Apollo 8 was launched on December 21, 1968. I was in the 8th grade and being a space crazy kid, was ecstatic over this first trip to the Moon.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2421/1
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2421/1
45 Years Ago This Week
- Thread starter Old Bearkat
- Start date
rainjacktx
Six-man fan
I was 4 in 1969 when we landed on the moon. Don't remember much about it except that my dad told me to go outside and turn off the water hose. It was dark, and I remember looking up at the moon thinking there were people up there walking around. Scared the crap out of me. But I was 4.
smokeyjoe53
Six-man pro
I was working as stagehand on the sound set they used............
westexasflats
11-man fan
I was in the Mekong Delta hiding behind a rice paddie levy
oldfat&bald
Six-man fan
westexasflats":13yio7gh said:
Sounds like you and my dad could swap stories.
oldfat&bald":3ovco570 said:
All my Vietnam vet relatives were further north, near Da Nang, except for the Air Force Crew Chief Uncle, who was in Thailand.
I was a model rocket nut at this time (and still am).
Anyone else get into shooting rockets as a kid?
Anyone else still doing them?
Anyone else get into shooting rockets as a kid?
Anyone else still doing them?
Old Bearkat":1pd0ya8m said:
Made a potato gun once,the neighbor kid got ahold of it
it ending up at the police station
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z53mFymC2U
Little Doc
11-man fan
When I was about 10-12, I learned that you could get a corn can, punch a hole in the top of it, and then insert a firecracker in it. Than put it in the dog's water pan and light the firecracker. Made an instant rocket!! Until on a windy day, it flew over the fence into my neighbor's plate glass window. Not a good site. I jumped over that fence and fast as I could and retrieved that corn can. Luckily neighbors weren't home and no one could figure how the window got broke. I sure didn't know.
rainjacktx
Six-man fan
I was a huge fan chasing my sister around the house a homemade flamethrower. You know, grab a can of mom's Aqua-Net, get a good spray going, then light a match in front of the can.
FYI - it will turn the screen door the most amazing shade of glowing orange for a few seconds.
FYI - it will turn the screen door the most amazing shade of glowing orange for a few seconds.
twodollarbill
11-man fan
And in my case, it woulda turned my hide the most amazing shade if red when mom & daddy found out..rainjacktx":3c96iu5o said:
smokeyjoe53
Six-man pro
We used to do something similar but with butane fueled pear burners. We would be freezing on the back sides and roasting on the front. I still remember seeing the stickers glowing red then curling up.
Can't say I miss those good old days. ..................
Can't say I miss those good old days. ..................
westexasflats
11-man fan
Yep, and them pear burners played hell with rattlerssmokeyjoe53":1oiezrud said:
rainjacktx
Six-man fan
twodollarbill":lprjpy1c said:
Yeah. Funny, but when it came to making my sister's life a living hell, the wrath of mom and dad was just a cost of doing business. They way I looked at it, I was going to get in trouble from my sister regardless - so I might as well earn what I was gonna get.
Huge Estes rocket builder. We still do it. As a matter of fact, we've been so busy, we hadn't since the spring and my youngest son saw some of our rockets in the garage while we were putting up Christmas lights this weekend and asked if he could go through the box and sort out what we need.
Our biggest problem has been losing them in the city when there is any wind. My brother and I were working on creating a small chip you could attach to them and track the rockets with an app. He's the real engineer in the family and has manufacturing contacts in Asia. There are some products out there, but they are expensive. We got busy and scrapped it.
On another note, Neil DeGrasse-Tyson was in town this week filming an interview and my oldest got to go with the wife. He's this generation's spokesman for science. Amazing speaker. The promo is because they are re-releasing the original 13 episodes of Carl Sagan's Cosmos this year.
Now when it cames to homemade explosives, nothing beat a cannon made of metal tennis ball cans, gasoline and tennis balls! I am amazed we still have all of our limbs and never burned down anyone's house.
Our biggest problem has been losing them in the city when there is any wind. My brother and I were working on creating a small chip you could attach to them and track the rockets with an app. He's the real engineer in the family and has manufacturing contacts in Asia. There are some products out there, but they are expensive. We got busy and scrapped it.
On another note, Neil DeGrasse-Tyson was in town this week filming an interview and my oldest got to go with the wife. He's this generation's spokesman for science. Amazing speaker. The promo is because they are re-releasing the original 13 episodes of Carl Sagan's Cosmos this year.
Now when it cames to homemade explosives, nothing beat a cannon made of metal tennis ball cans, gasoline and tennis balls! I am amazed we still have all of our limbs and never burned down anyone's house.
granger":25qraa0r said:
I have a huge inventory of rockets and engines from 1/8 A to G. I pity the firemen if my house ever catches fire. I do a lot of launching in the late spring and fall when the corn is either small or harvested. Lots of open space still here in Minooka now that the building boom busted. Red Carpenter's chalk, very long orange streamers, and radio beacons are how I try not to lose them, though you can never predict how fast the winds are at 5000 feet......
The tennis ball cannons work good with lighter fluid too.........
oldfat&bald
Six-man fan
CowboyP":2mnk6b5z said:
They weren't talking about what you were drinking while shooting them.
WildcatClassOf89
11-man fan
CowboyP":3uxohxgz said:
Acetylene for the win!! My pops learned me that one.
I did the model rockets as a kid. Never really got into the multi stage stuff though. My dads first attempt at a multi stage didn't go very well. First stage went off as it should, next two not so much. I think all we may have salvaged from that one was the nose cone.
Big Bertha is resting peacefully in my closet. I bet she would go off without a hitch right now.
A naked engine makes a niiiiice chaser also.
