I’ve been into the human spaceflight program since I was a kid and my father worked for the company that made the batteries in the lunar rovers, so of course I had to get this even though I have far too much Meh stuff.
@ItalianScallion@Mandamm My father-in-law was of the generation(?) where work was supposed to = drudgery and was just not talked about. It was only about a decade before he died that my wife learned that he was involved in guidance systems (a big part of which was gyroscopes back then) for Gemini and Apollo missions (and Minuteman and related stuff). (He said that in the movies, when they show a bunch of guys in that big control room, he was with a bunch of engineers in a room behind that room, supporting the guys in the big control room.)
As a wannabe engineer, it was awesome to talk with him about his experiences.
@ItalianScallion My Dad worked at TRW and we lived in Houston during the moon landings. I was too young to understand what was going on. People landing on the moon was just another TV show to me. I thought everyone’s Dad was a rocket scientist. When I saw this …
… I remembered the flooded streets after the rain and the lack of trees around brand new houses being built for Mission Control. Little did I know or care at the time that those were Halcyon Daze that would never return.
@andymand@ItalianScallion@Mandamm Oh man, that’s cool! I didn’t learn until a few years ago that for every person in the control room, there was a team supporting that person in another room.
My Dad told me that when Apollo 13 happened, he rushed over to mission control. When he got there, the cars weren’t parked as normal. They were half-hazard all over the place because the people would get there, turn off the car, and RUN as fast as they could into the building because every second counted towards saving the crew’s lives.
Actually they were silver-zinc batteries from Yardney Electric in Pawcatuck, Conn., as were the batteries in the astronauts’ backpacks. My father was the Silver Controller there. I guess that meant he tracked all the usage of silver and maybe ordered more when they needed it. I used to have a few of their little tiny batteries my dad brought home, but of course they didn’t have the electrolyte in them – too dangerous for a kid to be playing with.
@ItalianScallion@mediocrebot@phendrick But it’s still a magic piece of history. Now I want to find out the energy density of those batteries because they would be state of the art at the time. I’ll bet your Dad had to test the purity as well.
I was trying to find a video of the history of the digital(?) gyroscope for @andymand , but I found this instead :
In space, there are no TV/electronics repair shops, so you gotta get it right the first time.
EaglePicher took meticulous care in designing these batteries, ensuring they were flame-resistant and safe for the astronauts and their equipment. This level of attention to safety and functionality exemplifies the engineering excellence behind the Apollo missions.
I was trying to find a video of the history of the digital(?)
gyroscope for @andymand
@cfg83 As I recall, these were beefy flywheels that would spin at high speeds (floating on air bearings) and – been a while since my physics classes – they have inertial resistance or whatever and that gives feedback to the system/operator, blah blah blah.
Since these things require tight tolerances, he said that “crap in the gap” was something they needed to continually guard against.
My dad and I watched Neil Armstrong climb down the ladder and step on to the lunar surface live on TV.
What seems to be mostly lost down the memory hole is that when the camera on the LEM was first deployed, the image broadcast to the world was upside down. They had the image correctly oriented by the time Armstrong made his descent - apparently they just turned the monitor displaying the image for the TV cameras upside down.
/showme People and cats and dogs in living room watching TV that is upside down BUT picture in screen is upside up and it is showing the NASA Apollo moon landing.
/showme People and cats and dogs in living room are sitting UPSIDE DOWN and watching TV with picture in screen is upside down and it is showing the NASA Apollo moon landing.
/showme Armstrong and Aldrin driving a dune buggy at Tranquility Base
I wanna explore the Dark Zone of the ocean. Second place is the Moon. Third? Maybe Mars or Enceladus.
As a kid growing up in the’60s; I’d have expected we would be having a base on the moon by now. But I think too many wars got in the way. Media coverage lessened, so we need to start over. Cool toy! Wish I had a use for.
I was thinking about the two questions everyone asks about a Meh product. The first, about Georgia Red, was answered, but I was thinking about the second one. No, the rover can’t make a margarita, but I suppose it could carry all the ingredients to you so you could make one. Maybe that’s close enough.
/showme the lunar rover remote control moon buggy toy carrying the ingredients to make a margarita
Specs
Product: Smithsonian Lunar Rover Remote Control Moon Buggy
Model: ODY-04SI
Condition: New
What’s Included?
Price Comparison
$39.99 at Walmart
Was $49.99 at Odyssey
Warranty
90 days
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Feb 23 - Wednesday, Feb 25
Does it come with rocks?
@yakkoTDI Rocks not included, but if you are into raks …
Theme song for today’s offer (plus for all the Lovers this Valentines Day).
I’m still mourning the loss of the Mars Rover.
@AaronLeeJohnson Which one?
@AaronLeeJohnson
Always the last place you look.
@AaronLeeJohnson Well, there’s still the Tesla Cybertruck!
@robson Do you mean the Tesla Roadster with Spaceman behind the wheel?
whereisroadster.com
I do want this, but I also hope it sells out before I pull the trigger.
/showme Kittens driving the Smithsonian Lunar Rover Remote Control Moon Buggy
@cfg83 Here’s the image you requested for “Kittens driving the Smithsonian Lunar Rover Remote Control Moon Buggy”
@cfg83 @mediocrebot I’d buy that rover instead!
@mediocrebot Ha ha, kittens + anything always wins.
@cfg83 @mediocrebot
Middle cat seems to be using up some of his nine lives
@chienfou @mediocrebot WTF?!?!?! How did I not notice that? I will argue kitty is wearing an experimental transparidome + transparicloth space suit.
/showme US astronauts in a moon buggy on the lunar surface catching “air” like the car scene in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
@zippyus Here’s the image you requested for “US astronauts in a moon buggy on the lunar surface catching air like the car scene in Ferris Buel…”
@mediocrebot @zippyus Let’s do this!
I’ve been into the human spaceflight program since I was a kid and my father worked for the company that made the batteries in the lunar rovers, so of course I had to get this even though I have far too much Meh stuff.
/showme mentionable-abiding-silk
@ItalianScallion Here’s the image you requested for “mentionable-abiding-silk”
@ItalianScallion My Ex worked for NASA in the 80’s running S.A.I.L. Shuttle Avionics Integral Labs… Lived and breathed Shuttle for a few years.
@ItalianScallion @Mandamm My father-in-law was of the generation(?) where work was supposed to = drudgery and was just not talked about. It was only about a decade before he died that my wife learned that he was involved in guidance systems (a big part of which was gyroscopes back then) for Gemini and Apollo missions (and Minuteman and related stuff). (He said that in the movies, when they show a bunch of guys in that big control room, he was with a bunch of engineers in a room behind that room, supporting the guys in the big control room.)
As a wannabe engineer, it was awesome to talk with him about his experiences.
FOOLS! TOOLS! JEWELS! AWESOME!
@andymand @Mandamm These are awesome stories! Keep 'em coming!
WORKER BEES! HERCULES! TURKEY GREASE! AWESOME!
@ItalianScallion My Dad worked at TRW and we lived in Houston during the moon landings. I was too young to understand what was going on. People landing on the moon was just another TV show to me. I thought everyone’s Dad was a rocket scientist. When I saw this …
… I remembered the flooded streets after the rain and the lack of trees around brand new houses being built for Mission Control. Little did I know or care at the time that those were Halcyon Daze that would never return.
@andymand @ItalianScallion @Mandamm Oh man, that’s cool! I didn’t learn until a few years ago that for every person in the control room, there was a team supporting that person in another room.
My Dad told me that when Apollo 13 happened, he rushed over to mission control. When he got there, the cars weren’t parked as normal. They were half-hazard all over the place because the people would get there, turn off the car, and RUN as fast as they could into the building because every second counted towards saving the crew’s lives.
@andymand @ItalianScallion @Mandamm This looks like meat and gyroscopes for you …
This looks like a fun toy!
@robson where can you buy the armaments?
@phendrick @robson Hrmmm …
/showme Smithsonian Lunar Rover Remote Control Moon Buggy with weapons package from ACME.
@cfg83 Here’s the image you requested for “Smithsonian Lunar Rover Remote Control Moon Buggy with weapons package from ACME.”
@mediocrebot Yeahhhhhhh, that’s the one I would have ordered from the Sears Catalog.
@cfg83 @mediocrebot “battery operated” = helluva battery?
@mediocrebot @phendrick Space Kittens (not included in weapons package) only use Eveready …
@cfg83 @mediocrebot
@phendrick wrote:
Actually they were silver-zinc batteries from Yardney Electric in Pawcatuck, Conn., as were the batteries in the astronauts’ backpacks. My father was the Silver Controller there. I guess that meant he tracked all the usage of silver and maybe ordered more when they needed it. I used to have a few of their little tiny batteries my dad brought home, but of course they didn’t have the electrolyte in them – too dangerous for a kid to be playing with.
@ItalianScallion @mediocrebot @phendrick But it’s still a magic piece of history. Now I want to find out the energy density of those batteries because they would be state of the art at the time. I’ll bet your Dad had to test the purity as well.
I was trying to find a video of the history of the digital(?) gyroscope for @andymand , but I found this instead :
In space, there are no TV/electronics repair shops, so you gotta get it right the first time.
@andymand @ItalianScallion @mediocrebot @phendrick This looks relevant …
https://apollo11space.com/how-batteries-took-man-to-the-moon-on-apollo-11/
@cfg83 As I recall, these were beefy flywheels that would spin at high speeds (floating on air bearings) and – been a while since my physics classes – they have inertial resistance or whatever and that gives feedback to the system/operator, blah blah blah.
Since these things require tight tolerances, he said that “crap in the gap” was something they needed to continually guard against.
@andymand Ha! Crap in the gap will be used where appropriate. I wish I could find a video of the dude that developed the “space grade” gyroscopes.
/showme Cat wearing safety helmet is yelling “Crap in the Gap!” and has paws on plunger that has a wire leading into a tunnel about 100 feet away.
@cfg83 Here’s the image you requested for “Cat wearing safety helmet is yelling Crap in the Gap! and has paws on plunger that has a wire lea…”
@mediocrebot Egg-salad!
/showme Cat in dentist outfit looking in sad human’s mouth and yelling “Crap in the Gap!”.
@cfg83 Here’s the image you requested for “Cat in dentist outfit looking in sad human s mouth and yelling Crap in the Gap!.”
I think Wheelie Yellow should test it …
The movie reference is pretty obvious, but WALL•E, Star Wars, or Silent Running would’ve been better.
@DonBirren Or Apollo 18.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_18_(film)
Think I’ll stick this in storage until the next toy drive
Future me will not be able to find the tiny little fragile parts that get snapped off during the first use.
@Jonas4321 3D printing will solve that.
My dad and I watched Neil Armstrong climb down the ladder and step on to the lunar surface live on TV.
What seems to be mostly lost down the memory hole is that when the camera on the LEM was first deployed, the image broadcast to the world was upside down. They had the image correctly oriented by the time Armstrong made his descent - apparently they just turned the monitor displaying the image for the TV cameras upside down.
@macromeh The actual camera on the LM was mounted upside-down because it fit better that way when folded up.
@DonBirren @macromeh I’ll bet people flipped the TV (or themselves) over to watch.
@DonBirren @macromeh Hrmmmm …
/showme People and cats and dogs in living room watching TV that is upside down BUT picture in screen is upside up and it is showing the NASA Apollo moon landing.
@cfg83 Here’s the image you requested for “People and cats and dogs in living room watching TV that is upside down BUT picture in screen is …”
@DonBirren @macromeh Blup …
/showme People and cats and dogs in living room are sitting UPSIDE DOWN and watching TV with picture in screen is upside down and it is showing the NASA Apollo moon landing.
@cfg83 Here’s the image you requested for “People and cats and dogs in living room are sitting UPSIDE DOWN and watching TV with picture in s…”
@mediocrebot Oh well. I guess I could craft it differently, but too tired to think it through.
/showme Armstrong and Aldrin driving a dune buggy at Tranquility Base
I wanna explore the Dark Zone of the ocean. Second place is the Moon. Third? Maybe Mars or Enceladus.
@thedyom Here’s the image you requested for “Armstrong and Aldrin driving a dune buggy at Tranquility Base”
@mediocrebot @thedyom I dunno, looks like Neil is not having as much fun as you’d imagine.
As a kid growing up in the’60s; I’d have expected we would be having a base on the moon by now. But I think too many wars got in the way. Media coverage lessened, so we need to start over. Cool toy! Wish I had a use for.
@jkawaguchi Yup, shoulda, coulda, woulda …
@jkawaguchi If you have a crawl space under your house, then put a camera on it and use it as an inspector.
@cfg83 @jkawaguchi
That is actually an intriguing idea. Thanks
Someone bought 36. 36 * $15 = $540.
/showme Thirty Six Smithsonian Lunar Rover Remote Control Moon Buggies driven by kittens on the moon.
@cfg83 Here’s the image you requested for “Thirty Six Smithsonian Lunar Rover Remote Control Moon Buggies driven by kittens on the moon.”
@mediocrebot I am meowy pleased.
@cfg83 whoa there is no limit on how many you can get… truly meh
if meh included what kinda batteries this takes and how it’s charged, i could have bought 2. be lil more nerdy
@username Wallmart Sez …
@username Harumph. A previous(?) version is battery only (notice the different controller) …
I was thinking about the two questions everyone asks about a Meh product. The first, about Georgia Red, was answered, but I was thinking about the second one. No, the rover can’t make a margarita, but I suppose it could carry all the ingredients to you so you could make one. Maybe that’s close enough.
/showme the lunar rover remote control moon buggy toy carrying the ingredients to make a margarita
@ItalianScallion Here’s the image you requested for “the lunar rover remote control moon buggy toy carrying the ingredients to make a margarita”
I got one of these to chase the cats.