On 8/31/2010 12:26 PM, Quadibloc wrote:
Talk about taking coals to Newcastle! Using vacuum bottle insulation
to protect astronauts from the cold of space?

Ah, well. He didn't have the benefit of modern research, and, in fact,
perhaps vacuum bottle insulation might actually be a good thing to
have on a space capsule... to protect astronauts from the heat of re-
entry, even as the ablative shielding and aerodynamics protect the
craft itself from being melted.

And, for that matter, there were temperature problems on board Apollo
13, so this might not have been as far-fetched as it seems.

Yeah, but this is back in the grand-old-age of vacuum tubes, so once you
get those running, and add the heat of the astronaut's metabolism to the
equation, and things are going to get mighty hot in there in a mighty
big hurry.
I'm still trying to figure out what the windows on the side of the
nosecone are about, as it doesn't look like there's any way for the
astronaut to get up to the front part of the vehicle.
Maybe that's where the cameras are supposed to go?
The concept of shooting something shaped like a giant penis at the
Moon...who is represented in Greco-Roman mythology by the virgin goddess
Diana/Luna, is something Sigmund Freud would have _loved_ to
psychologically analyze.
At least the movie "Flesh Gordon" got the rocketship design right for
attempting this:
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/...ordon--002.jpg

Pat