LR2 Blogs

R.U.S.H (RAPID UP SUPER HIGH): Human launching crossbow (with rockets)

There is no subtle way to say this: Brian Walker plans to shoot himself nearly 20 miles into the air aboard a homemade rocket launched from what could be the world’s largest crossbow. (Seriously.)

I bet this thing would get me to work in style. The kind of style one can only get by plummeting 20 miles through the atmosphere in a “ship” that’s modeled after the raptors of Battlestar Galactica.

CoMagz-Proportions - How Small We Are | Linkadelic Magazine

Cool perspective on the size of things in our solar system.

If you need some perspective in life look at this:

Damn Interesting » The Rocket Racing League

If you think NASCAR is boring, wait ’til you get to watch two dots belch flames and race around a 2 mile track 5,000 feet in the air.

But the men and women who long for the singular thrill of pulling Gs in a compact, high-speed aircraft need not despair… the Rocket Racing League (RRL) is here.

Damn Interesting » Fly Me To The Moon

For only $100M, you can have the vacation of a lifetime.

Get your tickets fast. The Russians are at it again. First, they gave rides in their fighter jets. Then they put a tourist in the International Space Station. Now they are offering the chance of a lifetime…a tour to the moon.

Catalog Page for PIA07740

One of the more interesting photos taken by Cassini. Many more are available here.

This stunning false-color view of Saturn’s moon Hyperion reveals crisp details across the strange, tumbling moon’s surface. Differences in color could represent differences in the composition of surface materials. The view was obtained during Cassini’s close flyby on Sept. 26, 2005.

Mystery Ocean Glow Confirmed in Satellite Photos

Mariners have long told of rare nighttime events in which the ocean glows intensely as far as the eye can see in all directions.

Fictionally, such a “milky sea” is encountered by the Nautilus in Jules Verne classic “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.”

ESA - Mars Express - Water ice in crater at Martian north pole

Absolutely amazing photo of water ice on mars.

The crater is 35 kilometres wide and has a maximum depth of approximately 2 kilometres beneath the crater rim. The circular patch of bright material located at the centre of the crater is residual water ice.

22″ binocular

Looks expensive, but still something I’d like to make eventually.

The 22″ Newtonian binocular and monocular telescopes described here share a common CAD design and many parts. I completed the two telescopes in August, 2003, after 2 years of design and construction. The binocular won a Merit Award at the 2004 Riverside Telescope Makers Conference.

Google Maps

Another image here.
http://homepage.mac.com/grungy/.Pictures/TexasTrip03/LUECKE%3F.jpg

And an explanation at the bottom of the page here:
http://earth.jsc.nasa.gov/newsletter/SpatialRes/default5.htm

The forest was selectively cleared in order to spell the landowner’s name ‘LUECKE’ with the remaining trees (figure 10). According to local surveyors who planned the clearing, the plan was to create letters that were 3100 ´ 1700 ft (944.9 ´ 518.2 m). Photographed at a high altitude relative to most Shuttle missions (543 km) with a 250-mm lens, Formula 3 predicts that each pixel would represent an area 28.6 ´ 36.0 m on the ground (table 5). When original film was digitised at 2400 ppi (10.6 mm/pixel), letters correspond to 29.4 ´ 18.8 pixels for a comparable pixel size of 27 – 32 m.

Mars Exploration Rover Mission: Press Releases

I’ve been following this mission almost daily since it started. They’ve produced an amazing amount of data that will take many years to fully understand. I’m happy that the rovers are performing so well, and that they continue to fund the project.

NASA has approved up to 18 more months of operations for Spirit and Opportunity, the twin Mars rovers that have already surprised engineers and scientists by continuing active exploration for more than 14 months.