Comments for AirSpace

Comment on Blimp! by Mark Goldman

Mark Goldman — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 22:31:55 +0000

I worked for Goodyear in the mid 80′s to the mid 90′s in the retail division. One year they had a promotion for decorating our location with the top winning stores getting rides on the Blimp. My manager and I spent some serious time getting our store spiffed up with the result being a ride on one of the Blimps at Dulles airport….boy what a memory!

Comment on Where are the Voyagers now? by Gregg

Gregg — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 07:59:43 +0000

A lone Scoutship came upon a small metal object floating in interstellar space, once the ship return to their home world there was great celebration. First Contact! First Contact! The joy was felt over the entire planet “We are not alone.” “We must go there.”
With great effort and expense they left their home world and headed for Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot. After many years and much hardship they arrived and settled into orbit around this rare and special planet, ready to meet the only other intelligent species know to them.
With the greatest excitement they turned their sensors toward the Planet Earth.
When they saw the destroyed dead planet before them, they could only cry.
Maybe the human species wasn’t so intelligent after all.

Comment on The Legend of Amelia Earhart’s Disappearance by Martijn van Heeringen

Martijn van Heeringen — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 18:48:57 +0000

Probably the most likely scenario is that she got lost over the Pacific after taking off from Lae, and run out of fuel. She then either crashed or miraculously landed on the water. In either case, the Electra will be on the 4 km deep bottom somewhere in the Pacific and we will never find it. And if we would, it would not change the legend she was, and still is to us today, even though her attempt to fly around the world became obsolete, since soon commercial airliners would do the same.

Comment on Friendship 7’s ‘Fourth Orbit’ by B Thompson

B Thompson — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 19:36:30 +0000

In January 2010 I visited the NASM for the first time. I was standing beside Friendship 7, looking inside it, when some short guy in a black, wide-brimmed hat and a black overcoat, came bustling up, placed his hand on the capsule, announced to the guy with him, “John Glenn’s Mercury. It was supposed to do seven orbits, but malfunctioned and had to abort after three. Moving on!” and off they raced towards Ed White’s Gemini, leaving me going “Huh? What? Wait!”
They must have been doing one of those See-The-Air-And-Space-Museum-In-Twenty- Minutes tours. Still, it wouldn’t hurt if Mr Black Hat got his facts right – Glenn’s mission was set for three orbits and achieved that. The malfunction Mr Black Hat may have been referring to was a faulty microswitch that showed the heat shield might have been loose. In the event, it wasn’t.

Comment on Friendship 7’s ‘Fourth Orbit’ by Hunter Holins

Hunter Holins — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 18:30:45 +0000

Nicely done Teasel. The story of people seeing our artifacts is too overlooked. Next you should write about the European Apollo tour organized by USAID…

Comment on Chuck Yeager by Nick DonVito

Nick DonVito — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 05:08:11 +0000

My Father Vito A. DonVito worked at Bell Aircraft and helped build the X1a and x2. The men that worked on those planes were given beautiful models as a rememberance and I played with dad’s until they were broken. Wish I had them now. Nick

Comment on Going Mobile by Tina

Tina — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 03:55:52 +0000

I love this and your plans for the site. I am also in a hotel in your area planning my visit for tomorrow. I have an Android3. It would be wonderful to walk up to an exhibit and learn more from your cell, or use it for a guided tour in which you could explore at your own pace. Thanks for all of your hard work!

Comment on Chuck Yeager by Paul Snow

Paul Snow — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 01:57:29 +0000

Happy birthday, Chuck!

Comment on Blimp! by Josh Fenton

Josh Fenton — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 18:12:43 +0000

When I was a young child I used to spend a lot of time at my grandparents’ house, which was located a couple of miles from the Pompano Beach Airpark, which has long been a Goodyear blimp base. One day, after much begging, my dad took my to the airport to watch the Goodyear land. As my dad and I stood at the perimeter fence, we were approached by an official looking gentlemen; suspecting that we were in trouble because I was climbing on the fence, we were shocked and relieved to be offered a ride! Even though it wasn’t possible to purchase a ride on the blimp, we just happened to be at the right place at the right time. Although I was only about 10 years old at the time, I’ll never forget the pilot’s name: R.G. Daniels. I decided that day that I wanted to be a pilot when I grew up. I never really grew up, but I DID become a pilot. About 12 years later, while sitting in basic indoctrination class without about 25 other pilots, I was asked to tell the group why I became a pilot, at which point I told the story about my childhood blimp ride. After the class, one of my classmates asked me if I’d ever considered flying the blimp again, to which I laughed, because it seemed like an impossibility. Then, to my surprise, he explained that he was the former chief pilot for Fuji Airship operations and that he may be able to “pull some strings” (no pun intended) to get me behind the controls. I took him up on his generous offer, and true to his word, I was given the opportunity to fly the Fuji Skyship 600. Needless to say, blimps have played a unique roll in my life, and I am happy to see that this piece of history will be preserved and displayed for generations to come.

Comment on What Can You Really See From Space? by james

james — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 13:49:13 +0000

Are there satellites that are capable of picking out faces of people? Are there any capable of zooming in on what activities are done through open windows in say an apartment?