Jump to content

There are Kerbals Among Us

Rocket Farmer

By Rocket Farmer
in The Lounge

 Share

Recommended Posts

Rocket Farmer

Rocket Farmer

Posted
Posted

Ever read about science and engineering so crazy it seems that only a Kerbal could have dreamed it up?

For me today I happened to run across a reference to Operstion Plumbbob from almost 70 years ago.

The US military was testing nukes to basically see what happened. Among crazy things they did included

1. having military officers and photographers stand directly underneath an air burst less than 6km over their heads.

2. Using 2,000 pigs in different suits, behind glass, out in the open etc at various ranges to see what would happen to them

3. Having 18,000 troops near some explosions to see how troops would handle nukes.

4. And my personal favourite. Putting a 900kg armoured cap on the top of a Nuke being fired in a mine. The math suggested it would have a 66km/s velocity...... Yes, 10x escape velocity from our atmosphere and enough to get you passed Jupiter no problem. To see if it worked they tried to use a high speed camera. The camera caught the cap in just one frame and the lead scientist suggested he was "confident" it didn't leave the atmosphere as it probably exploded from the shock of crashing through our atmosphere. As for a speed he estimated it at as fast as a bat out of.......

Anybody else think that sounds very Kerbalish?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
The_Rocketeer

The_Rocketeer

Posted
Posted

Reminds me of the British Bang.

Picture the scene. You're the British Armed Forces, WW2 just finished, you've got a stockpile of tens of thousands of tonnes of explosives to get rid of, and there's a small island in the North Sea that historically the Germans like to use a their version of Brighton or Blackpool, tho lately it's been used to resupply U-boats... clearly they don't deserve such a holiday after all this nonsense, so what to do...

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Scotius

Scotius

Posted
Posted (edited)

How to get rid of massive amounts of surplus pure sodium? Just dump several tons of it into nearest conveniently lifeless lake.

And nevermind the cloud of fumes :P It's mostly steam mixed with hydrogen. Just...don't carry an open flame, and you will be all right :D

Edited by Scotius
Link to comment
Share on other sites
LordFerret

LordFerret

Posted
Posted

The US wasn't alone in 'extreme experimentation' ... a certain nation on 'the other side' did more than its fair share as well. As a matter of fact, many aspects of current medical science are what they are because of it. We didn't get to where we are via fluffy bunnies alone.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Vaporo

Vaporo

Posted
Posted
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/McDonnell_XF-85_Goblin_and_EB-29_mothership.jpg

No landing gear because it's supposed to dock again with the mothership. :confused:

What do you do if the mothership goes down, though? Just add some landing gear as a backup system. ALWAYS include a backup, because the primary system WILL fail, eventually.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Plume & Akakak

Plume & Akakak

Posted
Posted

Why did I think of Wim Delvoye's Cloaca, a machinery that mimics the action of the human digestive system, and known in the higher circles as the "poo-machine" ?

It is actually well designed and works perfectly, both technically and conceptually.

Here is the Cloaca Turbo model (2003) :

4a97106b-7bd8-38ba-ab52-3de57533408e_1243.jpg

(unrelated : yay for Marty Feldman)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Sampa

Sampa

Posted
Posted
Why did I think of Wim Delvoye's Cloaca, a machinery that mimics the action of the human digestive system, and known in the higher circles as the "poo-machine" ?

It is actually well designed and works perfectly, both technically and conceptually.

Here is the Cloaca Turbo model (2003) :

https://wimdelvoye.be/medialibrary/cache/projectthumbretina/media/4a97106b-7bd8-38ba-ab52-3de57533408e_1243.jpg

(unrelated : yay for Marty Feldman)

Well...that is a pleasent thought!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
LordFerret

LordFerret

Posted
Posted
Why did I think of Wim Delvoye's Cloaca, a machinery that mimics the action of the human digestive system, and known in the higher circles as the "poo-machine" ?

It is actually well designed and works perfectly, both technically and conceptually.

Here is the Cloaca Turbo model (2003) :

https://wimdelvoye.be/medialibrary/cache/projectthumbretina/media/4a97106b-7bd8-38ba-ab52-3de57533408e_1243.jpg

(unrelated : yay for Marty Feldman)

Can't help but wonder if it farts as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
This thread is quite old. Please consider starting a new thread rather than reviving this one.

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...