A Brief History On April 25, 1960, the nuclear powered US Navy submarine, Triton, completed the first circumnavigation of the Earth while underwater. With about 71% of the Earth’s surface covered by water, people have been finding ways to travel above and below the water’s surface forever, and today we look at a few of the subsurface accomplishments. Digging Deeper In 1864, the Confederate submarine, H.L Hunley, became the first sub to sink a surface ship, although the Hunley was also lost in the attack. In 1958, USS Nautilus became the first submarine to sail under the North Pole. Nautilus…
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A Brief History On April 21, 2021, the Indonesian Navy suffered a tragic “Oops moment” when their German built submarine, KRI Nanggala, sank with all 53 people aboard during a torpedo firing test in the Bali Sea. Digging Deeper About 195 feet long and 20 feet wide, the Nanggala was a diesel/electric type of sub, capable of 11 knots on the surface and 25 knots submerged. Commissioned in 1981, the sub carried a punch of eight torpedo tubes in the bow with 14 torpedoes aboard. Submarines are of course designed to intentionally sink, although they are supposed to then resurface…
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…
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 March 28, 1910, aviation history was made when French aviator, Henri Fabre, made the first take off by an airplane from water in a seaplane of his own design. Digging Deeper The aptly named Fabre Hydravion, was of the “float plane” type, an airplane equipped with floats slung underneath, as opposed to the “flying boat” type where the hull of the airplane is the floatation device on the water. Before World War II, there was a lack of suitable airfields around the world, making airplanes that could take off and land on the water versatile machines. …
