Pcman.net

This is an interesting read of how the footage of Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon in 1969 was not what it should have been. Apparently the raw footage looked great but what the world saw was of a much worse quality. Now the original engineers involved with making the camera as well as transmitting the video are looking for the original tapes. Here is the best part…..NASA lost them!

“A Swiss airline pilot and self-described adrenaline junkie named Yves Rossy has developed a working jet-pack and flown it more than 30 times. Actually, it’s a pair of rigid carbon fiber wings strapped to his back, with two small kerosene-powered jet engines on each wing — essentially a small jet airplane using the pilot’s body as the fuselage. His flights have lasted up to 6-1/2 minutes at speeds over 100mph. Rossy’s website and YouTube have some pretty cool videos of him flying around over the mountains like Buzz Lightyear. He is working toward ground takeoffs and landings, but currently he jumps out of an airplane, unfolds the wings and flies until he runs out of fuel, then parachutes to the ground.”

Yeah sounds weird eh? Wouldn’t think you would need a golf club on a space station but hey, shows what I know. Apparently as a promotional stunt a Russian cosmonaut will be hitting a golf ball from a special platform. NASA originally said no, as they should, but since has change their mind. So let me see if I get this straight…..we are overly concerned about a piece of foam but launching a projectile at speed is OK. I know….I know but still it’s funny…….

I found this site to be very interesting. I am sure there are many more such incidents but this site list 20 of the known ones. Most don’t seem really big deals now, but I am sure with the Cold War tensions these were all close calls.

Today is the 40th birthday of StarTrek. This being a geek related site I just had to mention it. I have a link here with information about that first, ever so important, broadcast. As a geek where would I be with out StarTrek and it’s important lessons about traveling the galaxy and dating green women?

Yes the rumors are true, the Sci-Fi network has cancelled Stargate. They will however continue with Stargate Atlantis. Maybe SG1 will get a transfer to the Pegasus galaxy before it ends. Maybe they will all just retire. I would imagine that after saving the entire solar system a 100 times you would get a great retirement plan. Either way it is sad to see the series go.

Ever heard of it? Don’t worry I hadn’t either. It is apparently the oldest geared mechanism known to have existed. It dates back to 80 B.C. an was found in a shipwreck in 1902. It was believed to have been used to calculate astronomical positions. You can read more about it here on Wikipedia. Check back often as it’s inscription, some 2000 characters, is still being translated.