Cool pics of urban exploring, abandoned machines and stuff

[jimmyjimjim]

slipstream 1985 said:

anybody else looking at that and planning out a racetrack?

Yes:

nicanary said:

That perimeter road would make a great race track - come to think of it I wonder why more British circuits aren't msde that way?

[illmonkey]

You'd want some Tarmac laid, it ain't smooth!

[bencollins]

Abandoned lighthouse and the "Guns of Levanzo", quad gun emplacement and bunker.
Commanding views across to Sicily and the Northern Mediterrean.
Levanzo is an interesting little island and quite easy to get too from Blighty via Trapani Ryanair.
Baker does the tastiest bread in the world for €1.5
Added a couple of scenery shots just so you get a feel for the place.
Blooming windy then eerily tranquil inside the bunker/quarters.
Quiet now but quite a busy war location, Malta and Tunisia nearby.
Also the site of the sea battle Rome V Carthage http://www.livescience.com/10842-ancient-shipwreck...
The gun battery was zonked by the King Georg V battleship. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_King_George_V_(41...

Lighthouse and gun battery seen in the distance from the top of the isalnd:




Looking from the lighthouse to the gun battery:



Four gun emplacements in total









evidence of a salvo from the KGV's 16" guns


Back on the surface and time for a picnic looking across to Erice.

[Ayahuasca]

Abandoned leper colony. The last one was how it looked back in the day.

Edited by Ayahuasca on Monday 8th June 21:13

[Fer]

Ayahuasca said:

Abandoned leper colony. The last one was how it looked back in the day.

It was abandoned for a reason! Silly boy!

[Lawbags]

Stumbled across this car graveyard the other day...

[Dr G]

Buran, the Russian shuttle program:

http://gizmodo.com/these-are-the-sad-remains-of-th...

http://ralphmirebs.livejournal.com/219949.html

[Melman Giraffe]

WOW

[Asterix]

Melman Giraffe said:

WOW

WOW indeed!

That is fking mental!

[Butter Face]

Very awesome!!

[Dr G]

Anyone know the Russian for 'copycat' ?

[Condi]

Dr G said:

Anyone know the Russian for 'copycat' ?

Yes and no. There are some big differences between the 2. Mainly that the Buran is fully automated and computer controlled, whereas the Shuttle never was. Also different type of fuel used (solid/liquid) which gave it more maneuvering time in space.

http://www.buran.su/buranvssts-comparison.php

[Pesty]

Group buy?

[JonRB]

Condi said:

Dr G said:

Anyone know the Russian for 'copycat' ?

Yes and no. There are some big differences between the 2. Mainly that the Buran is fully automated and computer controlled, whereas the Shuttle never was. Also different type of fuel used (solid/liquid) which gave it more maneuvering time in space.

http://www.buran.su/buranvssts-comparison.php

Although, as one of my teachers was want to remark, "these two pieces of work certainly appear to be somewhat... adjacent".

[Condi]

JonRB said:

Condi said:

Dr G said:

Anyone know the Russian for 'copycat' ?

Yes and no. There are some big differences between the 2. Mainly that the Buran is fully automated and computer controlled, whereas the Shuttle never was. Also different type of fuel used (solid/liquid) which gave it more maneuvering time in space.

http://www.buran.su/buranvssts-comparison.php

Although, as one of my teachers was want to remark, "these two pieces of work certainly appear to be somewhat... adjacent".

Oh yeah, but so far as the whole Russian space program was a copy once Sergei Korolev had died. In many ways the Russians won the space race, and they did far more, with far less, than NASA ever achieved.

[ceebmoj]

Condi said:

JonRB said:

Condi said:

Dr G said:

Anyone know the Russian for 'copycat' ?

Yes and no. There are some big differences between the 2. Mainly that the Buran is fully automated and computer controlled, whereas the Shuttle never was. Also different type of fuel used (solid/liquid) which gave it more maneuvering time in space.

http://www.buran.su/buranvssts-comparison.php

Although, as one of my teachers was want to remark, "these two pieces of work certainly appear to be somewhat... adjacent".

Oh yeah, but so far as the whole Russian space program was a copy once Sergei Korolev had died. In many ways the Russians won the space race, and they did far more, with far less, than NASA ever achieved.

The buran could also be fitted with turbo fan engines and fly under its own power in the atmosphere

[227bhp]

Dr G said:

Anyone know the Russian for 'copycat' ?

Google 'Tupolev, Concorde'.

[2ono]

Condi said:

Oh yeah, but so far as the whole Russian space program was a copy once Sergei Korolev had died. In many ways the Russians won the space race, and they did far more, with far less, than NASA ever achieved.

Wasn't there a story about the Americans spending a small fortune developing a pen that worked in space/zero gravity, the Russians just used a pencil.

[JonRB]

2ono said:

Wasn't there a story about the Americans spending a small fortune developing a pen that worked in space/zero gravity, the Russians just used a pencil.

Yes, there is that story. And it's completely bogus.

Both the Russians and the Americans started out with pencils, and they found that flakes of graphite from the pencils would float off and find their way into all sorts of places and cause short-circuits in electronics. The Americans then embarked on finding a better solution and came up with the pen.

[yellowjack]

JonRB said:

2ono said:

Wasn't there a story about the Americans spending a small fortune developing a pen that worked in space/zero gravity, the Russians just used a pencil.

Yes, there is that story. And it's completely bogus.

Both the Russians and the Americans started out with pencils, and they found that flakes of graphite from the pencils would float off and find their way into all sorts of places and cause short-circuits in electronics. The Americans then embarked on finding a better solution and came up with the pen.

I've got a 'zero gravity' pen! (No idea if it's a genuine "Space Pen" though).




...apparently, as well as working without gravity's assistance, it writes at a huge range of temperatures, too. -50°F (-45°C, or "bloody cold") all the way up to 400°F (204°C, or "feck me, it's hot"). I'm sorry, but at 200°C the last thing I'd be thinking about is the whereabouts of a pen capable of writing a quick note...

The body of the pen carries an American flag, but the refill inside has "Spacetec by Diplomat" written on it, along with "Pressurised - Made in Germany". I've had it for absolutely ages. It was given to me as a gift when I was in the army, by a generous (but perhaps misguided) older family member who thought it "might come in useful in the field".