Will's Signed Capsule

Hi Woodsy.

Further to that brilliant Action man mercury mission video, my Action Man Mercury space capsule signed by the man himself ……

Scott Carpenter.

Will O.

A Mr.Softee Landing

It's funny how the mind goes all Mr. Whippy when you're remembering stuff.

The Artemis II splashdown reminded me of eating ice cream as a kid from a plastic capsule.

After further mind splashing I realised I was recalling a plastic ball and not a capsule.

It was the Tonibell and I remember it being a yellow or beige plastic football with a lid.

Here's a couple floating around the web along with a mag ad at the time.

So what's the plastic capsule ice cream connection I'm thinking of?

It can't be Dinky's Sea King Helicopter capsule. You'd not get much I've cream out of one of those!

No, I know now I've been misremembering something from the very early days of the blog.

Wotan Bill posted a fabulous post in 2009 about an ice cream brand called Askeys which he had as a nipper. The brand had an offer for a fantastic Lone Star Gemini space capsule, pictured here from Bills original post.

It didn't get filled with ice cream but if you are enough Askeys you'd get one. 

There can't have been many sent out I don't think. Or?

Do you remember it or an ice cream connection to NASA splashdown capsules?

Further googling brings you pictures of auctioned boxed examples like this  (with a yellow astronaut this time).

 How cool is that! 

Safe Splashdown Artemis II

As I remember my GI Joe/ Action Man Space Capsule I had as a kid my minds turn to the returning crew of Artemis II and wish them safe passage back to Earth and a secure splashdown off the San Diego coast.

https://youtu.be/mrQ1j35ZusA?si=lXecPVMhi76OSZBT 

The Astronaut Wrangler Mystery

I recall the other night, after watching the wondrous Artemis II lift off, the array of post-launch talking heads on TV.

One of them was the Astronaut Wrangler. I had to look it up. It appears that it was Buzz Aldrin's promoter. Fascinated that he needed promoting I looked for it on Wiki, only to find nothing.

Checking further it appears that as it's the promotion, marketing and management of a famous person, the promoter isn't by default famous and therefore doesn't get a wiki page!

I was amazed. An American news channel interviewed her five minutes after Artemis II took off!

Cosmic Coastline

As Orion zooms towards the dark side I saw this old flyer for space resorts on Florida's rocket coast. I've heard of Coco Beach but not the other two, Titusville and Melbourne. 

Are you familiar with those places?

NASA Artemis Launch Live

NASA https://share.google/iDMipGhSdKTPieGgO 

CrisISS! Triang SpaceX is Ready!

 I've read that NASA have to evacuate the entire ISS crew on medical grounds.

 Sounded bad. They're back home already!

I wonder if NASA used SpaceX? 

But which one?

I'd have used Triang SpaceX, no problem! 

The SpaceX Rescue Craft is always ready.

Ready to save the day.

Seriously, Godspeed ISS crew and hope you're all well! 

New Moon Landing!

 NASA are sending astronauts to the moon again! 

Next Year! 

Four of them. 

Hard to take in after such a huge gap.

Maybe it's the first step in creating a MoonBase? 

I wonder if it will be huge global event this time?

What do you think?

Birthday Rover: Holiday Haul

Another find in the Cyprus toy store was this pair of Matchbox copies, presumably made specifically for the Jumbo store. There were four in all, including a small Shuttle and a NASA patrol jeep. Ive not been able to find the official version of the moon rover here, but I do have a rocket transporter version if the crawler.

Both are nicely detailed and well made, more biased towards plastic parts than is usual for Matchbox, with plastic bases rather than die cast.

The rover is quite light and has a nice open cab, which could potentially offer room gor customisation.

The crawler has an elevating radar scanner and english decals.

NASA: the Mars Report: Six Decades of Exploration

View Web Version | February 2025 The Mars Report from NASA — your source from the Red Planet, continuing six decades of unparalleled exploration and scientific discoveries. This newsletter will bring you mission updates, spacecraft news, science findings, unique Mars imagery — and a vision for the humanity-defining possibilities NASA's presence on Mars will unlock.   FEATURED Planning the First Launch Ever from Another Planet NASA is on track to return scientifically selected samples from Mars, announcing plans to proceed towards confirmation. CATCH UP Keep Track of a Busy Planet Nine spacecraft explore Mars right now. NASA operates five of them — two surface rovers and three orbiters — and you can track their progress at any time. They talk to each other, and help each other talk to us, relaying their messages and data streams to Earth. EXPLORE Weather Report: Ice Avalanches with a Chance of Explosive Geysers Martian new year brings dramatic changes — exploding jets of gas, windblown dunes, and more. We track it all from afar, with spacecraft like NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. WATCH MORE ON MARS Meet the Sample: 'Silver Mountain' Perseverance rumbled out of Jezero Crater to explore the uncharted rim, discovering a fresh vantage point — and a very unusual rock. Meet the rover's 26th Martian sample, "Silver Mountain." VIEW THE COLLECTION Another Record: Going the Distance Ingenuity, the plucky helicopter grounded by a broken rotor, managed one more distance record — 1.8 miles for its last communication with the Perseverance rover on Nov. 26, the farthest communication between two vehicles on the surface of Mars. ALL ABOUT INGENUITY Did You Know? Up a Dusty Trail As of January 2025, Perseverance has rolled 20.35 miles (32.76 kilometers) to collect 26 samples of rock and regolith as well as one air sample. DRIVE ON WITH PERSEVERANCE IMAGE OF THE DAY Olympus Mons Mars' Olympus Mons, a volcano nearly three times higher than Mount Everest, was featured in a recent "Celebrity Jeopardy" question. VIEW IMAGE DOWNLOADS Free posters. Collect them all. MAVEN 10th Anniversary Spirit and Opportunity 20th Anniversary Curiosity 10th Anniversary ROVER MISSION UPDATES Get the latest details, direct from mission team members. Perseverance Blog READ THE BLOG Curiosity Blog READ THE BLOG JOIN THE CONVERSATION Explore Mars Facebook: @NASAPersevere, @MarsCuriosity, @NASAMars X: @NASAPersevere, @MarsCuriosity, @NASAMars

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THE NEW NASA PROSPECTOR MINING SCOUT CONCEPT

 I like this new Prospector design concept by Marc Senger.

It even folds up and takes off! Do you like it?

ANT THRILLS

 I caught these old NASA prints on old auctions so kept the images.

The Grumman MOLAB on its test bed travels, a superb lunar concept workhorse known to Project SWORD fans as the ANT.

Do you any old NASA prints like this?

THE TARHEEL COVER: MAKING AN IMPACT

The recent revelation that was the American Tarheel Project SWORD dealers catalogue I've been pondering the possible origin of that strange and huge disco ball on a stand to the right.

More to the point, I've been pondering the spidery base it has and I believe its this... the surface lander baseplate of the Moon Prospector concept shown here in 1961 in Newsweek a cover painted by Jo Kotula. You can just see half of it behind the Prospector.

Here's a much clearer NASA concept drawing, where the baseplate is very distinct, the legs spread out like a spider. NASA called it an Impact Absorber, a device to assist in landing the Prospector - the Roving Vehicle - on the Moon as part of the SURVEYOR programme. It would have made a great toy accessory [anyone care to make one?]

The bendable legs are even clearer in this related 1960 NASA  concept, the Stationary Packet, where the Prospector has yet to disengage from the plate and rove. 

The bent legs are almost a mirror image of those beneath the big 'disco' ball on the Tarheel SWORD cover above.

I can't ID the Tarheel disco ball and its lollipops but I think this explains their spidery base.

What do you reckon readers?