ARTEMIS!

 Back to the Moon?

It is claimed that this four person mission is a fly around and not a landing, so why send four, when it could be done with less, unless some form of landing is to be attempted just to check-out what was left can be re-used!

Maybe China and Russia have already made out and are building their join southern base camp, what a blow would that be to the United States and Europe?

But maybe that 70's space race is not a big deal anymore and more collaboration missions will be undertaken to explore the moons of our Solar System than wondering off the the nearest star!

The final frontier has much to offer up in visiting many places and wonders still near and far?

A new Frontier!

 Space Travel?

From tourism to Mars and beyond in the next one hundred years, colonies and the Internet will be superseded by new things and we might begin the mission to our nearest star in the hope of making contact with other aliens!

Will we ever get to a large Space ship is a unknown, since we do not as yet fully know how we might get through the Kuiper belt and how does gravity act outside our own Solar system?

But we will establish colonies on Mars, the Moon and some other planets, while others will be for research and science perhaps further out!

Without a new shuttle being developed, we will be limited since Space-X is not advanced as it is claimed to be and it all depends on how much money can be invested now to keep the International Space Station operating and getting updated, if not rebuilt in Space?

Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star.

Interesting History?

This year the Wales National Air Show in Swansea Bay, S-Wales U.K. was the attraction of the Shooting Star and American Jet fighter of the 1950's era. But this aircraft was conceived long before World War-II (1939-45) as Americas first Jet fighter the T-33, work began in 1943 at Burbank as the XP-80 lead by Clarence L. Johnson based on the De Havilland H-1 turbo jet and 180 days later its first flight for the USAAF took place.

After various engine alternatives and testing 525 aircraft were delivered at the end of the war in 1945, thirteen YP-80's operated in Europe and two in Italy in October 1944 for special operations. An order of 5000 was dropped to 2000 and eventually to a lover number of about 240  were built between 1946-47.

The F-80 was a single seater and the T-33 became a two seat trainer, there were also other specialised versions and both served with the Air force and the US, Navy. Some were exported to the former Yugoslavia, Italy, Belgium, Turkey and Japan in the 1950's. 

The Royal Canadian Air Force produced a licensed version of this aircraft and it saw operational service in the war on the Korean Peninsula. Max speed 180 mph and range approx. 1345 miles for early versions and later 558 mph and a range of 540 miles. Armament six machine guns and two hard points for bombs or rockets.

Interstellar Travel. Part-One.

Our nearest Neighbour.

Much of space science is currently being employed into the idea of sending a Laser powered sail spacecraft on a thirty year trip to our nearest neighbouring star, which is four light-years away. With our current technology it would take us two hundred years plus to get there and back.

At this time the only manned Space ship is the International Space Station, which is three-hundred miles up making a 45-minute circle of the Earth. The Russian Progress robotic and U.S. Dragon supply vessels are the only way of getting up and down, since the retirement of the ageing former Space Shuttles.

The next objective in to get a manned mission to Mars by 2035 or establish a southern-hemisphere Moon base, as a first step by 2028?

Prof. Stephen Hawking's is very keen to encourage the Solar sail project, but some believe it would be wise to test it out first within the known confines of the solar system? making a four hour journey to Pluto, instead of the ten years it took the New Horizon probe. 

It also remains unclear what is beyond Pluto in the Kuiper belt, which the second phase of the New Horizons will arrive at in 2019. One of the six believed moon type objects has already been spotted and a new planet Niku is on a 110 degrees plane between Neptune and Pluto. Meanwhile this small world is blue and is travelling backwards to the normal pattern of all the other planets rotation around the Sun.

The problems with Interstellar travel is the possibility of another rocky domain well beyond the Kuiper Belt that would be like a mine field to exit the Solar system, there is also believed to be another planet known as X9 somewhere out there with a very large gravity field?

NASA Adopts X-Planes.

A British Concept.

I am a bit limited to my night sky videos of only the Moon, since it is the nearest object in the night sky to catch apart from the International Space Station (ISS).  NASA has announced this year, 'That it has found a replacement to its former Space Shuttle, quite a profound bit of tech.'

The Space Shuttle was really 1960's tech in the 1990's and even beyond the millennium was costing a fortune to maintain. A mini shuttle (X37) was developed to carry out sole military operation and was secret, until the amateur astronomers observed its orbits.

The X-Plane that is now being considered was a British concept thought up by the Astronomical Society in the 1970-80's in Vauxhall, London. U.K. 

This concept aircraft could be launched either by rocket platform, as the Shuttle or take off on the piggy back of another larger aircraft and fire off in high altitude into Space. 

It would then make its return under its own power just like a conventional aircraft, where as the Space Shuttle was really a giant glider. If the X-Plane concepts are ever built, we will have our first true Space Ships, now that Star Trek marks its 50th Anniversary.

Military Trucks. Part-Two.

Ever Changing World.

Most of the trucks that we looked at in Part-One of this series of articles have all over the years been in the process of standardisation for their compatibility to fit the NATO Lockheed Hercules C-130 transport aircraft.

But now we will take a look as what is available around the world and how they have either been exported or licensed built in other nations since, the break up of the old Soviet Warsaw Pact block in the 1990's. 

The Czech Tatra T815 Kolos has been exported to India, while the 6X6 Tatrapan Armoured car was developed for the Slovak army.

Brazil is to soon replace its ageing Engesa EE-50 truck and variants, while it is still in Service in Angola. Western Star is the main producer for the Canadian armed forces, while the Austrian Styr is built in Canada under licence.

Tugboats. Part-Three.

Gas/Oil Rig Support Tugs.

These are perhaps some of the largest tugs that are in operation today around the world, they perform the moving of Rig platforms from builder shipyard to deployment for drilling in their various fields. Recently two tugs of this class came from the west of Ireland Bellmullet Gas field to Swansea Bay, the Mainport Ash and the Sentinel Star.

In recent filming one can compare the sizes of these vessels compared to the local Svitzer tugboats who deal with Bulk Carriers in and out of the Port Talbot roads, serving the TATA steel works.


This is where the money is today in tugboat work from large shipping to the oil and gas industry. I noticed in a recent TV programme that India was still using the older steam tugboats, that Britain had in the 1950s. 

Meanwhile some of the former Svitzer Tugs have now been sold to the Ukraine and are operating in the Black Sea from Odessa.

Space..

The Final Frontier.

These are the famous words of a popular Science-Fiction series 'Star Trek. But from 1957 an onwards this is a ever expanding truth for humanity. We spend more money going up into space, than we do on feeding the millions of starving people on our planet.

All modern communications from the Internet to GPS, TV to the weather is part of gathered and transmitted information hubs located in near Earth-Space. Robotic probes have now been sent to nearly every part of our solar system, both near and far.

With these ships we have discovered our near by planets and their moons are just as active, with volcano's and other seismic activity as here on Earth. Our own Moon is made predominately of Ice, rather than cheese. Meanwhile we are learning more about Mars daily, than we have tried to map our own Oceans.

Time Machines.

Travelling into the Future.

The Science-fiction writer H.G. Wells was the first to propose the idea of 'a time machine' and since then the idea has spread into many other sci-fi books and films. Wells machine went forward to see a bleak future for humanity, with machines taking over from man. 

Meanwhile in the Star Trek series time is played with to a point where it becomes ridiculous. Back to the Future, is more of a comedy and several other film concepts have off-shot from this one.

 In the Stargate SG-1 world we are dealing with dimensional universes and ancient technologies and again there has been various off-shoots, such as the short lived Atlantis. These are then part of the perhaps best known.

But is it possible in reality, the answer in current science is No. Time is continuous and we only can see the past events in our universe, because of the time it has taken light to travel to us.

Perhaps one day in say' 500 years from now, if we are still here and can go faster than light we might find a planet, where we could observe light coming from our own sun???

Space...

The Final Frontier.

We have all grown up with the concepts of Space, wither it is with Science fiction, Star Trek, Blake 7, Atlantis, Star gate SG-1. The realities of NASA putting the first man on the Moon 40 years ago and the various missions to the planet Mars and other planets in our Solar system.

Space travel was a regular occurrence in the United States, prior to the retirement of the ageing Space shuttle programme.

Space travel plays an important role in communications, Satellite TV, the Internet and weather. It also has many military aspects, that we know very little about accept perhaps for GPS.  Currently thirteen nations are involved in the International space station (ISS). Which one can see flying over some part of the Earth each night.

 Many schools and colleges are involved in connections daily to the astro/cosmonauts, who are on board. The ISS is the largest International gathering of co-operation between nations peacefully for some time.