In 1959, a cement mixer with a full load of cement, wrecked near Winganon, Oklahoma 🇺🇸
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@LanceJZ @isaackuo @archaeohistories
Back then they were still in the Mercury or Gemini programmes, and the capsule *did* have thrusters.
I don't have my copy of "The Right Stuff" to hand, but the incident with the "Air Cushion Inflation" warning light and the decision to re-enter with the thruster pack attached was given to the astronaut _without_ telling them why. (So it would have been Mercury.) Continued... (1/2)
@LanceJZ @isaackuo @archaeohistories
Mission Control were "concerned" that if the air cushion (meant to absorb the shock of landing) had inflated prematurely it would have dislodged the heat shield, and they'd have a total loss of the capsule (with extra-crispy occupant). They elected to re-enter with the thruster pack attached, and it melted with bits going past the window as the descent continued. Thankfully the warning light was due to a wiring fault. (2/last)
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@davevolek based on Google maps image I things crushed oiled gravel.
There may indeed be more to the story.
I come from a rural background. Many people drive 80 kph (50 mph) on these roads. And they hit the ditch more often.
There might be some weight restrictions that prohibit big trucks on this road. The pavement in the photo (or oily gravel) looks a little on the weak side to me.
Anyways, we need more info to know why this thing has remained in the ditch for 67 years.
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In 1959, a cement mixer with a full load of cement, wrecked near Winganon, Oklahoma
By the time a tow truck came to haul it away, all of cement had hardened inside of mixer. Tow truck was not able to remove all wreckage at same time because of weight, and decided to haul only cab/frame and would come back for detached mixer later, which never happened.
Today, 67 years later, it still sits where it fell. Locals have painted it and added "rocket thrusters" to make it look like a space capsule.
@archaeohistories I love that idea, why not do fun with it...
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@LanceJZ @isaackuo @archaeohistories
That's a piece of Art, and congratulations to the locals for maintaining it.
(Actually the capsule would have had thrusters: there would be Capsule:Flotation Bag:Heat Shield:Thruster Pack, with the thruster pack held on by straps so it could be jettisoned after deceleration but before hitting atmosphere. On one mission they re-entered with the thruster pack attached because the flotation bag light had come on and they were concerned about the heat shield.)
@Cadbury_Moose @LanceJZ @archaeohistories While this is true of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo capsules (including the Apollo service module), a reusable capsule could enter nose first rather than tail first.
Nuclear missile reentry heat shields are blunt cones entering nose first.
That said, Dragon does do tail first reentry, placing the thrusters on the sides rather than the tail. I just think it "looks" wrong.
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@Cadbury_Moose @isaackuo @archaeohistories there has never been a capsule with thrusters on them from Apollo on.
@LanceJZ @Cadbury_Moose @archaeohistories This is what people think of when they think of the Apollo "capsule". It has a big main thruster in the tail, and lots of thruster clusters all over the place.
That's the reason why the artists modifying the cement mixer tank felt the need to add thrusters. It didn't look right without them, because the overall shape looks like a capsule plus its service module.
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@LanceJZ @Cadbury_Moose @archaeohistories This is what people think of when they think of the Apollo "capsule". It has a big main thruster in the tail, and lots of thruster clusters all over the place.
That's the reason why the artists modifying the cement mixer tank felt the need to add thrusters. It didn't look right without them, because the overall shape looks like a capsule plus its service module.
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@archaeohistories I love that idea, why not do fun with it...
@capngloval @archaeohistories I love stories like this where it has a happy ending or something fun is made as a result of it
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In 1959, a cement mixer with a full load of cement, wrecked near Winganon, Oklahoma
By the time a tow truck came to haul it away, all of cement had hardened inside of mixer. Tow truck was not able to remove all wreckage at same time because of weight, and decided to haul only cab/frame and would come back for detached mixer later, which never happened.
Today, 67 years later, it still sits where it fell. Locals have painted it and added "rocket thrusters" to make it look like a space capsule.
Tell me government in Oklahoma is a failure without saying government in Oklahoma is a failure.
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@LanceJZ @Cadbury_Moose @isaackuo @archaeohistories ok _hwat_ are those astronauts doing
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In 1959, a cement mixer with a full load of cement, wrecked near Winganon, Oklahoma
By the time a tow truck came to haul it away, all of cement had hardened inside of mixer. Tow truck was not able to remove all wreckage at same time because of weight, and decided to haul only cab/frame and would come back for detached mixer later, which never happened.
Today, 67 years later, it still sits where it fell. Locals have painted it and added "rocket thrusters" to make it look like a space capsule.
@archaeohistories It was filled with concrete, not cement. Cement is like yeast; concrete is like bread.
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@Cadbury_Moose @LanceJZ @archaeohistories While this is true of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo capsules (including the Apollo service module), a reusable capsule could enter nose first rather than tail first.
Nuclear missile reentry heat shields are blunt cones entering nose first.
That said, Dragon does do tail first reentry, placing the thrusters on the sides rather than the tail. I just think it "looks" wrong.
@isaackuo @Cadbury_Moose @LanceJZ @archaeohistories That is only true for modern ballistic missile RVs, initially they were launched blunt end forward, since the materials of that time didn't allow a more accurate short end forward reentry because these cause higher temperatures. (That is also why the Space Shuttle got a rather blunt nose)
Also, there are far more than just one kind of capsule. Imagine this as a biconic lifting body, and it isn't that much fictive to retain its aft thrusters.
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In 1959, a cement mixer with a full load of cement, wrecked near Winganon, Oklahoma
By the time a tow truck came to haul it away, all of cement had hardened inside of mixer. Tow truck was not able to remove all wreckage at same time because of weight, and decided to haul only cab/frame and would come back for detached mixer later, which never happened.
Today, 67 years later, it still sits where it fell. Locals have painted it and added "rocket thrusters" to make it look like a space capsule.
@archaeohistories When you live in Winganon, Oklahoma, you need SOMETHING to do.
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In 1959, a cement mixer with a full load of cement, wrecked near Winganon, Oklahoma
By the time a tow truck came to haul it away, all of cement had hardened inside of mixer. Tow truck was not able to remove all wreckage at same time because of weight, and decided to haul only cab/frame and would come back for detached mixer later, which never happened.
Today, 67 years later, it still sits where it fell. Locals have painted it and added "rocket thrusters" to make it look like a space capsule.
@archaeohistories @sundogplanets
I think I drove past this a long time ago
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This is about four miles from my brother's farm.
@rdfrkian and my mom's - so wierd to see it pop up on fedi, it's so out of the way. last i saw it was plain gray again, i hope they fixed it back up
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In 1959, a cement mixer with a full load of cement, wrecked near Winganon, Oklahoma
By the time a tow truck came to haul it away, all of cement had hardened inside of mixer. Tow truck was not able to remove all wreckage at same time because of weight, and decided to haul only cab/frame and would come back for detached mixer later, which never happened.
Today, 67 years later, it still sits where it fell. Locals have painted it and added "rocket thrusters" to make it look like a space capsule.
@archaeohistories how many reply-guys are needed to replace thrusters on a failed space capsule filled with err... cement or concrete?
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In 1959, a cement mixer with a full load of cement, wrecked near Winganon, Oklahoma
By the time a tow truck came to haul it away, all of cement had hardened inside of mixer. Tow truck was not able to remove all wreckage at same time because of weight, and decided to haul only cab/frame and would come back for detached mixer later, which never happened.
Today, 67 years later, it still sits where it fell. Locals have painted it and added "rocket thrusters" to make it look like a space capsule.
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In 1959, a cement mixer with a full load of cement, wrecked near Winganon, Oklahoma
By the time a tow truck came to haul it away, all of cement had hardened inside of mixer. Tow truck was not able to remove all wreckage at same time because of weight, and decided to haul only cab/frame and would come back for detached mixer later, which never happened.
Today, 67 years later, it still sits where it fell. Locals have painted it and added "rocket thrusters" to make it look like a space capsule.
@archaeohistories @cstross fun fact: in my days of trolling flat earthers I saw some of those idiots claiming this is a proof the space program is a hoax.
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@archaeohistories how many reply-guys are needed to replace thrusters on a failed space capsule filled with err... cement or concrete?
@xChaos @archaeohistories out of boardom I read the comments and was happy to know they are not a part of my fediverse.
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@xChaos @archaeohistories out of boardom I read the comments and was happy to know they are not a part of my fediverse.
@hananc they are not just entirely pointless
I am not reply-guy hater, in fact, I find this kind of Internet debate kind of amusing, it is somehow how we were always doing. I am bit of an aerospace nerd myself, so I must acknowledge, that some of the comments have pretty good point.But if you ask me, if this is the way, how the federated nerdom of Internet is going to beat the combined Trumpism, Elonism, Putinism, and other mad -isms, plagueing the world these days... well, I am not sure.
But is is marginally funny.Of course, they are missing the whole spectrum of possible symbolic meanings of that sculpture in public space, which on the other hand seems so obvious to some people, that they don't even bother to comment. But maybe it is obvious, but people choose to comment in a silly way, because it is more fun. This is why I posted this. I need to figure it out...
Anyway, the space capsule artifact is a good job.
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@hananc they are not just entirely pointless
I am not reply-guy hater, in fact, I find this kind of Internet debate kind of amusing, it is somehow how we were always doing. I am bit of an aerospace nerd myself, so I must acknowledge, that some of the comments have pretty good point.But if you ask me, if this is the way, how the federated nerdom of Internet is going to beat the combined Trumpism, Elonism, Putinism, and other mad -isms, plagueing the world these days... well, I am not sure.
But is is marginally funny.Of course, they are missing the whole spectrum of possible symbolic meanings of that sculpture in public space, which on the other hand seems so obvious to some people, that they don't even bother to comment. But maybe it is obvious, but people choose to comment in a silly way, because it is more fun. This is why I posted this. I need to figure it out...
Anyway, the space capsule artifact is a good job.
What I love about the fediverse is that I can choose my small circle and no algorithm will shove to my feed people and posts I don't want.
