Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy
The boy who was trained to be an astronaut
Jeanne Granveaud wanted her six-year-old son Paul to be an astronaut who would fly to the moon. So she began training him for this role. What made this unusual is that she came up with this plan back in the 1920s.
Some details about little Paul's training from the San Francisco Examiner (Aug 28, 1927):
So far as the hardships of a moon voyage can be foreseen, young Paul will be seasoned to them in advance. His scientific training will include the parts of astronomy which he must learn in order to navigate his queer craft when it gets well out in space. Every fact that terrestrial scientists can learn about the moon will be written down, not in any book for Paul to take along and read, but in a book which he cannot forget or leave behind. These facts will be poured into his brain. Better than an ordinary child knows the alphabet or the multiplication tables, Baby Paul Granveaud will learn to know each scrap of fact about the moon that the astronomers of the world can supply.
The mother's plan seemed incredibly eccentric to people in the 1920s, but in hindsight, her timing was pretty good. Paul was born in 1921, and Alan Shepard, who went to the moon in 1971, was born just two years later, in 1923. So it wouldn't have been impossible for Paul to have grown up to become a lunar astronaut. If only he had been born in America rather than France.
Edmonton Journal - Nov 12, 1927
Posted By: Alex - Mon Jan 13, 2020 -
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Category: Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy, 1920s
Benefits from the Space Program
You can read the text at the source.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Nov 14, 2019 -
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Category: Business, Advertising, Cosmetics, Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy
Space Shuttle Adventure
Be sure to listen to the Space Shuttle Theme Song starting around the 5:00 mark on Side A. "Now we need bigger ships to take us to the stars!"
Listen here.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Oct 09, 2019 -
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Category: Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy, 1980s
Nude on the Moon
Posted By: Paul - Sat Oct 05, 2019 -
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Category: Movies, Exploitation and Grindhouse, Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy, Avant Garde, Public Indecency, 1960s
Nuking the Moon
Project A119, also known as A Study of Lunar Research Flights, was a top-secret plan developed in 1958 by the United States Air Force. The aim of the project was to detonate a nuclear bomb on the Moon, which would help in answering some of the mysteries in planetary astronomy and astrogeology. If the explosive device detonated on the surface, not in a lunar crater, the flash of explosive light would have been faintly visible to people on Earth with their naked eye, a show of force resulting in a possible boosting of domestic morale in the capabilities of the United States, a boost that was needed after the Soviet Union took an early lead in the Space Race and was also working on a similar project.
The project was never carried out, being cancelled primarily out of a fear of a negative public reaction, with the potential militarization of space that it would also have signified, and because a Moon landing would undoubtedly be a more popular achievement in the eyes of the American and international public alike. A similar project by the Soviet Union also never came to fruition.
Wikipedia page here.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Jun 10, 2019 -
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Category: Antisocial Activities, Daredevils, Stuntpeople and Thrillseekers, Explosives, Frauds, Cons and Scams, Government, Mad Scientists, Evil Geniuses, Insane Villains, Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy, 1950s, North America, Russia
The Prix Guzman
Wikipedia explains:The Prix Pierre Guzman (Pierre Guzman Prize) was the name given to two prizes, one astronomical and one medical. Both were established by the will of Anne Emilie Clara Goguet (died June 30, 1891), wife of Marc Guzman, and named after her son Pierre Guzman. This prize was a sum of 100,000 francs, to be given to a person who succeeded in communicating with a celestial body, other than Mars, and receiving a response.
Did the Apollo 11 astronauts really "communicate" with another world to qualify for the prize?
Source of article.
Posted By: Paul - Fri May 31, 2019 -
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Category: Aliens, Certificates, Diplomas, and Other Testaments of Achievement, Communications, Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy, 1960s, Europe, Nineteenth Century
Vector: The Smell of Space
On April 1, Lockheed Martin announced that they had created a perfume that recreated the smell of space: "blends metallic notes... with a sterile feel, balanced by subtle, fiery undertones that burn off like vapor in the atmosphere."The timing of the announcement indicates it was an April Fool joke, except that Lockheed Martin really created some of this stuff, sent out samples of it, and is giving away bottles of it to people who sign up on its website. Which I think makes it a legitimate addition to our ongoing exploration of weird fragrances. It recalls the moon-smell fragrance created by French designer Barnabé Fillion.
Posted By: Alex - Wed Apr 03, 2019 -
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Category: Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy, Perfume and Cologne and Other Scents
Billboards in space
If Russian company StartRocket has their way, there will soon be no escaping ads. They plan to display them in the sky, from satellites. They hope to have them up and running by 2021.More details
Posted By: Alex - Sat Feb 09, 2019 -
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Category: Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy, Advertising, Billboards
Charles Fitzgerald, Daredevil
Bored with risking his life on Earth, Fitzgerald offered to become the first astronaut.
Source.
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Jan 05, 2019 -
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Category: Daredevils, Stuntpeople and Thrillseekers, Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy, Twentieth Century
Putnik Ride
It's hard to see what this thing did, other than revolve around the fake Earth. Swing up and down, maybe? I assume there was a counterbalancing capsule on the other end of the boom.Plus, 300 riders per hour? Three in each capsule, as shown. Six total per "ride." That's fifty rides per hour, given filling and emptying the capsules. One minute swinging around at the end of a boom?
Surely one of the dullest rides ever invented.
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Dec 28, 2018 -
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Category: Boredom, Fairs, Amusement Parks, and Resorts, Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy, 1950s
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |