Recent content by BoxCar

I built a 10" Dobsonian for ~ $300 under supervision of SideWalk Astronomers at NM Space Museum> Took days to polish 10" blank pyrex but my SECRET TRICK was in final polish used a 7.5 lb bar bell weight on top of a 4" slab of foam for a PERFECT final polish to get an accurate spherical surface...

In high school Physics class I once asked our teacher about space travel where there was "No Gravity"> Her answer was "There IS NO such place where there is NOT gravity" and she was RIGHT> What we call gavityless is simply a suspension or balance of forces between radial acceleration of S/C in...

U'd think in an Earth's atmosphere landing somehow they'd employ parachutes as part of the "Stages" of descent, then release them at final touch down> Why not, it's worked for ocean "splash downs" but when near the surface deploy the rockets to set down w/minimum fuel use

It didn't> The Space Shuttle was designed for "near Earth orbits" of less than 400miles to be used as a cargo carrier to near Earth orbits> Max orbit used was to repair the hubble at 359miles> Max orbit depended on payload> To put things into perspective, LandSAT 1 launched in 1972 was in a...

As a Design Engr at RocketDyne's Santa Susana Propulsion Field Lab in 1964 I was tasked w/design of an IMPULSE Load Cell to be used to CALIBRATE Thrusters for Moon Lander so Astronauts could "Dock-In-Space" or else NO ONE was going to Moon b/c to come back req'd a DOCK w/return S/C so why go...

Percy compleats a dream I had 70yrs ago as a 11yr old boy who discovered Sci-Fi while looking for a Tarzan book & found the author had written sci-fi adventures of Martians> 13 yrs later w/a BSME I designed an Impulse Load Cell to Calibrate rocket Thrusters of S/C or NO ONE was going to "Dock...

In 1950 a 10yr old kid (me) discovered Sc-Fi in a library in Cavite, Philippines while looking for Tarzan but found author, Edgar Rice Burroughs also wrote a Sci-Fi novel about MARs & Martians> 14yrs later 1964 NASA had a problem on Apollo that that kid SOLVED> if RocketDyne could NOT figure out...

My career was design of telescopes from LandSAT MSS instrument 9"C.A. semi-kinematic truss 'scope (scanner depicted) to SIRTF cryogenic cooled IR telescope to SWATH coronograph for Smithsonian AstroPhysics and built my own Dobson 10" C.A. Newtonian telescope using an 18" dia Sonatube (Concrete...

In 1970 at SBRC (Santa Barbara Res. Cntr.) I designed MSS scanning telescope (MultiSpectralScanner) as depicted> Launched in 1972 it's accumulated almost half century of data on entire planet Earth (origin of Google Earth) On Climate Control> Germany's Max Planck Institute found the 1980...

Maybe that's what De'ja' Vu is all about? De'ja' Vu def> the illusion of remembering scenes and events when experienced for the first time

In 1970 I designed 9* C.A. telescope for MSS Multi-Spectral-Scanner (depicted) that took 1st compleat photos of planet Earth (Photos in every Atlas, 30m res) 1st the Orion 4.5"C.A. is 114.3 mm (10,261mm*2) vs 90mm C.A. (6,362mm*2) for greater photon gathering Clear Aperture by factor of 1.61...

Go a step back to launch of 1st Sputnik Fall 1957> As a freshman starting college in Munich, Germany, it inspired me to pursue a career in S/C instrument design so when I took a job at RocketDyne in 1964 I was prepared w/a BSME/Design to design an Impulse Load Cell to Calibrate Thrusters of Moon...

Designed MSS in 1970 in same SBRC office I shared w/Jim Kodak who designed camera for 1st S/C to leave Solar System (Voyager?)

CelestronFirstScope @$50 is a 3"CA (Clear Aperture) Reflector, but IF U google "Telescopes" U can find USED 'scopes> No need for more than 10" CA IF U live in a populated area b/c of light pollution, but larger the better & Reflectors do not have color aberations like a lens does (more clarity...