Hobby Thread - July 27, 2024 [TRex]

Welcome hobbyists! Pull up a chair and sit a spell with the horde. Do not adjust your interweb. This thread is blasting off to outer space. On July 24, 1969, the Apollo 11 astronauts returned to earth by spashing down in the Pacific Ocean. A 21 day quarantine period followed, but the mission ignited the imagination of the world. A spin of the Ace of Spades wheel of hobbies has come up with a theme of rocketry for this week.

Did you build model rockets as a kid? Do you build model rockets as an adult? How did you get started? Do you have a box of Estes rocket parts and engines somewhere? How many rockets have you lost to trees, buildings and power lines? Do you remember the Apollo program? Were you watching when the Space Shuttle first launched? Have you seen a Space Shuttle return? Do you follow the modern private space launch companies like SpaceX and RocketLab? Do you dream of flying in space, walking on the moon, or going to Mars?

Let's not turn this thread into a debate about Elon Musk's personal life. We're here to talk about those who build and follow rockets. We'll leave astronomy for another thread another day, so keep your telescopes holstered for now. As usual, keep this thread limited to hobbies. Politics and current events can wait for other threads. Play nice. Don't feed the trolls.

Every vision is a joke until the first man accomplishes it; once realized, it becomes commonplace. ~ Dr. Robert Hutchings Goddard (1882-1945)

Dr. Goddard is considered the father of modern rocket propulsion. He constructed and successfully tested the first rocket using liquid fuel on March 16, 1926, at Auburn, Massachusetts. In a 1920 report, Goddard outlined the possibility of a rocket reaching the moon and exploding a load of flash powder there to mark its arrival. The bulk of his scientific report to the Smithsonian was a dry explanation of how he used a $5,000 grant in his research. The press picked up Goddards scientific proposal about a rocket flight to the moon, however, and created a journalistic controversy concerning its feasibility. The resulting ridicule created in Goddard firm convictions about the nature of the press corps, which he held for the rest of his life.

Dr. Goddard was a very smart person.

Top photo

The Apollo 11 Command Module, called Columbia, was the living quarters for the three-person crew during most of the first crewed lunar landing mission in July 1969. On July 16, 1969, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins were launched from Cape Kennedy atop a Saturn V rocket. Command Module no. 107 was manufactured by North American Rockwell. It was one of three parts of the complete Apollo spacecraft. The other two parts were the Service Module and the Lunar Module (nicknamed Eagle). The Service Module contained the main spacecraft propulsion system and consumables while the Lunar Module was the two-person craft used by Armstrong and Aldrin to descend to the Moon's surface on July 20. The Command Module is the only portion of the spacecraft to return to Earth. It was physically transferred to the Smithsonian in 1971 following a NASA-sponsored tour of American cities.

NASA's website has a full archive of information on each Apollo mission. Photos, audio and even a map showing where you can see moon rocks.

This extraordinary video is a detailed account of every second of the Apollo 11 descent and landing. The video combines data from the onboard computer for altitude and pitch angle with 16mm film shot throughout the descent.

Destin asks a lot of good questions of smart people:

This is an all-time great SpaceX video (published after the development problems got resolved and first stage reusability was accomplished):

Unbox to launch in seven minutes:

Building rockets with household supplies:

Do you know about Egglofting? Eggloft combines the challenge of flying a model containing one or two eggs while trying to reach the highest altitude or longest duration possible. The eggs must be returned undamaged. If any egg is cracked or broken, the flight is disqualified. The egg must be allowed to land naturally. Good for kids but not just for kids.

Space Shuttle content:

This video has some extraordinary footage and fact nuggets from the early development of the shuttle orbiters, particularly for engineering the landing:

Space Shuttle Discovery's final launch:

I was today years old when I learned that a 243 page 1968 flight manual for the Saturn V rocket is posted on NASA's website (pdf).

Did you miss last week's hobby thread with a second attempt at a family history theme? The horde shared some great stories. The comments may be closed, but you can re-live the content.

Two notable comments from last week:

Words of wisdom:

"Because despite all our troubles, when things are grim out in that wide round world of ours, that's when it's really important to have a good hobby." Posted by: tankascribe at June 22, 2024 07:41 PM (HWxAD).

If rocketry and space travel is not your thing and you have trouble finding something in the content or comments that resonates with you, hijack the thread for your hobbying as you see fit. We will feature a different hobby next time around. Send thoughts or suggestions to moronhobbies at protonmail dot com. Ace of Spades is not responsible for explosive accidents in your garage (or elsewhere).

posted by Open Blogger at 05:30 PM

| Access Comments