Paternosterrow

Yes the Apollo missions gave us so much technology wise, advances in computing, velcro etc.

 

We need to do it again for that very reason .

 

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/apollo-11-moon-landing-50-future-artificial-intelligence_uk_5d31d7d0e4b0419fd32c2990

 

Brit15 (Apollo !!)

50 years ago, we put a man on the moon, 50 years later, we've opened drive-thru Greggs.  Progress?

11 minutes ago, JiLo said:

50 years later, we've opened drive-thru Greggs.  Progress?

Rubbish, isn't it?

 

At least the USA now wants to return people to the moon within 10 years.

 

1 minute ago, Captain Kernow said:

Rubbish, isn't it?

 

At least the USA now wants to return people to the moon within 10 years.

 

We have all this technology at our fingertips, yet it seems as if society has dumbed down.  I'm 48, grew up in the post space-race era but I remember being very excited as a child when the Space Shuttle was unveiled.  These days it seems most people don't even know what the Space Shuttle was!

 

Very exciting about the plans to return to the moon, really hope it comes to fruition

3 minutes ago, JiLo said:

Very exciting about the plans to return to the moon, really hope it comes to fruition

Apparently it was meant to be in 2028 or by then, but apparently Trump has said it should be in 2024, 'coincidentally' the final year of his presidency, should we all be unlucky enough to have to go through a second term.

 

Lovely piece of work, Mike, and very atmospheric pictures. I love the concept of Cape Killarney but not much possiblity of rocket launches last time I was there, it was blowing a gale and the rain was horizontal!

The moon landing brings back some nice memories for me. I was staying with an aunt and uncle, both now long gone, in Bristol. We watched the landing on television, all in black and white of course, we had a day at the cricket watching Gloucestershire v Lancashire and the rest of the time I had the delights of a South West Rover. All those hydraulics!! 

 

David

Edited July 20, 2019 by DavidLong

9 hours ago, DavidLong said:

Lovely piece of work, Mike, and very atmospheric pictures. I love the concept of Cape Killarney but not much possiblity of rocket launches last time I was there, it was blowing a gale and the rain was horizontal!

The moon landing brings back some nice memories for me. I was staying with an aunt and uncle, both now long gone, in Bristol. We watched the landing on television, all in black and white of course, we had a day at the cricket watching Gloucestershire v Lancashire and the rest of the time I had the delights of a South West Rover. All those hydraulics!! 

 

David

Cheers Dave.  Yep, when it rains over here it can get quite biblical in proportion.  Yet we do have our lovely days and it can be a really beautiful place.  Besides the pace of life more than compensates for the bad weather.

I always remember my Dad waking me up to watch Armstrong’s first step.  Again, a grainy black and white image and I wasn’t sure what was happening.  It was just great to be sat against my Dad’s knee and enjoying all the excitement.  My parents are both sadly gone now too.  I remember Mom buying me a little book called ‘The Space Race’ from the Brooke Bond Tea company and I had to collect the cards from tea packets to go with it.  I used to pester her to buy the tea and there was a competition amongst my friends to get all the cards.  I never managed to get all of them, but I took that little book everywhere with me - such a treasured possession.  Of course, it got lost like everything else, but a few years ago I came across a completed version at an antiques fair here in Tralee.  Opening it up brought back all the memories and even the sensations of the time - a magical experience.  It was a great time to grow up and the future looked so bright to our generation.  The wires went up in Perry Barr where I grew up and we had those fantastic electrics.  But we also had the Harrier Jump Jet and Concorde to wonder at.  Not forgetting the brilliant APT and the magical 125 that came hot on the heels of all the rest. We had so much to look forward to back then and I often wonder when and where it all went wrong.

T - 9 

 

Great post Mike and a terrific model. The outside shots are superb. 

 

If I understood correctly, the Rocket is a model but you scratch-built the launch pad? If so, that’s great modelling. Really captures the scene beautifully and the concrete base reminds me of Thunderbirds/James Bond 

 

As for the way the world is going...It’s almost too depressing to read the newspapers and watch the news these days...thank goodness for model trains (and rockets ) to escape for a while...

17 hours ago, Captain Kernow said:

Rubbish, isn't it?

 

At least the USA now wants to return people to the moon within 10 years.

 

 

Excellent news. Kindly enter the launch vehicle Mr Trump. Mr Johnson, yes you can bring your friends Jacob and Nigel with you .....

3 hours ago, bcnPete said:

T - 9 

 

Great post Mike and a terrific model. The outside shots are superb. 

 

If I understood correctly, the Rocket is a model but you scratch-built the launch pad? If so, that’s great modelling. Really captures the scene beautifully and the concrete base reminds me of Thunderbirds/James Bond 

 

As for the way the world is going...It’s almost too depressing to read the newspapers and watch the news these days...thank goodness for model trains (and rockets ) to escape for a while...

Thanks, Pete.

 

The tower is another one of my soldered wire constructions.  It helped that the actual tower is a square construction apart from the angled legs.  It meant that I could make up each side in the same jig etc.  The rest is cardboard and bits from the spares box.  In fact, the gantry arms are made from a discarded handrail that came with the Walthers turntable used in my Barrow Hill Roundhouse layout!  The cardboard pad is indeed pure Thunderbirds/Bond and it even has the blast channels built in.  It helped that I was able to source the almost side on shot of the prototype from the NASA site - this made it easier to work out the correct dims etc.

 

Alas, the modern world seems to be in a very sorry state.  Perhaps it’s because the West no longer has any real common enemy to threaten it anymore?  Societies that don’t seem to pull themselves apart from within.  It seems a pity we haven’t forged a solid goal like we did with Apollo - for one small moment in July 69 the whole world seemed to come together.  Ah well, at least we all have our hobby and RMweb to distract us from the depressing news we have to face night after night!

That's a new side of your modelling interests Mike! The model looks excellent.

 

There was a documentary yesterday about the "second race for space" being driven now mostly by cowboy billionaires. 

5 hours ago, Mikkel said:

That's a new side of your modelling interests Mike! The model looks excellent.

 

There was a documentary yesterday about the "second race for space" being driven now mostly by cowboy billionaires. 

Cheers, Mikkel

 

Yep,  I’m a bit of a space geek in addition to a railway modeling nut!  I don’t do too much space modeling though.  The Dragon rocket was picked up about 16 years ago from a shop in an airport lounge and had languished in the box for about ten years so I decided to have a go at a launch tower for it.  

 

Think I saw that doc too - there was also another one on Elon Musk and his Falcon rocket.  In spite of his obvious flaws I actually think he is a bit of a genius.  Got a lot of guts starting from scratch in the rocket business and actually making a success of it.  His crew ship made the first unmanned test docking with the ISS last month or so.  He has also sent up about ten successful supply ship deliveries to the station so far.  The current Boeing effort is still in the build and test stage even though there’s a lot of talk about it.  Branson seems to have been shaken by the death of a test pilot a couple of years ago - probably why there has been nothing in the news about his space plane.  Think it’s very much the case that private enterprise will make the next big leaps over the coming decades.  Mind you, whilst Apollo was government run it was actually private businesses that built the hardware - Boeing, Grumman, Rocketdyne etc.  I think if the business people dance to the tune of government bodies then things will go alright in the end.  It has to be said though that NASA has had its fair share of cowboy types that have made dubious decisions down the years.  Ones that have led to unnecessary deaths.  There’s no guarantee of ability/competence with either public and private sectors it seems.

10 hours ago, Neil said:

 

Excellent news. Kindly enter the launch vehicle Mr Trump. Mr Johnson, yes you can bring your friends Jacob and Nigel with you .....

Just to be safe could their rocket be aimed at Mars? 

Superb atmospheric shots as ever Mike! Sitting here watching 'The Right Stuff', many years since I last saw it, a mammoth film.

1 hour ago, AY Mod said:

Superb atmospheric shots as ever Mike! Sitting here watching 'The Right Stuff', many years since I last saw it, a mammoth film.

Thanks, Andy.

 

That film is brilliant.  I’ve just watched ‘First Man’ and a documentary about Armstrong - fascinating stuff.  He must have been an easy choice for the administration - just all the right attributes.