The US Space & Rocket Center has already applied to receive some of the hardware. Bezos returned to components to NASA, and now that the preservation work is done, they have already started circulating them into their system for distributing historic artifacts to museums. It’s little like a bid process, where you have…

Actually, in since ways, the z Challenger SRB failure was doubly political, and really not a design flaw. NASA wanted the boosters to be built and processedprocessed at the Cape, but Utah wanted to keep the jobs in Utah. And Challenger was launched outside it’s operational parameters, and lots of people knew it,…

So Natural Born Killers, Chuck and Dazed and Confused got together and had a baby... huh.

#correction: nitpick on the title image caption: It reads like that was the only space shuttle mission in 1984, when there were 4 or 5. I would recommend the following edit:

I totally read that headline as “The Scotch Trials”... I am now disappointed.

Bonestell’s stuff is amazing. He and von Braun were very close by the time all was said and done. Chesley painted an indirectly space related piece for von Braun and his wife. It was back-painted on a piece of acrylic and intended to be used as a cocktail tray. Can you imagine that: “Here, have martini... oh the tray?…

And I believe there are federal rules against them (or any federal organization) from taking additional monies, which I believe would rule out crowd funding.

That's only the Pressure Garment Assembly of an Apollo A7L. Basically, it's the pressure vessel part of the Apollo lunar suits. A fully assembled A7L suit would like just like what you see Buzz Aldrin in on the magazine cover. The Integrated Thermal-Micrometeoroid Garment is the white layer that goes over this and…

As a curator/conservator... they should all be fired, especially the guy who issued the order. It's very hard to explain to the layman (even people within our own organization) that a fast fix is not always the right fix. Improper restoration can do more to harm historic objects than aging. Once their names come…

Ultimate Collector's Series set, STAT!

Pretty sure that last one in Latvia is a MiG 25, not a rocket... or some kind of jet aircraft anyway.

Not exactly the same, but so close, I wonder if the original artist did the pay card version, or if it was copied. It's about 2x1.5 meters in size.

I totally know where the original canvas of this one is! And it's a big piece. Strange to see it as a postcard! We've got it in one of the warehouses of the museum I work for! We've got a ton of other Soviet art as well. I'll have to go snap a picture of it!

Their models also make for spankin' good museum displays regardless!

There were rumors swirling that one of the reasons for the cancellation was that a small rock could get caught in and wipe out the shrouded tail rotor and trash the entire vehicle. Supposedly, they couldn't figure out a way to keep the rotor shrouded and prevent the problem. In theory, an unshrouded rotor wouldn't…

Arts are good. Graphic arts are what allows engineering (and other sciencey) concepts to be illustrated and help inspire and educate the public about things they might not otherwise understand because they are not engineers, physicists or some form scientist.

It's worth mentioning that this grappling system was first used by NASA on the Shuttle's CanadArm Remote Manipulator System. So the clever design dates back to the mid to late 1970's, if not earlier.

You can get beef heart from a butcher. I've had it before and it's pretty good. I wouldn't grill it though. It's a tough muscle and would work better in a slow braise/stew.

It's not completely dead! SAFER (Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue) is an emergency rescue version of the MMU. It's much smaller, with the main body tucked right below the PLSS pack and is used only should their physical tether to break. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simplifie…

Interestingly, some of his later proposals suggested mars missions by the 1980's. This was during the heyday of the Apollo program though, when the pace of innovation/development and funding were high. If he were still alive, I think he would either agree with his earlier self, or perhaps be even more pessimistic.