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Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds...


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I guess there is no actual video of the flight released yet. 
 

 

Why do I get the feeling that on a planet near Alpha Centauri children are creating funny memes about the joy the Earthlings at NASA displayed when their tiny toy flew on another planet while their government plots our demise...

 

Sorry, I guess my coffee isn’t working yet...

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I was very young when the space shuttle Challenger exploded.  President Reagan's speech that night was one for the ages, probably the best presidential speech ever given.  I recognized the line you quoted immediately.  It's at the end.

 

 

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1 hour ago, Cyrus Cassidy #45437 said:

I was very young when the space shuttle Challenger exploded.  President Reagan's speech that night was one for the ages, probably the best presidential speech ever given.  I recognized the line you quoted immediately.  It's at the end.

 

 

The quote comes from the poem “High Flight” by John Magee, a WW2 aviator. 

"Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of – wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air....

Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace.
Where never lark, or even eagle flew —
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
– Put out my hand, and touched the face of God."

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50 minutes ago, Forty Rod SASS 3935 said:

This is something that I personally don't understand and can't see any practical use for, but Lord, it does make me proud.  On into the future with our heads and spirits high.  Brace yourself Universe.  We're coming.  :FlagAm:

No practical use?  Not right now.  But as a proof of concept, it is a winner!  Larger Mars helicopters will enable robotic exploration beyond the range of robotic rovers.  Later, when we actually get humans to Mars, larger versions will enable exploration and settlement far from base camps.  Just as the Wright Brothers flyer was not "practical" compared to a B747, the little helo is a beginning.  Interestingly, the little craft is carrying a piece of fabric from the original Wright Flyer!  Even more interesting, for the near future, is the award of a sole-source contract to SpaceX for the lunar lander to ferry astronauts from whatever spaceship arrives in lunar orbit. (I'm betting it will NOT be an SLS/Orion, but rather a SpaceX Spaceship.)   Oh, if I was fifty years younger, I'd be banging on Elon Musk's door...  Don't guess he could use a 78+ retired acid-on-the-hands rocket engineer...even to sweep the floors. :(

To the Moon! To Mars! To the Stars!

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4 minutes ago, Charlie Harley, #14153 said:

The quote comes from the poem “High Flight” by John Magee, a WW2 aviator. 

"Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of – wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air....

Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace.
Where never lark, or even eagle flew —
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
– Put out my hand, and touched the face of God."

Sadly, John Magee never got into combat in WWII.  He was killed in a mid-air collision, but his poem lives on in the hearts of those who "love the vastness of the sky"!  A copy hangs on the wall in my office.

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34 minutes ago, Trailrider #896 said:

No practical use?  Not right now.  But as a proof of concept, it is a winner!  Larger Mars helicopters will enable robotic exploration beyond the range of robotic rovers.  Later, when we actually get humans to Mars, larger versions will enable exploration and settlement far from base camps.  Just as the Wright Brothers flyer was not "practical" compared to a B747, the little helo is a beginning.  Interestingly, the little craft is carrying a piece of fabric from the original Wright Flyer!  Even more interesting, for the near future, is the award of a sole-source contract to SpaceX for the lunar lander to ferry astronauts from whatever spaceship arrives in lunar orbit. (I'm betting it will NOT be an SLS/Orion, but rather a SpaceX Spaceship.)   Oh, if I was fifty years younger, I'd be banging on Elon Musk's door...  Don't guess he could use a 78+ retired acid-on-the-hands rocket engineer...even to sweep the floors. :(

To the Moon! To Mars! To the Stars!

I understand all that, but my mind can't feature a viable move to Mars for any reason.....unless it becomes a military necessity.

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The flight allegedly lasted 39.1 seconds, so the playback is sped up about 62%, lasting only about 24 seconds, but YouTube doesn't have a 0.62 playback speed. Slow it to 0.75, and it's a little fast (about 32 seconds), and 0.50 is a little slow (about 47 seconds).

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On 4/19/2021 at 9:10 AM, Forty Rod SASS 3935 said:

I understand all that, but my mind can't feature a viable move to Mars for any reason.....unless it becomes a military necessity.

 

Wait 'til they find precious metals on Mars. It'll be a race worthy of it's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. <_<

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The wonder of it all.

 

Not only could we build a helicopter that can fly at the equivalent of 100,000 feet (that according to some NASA spokesman),  we could then pack it up,  transport it safely 173,000,000 miles, unpack it on another planet,  have the programming and hardware work after that long journey, and then send back to Earth very clear images of it.   

 

I was comparing it to the quality of the broadcast from Apollo 11.  Amazing. 

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7 hours ago, Sixgun Sheridan said:

 

Wait 'til they find precious metals on Mars. It'll be a race worthy of it's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. <_<

 

They're already exploring the idea of mining asteroids.  That's why Space X landed on one and took off again, then returned to earth.

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19 hours ago, Sixgun Sheridan said:

 

Wait 'til they find precious metals on Mars. It'll be a race worthy of it's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. <_<

 

You mean Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Out Of This World.

 

What if they found gold,  platinum or other precious metals in such quantities as to make them as valuable as scrap aluminum?

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1 hour ago, Cypress Sun said:

 

You mean Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Out Of This World.

 

What if they found gold,  platinum or other precious metals in such quantities as to make them as valuable as scrap aluminum?

 

I don't care as long as they find lots of brass, copper and lead for ammo. :)

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