and were first bolted together, with the bolts being replaced with rivets as construction progressed. No drilling or shaping was done on site: if any part did not fit, it was sent back to the factory for alteration. In all, 18,038 pieces were joined together using 2.5 million rivets.

 

At first, the legs were constructed as cantilevers, but about halfway to the first level construction was paused to create a substantial timber scaffold. This renewed concerns about the structural integrity of the tower, and sensational headlines such as "Eiffel Suicide!" and "Gustave Eiffel Has Gone Mad: He Has Been Confined in an Asylum" appeared in the tabloid press. At this stage, a small "creeper" crane designed to move up the tower was installed in each leg. They made use of the guides for the lifts which were to be fitted in the four legs. The critical stage of joining the legs at the first level was completed by the end of March 1888. Although the metalwork had been prepared with the utmost attention to detail, provision had been made to carry out small adjustments to precisely align the legs; hydraulic jacks were fitted to the shoes at the base of each leg, capable of exerting a force of 800 tonnes, and the legs were intentionally constructed at a slightly steeper angle than necessary, being supported by sandboxes on the scaffold. Although construction involved 300 on-site employees, due to Eiffel's safety precautions and the use of movable gangways, guardrails and screens, only one person died.

 

The main structural work was completed at the end of March 1889 and, on 31 March, Eiffel celebrated by leading a group of government officials, accompanied by representatives of the press, to the top of the tower. Because the lifts were not yet in operation, the ascent was made by foot, and took over an hour, with Eiffel stopping frequently to explain various features. Most of the party chose to stop at the lower levels, but a few, including the structural engineer, Émile Nouguier, the head of construction, Jean Compagnon, the President of the City Council, and reporters from Le Figaro and Le Monde Illustré, completed the ascent. At 2:35 pm, Eiffel hoisted a large Tricolour to the accompaniment of a 25-gun salute fired at the first level.

 

There was still work to be done, particularly on the lifts and facilities, and the tower was not opened to the public until nine days after the opening of the exposition on 6 May; even then, the lifts had not been completed. The tower was an instant success with the public, and nearly 30,000 visitors made the 1,710-step climb to the top before the lifts entered service on 26 May. Tickets cost 2 francs for the first level, 3 for the second, and 5 for the top, with half-price admission on Sundays, and by the end of the exhibition there had been 1,896,987 visitors.

 

After dark, the tower was lit by hundreds of gas lamps, and a beacon sent out three beams of red, white and blue light. Two searchlights mounted on a circular rail were used to illuminate various buildings of the exposition. The daily opening and closing of the exposition were announced by a cannon at the top.

 

On the second level, the French newspaper Le Figaro had an office and a printing press, where a special souvenir edition, Le Figaro de la Tour, was made. There was also a pâtisserie.

 

At the top, there was a post office where visitors could send letters and postcards as a memento of their visit. Graffitists were also catered for: sheets of paper were mounted on the walls each day for visitors to record their impressions of the tower. Gustave Eiffel described some of the responses as vraiment curieuse ("truly curious").

 

Famous visitors to the tower included the Prince of Wales, Sarah Bernhardt, "Buffalo Bill" Cody (his Wild West show was an attraction at the exposition) and Thomas Edison. Eiffel invited Edison to his private apartment at the top of the tower, where Edison presented him with one of his phonographs, a new invention and one of the many highlights of the exposition. Edison signed the guestbook with this message:

To M Eiffel the Engineer the brave builder of so gigantic and original specimen of modern Engineering from one who has the greatest respect and admiration for all Engineers including the Great Engineer the Bon Dieu, Thomas Edison.

 

Eiffel had a permit for the tower to stand for 20 years. It was to be dismantled in 1909, when its ownership would revert to the City of Paris. The City had planned to tear it down (part of the original contest rules for designing a tower was that it should be easy to dismantle) but as the tower proved to be valuable for radio telegraphy, it was allowed to remain after the expiry of the permit, and from 1910 it also became part of the International Time Service.

 

Eiffel made use of his apartment at the top of the tower to carry out meteorological observations, and also used the tower to perform experiments on the action of air resistance on falling bodies.

 

Subsequent events

Eiffel had a permit for the tower to stand for 20 years. It was to be dismantled in 1909, when its ownership would revert to the City of Paris. The city had planned to tear it down (part of the original contest rules for designing a tower was that it should be easy to dismantle) but as the tower proved to be valuable for many innovations in the early 20th century, particularly radio telegraphy, it was allowed to remain after the expiry of the permit, and from 1910 it also became part of the International Time Service.

 

For the 1900 Exposition Universelle, the lifts in the east and west legs were replaced by lifts running as far as the second level constructed by the French firm Fives-Lille. These had a compensating mechanism to keep the floor level as the angle of ascent changed at the first level, and were driven by a similar hydraulic mechanism as the Otis lifts, although this was situated at the base of the tower. Hydraulic pressure was provided by pressurised accumulators located near this mechanism. At the same time the lift in the north pillar was removed and replaced by a staircase to the first level. The layout of both first and second levels was modified, with the space available for visitors on the second level. The original lift in the south pillar was removed 13 years later.

 

On 19 October 1901, Alberto Santos-Dumont, flying his No.6 airship, won a 100,000-franc prize offered by Henri Deutsch de la Meurthe for the first person to make a flight from St. Cloud to the Eiffel Tower and back in less than half an hour.

 

In 1910, Father Theodor Wulf measured radiant energy at the top and bottom of the tower. He found more at the top than expected, incidentally discovering what are known today as cosmic rays. Two years later, on 4 February 1912, Austrian tailor Franz Reichelt died after jumping from the first level of the tower (a height of 57 m) to demonstrate his parachute design. In 1914, at the outbreak of World War I, a radio transmitter located in the tower jammed German radio communications, seriously hindering their advance on Paris and contributing to the Allied victory at the First Battle of the Marne. From 1925 to 1934, illuminated signs for Citroën adorned three of the tower's sides, making it the tallest advertising space in the world at the time. In April 1935, the tower was used to make experimental low-resolution television transmissions, using a shortwave transmitter of 200 watts power. On 17 November, an improved 180-line transmitter was installed.

 

On two separate but related occasions in 1925, the con artist Victor Lustig "sold" the tower for scrap metal. A year later, in February 1926, pilot Leon Collet was killed trying to fly under the tower. His aircraft became entangled in an aerial belonging to a wireless station. A bust of Gustave Eiffel by Antoine Bourdelle was unveiled at the base of the north leg on 2 May 1929. In 1930, the tower lost the title of the world's tallest structure when the Chrysler Building in New York City was completed. In 1938, the decorative arcade around the first level was removed.

 

Upon the German occupation of Paris in 1940, the lift cables were cut by the French. The tower was closed to the public during the occupation and the lifts were not repaired until 1946. In 1940, German soldiers had to climb the tower to hoist a swastika-centered Reichskriegsflagge, but the flag was so large it blew away just a few hours later, and was replaced by a smaller one. When visiting Paris, Hitler chose to stay on the ground. When the Allies were nearing Paris in August 1944, Hitler ordered General Dietrich von Choltitz, the military governor of Paris, to demolish the tower along with the rest of the city. Von Choltitz disobeyed the order. On 25 August, before the Germans had been driven out of Paris, the German flag was replaced with a Tricolour by two men from the French Naval Museum, who narrowly beat three men led by Lucien Sarniguet, who had lowered the Tricolour on 13 June 1940 when Paris fell to the Germans.

 

A fire started in the television transmitter on 3 January 1956, damaging the top of the tower. Repairs took a year, and in 1957, the present radio aerial was added to the top. In 1964, the Eiffel Tower was officially declared to be a historical monument by the Minister of Cultural Affairs, André Malraux. A year later, an additional lift system was installed in the north pillar.

 

According to interviews, in 1967, Montreal Mayor Jean Drapeau negotiated a secret agreement with Charles de Gaulle for the tower to be dismantled and temporarily relocated to Montreal to serve as a landmark and tourist attraction during Expo 67. The plan was allegedly vetoed by the company operating the tower out of fear that the French government could refuse permission for the tower to be restored in its original location.

 

In 1982, the original lifts between the second and third levels were replaced after 97 years in service. These had been closed to the public between November and March because the water in the hydraulic drive tended to freeze. The new cars operate in pairs, with one counterbalancing the other, and perform the journey in one stage, reducing the journey time from eight minutes to less than two minutes. At the same time, two new emergency staircases were installed, replacing the original spiral staircases. In 1983, the south pillar was fitted with an electrically driven Otis lift to serve the Jules Verne restaurant.[citation needed] The Fives-Lille lifts in the east and west legs, fitted in 1899, were extensively refurbished in 1986. The cars were replaced, and a computer system was installed to completely automate the lifts. The motive power was moved from the water hydraulic system to a new electrically driven oil-filled hydraulic system, and the original water hydraulics were retained solely as a counterbalance system. A service lift was added to the south pillar for moving small loads and maintenance personnel three years later.

 

Robert Moriarty flew a Beechcraft Bonanza under the tower on 31 March 1984. In 1987, A. J. Hackett made one of his first bungee jumps from the top of the Eiffel Tower, using a special cord he had helped develop. Hackett was arrested by the police. On 27 October 1991, Thierry Devaux, along with mountain guide Hervé Calvayrac, performed a series of acrobatic figures while bungee jumping from the second floor of the tower. Facing the Champ de Mars, Devaux used an electric winch between figures to go back up to the second floor. When firemen arrived, he stopped after the sixth jump.

 

For its "Countdown to the Year 2000" celebration on 31 December 1999, flashing lights and high-powered searchlights were installed on the tower. During the last three minutes of the year, the lights were turned on starting from the base of the tower and continuing to the top to welcome 2000 with a huge fireworks show. An exhibition above a cafeteria on the first floor commemorates this event. The searchlights on top of the tower made it a beacon in Paris's night sky, and 20,000 flashing bulbs gave the tower a sparkly appearance for five minutes every hour on the hour.

 

The lights sparkled blue for several nights to herald the new millennium on 31 December 2000. The sparkly lighting continued for 18 months until July 2001. The sparkling lights were turned on again on 21 June 2003, and the display was planned to last for 10 years before they needed replacing.

 

The tower received its 200,000,000th guest on 28 November 2002.The tower has operated at its maximum capacity of about 7 million visitors per year since 2003. In 2004, the Eiffel Tower began hosting a seasonal ice rink on the first level. A glass floor was installed on the first level during the 2014 refurbishment.

 

Design

The puddle iron (wrought iron) of the Eiffel Tower weighs 7,300 tonnes, and the addition of lifts, shops and antennae have brought the total weight to approximately 10,100 tonnes. As a demonstration of the economy of design, if the 7,300 tonnes of metal in the structure were melted down, it would fill the square base, 125 metres (410 ft) on each side, to a depth of only 6.25 cm (2.46 in) assuming the density of the metal to be 7.8 tonnes per cubic metre. Additionally, a cubic box surrounding the tower (324 m × 125 m × 125 m) would contain 6,200 tonnes of air, weighing almost as much as the iron itself. Depending on the ambient temperature, the top of the tower may shift away from the sun by up to 18 cm (7 in) due to thermal expansion of the metal on the side facing the sun.

 

Wind and weather considerations

When it was built, many were shocked by the tower's daring form. Eiffel was accused of trying to create something artistic with no regard to the principles of engineering. However, Eiffel and his team – experienced bridge builders – understood the importance of wind forces, and knew that if they were going to build the tallest structure in the world, they had to be sure it could withstand them. In an interview with the newspaper Le Temps published on 14 February 1887, Eiffel said:

 

Is it not true that the very conditions which give strength also conform to the hidden rules of harmony? ... Now to what phenomenon did I have to give primary concern in designing the Tower? It was wind resistance. Well then! I hold that the curvature of the monument's four outer edges, which is as mathematical calculation dictated it should be ... will give a great impression of strength and beauty, for it will reveal to the eyes of the observer the boldness of the design as a whole.

 

He used graphical methods to determine the strength of the tower and empirical evidence to account for the effects of wind, rather than a mathematical formula. Close examination of the tower reveals a basically exponential shape.[69] All parts of the tower were overdesigned to ensure maximum resistance to wind forces. The top half was even assumed to have no gaps in the latticework. In the years since it was completed, engineers have put forward various mathematical hypotheses in an attempt to explain the success of the design. The most recent, devised in 2004 after letters sent by Eiffel to the French Society of Civil Engineers in 1885 were translated into English, is described as a non-linear integral equation based on counteracting the wind pressure on any point of the tower with the tension between the construction elements at that point.

 

The Eiffel Tower sways by up to 9 cm (3.5 in) in the wind.

 

Ground floor

The four columns of the tower each house access stairs and elevators to the first two floors, while at the south column only the elevator to the second floor restaurant is publicly accessible.

 

1st floor

The first floor is publicly accessible by elevator or stairs. When originally built, the first level contained three restaurants – one French, one Russian and one Flemish — and an "Anglo-American Bar". After the exposition closed, the Flemish restaurant was converted to a 250-seat theatre. Today there is the Le 58 Tour Eiffel restaurant and other facilities.

 

2nd floor

The second floor is publicly accessible by elevator or stairs and has a restaurant called Le Jules Verne, a gourmet restaurant with its own lift going up from the south column to the second level. This restaurant has one star in the Michelin Red Guide. It was run by the multi-Michelin star chef Alain Ducasse from 2007 to 2017. As of May 2019, it is managed by three-star chef Frédéric Anton. It owes its name to the famous science-fiction writer Jules Verne.

 

3rd floor

Originally there were laboratories for various experiments, and a small apartment reserved for Gustave Eiffel to entertain guests, which is now open to the public, complete with period decorations and lifelike mannequins of Eiffel and some of his notable guests.

 

From 1937 until 1981, there was a restaurant near the top of the tower. It was removed due to structural considerations; engineers had determined it was too heavy and was causing the tower to sag. This restaurant was sold to an American restaurateur and transported to New York and then New Orleans. It was rebuilt on the edge of New Orleans' Garden District as a restaurant and later event hall. Today there is a champagne bar.

 

Lifts

The arrangement of the lifts has been changed several times during the tower's history. Given the elasticity of the cables and the time taken to align the cars with the landings, each lift, in normal service, takes an average of 8 minutes and 50 seconds to do the round trip, spending an average of 1 minute and 15 seconds at each level. The average journey time between levels is 1 minute. The original hydraulic mechanism is on public display in a small museum at the base of the east and west legs. Because the mechanism requires frequent lubrication and maintenance, public access is often restricted. The rope mechanism of the north tower can be seen as visitors exit the lift.

 

Equipping the tower with adequate and safe passenger lifts was a major concern of the government commission overseeing the Exposition. Although some visitors could be expected to climb to the first level, or even the second, lifts clearly had to be the main means of ascent.

 

Constructing lifts to reach the first level was relatively straightforward: the legs were wide enough at the bottom and so nearly straight that they could contain a straight track, and a contract was given to the French company Roux, Combaluzier & Lepape for two lifts to be fitted in the east and west legs. Roux, Combaluzier & Lepape used a pair of endless chains with rigid, articulated links to which the car was attached. Lead weights on some links of the upper or return sections of the chains counterbalanced most of the car's weight. The car was pushed up from below, not pulled up from above: to prevent the chain buckling, it was enclosed in a conduit. At the bottom of the run, the chains passed around 3.9 m (12 ft 10 in) diameter sprockets. Smaller sprockets at the top guided the chains.

  

The Otis lifts originally fitted in the north and south legs

Installing lifts to the second level was more of a challenge because a straight track was impossible. No French company wanted to undertake the work. The European branch of Otis Brothers & Company submitted a proposal but this was rejected: the fair's charter ruled out the use of any foreign material in the construction of the tower. The deadline for bids was extended but still no French companies put themselves forward, and eventually the contract was given to Otis in July 1887. Otis were confident they would eventually be given the contract and had already started creating designs.

 

The car was divided into two superimposed compartments, each holding 25 passengers, with the lift operator occupying an exterior platform on the first level. Motive power was provided by an inclined hydraulic ram 12.67 m (41 ft 7 in) long and 96.5 cm (38.0 in) in diameter in the tower leg with a stroke of 10.83 m (35 ft 6 in): this moved a carriage carrying six sheaves. Five fixed sheaves were mounted higher up the leg, producing an arrangement similar to a block and tackle but acting in reverse, multiplying the stroke of the piston rather than the force generated. The hydraulic pressure in the driving cylinder was produced by a large open reservoir on the second level. After being exhausted from the cylinder, the water was pumped back up to the reservoir by two pumps in the machinery room at the base of the south leg. This reservoir also provided power to the lifts to the first level.

 

The original lifts for the journey between the second and third levels were supplied by Léon Edoux. A pair of 81 m (266 ft) hydraulic rams were mounted on the second level, reaching nearly halfway up to the third level. One lift car was mounted on top of these rams: cables ran from the top of this car up to sheaves on the third level and back down to a second car. Each car travelled only half the distance between the second and third levels and passengers were required to change lifts halfway by means of a short gangway. The 10-ton cars each held 65 passengers.

 

Engraved names

Gustave Eiffel engraved on the tower the names of 72 French scientists, engineers and mathematicians in recognition of their contributions to the building of the tower. Eiffel chose this "invocation of science" because of his concern over the artists' protest. At the beginning of the 20th century, the engravings were painted over, but they were restored in 1986–87 by the Société Nouvelle d'exploitation de la Tour Eiffel, a company operating the tower.

 

Aesthetics

The tower is painted in three shades: lighter at the top, getting progressively darker towards the bottom to complement the Parisian sky. It was originally reddish brown; this changed in 1968 to a bronze colour known as "Eiffel Tower Brown". In what is expected to be a temporary change, the tower is being painted gold in commemoration of the upcoming 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

 

The only non-structural elements are the four decorative grill-work arches, added in Sauvestre's sketches, which served to make the tower look more substantial and to make a more impressive entrance to the exposition.

 

A pop-culture movie cliché is that the view from a Parisian window always includes the tower. In reality, since zoning restrictions limit the height of most buildings in Paris to seven storeys, only a small number of tall buildings have a clear view of the tower.

 

Maintenance

Maintenance of the tower includes applying 60 tons of paint every seven years to prevent it from rusting. The tower has been completely repainted at least 19 times since it was built. Lead paint was still being used as recently as 2001 when the practice was stopped out of concern for the environment.

 

Communications

The tower has been used for making radio transmissions since the beginning of the 20th century. Until the 1950s, sets of aerial wires ran from the cupola to anchors on the Avenue de Suffren and Champ de Mars. These were connected to longwave transmitters in small bunkers. In 1909, a permanent underground radio centre was built near the south pillar, which still exists today. On 20 November 1913, the Paris Observatory, using the Eiffel Tower as an aerial, exchanged wireless signals with the United States Naval Observatory, which used an aerial in Arlington County, Virginia. The object of the transmissions was to measure the difference in longitude between Paris and Washington, D.C. Today, radio and digital television signals are transmitted from the Eiffel Tower.

 

Digital television

A television antenna was first installed on the tower in 1957, increasing its height by 18.7 m (61 ft). Work carried out in 2000 added a further 5.3 m (17 ft), giving the current height of 324 m (1,063 ft).[59] Analogue television signals from the Eiffel Tower ceased on 8 March 2011.

 

Taller structures

The Eiffel Tower was the world's tallest structure when completed in 1889, a distinction it retained until 1929 when the Chrysler Building in New York City was topped out. The tower also lost its standing as the world's tallest tower to the Tokyo Tower in 1958 but retains its status as the tallest freestanding (non-guyed) structure in France.

 

Transport

The nearest Paris Métro station is Bir-Hakeim and the nearest RER station is Champ de Mars-Tour Eiffel. The tower itself is located at the intersection of the quai Branly and the Pont d'Iéna.

 

Popularity

Number of visitors per year between 1889 and 2004

More than 300 million people have visited the tower since it was completed in 1889. In 2015, there were 6.91 million visitors. The tower is the most-visited paid monument in the world. An average of 25,000 people ascend the tower every day (which can result in long queues).

 

Illumination copyright

The tower and its image have been in the public domain since 1993, 70 years after Eiffel's death. In June 1990 a French court ruled that a special lighting display on the tower in 1989 to mark the tower's 100th anniversary was an "original visual creation" protected by copyright. The Court of Cassation, France's judicial court of last resort, upheld the ruling in March 1992. The Société d'Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (SETE) now considers any illumination of the tower to be a separate work of art that falls under copyright. As a result, the SNTE alleges that it is illegal to publish contemporary photographs of the lit tower at night without permission in France and some other countries for commercial use. For this reason, it is often rare to find images or videos of the lit tower at night on stock image sites, and media outlets rarely broadcast images or videos of it.

 

The imposition of copyright has been controversial. The Director of Documentation for what was then called the Société Nouvelle d'exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (SNTE), Stéphane Dieu, commented in 2005: "It is really just a way to manage commercial use of the image, so that it isn't used in ways [of which] we don't approve". SNTE made over €1 million from copyright fees in 2002. However, it could also be used to restrict the publication of tourist photographs of the tower at night, as well as hindering non-profit and semi-commercial publication of images of the illuminated tower.

 

The copyright claim itself has never been tested in courts to date, according to a 2014 article in the Art Law Journal, and there has never been an attempt to track down millions of people who have posted and shared their images of the illuminated tower on the Internet worldwide. It added, however, that permissive situation may arise on commercial use of such images, like in a magazine, on a film poster, or on product packaging.

 

French doctrine and jurisprudence allows pictures incorporating a copyrighted work as long as their presence is incidental or accessory to the subject being represented, a reasoning akin to the de minimis rule. Therefore, SETE may be unable to claim copyright on photographs of Paris which happen to include the lit tower.

 

Replicas

As one of the most famous landmarks in the world, the Eiffel Tower has been the inspiration for the creation of many replicas and similar towers. An early example is Blackpool Tower in England. The mayor of Blackpool, Sir John Bickerstaffe, was so impressed on seeing the Eiffel Tower at the 1889 exposition that he commissioned a similar tower to be built in his town. It opened in 1894 and is 158.1 m (519 ft) tall. Tokyo Tower in Japan, built as a communications tower in 1958, was also inspired by the Eiffel Tower.[111]

 

There are various scale models of the tower in the United States, including a half-scale version at the Paris Las Vegas, Nevada, one in Paris, Texas built in 1993, and two 1:3 scale models at Kings Island, located in Mason, Ohio, and Kings Dominion, Virginia, amusement parks opened in 1972 and 1975 respectively. Two 1:3 scale models can be found in China, one in Durango, Mexico that was donated by the local French community, and several across Europe.

 

In 2011, the TV show Pricing the Priceless on the National Geographic Channel speculated that a full-size replica of the tower would cost approximately US$480 million to build. This would be more than ten times the cost of the original (nearly 8 million in 1890 Francs; ~US$40 million in 2018 dollars).

To me this scene encapsulates the beauty of the Australian outback with three main features coming together to form the image - the termite mound, boab trees and the red ragged range. Of course the wonderful warm outback light also helps!

 

This was another fantastic location along the Gibb River Road in El Questro Park with the Cockburn ranges again providing the backdrop.

 

I hope that you enjoy and if you have the time please let me know your thoughts, which I always appreciate hearing!

 

Taken with a Pentax 645Nii medium format film camera and fuji velvia 50 film

 

www.markwassellphotography.com

Sentinel-3A satellite encapsulated within its Rockot fairing, on 9 February 2016, at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia.

 

Once safely in orbit and fully commissioned, this new satellite will begin its mission to map Earth’s oceans and land surfaces with its powerful optical and radar systems. The Sentinel-3 mission is set to play a key role in the world’s largest environmental monitoring programme – Copernicus.

 

Credit: ESA–Stephane Corvaja, 2016

Encapsulated in its payload fairing, NASA's Parker Solar Probe is prepared to be lifted for mating to a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 37 on Tuesday, July 31, 2018. The Parker Solar Probe is being prepared for a mission to perform the closest-ever observations of a star when it travels through the Sun's atmosphere, called the corona. The probe will rely on measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and the Sun-Earth connection.

Photo credit: NASA/Leif Heimbold

NASA image use policy.

The U.S. Air Force’s Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) Flight-4 satellite, built by Lockheed Martin, completed encapsulation on January 9, 2018. SBIRS GEO Flight-4 will be the latest satellite to join the Air Force’s SBIRS constellation, which enhances our military's ability to detect missile launches, supports ballistic missile defense, expands technical intelligence gathering, and bolsters situational awareness on the battlefield. SBIRS GEO Flight-4 is expected to launch on January 18 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

India ink on paper

5" x 7"

2012

 

SOLD

The Trellchem® Hands-Free Visor Light System is a short throw illumination system for hands-free operation, designed to offer improved visibility and a safer working environment for the hazmat responder.

  

• LED (Light Emitting Diodes) - long life time, durable quality & energy efficient

• Panoramic lighting - spreads the light through a wide area with no risk of blinding reflections

• Lightweight - adds minimally to the total weight carried

• Slim design - minimal interference with movement and other equipment

• Fits in Trellchem gastight suits of encapsulating design (Level A), and can easily be installed in existing type CV or VP1 suits

• US patent pending

  

For more information on the Trellchem® Hands-Free Visor Light System go to protective.ansell.com/en/Products/Trellchem/Accessories/T...

 

Embracing Simplicity

 

“I think this photo encapsulates the beautiful simplicity that is integral to London culture. My favorite memories of my study abroad were always the quiet moments, like looking out at the River Thames, having just seen a great show or eaten food at a charming pub, and just enjoying what was in front of me.”

 

—Tess McGuinness ’18, Theater FSP, England, summer 2015

 

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An alternative way of creating shadow effects in Lego. The roof was loose and adjustable so I could create the feeling that the light was comin from a light in the ceiling above the door and to give some exciting shadow effects in the stairs.

Workers prepare to encapsulate the Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft in its fairing, Friday, March 20, 2015 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Expedition 43 NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly, and Russian Cosmonauts Gennady Padalka, and Mikhail Kornienko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) are scheduled to launch to the International Space Station in the Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan March 28, Kazakh time. As the one-year crew, Kelly and Kornienko will return to Earth on Soyuz TMA-18M in March 2016. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

It is difficult in a way to describe or encapsulate Rowland Emett's work! Emett (1906 - 1990) was foremost a cartoonist and illustrator but he also designed whimsical kinetic scultures and models based on his drawings, several of which were for commercial or advertising projects. Transport, such as steam trains and trams were close to Emett's heart and much of his work and this 1952 brochure, by the British Travel Association, plays on his sense of fancy to the greatest extent!

 

The event featured three typical London red Central Area buses making their way in a 'caravan' across the US and back, along with 'authentic Cockney conductors' and a team of mechanics and engineers to make sure the vehicles did their duty. The brochure shows a vivid description of the buses and crews, a map of the journey with the major stops and an exhortation to "visit Britain", the latetr being the main reason for the trip. The buses were associated with displays of the charms of the UK and associated literature.

 

The three buses were two AEC built RT-types, RT 2775 (LYR 826) and RT 2776 (LYR 827) along with a Leyland RTL-type RTL 1307 (LYR 395), all three new in 1952. They were shipped aboard SS Parthia and on arrival were given New York registrations (NY53.114 - 116) and the whole affair was such a success the tour was extended to include various Canadian cities.

 

Back in the UK the buses went into normal passenger service having been where necessary re-fitted and they received, from memory, commemorative plaques on the interior of the vehicles as one plate survives in the LTM Collection. Indeed, one bus survives in preservation, RT 2775, the other two having been sold to Ceylon (RT 1307) and RT 2776 being scrapped in 1976.

Chassis n° 1693

Motor n° 555

 

'Bugattis encapsulate concepts of engineering which, once seen, change your ideas radically and definitively. Drive them, and you realise that each car is form and engineering in equilibrium, and a work of art.' – William Stobbs, Les Grandes Routières.

 

By the early 1930s Ettore Bugatti had established an unrivalled reputation for building cars with outstanding performance on road or track; the world's greatest racing drivers enjoying countless successes aboard the Molsheim factory's products and often choosing them for their everyday transport.

 

The original Type 13 'Brescia' was developed from the first Bugatti to be built at Molsheim - the short-wheelbase Type 13 of 1910. Longer wheelbase Type 22 and Type 23 models were made, both of which used the single-overhead-camshaft, 16-valve, long-stroke engine that Ettore Bugatti had designed in 1914, and were built alongside 8-valve 'Petit Pur Sang' versions. First seen in 1919, the 16-valve car won at Le Mans in 1920 and took the name 'Brescia' following the factory's first four places at the 1921 Italian Grand Prix for Voiturettes, held at the eponymous racetrack in Lombardy. Some 2,000 Brescias were built between 1914 and 1926 with engine capacities of 1,368, 1,453 and 1,496cc.

 

The Bugatti Brescia was one of the outstanding small sports cars of its day, being able to cruise comfortably at around 100-110km/h while delivering surprisingly good fuel economy; indeed, a quarter-century later there were few 1½-litre cars capable of matching its performance.

 

The Bugatti Type 27 Brescia, as seen here, was essentially the same as the preceding Type 22/23, but with a more powerful 16-valve, 1,496cc engine producing 50bhp, some 10 horsepower more than before. This particular car was delivered to Le Claux in France on 15th May 1923 with the registration '3624 M3'. On June 13th 1924, Joseph Barrel of La Seyne sur Mer bought the Bugatti, which one week later was registered to one M Cordesse of 363 Rue Paradis in Marseille.

Between January 1925 and October 1926, the Brescia had a further five owners: Raoul Peralai of 98 Boulevard de la Madeleine in Marseille; Raymond Leon, Boulevard Roi Rene, Aix en Provence; Alphonse Pogalatti, 6 Cours Gambetta, Aix en Provence; Robert Mallet, Martigues; and Olivier Fernand, 6 Boulevard de la Republique in Salon de Provence.

 

Towards the end of the 1920s, the car was - reputedly - used for a hold-up in Le Bois de Boulogne, Paris. Apparently, the owner, together with an accomplice, would cruise Le Bois de Boulogne looking for potential lady victims. When a target was spotted, the accomplice would jump out of the car, grab the unfortunate woman's handbag, and jump in the back. Swift and nimble, the Brescia would have been the ideal getaway car for negotiating the dense Parisian traffic. From 13th June 1930, the registration was '8106 RB 9'.

 

In 1934, the Brescia was purchased by Louis François Arfeuille, maitre d'hôtel at Fouquets restaurant on the Champs Élysées, whose name is recorded on a plate fixed to the car. For the next 25 years, the Bugatti remained off the road in barn storage at Saint-Martial-le-Vieux in central France, concealed beneath layers of straw and earth. Reregistered as '457 00 AA 23', it was purchased in 1959 by Rene Moeuf and brought back to working condition that same year (see letter on file). Bugatti collectors, the Schlumpf brothers, went to see Moeuf and offered to buy the car for their Mulhouse collection for 800,000 French francs. The Schlumpfs' letter is available, and we are advised that there are three photographs of this car in the Bugatti Trust archive at Prescott.

 

Rene Moeuf must have declined their offer, for the car's next owner was Bruno Dalmas, who bought it in 1969 and kept it until 1977. On 12th March '77, Bruno Dalmas sold the car for 25,000 French francs to J P Oosterbaan of The Hague, Netherlands. The registration at this time was '457 AA 23', changing to 'AM-04-76' in the Netherlands. Mr Oosterbaan had restored two Morettis, and to pay the bill for the coachwork, he gave the Brescia to the coachbuilder, who sold it to Hugo Modderman at the beginning of 2006. Mr Modderman then had the Bugatti mechanically restored at Ventoux Moteurs Ingénierie (Laurent Rondoni) in Carpentras. This most fastidious restoration involved completely rebuilding engine, gearbox, brakes, coachwork, etc. Related invoices are on file and the car also comes with a Monegasque Carte Grise. While in the vendor's possession, the Brescia has successfully participated in numerous events run by the Dutch Bugatti Club (BCN), and in 2014 won the Preservation Class at the Schloss Bensberg Concours d'Élégance. A wonderful opportunity to acquire a well and original documented Brescia.

 

Les Grandes Marques du Monde au Grand Palais

Bonhams

Sold for € 506.000

Estimated : € 380.000 - 540.000

 

Parijs - Paris

Frankrijk - France

February 2017

GPS III SV01 Encapsulated

1932 Chevrolet Confederate Series BA

General Motors marketed the Chevy Confederate as the 'Baby Cadillac' and shared many design similarities to its larger, more expensive, and more exclusive sibling. It wore a Cadillac-style integrated radiator shell, a longer hood, new deep crown front fenders encapsulating 18-inch wire wheels, and chrome-plated rectangular opening doors to cool the engine in the hood sides instead of louvers. Deluxe models, which added approximately $20 to the base price, added chrome-plated door louvers. The list of standard amenities included a tilting non-glare windshield, an adjustable seat, and a built-in sun visor. The six-cylinder engine displaced 194 cubic-inches, had 5.2:1 compression, overhead valves, solid valve lifters, and developed 60 horsepower. The one-barrel downdraft carburetor and counter-balanced crankshaft were new features for 1932, endowing the engine with ten additional horsepower over the previous year. The engine was backed by a three-speed manual synchromesh transmission with a single plate clutch and floor shift controls. This was the first year that synchromesh transmission was offered in all three forward gears. Mechanical features included the semi-floating rear axle, Selective Free-Wheeling (first offered in 1932), and an added frame cross-member to aid in ride comfort. Free wheeling allowed the car to coast when the driver took their foot off the accelerator pedal, offering greater fuel economy. Customers soon found the lack of downhill engine braking to be more harrowing than it was worth and the option soon fell out of favor.

 

The interiors had gas gauges located on the dashboard, plus additional gauges with a circular shape and dark-colored faces.

 

Factory literature claimed a top speed of 70-mph and period Chevrolet advertising stated 'Looming larger every day as the Great American Value.'

 

The 1932 Chevrolet Confederate Series BA rested on a comfortable 109-inch wheelbase and rode on 18x5.25 tires. Its wheelbase was slightly longer than the Ford Model 18 which measured 106-inches and both the Chevy and Ford price ranges were nearly identical. 1932 was the first year that Ford switched from the four-cylinder power to the flathead V8 offering 65 horsepower from its 221 cubic-inch displacement. The Fords had all-steel bodies, while the Chevrolets had the solid Fisher Body using wood and steel framing construction, plus a more rigid chassis structure and hard-rubber engine mounts affording the Chevy a smooth and refined ride at a reasonable cost. Closing a Chevy door framed in wood had a favorable and solid 'thunk' while the Ford and had a 'tiny clank.' Buyers preferred the solid nature, styling, affordability, and amenities of the Chevy, resulting in 306,716 examples built during the calendar year compared to Ford's production of 287,285 units.

 

Body styles and Price

The Fisher-built bodies included a roadster priced at $445, a sport roadster at $485, a coupe and five-window coupe at $490, a phaeton and coach at $495, and a sport coupe at $535. The Deluxe five-window coupe listed for $510 and the Deluxe coach was priced at $515. A five-passenger coupe was $575, the sedan at $590, and the convertible at $595. The most expensive body styles were the special sedan at $615 and the landau phaeton at $625. The special sedan was equipped with front and rear bumpers, dome light, silk assist cords, and a robe rail.

 

Production

The most popular body style was the two-door coach with seating for five, with 132,109 examples built. The second most popular body style was the special sedan with 52,446 units built, followed by 34,796 examples of the five-window coupe, 27,718 of the sedan, and 26,623 of the Deluxe five-window coupe. The most exclusive was the phaeton with 419 examples built, followed by 1,118 of the roadster, 1,602 of the landau phaeton, 2,226 of the sport coupe, 7,566 coupes, 8,552 of the sport roadster, and 8,874 of the sport roadster. 9,346 examples were Deluxe Coach.

 

Optional Equipment

The list of optional equipment was extensive, catering to popularity features that buyers preferred including single and dual side mount tires, a standard and deluxe tire cover plus metal tire covers, heater, outside mirror, pedestal mirror, trunk rack, dual horns, cowl lights, and fender well or rear tire lock. The list of Deluxe equipment that added comfort and a level of distinction included armrests, assist cords, curtains for the rear and rear quarter windows, a vanity case, chrome hood louvers, and two ashtrays.

 

The Confederate Series BA was Chevrolet's only model for 1932, albeit with 'Special and 'Deluxe' body styles. The company had used the single model theme since 1924, but for 1933 their lineup included the Standard Mercury (Series CC) and the Master Eagle (Series CA), both with six-cylinder power. The Standard had a 181 cubic-inch six with 60 horsepower and the Master had 194 CID with 5 additional horsepower. The Master rested on a 110-inch wheelbase while the Standard Mercury was three-inches shorter. Prices on the Master ranged from $485 to $565 and consisted of eight body styles, while the Standard prices ranged from $445 to $475 and included three body styles. The Master Eagle had an airplane-type dashboard and the Standard Mercury had safety plate glass. The Master Eagle proved to be far more popular with 450,530 examples built compared to the 35,848 of the Standard Mercury. The total production was 486,378 representing a significant increase from the 1932 model year. This trend would continue into the years that followed, with 556,666 (model year production; calendar year production: 620,726) examples built in 1934 and 544,457 (model year production; calendar year production of 793,437) in 1935.

 

Chevrolet would continue to use six-cylinder power, and two model lineup throughout the 1930s and into the 1940s, with wheelbase sizes that remained fairly consistent, growing to 116-inches by 1941.

Lockheed Martin’s sixth Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF-6) protected communications satellite is encapsulated in its protective fairings ahead of its expected March 26 launch on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. AEHF-6 is part of the AEHF system -- a resilient satellite constellation with global coverage and a sophisticated ground control system -- that provides global, survivable, protected communications capabilities for national leaders and tactical warfighters operating across ground, sea and air platforms. The anti-jam system also serves international allies to include Canada, the Netherlands, United Kingdom and Australia. For more information, visit: www.lockheedmartin.com/aehf

(Photo credit: United Launch Alliance)

 

Lockheed Martin’s sixth Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF-6) protected communications satellite is encapsulated in its protective fairings ahead of its expected March 26 launch on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. AEHF-6 is part of the AEHF system -- a resilient satellite constellation with global coverage and a sophisticated ground control system -- that provides global, survivable, protected communications capabilities for national leaders and tactical warfighters operating across ground, sea and air platforms. The anti-jam system also serves international allies to include Canada, the Netherlands, United Kingdom and Australia. For more information, visit: www.lockheedmartin.com/aehf

(Photo credit: United Launch Alliance)

 

The second Lockheed Martin-built GPS III space vehicle (GPS III SV02) was recently encapsulated within its protective fairings in preparation for launch.

Danny Hennesy Fine Arts Artist, Born April 9, 1976

Historically the Five Main Fine Arts were painting, sculpture, architecture, music and poetry with performing arts including theatre and dance. Danny Hennesy has encapsulated most of the above mentioned forms including his penchant for photography. You can hardly navigate through the internet without running into his artwork in some form or another.

Danny was born in Malmo, Sweden. His mother is from Karlskrona and his father is from England. Danny's renaissance took place in the mid-1990s and in his own words, “The second time I was given birth (if only in my mind's eye) was in the mid-nineties at the bohemian quarters in Malmö known as Möllan or Möllevången, a melting pot of immigrants, swedes, artists, queers, anarchists, dykes, punks, old hippies, gay guys and many other subcultures and social classes (and many mixes between the previous categories)...”

The young Hennesy was surprised to find what he in his heart had always been searching for, a place where what you were meant less than who you are... He integrated with this unintegrated mess of people and loved it... Danny Hennesy was born alive and kicking (in a non-violent way), a true Avant-Garde of his era.

Influences:

Danny Hennesy is influenced by a diverse number of things such as, artists, musicians and subcultures which ultimately mixes into something some may call his own style...(which is easy to see). When asked what these influences were, he stated, “a few of my influences, were Monty Python, Hippies, Punks, The Queer Culture, Graffiti Art, Classic Art, Modern Art, Goth, Comics (especially the underground ones), Ethnical Art and well, just about anything…”

Motto: Peace, Love. Noise and Understanding -Danny Hennesy

 

When not busy on one of his canvasses, Danny can be found in one of his Punk Rock Bands, like TransvestiteStallion, Mollan Punks, or Good for Cows or simply sipping on a OttaKringer Beer in Vienna. He is a machine and is constantly making a Plethora of Art that touches so many lives around the world. His energy is addictive and exhilarating and I am sure we will be seeing a lot more from this young man.

Punk visual art is artwork associated with the punk subculture. It often graces punk rock album covers, flyers for punk concerts, punk zines and punk websites. It is also sometimes showcased in art galleries and exhibition spaces. When you look up Punk Visual Art, Danny Hennesy is literally the Poster Child for this Genre.

The main aesthetic of punk visual art seems to be to either shock, create a sense of empathy or revulsion, make a grand point with an acidic or sarcastic wit. One characteristic associated with punk art is the usage of letters cut out from newspapers and magazines, a device previously associated with kidnap and ransom notes. A prominent example of that style is the cover of the Sex Pistols’ Never Mind the Bollocks album designed by Jamie Reid. Images and figures are also sometimes cut and pasted from magazines and newspapers to create a collage.

Los Angeles artist Mark Vallen has said:

Punk had a unique and complex aesthetic. It was steeped in shock value and revered what was considered ugly. The whole look of punk was designed to disturb and disrupt the happy complacency of the wider society. Outside of punk’s torn and safety pinned anti-fashion statements, this impulse to outrage was never more apparent than on punk album covers.

In New York City in the mid-1970s, there was much overlap between the punk music and art scenes. In 1978, many of the visual artists who were regulars at CBGB and other punk-related music venues participated in a large punk art exhibition in Washington, DC. Among those featured were John Holmstrom and Legs McNeil of the fanzine Punk,; Alan Vega (a.k.a. Alan Suicide), whose electronic junk sculpture predated his role in the band Suicide; photographers Marcia Resnick and Jimmy De Sana; tattoo artist Ruth Marten; filmmaker Amos Poe; and artists Tom Otterness and Beth and Scott B, who were associated with X Magazine.

Also in 1978 in New York City, a related, one-night punk art show featuring films, performances and slide shows included works by Robert Mapplethorpe and Diego Cortez. Other early punk art exhibits included the “Times Square Show” (1980) and “New York New Wave” at PS 1 (1981). Punk art found an ongoing home on the New York’s lower east side with the establishment of ABC No Rio Gallery in 1980. The punk aesthetic was a dominant strand from 1982 to 1986 in the art galleries of the city’s East Village.

 

For more of Danny's art please look at www.artdoxa.com/MushroomBrain/large?page=14

 

or here on flickr at

 

www.flickr.com/photos/transvestitestallion/

     

The Metop-B satellite was successfully encapsulated in the fairing on Saturday 8 September.

 

To read more about the Metop-B satellite launch, please click here for Eumetsat coverage or visit ESA's MetOp minisite.

 

Copyright: 2012 EUMETSAT

Explore the vibrant heart of Japan's urban landscape, where tradition meets modernity in an exhilarating blend. This bustling street scene, likely located in the dynamic district of Shibuya or Shinjuku, showcases the essence of Japanese city life. The street is alive with activity, as locals and tourists navigate through a maze of shops, restaurants, and towering buildings. The architectural landscape is a fascinating juxtaposition of old and new. On one side, you see the sleek, modern glass facade of the KOME HYO building, adorned with a mesmerizing, swirling design that captures the eye. This contemporary structure stands in contrast to the more traditional buildings nearby, which house a variety of eateries and retail stores. The signage, predominantly in Japanese, adds to the authentic feel of the area, with colorful advertisements and shop names vying for attention. The presence of umbrellas suggests a typical rainy day in Japan, adding a layer of charm to the scene as people move briskly, creating a dynamic flow of human activity. This image encapsulates the essence of urban Japan, where every corner offers a new discovery, from culinary delights to unique shopping experiences. The historical significance of such districts cannot be overstated, as they have evolved from traditional marketplaces to modern commercial hubs, reflecting Japan's rapid development while preserving its rich cultural heritage. Whether you're a history buff, an architecture enthusiast, or simply a curious traveler, this snapshot of Japanese city life offers a glimpse into the daily rhythm of one of the world's most fascinating countries.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Inside the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, United Launch Alliance engineers and technicians encapsulate the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, or TDRS-L, spacecraft in its payload fairing. TDRS-L will then be transported to Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Photo credit: NASA/Daniel Casper

The second Lockheed Martin-built GPS III space vehicle (GPS III SV02) was recently encapsulated within its protective fairings in preparation for launch.

The second Lockheed Martin-built GPS III space vehicle (GPS III SV02) was recently encapsulated within its protective fairings in preparation for launch.

An alternative way of creating shadow effects in Lego. I build in a way that creates dark and light areas and shadows. Often I build loose adjustable roofs that i can move around to let in light in the way i want. As you can see in this picture, to get total darkness I had to add a black piece of paper on top as the white plates let through to much light.

Encapsulated in its payload fairing, NASA's Parker Solar Probe is transported out of the Astrotech processing facility in Titusville, Florida, near the agency's Kennedy Space Center, on Monday, July 30, 2018. The spacecraft is beginning a trek to Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station where it will be mated atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket. The mission will perform the closest-ever observations of a star when it travels through the Sun's atmosphere, called the corona. The probe will rely on measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and the Sun-Earth connection.

Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA image use policy.

This montage encapsulates some research which I originally posted waaay back in 2001 here:

www.network54.com/Forum/47207/thread/1003508549/Puma+%26q...(alas)

(the photos having long since expired)

 

The Pz.A.A.2 (ie 2. Pz.Div.) Sd.Kfz.234/2 originally photographed dumped 1.5km N-E of Celles turns out to be the same vehicle shipped to APG in Maryland and eventually scrapped. After some time in the weather the top coat of paint wore off, revealing an unusual black outline tactical number "432" and black outline Balkenkreuz (cross), neither of which are characteristic of Pz.A.A.2. The cross however turns out to be a match with Pz.A.L.A. 130, (Panzer-Lehr-Division), as seen in the Deutsche Wochenschau still (top right), which was filmed on the Szent István út (St. Stephen's Road) in Győr, Hungary (west of Budapest) on 19 March 1944, during Operation Margarethe. This cross is also very faintly discernible on two wrecks attributed to Pz.AL.A.130 in a US Army Ordnance Technical Intelligence Report and near Moralles-les-Braults, in the Sarthe region of France, just to the south of Normandie.

 

The field-modifications visible in the IWM & NARA dump photos are also an uncharacteristic mix for a Pz.A.A.2 vehicle. While it does have the Pz.A.A.2 left rear stowage box instead of the factory-fitted jerrycan racks, it also has turret tie-downs and driver hatch handle which can be attributed to Pz.A.L.A. 130 wrecks in Normandie and Sarthe. This odd mix on "432" is perhaps best explained by information published in Kamen Nevenkin's book Fire Brigades, The Panzer Divisions 1943-1945, which states on page 755:

 

"Kampfgruppe "von Hauser" remained at the front [in September 1944]...the battle group had the following composition...part of Pz.Aufk.Lehr-Abt. 130 [etc.]...In the first days of October [the KG] was withdrawn... All of its tanks and heavy weapons were taken over by 2. Pz.Div."

 

So in summary, the evidence indicates Panzer-Aufklarungs-Lehr-Abteilung 130 not only modified their Sd.Kfz.234/2s in a subtle but distinctive way, but also used a low visibility black outline Balkenkreuz and numbering system, prior to handing their vehicles over to 2. Pz.Div.

 

This black outline cross can be traced back as early as March 1944, so would have been used in Normandy presumably (NB: this low vis style of marking rarely shows up on film or photos, due to image resolution, dust, etc).

 

As for the black outline numbering system, its date of introduction is yet to be determined. What can be said is the unusual 4. Kompanie sequence found on the Aberdeen 'Puma' is at odds with the unit's thus-far known paper organisation, as its schwere Panzerspahwagen (s.PSW) where listed in its 1. Kompanie. As its 'Pumas' where delivered in 2 small and 1 large batches between January and March 1944, perhaps "432" was among the smaller batches placed into a temporary s.PSW Trupp in the 4.Kompanie? Or perhaps as result of its heavy losses in Normandie/Sarthe, Pz.A.L.A. 130 temporarily created such a Zug. - an undocumented part of the Abteilung's reorganisation on 20 August 1944, or consequence of further reshuffling within the unit the integration of 3./Pz.Aufkl.Abt. 520 into Pz.A.L.A. 130 ordered on 10 September 1944? www.feldgrau.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=32574

Such a step is not unprecedented, as for example 1.SS Pz. Div's KG. Knittel deployed its few remaining Sd.Kfz.234/2 in a IV Zug (Platoon) within its 3. Kompanie during the Ardennes offensive, whereas prior to this its original 16 'Pumas' were organised within its Stab (Staff) Kompanie.

 

This post forms part of a thread located here:

www.tapatalk.com/groups/archive1944to1945/panzer-lehr-pum...

   

Sentinel-3A satellite encapsulated within its Rockot fairing, on 9 February 2016, at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia.

 

Once safely in orbit and fully commissioned, this new satellite will begin its mission to map Earth’s oceans and land surfaces with its powerful optical and radar systems. The Sentinel-3 mission is set to play a key role in the world’s largest environmental monitoring programme – Copernicus.

 

Credit: ESA–Stephane Corvaja, 2016

A triathlon consists of swimming, cycling and running - I managed to get all three in a frame!

Ladies & Gentlemen.

I present to you ....

Colonel 'Wolfgrin' Harlots Splenditious Cupcake Encapsulation Conveyance !!

 

A device for storing, protecting and preserving ones cupcakes from the ardours of adventuring in mysterious lands.

The C.E.C will protect and preserve the contents from a variety of harsh and unforgiving environments, for up to 5 years if required.

Ladies & Gentlemen.

 

The ExoMars 2016 spacecraft composite, comprised of the Trace Gas Orbiter and Schiaparelli, seen during the encapsulation within the launcher fairing. The conical shape to the left is the launch vehicle adapter, through which the spacecraft is attached to the Breeze upper stage. The first half of the fairing has been rolled into place underneath the spacecraft assembly.

 

Credit: ESA - B. Bethge

 

Read more here.

Sentinel-3A satellite encapsulated within its Rockot fairing, on 9 February 2016, at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia.

 

Once safely in orbit and fully commissioned, this new satellite will begin its mission to map Earth’s oceans and land surfaces with its powerful optical and radar systems. The Sentinel-3 mission is set to play a key role in the world’s largest environmental monitoring programme – Copernicus.

 

Credit: ESA–Stephane Corvaja, 2016

Beautiful flowers of the Southern Hemisphere and the name of the South African cricket team and national flower this example is growing in Roma Street Parklands, Brisbane, Queenslamd.

 

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proteaceae

 

Flower #61

Technicians prepare NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) for encapsulation in the SpaceX payload fairing inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The satellite is scheduled to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on April 16. The satellite is the next step in NASA's search for planets outside our solar system, known as exoplanets. TESS is a NASA Astrophysics Explorer mission led and operated by MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Dr. George Ricker of MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research serves as principal investigator for the mission. Additional partners include Orbital ATK, NASA’s Ames Research Center, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the Space Telescope Science Institute. More than a dozen universities, research institutes and observatories worldwide are participants in the mission. NASA’s Launch Services Program is responsible for launch management. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA image use policy.

 

The Trellchem® Hands-Free Visor Light System is a short throw illumination system for hands-free operation, designed to offer improved visibility and a safer working environment for the hazmat responder.

  

• LED (Light Emitting Diodes) - long life time, durable quality & energy efficient

• Panoramic lighting - spreads the light through a wide area with no risk of blinding reflections

• Lightweight - adds minimally to the total weight carried

• Slim design - minimal interference with movement and other equipment

• Fits in Trellchem gastight suits of encapsulating design (Level A), and can easily be installed in existing type CV or VP1 suits

• US patent pending

  

For more information on the Trellchem® Hands-Free Visor Light System go to protective.ansell.com/en/Products/Trellchem/Accessories/T...

 

afraid the poor girl in this one's been mirrored & encapsulated in a glass bubble.....mind you the pay's good

 

Shift ends soon...said she's going to watch a new film later with a workmate....she's been twisted up all day...still the pays good

 

thanks for looking in....appreciate it......best bigger....hope you have a Great Day

The Sentinel-5P satellite during the encapsulation within the launcher fairing.

 

Read more about Sentinel-5P: www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/Copernicus...

 

Credit: ESA–Stephane Corvaja, 2017

The Alphasat satellite is seen for the last time before being encapsulated by the Ariane 5 fairing, in preparation for launch on Thursday 25 July. The integration took place in the Batiment d’assemblage final of Europe's Spaceport, on 15 July 2013.

 

Credit: CNES

The Parker Solar Probe mission for NASA is encapsulated inside its payload fairing in preparation for launch atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket. Photo credit: United Launch Alliance

The Global Positioning System (GPS) III SV 02 spacecraft for the U.S. Air Force is encapsulated inside a 4-meter-diameter payload fairing in preparation for launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket. Photo credit: United Launch Alliance

Burke and Wills Menindee Camp Pamamaroo Creek 26/10/1860 to 26/01/1861.

The story of Burke and Wills has become an integral part of the Australian consciousness. Burke and Wills and their fate seem to encapsulate and justify the fear that many urban Australians have of the vast, lonely, dry wilderness which occupies over two-thirds of the continent. Of course the truth about the ignominious demise of Burke and wills is more pedestrian. What went wrong with their expedition can best be summed up by those well-known human failings - incompetence, arrogance, inflexibility and racial bigotry. The expedition was ill-conceived from the outset. It is now generally agreed that the raison d'etre of the whole undertaking was overwhelming pride. This pride was a result of the newly found wealth of Melbourne (a direct result of the gold rushes) and the newly created colonial independence of Victoria. Public enthusiasm for the expedition was high. Public subscriptions exceeded £3000 and the government contributed £6000. Under ordinary circumstances this would have been adequate funding but over half of the funds were spent on purchasing and importing twenty-four camels from Afghanistan. The committee then advertised for a man to lead the expedition. They had thirteen applicants out of whom they chose Irish-born police inspector Robert O'Hara Burke. Burke had no experience and no apparent knowledge of the Australian bush. Why he was chosen to lead an expedition which was going to travel across thousands of miles of rugged and unknown terrain remains a mystery. It was not so much an expedition as a public display. The camels and packhorses were carrying twenty-one tons of equipment including 120 mirrors as presents for Aborigines, sixty gallons of rum, four gallons of brandy, supplies of rockets, arms and vast qualities of dried food.

 

On 6 September when the expedition reached Swan Hill Burke sold off a large quantity of stores and hired two new men. In Balranald the foreman, Ferguson, quit; Burke dismissed Creber, Cowen, Fletcher, the cook Drakeford, and Langan; and some stores including the expedition's entire supply of lime juice were sold. At the Darling River camp at Pamamaroo Creek Burke insisted that all items weighing over thirty pounds be abandoned. This decision meant that neither Dr Beckler nor the naturalist Ludwig Becker could carry their instruments. Becker left the expedition at Menindee. Prior to Becker's departure the second-in-command, Landells, realised that he would never be able to work with Burke and resigned. At Menindee news arrived from Melbourne that another continental crossing was about to commence. All pretence about the desire to 'enquire into the report upon the exploration of the Australian interior' was abandoned. Burke could not tolerate the thought that he might be beaten. On 19 October Burke, Wills, Brabe, King, Gray, McDonough, Patton and an Afgan cameleer Dost Mohammed left Menindee. Wright was left behind with instructions to bring stores and provisions and to follow the main party in a week to Cooper’s Creek. The main party reached Cooper Creek on 11 November and on 27 November the famous Camp 65 was established under a coolibah tree on the banks of the river. On 16 December 1860 with six camels, one pony, and Wills, Gray and King, Burke began the final push north to the Gulf of Carpentaria. Disaster now followed disaster on the trip north and back to Cooper Creek. On 17 April on the way back Charley Gray died. Four days later Burke, Wills and King reached the Cooper Creek depot. They were exhausted and in desperate need of fresh supplies. To their horror the depot had been abandoned only hours earlier. On a tree William Brahe, the depot foreman, had carved DIG. Confronted with an empty depot, a small cache of supplies and the prospect of starvation, Burke had to decide whether he was going to go back to Menindee or attempt a 320 kilometre walk across the desert to a cattle station at Mount Hopeless. Once again Burke made the wrong decision. He decided to head for Mount Hopeless. It is perhaps the most telling comment about the character of Burke he ignored his only chance saving himself, Wills and King. It is almost certain that the local Aborigines could have saved the trio. But Burke saw himself as the conqueror, as a member of a superior civilisation. The idea that he could be saved from death by a group of 'savages' was unthinkable. The base camp in Menindee was thus occupied by part of the group from 19 Oct 1860 to 26 Jan 1861 before they headed back to Melbourne. Only John King made it back alive from Cooper Creek because he had accepted the hospitality of the Aboriginal people there. Dost Mahomet returned and lived in Menindee and worked for Ah Chung the Chinese baker. He died in 1880 and was buried just outside the town. The base camp at Pamamaroo Creek near Menindee was occupied from 19 October 1860 to 26 January 1861. Before setting off north Burke stayed in the hotel in Menindee and not with his men at Pamamaroo Creek depot. The main weir on the River Darling diverts water into Lake Pamamaroo which becomes the water supply of Broken Hill and the source of irrigation water for the fruit and vines around Menindee.

  

The Parker Solar Probe mission for NASA is encapsulated inside its payload fairing in preparation for launch atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket. Photo credit: United Launch Alliance

The Parker Solar Probe mission for NASA is encapsulated inside its payload fairing in preparation for launch atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket. Photo credit: United Launch Alliance

Oh the possibilities, sadly missed through poor design and negligence! You cannot deny then that it's a British Leyland product, taking a car with a fantastic premise, but through sloppy workmanship make it something of nightmares! No car seems to encapsulate the problems with the nationalised company more than the humble Triumph Stag.

 

To compete with the likes of the Mercedes-Benz SL, British Leyland started work on a luxury Grand Tourer, styled by the world renowned Giovanni Michelotti, who had previously designed the Triumph 2000, the Triumph Herald and the Triumph TR6, and would later go on to design the ambiguous Austin Apache and the Leyland National bus. But either way his styling was sensational, but at the same time the car had substance too. In the late 1960's America was on the verge of banning convertible cars to increase safety. So the engineers at Triumph designed what was a very clever T-Bar rollcage over the passenger cabin, meaning the car was not only safe, but also allowed the owners to enjoy what was craved most in a Grand Tourer, drop-top open-air fun! This was complimented by a selection of cars with removable Hard-Tops, although not as popular due to being slightly more complicated. The name was great too, sounding very manly with a hint of beast-like qualities, which for the most part helps to form the image, a strong and noble creature of the wild stood proud amongst its peers...

 

...only without the antlers!

 

In 1970 the car was launched to the motoring press with some very favourable initial reviews, admiring the styling, the firm suspension that resulted in a smooth ride and the well-balanced handling. The car was immediately an image setter for the new-money, like the Mercedes it was competing with it had the image of being something for those who had made their money through more underhanded methods, a cads car if you will. But we've all got to make our money somehow I guess!

 

However, lest we forget that this was a British Leyland product, so of course trouble was brewing. Very quickly the car gained a reputation for unreliability, which can be traced back to that all important piece of machinery known simply as the engine. In 1969 whilst the Triumph Stag was in development, Rover began using their new license built V8 engine derived from an American Buick 215 3L powerplant. Originally this was installed into the Rover P5, but a 3.5L version was installed as standard to the Rover P6 and the later SD1, as well as becoming the motive power behind the almighty Range Rover. The Rover V8 was an incredibly reliable and endlessly tunable engine, making it one of the most popular and successful powerplants in automotive history. It made its way into the TVR Chimera, the Morgan Plus 8, the TVR 350i, the Land Rover Defender, the Land Rover Discovery, the Sisu Nasu All-Terrain Military Transport, the MG RV8, the MGB GT, the TVR Griffith, the TVR S-Series, the Leyland P76, the Triumph TR8 and so on! It was eventually removed from production in 2006, being replaced in the Range Rover it had served so well by a BMW powerplant.

 

But back to the Stag, and seeing as Triumph and Rover belonged to the same parent company, you'd think that their first instinct would be to place this heavenly engine into the Stag. Apparently that was too much to ask for, and so Triumph, still thinking they were Triumph, decided to develop their own engine because apparently the Rover V8 wouldn't fit in the engine bay of the Stag. Rather than doing the simple task of redesigning the engine bay to accommodate the new engine, Triumph developed their own ragtag V8 by welding together two of the Straight-4 engines you'd find in a Triumph Dolomite. Chucked together at the last minute, the new Twin Dolomite V8 was not a stellar piece of engineering like the Rover variant, its main downfall being the failure to install a proper cooling system. This illogical oversight of something so obvious meant that the engine would heat up easily, and result in the cylinder heads warping, rendering the engine totally useless. The engine was also prone to corrosion and roller link chains that would fail before 25,000 miles causing expensive damage.

 

As a result of the bad press of the engine, mixed with the terrible build quality that we'd all come to expect from British Leyland, the Stag was removed from the American market in 1973, and finished off here in 1977 by its spiritual replacement, the Triumph TR7, an equally as flawed concept that chose not to learn its lesson and use exactly the same flawed engine, dashing that car's hopes of success too whilst adding a less than stellar body design to its troubles. Eventually the Stag slipped quietly away after 25,000 examples were built, although one did feature in the James Bond film 'Diamonds are Forever', being driven to Amsterdam by Bond after half-inching it from Diamond Smuggler Peter Franks.

 

This particular story maddens me because I consider the Triumph Stag my favourite of the British Leyland range as it really is a beautiful car and performs very well. Like I said, it's very smooth to ride in and very easy to drive, but the sheer lack of communication and cooperation between two parts of the same company resulted in it being one of the biggest flops in motoring history, and has often been cited as one of the worst cars ever.

 

Today however there is still quite a sizeable fanbase for this car, with 9,000 Stags still registered as roadworthy, making it one of the most numerous British Leyland products to remain in ongoing use, especially when you compare it to the Austin Allegro's 291 survivors, Morris Marina's 674, and the Rover SD1's 310. The surviving Stags are mostly made up of cars that have had their original Triumph engines replaced by the Rover V8 to improve the performance and reliability. With a Rover V8 under the hood, this car is simply one of the best classic cars ever in my mind, a mixture of style, speed, performance and that wonderful rumble from under the bonnet. For the remainder still with the Twin Dolomite V8, most have been fixed by installing a proper cooling system and solving the corrosion issues. Today the Stags enjoy the popular life that British Leyland had envisaged for their luxury machines way back in 1970, 45 years late mind you but I suppose you can't have everything first time round!

The ExoMars 2016 spacecraft composite, comprised of the Trace Gas Orbiter and Schiaparelli, seen during the encapsulation within the launcher fairing. The conical shape to the left is the launch vehicle adapter, through which the spacecraft is attached to the Breeze upper stage.

 

The first half of the fairing has already been rolled into place underneath the spacecraft assembly, and the second fairing half is being manoeuvred into place by means of an overhead crane.

 

Credit: ESA - B. Bethge

 

Read more here.

On August 10, 2015, MUOS-4, the next satellite scheduled to join the U.S. Navy’s Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) secure communications network, was encapsulated in its protective launch vehicle fairing at Astrotech Space Operations for its August 31 launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (photos courtesy of United Launch Alliance). Read more about encapsulation:

ow.ly/R12w1

 

More: www.lockheedmartin.com/muos

 

Encapsulated in its payload fairing, NASA's Parker Solar Probe is prepared to be lifted for mating to a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 37 on Tuesday, July 31, 2018. The Parker Solar Probe is being prepared for a mission to perform the closest-ever observations of a star when it travels through the Sun's atmosphere, called the corona. The probe will rely on measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and the Sun-Earth connection.

Photo credit: NASA/Leif Heimbold

NASA image use policy.