Big Light Space » History

1969 NASA Apollo 11 Moonwalk Panorama

jd2020 — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 06:56:02 +0000

Very cool interactive panorama of the July 20, 1969 Apollo 11 Moonwalk

NASA also put together this awesome audio experience of the entire Apollo 11 mission… in observance of the 40th anniversary of the first human landing on the moon, audio from the entire Apollo 11 mission will be replayed and streamed on the Internet at exactly the same time and date it was broadcast in 1969. The audio retrospective will begin at launch minus two hours, 7:32 a.m. EDT July 16, 2009 and continue through splashdown of the mission at 12:51 p.m. July 24, 2009 and the recovery of the crew shortly afterward.

NASA compiled a set of audio highlights of the Apollo 11 mission here.

There is also an audio database of the mission in MP3 format here.

Check out Google Moon – a Lunar walk through using clickable charts and maps of the different Apollo voyages. Way to go Google!

Happy 4th of July! Statue of Liberty Facts – Independence Day

jd2020 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:12:40 +0000

The exterior copper covering of the Statue of Liberty is 3/32 of an inch thick (less than the thickness of two pennies) and the light green color (called a patina) is the result of natural weathering of the copper.

During the restoration completed in 1986, the new torch was carefully covered with thin sheets of 24k gold.

Official dedication ceremonies held on Thursday, October 28, 1886

Total overall height from the base of the pedestal foundation to the tip of the torch is 305 feet, 6 inches

Height of the Statue from her heel to the top of her head is 111 feet, 6 inches

The face on the Statue of Liberty measures more than 8 feet tall

There are 154 steps from the pedestal to the head of the Statue of Liberty

A tablet held in her left hand measures 23′ 7″ tall and 13′ 7″ wide inscribed with the date JULY IV MDCCLXXVI (July 4, 1776)

The Statue has a 35-foot waistline

There are seven rays on her crown, one for each of the seven continents, each measuring up to 9 feet in length and weighing as much as 150 pounds

Total weight of the Statue of Liberty is 225 tons (or 450,000 pounds)

At the feet of the Statue lie broken shackles of oppression and tyranny

The Statue of Liberty National Monument officially celebrated her 100th birthday on October 28, 1986. Cool Statue of Liberty Light Show.

The Declaration of Independence

Cell Phones – A Progressive Timeline

jd2020 — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 18:04:33 +0000

“As I walked down the street while talking on the phone, sophisticated New Yorkers gaped at the sight of someone actually moving around while making a phone call. Remember that in 1973, there weren’t cordless telephones, let alone cellular phones. I made numerous calls, including one where I crossed the street while talking to a New York radio reporter – probably one of the more dangerous things I have ever done in my life.” Martin Cooper – April 3, 1973 – then mgr of Motorola Communications

In 1983, the Motorola “DynaTac” cell phone made its debut. It weighed one pound and cost 3500.00. By 1990, there were 1 million cell phone subscribers in the U.S. Most entities are not without a cell phone today.

Top 10 Computer Viruses – a history of

jd2020 — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 20:59:59 +0000

Check out this history of the top 10 computer viruses dating back to 1971. Some were said to have been ground breaking and innovative. Most were seen as pesky and damaging.

Lightning Strike Lansa Air Flight 508

jd2020 — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 01:26:05 +0000

LANSA Flight 508 was a Lockheed Electra L-188A turboprop, registered OB-R-941, operated as a scheduled domestic passenger flight by Lineas Aéreas Nacionales Sociedad Anonima (LANSA), that crashed in a thunderstorm en route from Lima, Peru to Pucallpa, Peru, on December 24, 1971, killing 91 people – all of its 6 crew and 85 of its 86 passengers. The sole survivor was a 17 year old girl, who fell 2 miles (3 km) down into the Amazon rainforest strapped to her seat and remarkably survived the fall, and was then able to walk through the jungle for 10 days until she was rescued by local lumbermen. Juliane Kopcke survived and went on to earn a PhD. Read the account of her 2 mile fall and how she survived.