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Yesterday, I visited The Intrepid Museum of Air and Space, mainly because I wanted to check out the Hubble Telescope exhibit and the Space Shuttle Enterprise, which is currently housed there. The Hubble exhibit was a bit disappointing, mainly detailed how the Hubble was constructed, why it originally failed, how they fixed it, and about the latest telescope, the James Webb, set to replace or rather augment it. Unlike the Hubble, which orbits the Earth, the James Webb will orbit the Sun along the same trajectory of the Earth, but be within the Earth's shadow, so avoid the glare.
Learned a few interesting things, some of which I already knew. One, despite what television, movies and comic books tell us, humans cannot survive unprotected in the vacuum of space. Our blood will boil, our flesh will expand, within minutes. It's 250 degrees below zero in shadow, and 250 degrees in sunlight in space. You have to have protective gear. They train for space exploration with all the gear on, in a huge pool, under water. And the space capsules are small, can maybe fit someone who is 4'10 or 5. I don't know how they did it. Not a lot of room in those shuttles or capsules. Also, the stars that we see in the night sky, are actually galaxies from over 1 billion years ago. Their images travel to us from a long long time ago and from billions of miles away. By the time we physically got to them, they'd probably be gone.
The Hubble was set up in 1990, and fixed in 1993.
Oh, and the Space Shuttle Enterprise was originally called The Constitution, but Star Trek fans lobbied to have the name changed to Enterprise. [Star Trek is sort of the US's equivalent of Doctor Who.]
Here's what it looks like in person:
When I saw it, I thought, it's not that big. Thought it would be a lot bigger. How did that handle a crew and equipment?
After wandering around the Pavillion, soaking up as much information as I could on the space program, I went back outside and looked at the old air-crafts. Various fighter planes and jets from the 1940s were refurbished and on display on the USS Intrepid's hanger. The Intrepid is an aircraft carrier that was first commissioned in 1943.
USS Intrepid (CV/CVA/CVS-11), also known as The Fighting "I", is one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers built during World War II for the United States Navy. She is the fourth US Navy ship to bear the name. Commissioned in August 1943, Intrepid participated in several campaigns in the Pacific Theater of Operations, most notably the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Decommissioned shortly after the end of the war, she was modernized and recommissioned in the early 1950s as an attack carrier (CVA), and then eventually became an antisubmarine carrier (CVS). In her second career, she served mainly in the Atlantic, but also participated in the Vietnam War. Her notable achievements include being the recovery ship for a Mercury and a Gemini space mission. Because of her prominent role in battle, she was nicknamed "the Fighting I", while her often ill-luck and the time spent in dry dock for repairs earned her the nicknames "Decrepit" and "the Dry I". Decommissioned in 1974, in 1982 Intrepid became the foundation of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City.
To give you an idea how big this is - it had the Space Shuttle Pavillon, the Hubble Exhibit, various aircrafts, and flight simulations, all housed on its deck, along with an extensive exhibit on it's history as an aircraft carrier. The rooms however are tiny, and the captain's quarters not large or luxurious. I don't know how these guys did it. Met a few men who were on the ship or ships like it, and they were not tiny or short men.
Anyhow here are a few pics of the aircrafts that I saw:
( old aircrafts housed on the carrier )
In addition, the FDNY (Fire Department of New York City) was having a bit of an exhibition. They had old fire trucks on display, were selling calendars, and had all their equipment out. Also giving kids tours of their fire trucks. I took some pictures of a 1950s Fire Truck and Car that was on display on the aircraft carrier.
( 1950s and 1960s fire trucks )
Learned a few interesting things, some of which I already knew. One, despite what television, movies and comic books tell us, humans cannot survive unprotected in the vacuum of space. Our blood will boil, our flesh will expand, within minutes. It's 250 degrees below zero in shadow, and 250 degrees in sunlight in space. You have to have protective gear. They train for space exploration with all the gear on, in a huge pool, under water. And the space capsules are small, can maybe fit someone who is 4'10 or 5. I don't know how they did it. Not a lot of room in those shuttles or capsules. Also, the stars that we see in the night sky, are actually galaxies from over 1 billion years ago. Their images travel to us from a long long time ago and from billions of miles away. By the time we physically got to them, they'd probably be gone.
The Hubble was set up in 1990, and fixed in 1993.
Oh, and the Space Shuttle Enterprise was originally called The Constitution, but Star Trek fans lobbied to have the name changed to Enterprise. [Star Trek is sort of the US's equivalent of Doctor Who.]
Here's what it looks like in person:
When I saw it, I thought, it's not that big. Thought it would be a lot bigger. How did that handle a crew and equipment?
After wandering around the Pavillion, soaking up as much information as I could on the space program, I went back outside and looked at the old air-crafts. Various fighter planes and jets from the 1940s were refurbished and on display on the USS Intrepid's hanger. The Intrepid is an aircraft carrier that was first commissioned in 1943.
USS Intrepid (CV/CVA/CVS-11), also known as The Fighting "I", is one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers built during World War II for the United States Navy. She is the fourth US Navy ship to bear the name. Commissioned in August 1943, Intrepid participated in several campaigns in the Pacific Theater of Operations, most notably the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Decommissioned shortly after the end of the war, she was modernized and recommissioned in the early 1950s as an attack carrier (CVA), and then eventually became an antisubmarine carrier (CVS). In her second career, she served mainly in the Atlantic, but also participated in the Vietnam War. Her notable achievements include being the recovery ship for a Mercury and a Gemini space mission. Because of her prominent role in battle, she was nicknamed "the Fighting I", while her often ill-luck and the time spent in dry dock for repairs earned her the nicknames "Decrepit" and "the Dry I". Decommissioned in 1974, in 1982 Intrepid became the foundation of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City.
To give you an idea how big this is - it had the Space Shuttle Pavillon, the Hubble Exhibit, various aircrafts, and flight simulations, all housed on its deck, along with an extensive exhibit on it's history as an aircraft carrier. The rooms however are tiny, and the captain's quarters not large or luxurious. I don't know how these guys did it. Met a few men who were on the ship or ships like it, and they were not tiny or short men.
Anyhow here are a few pics of the aircrafts that I saw:
( old aircrafts housed on the carrier )
In addition, the FDNY (Fire Department of New York City) was having a bit of an exhibition. They had old fire trucks on display, were selling calendars, and had all their equipment out. Also giving kids tours of their fire trucks. I took some pictures of a 1950s Fire Truck and Car that was on display on the aircraft carrier.
( 1950s and 1960s fire trucks )