[ale] xkcd on NPR

[Ken Cochran]

Ah, very good, thanks!  I knew someone here could/would
correct my inaccuracies.  :)  The Space & Rocket Center is,
of course, Nerd Nirvana.  I think they've relocated the Shuttle
("Enterprise") that was there, though.  Miss it.  -kc

> From: "Lightner, Jeff" <JLightner at water.com>
> To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts <ale at ale.org>
> Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2012 19:14:24 +0000
> Subject: Re: [ale] xkcd on NPR
>
> I lived in Huntsville back in those days and don't recall ever having
> heard and felt the Saturn V being tested even though Werner Von Braun and
> his  team were based there then.   I do recall being mightily impressed
> by the huge Saturn V they had laying on its side at the Alabama Space and
> Rocket Center museum.   The boosters' diameters were each large enough
> for a full grown man to stand in them without bending.   They also had
> the rocket for the Gemini actually standing up and it was quite tall
> itself and always made me wonder how tall the Saturn V would have been
> if they'd tried to stand it up.
>
> Last time I went several years back they also had a space shuttle there.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ale-bounces at ale.org [mailto:ale-bounces at ale.org] On Behalf Of Ken Cochran
> Sent: Wednesday, November 21, 2012 11:57 AM
> To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts
> Subject: Re: [ale] xkcd on NPR
>
> So I guess we now know where The Plans (to what just might be The Most
> Awesome Machine Mankind Ever Built) wound up?  :)
>
> Ok, for completeness I guess, here's NPR's article/blog URL:
>
> http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2012/11/19/165469300/why-not-say-it-simply-how-about-very-simply
>
> (Trying to remember, my info may be very incorrect - bet someone here
> knows The Facts. :)  Seems I read sometime back (comp.dcom.telecom?) that
> the computer "ring" was built by IBM, cost around $14 *million* and
> took something like 4 feet of vehicle cross-section & weighed a few
> TONS (!?!) and had roughly the computational power of a modern-day
> cheap wristwatch.
>
> For our youngsters around here who might not know, it's my understanding
> that the plans to the Saturn V booster have long disappeared.  :(
> Folks I was in school with long ago (who lived around Huntsville)
> told me they could hear & *feel* it when the manufacturer tested just
> ONE of its engines - it would shake & thunder most of north Alabama.
> Yup "lots of fire comes out of here..."  And lots of kilo-Newtons.
>
> Essay well worth reading:  "Camelot on the Moon"
> (Google it - I'm sure it'll show up somewhere.)
>
> Sorry to blather...
>
> -kc
>
> > Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2012 10:21:20 -0500
> > From: Jim Kinney <jim.kinney at gmail.com>
> > To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts <ale at ale.org>
> > Subject: Re: [ale] xkcd on NPR
> >
> > On 11/21/2012 12:31 AM, Ken Cochran wrote:
> > > Ok I just *gotta* post this (sorry)...
> > >
> > > http://xkcd.com/1133/
> > >
> > > Back to our Regularly Scheduled Programming...  -kc
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Ale mailing list
> > > Ale at ale.org
> > > http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
> > > See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
> > > http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
> >
> > Totally NAILED it!
> >
> > --
> > James P. Kinney III