Traveled to Huntsville, AL for business last Wed (still here). Never been here before, so I pop the destination address into Google Maps and head off from the airport, entirely unfamiliar with every inch I was about to drive over.
As I’m driving I’m (stupidly) trying to, between rapid glances, figure out how to adjust the side mirrors on the rental; the rental has Florida plates so if anything should happen I figure I at least have a decent head start on an excuse/rationalization. A few minutes later I give up deciding, much more logically, I should pay strict attention to the road.
Off to my right, in the distance, I see looming what looks to be a rather odd church steeple, most peculiar by its lack of a cross on the top and its distinctive shape. Remember, I haven’t the slightest idea where I am except that I’m in the ‘south’, and the only places outside Utah and Texas that love them some Jesus more than perhaps other states is most anyplace in the Deep South, so a church steeple wasn’t out of the question.
As I got closer it became more and more evident it wasn’t a church steeple, but I couldn’t figure out what it was. Now, I have often said I am most certainly not always the smartest guy in the room, but I consider myself to be fairly intelligent. But that Wednesday afternoon on I-565 I learned just how drooling stupid I could be.
My attentions are not, at this point, wholly on the road, rather vacillating between the road, surrounding traffic, and rubbernecking at what was now clearly the top of a huge rocket. My inner geek took over, kicking the adult completely out of the way, and gawked at the ever-looming, huge, so-totally-cool rocket just off the side of the freeway—with big, red “USA” letters running vertically on its side. I’m sure Ad Astra already knows what I’m talking about, but I hadn’t any idea . . . yet.
Fortunately I had my guardian angels watching over me and I was in a kind of traffic-less bubble, no immediate vehicles around me, which was good because I was staring, wide-eyed at this beautiful monster and declaring aloud. “Cooooooool!” I didn’t learn until a couple days later that Rocket is a Saturn V replica housed at the U.S Space & Rocket Center here in Huntsville, home of Space Camp.
Yesterday I went to the Center to let my inner child out to play for a bit. The Davidson Building houses an actual Saturn V rocket separated into its three stages and suspended above the floor. ‘Awesome’ does not do it justice. Below is the business end of the 1st stage from two perspectives . . .
And the 3rd stage--For scale, look at the guy in the red shirt sitting down jsuts below it; he was a big boy and yet he's still tiny compared to the smallest stage . . .
Lots of great history and information on the evolution of the engines beginning with Wernher von Braun, through Redstone, the LH1 (liquid hydrogen) and F-1 engines—just soooo much fascinating stuff.
They had the Lunar Lander and the Lunar Rover, as well as a small piece of moon rock on display. Also, pictured below, was the Apollo 16 Command Module.
Now, gentlemen, I didn’t tell you all this just to expound about my experience here in Rocket City. You see, alongside the display of the CM were some window displays of artifacts which the astronauts used while on their missions. Take a look at the picture below . . .
A wind-up shaver?! I knew about the Techmatic from Ad Astra’s post some time ago about his Moon Mission Tribute Shave. But this device looked to be more at home in a display of medieval torture devices than something to remove stubble with. Thought some of you might like a better look at it.
There were a sizeable portion of Skylab and a simulated walk through part of the ISS, which was all super cool. but this wind-up shaver was the most unexpected thing I saw there--and of course I figured you all would like to know about it.
As I’m driving I’m (stupidly) trying to, between rapid glances, figure out how to adjust the side mirrors on the rental; the rental has Florida plates so if anything should happen I figure I at least have a decent head start on an excuse/rationalization. A few minutes later I give up deciding, much more logically, I should pay strict attention to the road.
Off to my right, in the distance, I see looming what looks to be a rather odd church steeple, most peculiar by its lack of a cross on the top and its distinctive shape. Remember, I haven’t the slightest idea where I am except that I’m in the ‘south’, and the only places outside Utah and Texas that love them some Jesus more than perhaps other states is most anyplace in the Deep South, so a church steeple wasn’t out of the question.
As I got closer it became more and more evident it wasn’t a church steeple, but I couldn’t figure out what it was. Now, I have often said I am most certainly not always the smartest guy in the room, but I consider myself to be fairly intelligent. But that Wednesday afternoon on I-565 I learned just how drooling stupid I could be.
My attentions are not, at this point, wholly on the road, rather vacillating between the road, surrounding traffic, and rubbernecking at what was now clearly the top of a huge rocket. My inner geek took over, kicking the adult completely out of the way, and gawked at the ever-looming, huge, so-totally-cool rocket just off the side of the freeway—with big, red “USA” letters running vertically on its side. I’m sure Ad Astra already knows what I’m talking about, but I hadn’t any idea . . . yet.
Fortunately I had my guardian angels watching over me and I was in a kind of traffic-less bubble, no immediate vehicles around me, which was good because I was staring, wide-eyed at this beautiful monster and declaring aloud. “Cooooooool!” I didn’t learn until a couple days later that Rocket is a Saturn V replica housed at the U.S Space & Rocket Center here in Huntsville, home of Space Camp.
Yesterday I went to the Center to let my inner child out to play for a bit. The Davidson Building houses an actual Saturn V rocket separated into its three stages and suspended above the floor. ‘Awesome’ does not do it justice. Below is the business end of the 1st stage from two perspectives . . .
And the 3rd stage--For scale, look at the guy in the red shirt sitting down jsuts below it; he was a big boy and yet he's still tiny compared to the smallest stage . . .
Lots of great history and information on the evolution of the engines beginning with Wernher von Braun, through Redstone, the LH1 (liquid hydrogen) and F-1 engines—just soooo much fascinating stuff.
They had the Lunar Lander and the Lunar Rover, as well as a small piece of moon rock on display. Also, pictured below, was the Apollo 16 Command Module.
Now, gentlemen, I didn’t tell you all this just to expound about my experience here in Rocket City. You see, alongside the display of the CM were some window displays of artifacts which the astronauts used while on their missions. Take a look at the picture below . . .
A wind-up shaver?! I knew about the Techmatic from Ad Astra’s post some time ago about his Moon Mission Tribute Shave. But this device looked to be more at home in a display of medieval torture devices than something to remove stubble with. Thought some of you might like a better look at it.
There were a sizeable portion of Skylab and a simulated walk through part of the ISS, which was all super cool. but this wind-up shaver was the most unexpected thing I saw there--and of course I figured you all would like to know about it.
That pesky neuralyzer!
