When NASA first started sending up astronauts, they quickly discovered that ballpoint pens would not work in zero gravity.
To combat the problem, NASA scientists spent a decade and $12 billion to develop a pen that writes in zero gravity, upside down, underwater, on almost any surface including glass and at temperatures ranging from below freezing to 300 C.
The Russians used a pencil.
Land rocket vehicleIn 1979, the first rocket automobile vehicle claimed to break the sound barrier on land was driven by stunt driver Stan Barrett who reached 739.7 mph (faster than the speed of sound) on a 3-mile test-strip at Rogers Lake, Edwards Air Force Base, California. His 3-wheel vehicle had a 48,000 h.p. rocket boosted by a 12,000 h.p. Sidewinder missile. It was stopped by a drag parachute. The needlenosed car cost about $800,000. (The speed record never became official because the average of two runs is required, and the car never ran again. Further, the car's fuel load was insufficient to enable it to complete a measured mile at record speed, and the rocket engines could not be readied for a return run within the stipulated 1 hour period.)[Image: top, rear view: (source)bottom, nose view: (source)] |
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