The Sky is Falling--Chicken Little

Titanium Case for Solid Propellant Rocket

I remember the children's story about the little chicken in the barnyard who ran around screaming about how the sky was falling because an acorn fell onto her head. No one listened to the little bird because her warning of impending doom soon became more noise in the barnyard.

Well, sometimes, the sky really does fall.  I had a unique opportunity yesterday as I was leaving a facility to see some pieces of space junk--stuff that had been launched into space which made it back to the planet.

Stainless Steel Tank from Delta Stage 2

Most people think that such items are small fragments--but not true. Here are two fairly good sized pieces of rockets which were recovered and put onto display. The larger one, the rusted one,  was actually accompanied by many other fragments, one of which fell onto but did not injure an person in Oklahoma, I think. If it had been in Kansas we could have started singing about the Wizard of Oz or something.


Maybe Chicken Little knew more than we give her credit for.

-- Bob Doan, Los Angeles, CA

What's for Dinner

Riordan deciding whether he is the main course or not.

The Fastest Plane, Ever

SR-71 Nose On

Standing in the entrance to the Udvay-Hazy National Air and Space Museum near Dulles Airport I heard a question from an excited Ethan, "Poppop? What was the fastest plane ever?" Although I know he knew the answer I replied "Why, the SR-71 Blackbird"

How fast, he wanted to know. So we looked it up on the internet and gave him a number that was totally meaningless--because none of us could really comprehend how fast 2,600 plus mph really was.

Fast.

SR-71 at Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum

The boys were fascinated with the aircraft, which is the center piece exhibit at the National Air and Space Museum near Dulles Airport.

For a Sunday afternoon there is not a better way to spend time with the boys that reveling in aerospace history.

The missiles, the bombs, the Space Shuttle and satellites, and of course the aircraft--from the early propeller planes to the fastest jet ever conceived.

Ethan, especially was impressed when he realized that when missiles were shot at the SR-71 that the best tactic was to just fly faster and  outrun the missile. That's fast.

How fast?

Faster than a speeding bullet, fast.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD