I spent yesterday at Langley AFB at a NASA conference. I tagged along for the tour of the impact testing and saw the 200 ft gantry that they currently use to impact test space stuff and used to use to help the Apollo astronauts learn to land the lunar modules. I haven't really liked space science much but recently read "A Man on the Moon" which detailed the Apollo missions. It felt like reading chick lit with tons of details about the astronauts, NASA administrators, and politics behind the missions. The Apollo missions were probably the biggest engineering challenge of modern times and while they come off as such, they seem almost reckless. I was awfully glad to have read the book prior to my trip to NASA and felt less like a boob giving a presentation there. These pics are of the gantry and the latest testing on the air bags. The plane is stored off to the side and is apparently going to be used in a few years to test much higher impacts for commercial airplanes. I got the impression that they were sick of dropping stuff from 10 - 30' and just wanted to drop something big from the maximum height of 200'.
What's with the weird signs VA? Don't use the hook because it could steal your bag? and it strikes me as strange policy to have the department of visual and hearing impairments servicing your vending machines? VA is a state that I really like (love your gov and Sen. Webb), its very pretty, and you have a gourmet gas station but I have to be honest, you have some weird signs.
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