Museum guy here: I think this statement is an excellent guideline to illustrate the difference between preservation and resto-modding. Many times in my field people have brought me a widget they wanted to donate, but they’ve done modifications and “repairs” that destroy the historic value of an item.

True. The NRL’s lack of diligence surprises me, especially with such a Frankenstein’s monster of a vehicle.

Fair enough. I do have a bit of bias toward human space flight launch vehicles, rather than satellite launch vehicles. Hazard of the job, I suppose.

Maybe I am misreading your post, so if I am I apologize in advance BUT: NASA didn’t exist even on paper until 1958. Once it started coming together as a real organization, it was created from bits of the Army (ABMA in Huntsville/Redstone Arsenal), Air Force (Canaveral Air Station) and The National Advisory Committee…

Also, Saturn I’s came in two variants: Block I with a non powered upperstage, and Block II’s, with the aforementioned 6 RL-10's on the second stage. The first stages also had differences in regards to the find, Block I had none and Block II had weirdly stubby, different length fins, compared to the radially…

What if the receptors/sensors in the feet aren’t necessarily for pain, but to take readings of the environment so as to avoid slipping, unexpected static buildup/discharge, corrosive chemicals, etc. Maybe the “branding” is a way of burning off cruft or corrosion that has accumulated on these sensors and, in the…

This tastes like the “Devil’s Earwax” plus peanut butter.

Two words: Rabo Encendido

Just to add my two cents: I hated all forms of exercise other than swimming, which I can’t do easily where I live. I especially hated running (ok, really I mean jogging). Then I found podcasts. Now I am working my way through a Couch to 5k program and I can pretty much just cruise by making sure I’ve got a podcast or…

Having looked into SSTO quite a bit for work, it looks like they’re just not going to happen anytime soon. Everytime they’ve tried it, they can’t scale the propulsion system. The volumes of propellant needed balloon rapidly in order to output the power required over the duration of the burn. And they have yet to…

Homemade vanilla extract is the solution to your quandry!

This is not judgement of Ron. Just the acknowledgement of a weird coincidence:

I came here for one reason, and one reason only:

Quick lesson for people confused about if this is a white or a latino guy. The answer is probably “yes” on both counts. Cubans (making an assumption here based on my heritage, my birthplace and his location) come in several different phenotypes including the olive brown skin most people think of, but also include…

But dat Power Glove, yo!

I miss Buckhannon. Went to Wesleyan (lots of scholarship and grants involved), graduated in ‘98. I’m half Hispanic, with olive complexion and tan at the drop of a hat. I did get looked at funny sometimes, but never ran into anything worse. Now, I didn’t spend a lot of time off campus, but everybody shopped at the…

If you really want to get into the weeds on the inflatable structures in space issue, I recommend you check out project Echo.

I came here to say just this. The airlock was far less complex and never intended for extended/long duration use.

This is almost exactly how I finally quit as well. Cold turkey was a disaster and the patch made my cravings worse. Glad to see it worked for someone else!

Rutan Varieze