How We Got To Mars

[nor cal mike]

http://www.youtube.com/embed/XRCIzZHpFtY?rel=0

[Beachboy]

Awesome! One of my pet peeves is the constant talk about American's decline. There's not a single country on earth that has the scientific and engineering ability to accomplish a landing like this. (The European Space Agency might be able to do it.) The film shows the landing of the Spirit rover which roamed Mars from 2004 to 2010. The landing of current rover, Curiosity, was an even greater accomplishment. Well done Nasa and JPL.

[i am bob]

Don't forget to include us Canadians in there too!

Most people don't know about the Avro Arrow. It was a jet aircraft so advanced over anything else out there at the time (early 60s) that it would have been still a monster as much as 20 years ago. Prime Minister at the time, John Diefenbaker, was convinced by the US government to cancel the project and include Canada as part of NASA. And many of the Canadian engineers from AVRO became part the team that got NASA to the moon first. To this day many of the engineers at NASA or for the companies competing with their designs for the Space Shuttle replacement are Canadians. And many people think that the only thing we were involved with was the Canadarm... Heck, even I got to do a small part on that one - though I wasn't told what the work I was doing was for until much later.

[i am bob]

I just finally watched the video.... And recognized 2 and possibly a third face of people I had met over the years - though I can't remember any of their names... hehe! My big question is this: Where did I screw up?

:mocking:

[Mike S]

BAH .... HUMBUG ...... just like on the moon ..... I don't believe a word of it .... it was all planned and staged in the deserts of the US southwest ..... :mocking: ........ :cheersty:

[i am bob]

It's all true Mike! Has to be - it was on TV!

:mocking:

[Beachboy]

Space Shuttle replacement are Canadians.

Yes, sorry for the omission. Canada has been in the space business as long as Nasa (actually longer but without Nasa's publicity department to tell their story) Avro was working on a 6,000 mph space plane in the late 50's. It was never funded, but many of the engineers in the design team joined the Apollo program. Canadian companies have been Nasa contractors ever since .. they're just assumed to be Americans which really must irritate them :bash: . The Arrow would have been the most advanced interceptor in the world, had it been built. But once it was determined that Russian bombers could be dispatched with much less capable aircraft or with even cheaper missles, it became apparent that it would have been a plane without a mission. The same was also true of the F106, but the US built it anyway and wasted a lot of money.

wasn't told what the work I was doing was for until much later.

... was the Canada Arm a secret project? :cheersty: Edited September 11, 2012 by Beachboy

[Beachboy]

just like on the moon ..... I don't believe a word of it .... it was all planned and staged in the deserts of the US southwest

.. If you look closely at the "first moon landing", you can see a cactus plant growing behind the LEM. They covered it in the later "landings". :hystery:

[Jake]

just like on the moon ..... I don't believe a word of it .... it was all planned and staged in the deserts of the US southwest

.. If you look closely at the "first moon landing", you can see a cactus plant growing behind the LEM. They covered it in the later "landings". :hystery:

And further to the right of the picture, you would see me pissing against the nearest wall.....he, he.

[i am bob]

I am bob, on 10 September 2012 - 06:57 PM, said: wasn't told what the work I was doing was for until much later. ... was the Canada Arm a secret project?

Not really... I just think they didn't say what the project was for as they didn't want to pay us any more than they had to. The union contract was about up and we probably would have seen a pay raise. Instead the union gave away our pay raise because of the rumours of a shortage of work. The workers there lost more when they unionised than they ever recovered after.