Thursday, October 19, 2017

#152) Want NASA to Leave Your Name On Mars?

Perhaps for public relations purposes, NASA has set up a website where you can easily sign up to have your name placed on a tiny microchip and sent to Mars next year. It will fly aboard the InSight spacecraft built by Lockheed Martin. In addition, if you also sign up for NASA’s “frequent flyer” program, they will credit your account for the 33.9 million miles travelled to Mars, including any future flights you may sign up for.

The next mission to Mars; i.e., the InSight Mars Lander, will launch in May, 2018 and land on Mars in November next year. Its mission is to study the interior of Mars and listen for Mars quakes.

The InSight lander is being built at Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver. In the attached photo, a spacecraft specialist in a clean room, affixes a dime-size chip onto the lander deck. This chip will carry all the names submitted online by the public from all over the world.

Applicants who opt to include their email address will become a “Frequent Flyer”. NASA will then automatically keep track of all the missions you participate in. They will also store copies of all your boarding passes, and notify you whenever new flight opportunities become available.

To put your name on the “passenger list”, simply Click Here and type it in. Note, press #4 at the top of this NASA website to learn more about Mars and the InSight.

IMPORTANT - The last day to submit your name is Wednesday, November 1, 2017. To date, about two million “passengers” have signed up.

Sunday, October 15, 2017

#151) The October “Has Beens” Luncheon - Photos

Several Librascope “Has Beens” gathered this past week to discuss both current events and past experiences. These periodic get togethers started about twenty years ago, a few years before Librascope moved to Manassas, VA!

Attending this luncheon were Gus Montes, Ralph Simon, Georgine Archer, Don Tubbs (and his son), Don Barton, Steve Lebit, Earl Valdez, Carol Wong, Shep Girion, "AJ" Pankratz, Dan Sibley, Emery Fekety, Larry Knowles, Bill Tilden, and Gloria & Carl Sorensen (camera shy).

BTW, Georgine mentioned off-line that she would like to have the next Has Beens luncheon in April, followed by our bi-annual Reunion in October or early November. Comments?











Monday, October 2, 2017

#150) Our U.S. Navy’s “Boomer” Submarines


The U.S. Navy’s fleet of 18 “Boomer” submarines, a.k.a. Fleet Ballistic Missile (FBM) submarines, are the most feared weapon on earth. Recently, several impressive photos of these Ohio Class submarines were compiled and distributed. This collection is presented here in the form of a video slideshow for easy viewing.

My thanks to Don Barton for forwarding these photos. BTW, Don was the Program Manager for the mass memories that were installed in each of these FBM subs Integrated Radio Room.

To view this short 4 minute video on YouTube, simply click here. 

PS: Don't forget the Has Beens luncheon is next week (October 11th).

Enjoy! Carl