Useless (But Fun!) Fact For Today

[cheesy]

Originally Posted by wheelbender6

8 things we forgot about the Ford Falcon - Surprising.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news...61b289b74b911e

The author of that article forgot a lot more. The 170 six, the Falcon Ranchero, and the fact that the Crosley, American Bantam, and the Nash Rambler all preceded the Falcon as American compacts.

Just some more useless facts.

[Emerikol]

Originally Posted by cheesy

The author of that article forgot a lot more. The 170 six, the Falcon Ranchero, and the fact that the Crosley, American Bantam, and the Nash Rambler all preceded the Falcon as American compacts.

Just some more useless facts.

[TominMO]

Best car song ever IMO. Up there with Beach Boys stuff.

[wheelbender6]

They should at least bury the trash in a latrine.

[Emerikol]

Originally Posted by wheelbender6

They should at least bury the trash in a latrine.

They can't, believe it or not. The Lugar Regolith (moon dust) is so abrasive that if they tried to dig a hole, it would abrade right through their space suits! I can't remember where I read about it, but when I was the age of all young boys when they want to be an astronaut, I remember reading about one of the space suits getting worn down to the fabric on one of the feet just from walking around on the moon! The Lunar Regolith could be used to make an abrasive that would last longer than diamonds!

[Emerikol]

6 Feb 23 -

In 1719, prisoners in Paris were allowed to go free, under the condition that they marry prostitutes and go with them to Louisiana. The newly married couples were chained together and taken to the port, then loaded onto the ships bound for America.

[Emerikol]

9 Feb 23 -

Bob Ross

The late Bob Ross, the host of The Joy of Painting, was known for being a soft-spoken artist with a signature hairstyle and a stunning talent for painting dreamy landscapes filled with happy trees. But he might not have ever been the painter we came to adore if he hadn't been in the U.S. Air Force, according to an interview with the Orlando Sentinel. While rising to the rank of Master Sergeant, Ross was also able to take a painting class, and he was inspired by the scenery in Alaska where he was stationed. The state's landscape would often pop up in his work throughout his artistic career.

[wheelbender6]

Hard to imagine Bob Ross in the military. He was probably a draftee.

[TominMO]

Originally Posted by wheelbender6

Hard to imagine Bob Ross in the military. He was probably a draftee.

Master Sergeant is the 3rd-highest enlisted rank in the USAF, so even if he was originally a draftee, he eventually made a career of it. I retired from the Army as a SFC, the same rank as Master Sergeant in the AF.

[Emerikol]

11 Feb 23 -

Between 1960 and 1963, NASA Chief Research Test Pilot Joseph Albert Walker made 25 flights in the North American Aviation X-15A hypersonic research rocketplanes. His 24th flight was the 21st for the Number 3 X-15, 56-6672, and the 90th of the X-15 program.

At 10:20:05.0 a.m., Walker and the X-15 were airdropped from the Boeing NB-52B Stratofortress, 53-008, Balls 8, over Smith Ranch Dry Lake, Nevada. Walker fired the Reaction Motors XLR99-RM-1 rocket engine and over the next 84.6 seconds the engine’s 60,000 pounds of thrust drove the X-15 upward. The engine’s thrust on this flight was higher than expected, shutdown was 1.6 seconds late, and Walker’s climb angle was 1½° too high, so the X-15 overshot the predicted maximum altitude and its ballistic arc peaked at 347,800 feet (106,010 meters, 65.8 miles). The maximum speed was Mach 5.50 (3,714 miles per hour, 5,977 kilometers per hour).

Walker glided to a touch down at Rogers Dry Lake, Edwards Air Force Base California, after flying 311 miles in 11 minutes, 24.1 seconds of flight. On this flight, Joe Walker became the first American civilian to fly into Space.

[cheesy]

I was probably parked in front of the old Radiation King watching this. I couldn't get enough of the X-15 when I was a kid.

[wheelbender6]

The average New Car payment these days is $777/mo. Sources are in the link.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/mark...08616058a8ef40

[Emerikol]

Originally Posted by wheelbender6

The average New Car payment these days is $777/mo. Sources are in the link.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/mark...08616058a8ef40

Bender, that's more than I paid for my first mortgage when Mrs. E and I bought our first house together!! We bought in 2007, just before the crash. We paid $87,900 for the house! Try finding a house that can be lived in for that price today!

[Emerikol]

15 Feb 23 -

In the Old Town district in Alexandria, Virginia, John Hollensbury once owned a house on Queen Street. He apparently hated the fact that horse-drawn wagons would travel down the alley beside his building and wasn't fond of the people who liked to hang out in the space either. So, to spite them, he built a second tiny house in the alley to keep everyone out, which is how the home earned its name: the "Spite House," according to The New York Times. The house is seven feet wide and 25 feet deep. There's also a walled patio outside that goes back an additional 12 feet.

[Emerikol]

25 Feb 23 -

In 1962, LtCol John Glenn orbited the earth three times. Glenn earned only $8 which included his basic pay, flight pay, basic allowance for subsistence and basic allowance for quarters. The five hour flight was not long enough to earn a per diem. Plus he was not reimbursed for mileage because he flew a government vehicle.