A Brief History On April 19, 2021, the aptly named Ingenuity became the first man-made aircraft to fly on any planet other than Earth. Digging Deeper A helicopter powered by a solar battery, Ingenuity is able to fly in the thin atmosphere of Mars, only about .6% as dense as on Earth. Weighing in at about four pounds, Ingenuity has amassed over two hours of airtime in 71 flights by January 19, 2024. Ingenuity has travelled over 10 miles of surface distance at a max height of 79 feet with a max speed of 22.4 mph. Transported to Mars with…
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A Brief History On April 16, 1947, the SS Grandcamp, a French freighter carrying 2,300 tons of ammonium nitrate blew up at the dock in Texas City, Texas, one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history. Obviously, such a huge blast was a disaster, killing close to 600 people and injuring 5,000 more. Digging Deeper The giant blast set off explosions and fires in the surrounding area, causing further destruction and mayhem. A two ton anchor from the unlucky ship was hurled over a mile and a half from the scene! The larger, five ton anchor, was launched a half…
A Brief History On April 14, 2023, the European Space Agency launched a spacecraft to explore the Moons of Jupiter, aptly naming the craft JUICE, an acronym for “Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer.” As space travel is about the coolest form of travel, we look at some real and fictional names of spacecraft in order to find the best name of them all. Digging Deeper Fictional: Enterprise, from TV and the movies’ Star Trek. Real: Enterprise, a US Space Shuttle. Fictional: Jupiter 2 from the TV show, Lost in Space. What happened to Jupiter 1? Real: Crew Dragon, a series of…
A Brief History On April 9, 2017, Dr. David Dao, age 69, found out how bad flying on commercial airlines can be when he was forcibly dragged off of a United Express jet to make room for United employees. Digging Deeper This incident shows our point, that flying commercial can be a horrible experience. Here are some more recent examples: In January 2024, a door panel blew off of a Boeing 737 while in flight, terrifying passengers and sucking property out of the jet. Christmas Eve of 2023 brought no joy to a Delta flight that had a passenger poop…
A Brief History On April 5, 2007, Hellenic Cruise Lines ship MS Sea Diamond struck a reef in the Aegean Sea and sank, taking the lives of two passengers. The Sea Diamond was 469 feet long, displaced 21,000 tons, and could carry 1,500 passengers. Some other recent cruise ship disasters may make you leery of taking a cruise, and include these incidents: Digging Deeper In 2010, luxury cruiser Celebrity Mercury was hit with a norovirus outbreak that left hundreds of passengers with severe vomiting and abdominal ailments. In 2012, the Costa Concordia ran aground off Italy and sank, leaving 32 people…
