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?

ANT'S COUSIN, THE M O L A B

And speaking of cool lunar concepts that remained squarely on Earth, here's the ANT's cousin, the MOLAB, one of a number of mobile laboratory designs. 

Do you prefer this style of MOLAB to the one Triang opted for for their SpaceX range? 

The A N T

Check out this amazing old footage of a test run of the real NASA concept vehicle that the Project SWORD Annual called the ANT.

It looks great doesn't it!

What a Century 21 toy it would have made!

 https://youtu.be/44hApNzmS_Q?feature=shared

A FORMICARY OF MOLABS

I've always liked the ANT since seeing it in the 1968 Project SWORD Annual.

And I always thought it would have made a great toy.

In the meantime here's a couple of models I found online.

Long Island Aerospace History. ANT on the right.

Image: Ohio Valley Spaceport

In reality the Grumman MOLAB, here's some ace footage of a prototype in action.

Do you like this vehicle readers?

F O R M I C

 Speaking of ants, I'm getting worried about the number of ,Phase 4' diets I'm seeing.

Makes me think of ants and much chomping in the formulary of phase IV.

I've seen a lot of Ant movies and read a few Novels.

I've never seen Food of the Gods though - maybe that's rats film? It used to be advertised as a cine film for home viewing at the back of Warrens Creepy and Eerie comics.

I bought this softback of Creepy reprints this morning at the Bonner Comic Laden.

 Although Food of the Gods isn't advertised in it, some classic monotone monster cine films are, pictured above. The VHS of it's day! 

Have you seen it? Read any ant books? Did you or do you like Creepy and Eerie comics Readers?

🐜

Ant-dendum

In a sleepy Rhine village we're visiting is, yes, of all things, an ant controller! 

SPACE ANTS

I love this old shot of the Grumman MOLAB concept. SWORDIES out there will know this vehicle as the ANT from the Project SWORD Annual.

It would have made a great toy!

Below are some sketches by space guru Krafft Ehricke, which include what look like ANTSs too.

 Have you any ANTS readers?

ANT-TASTIC: A MODEL OF THE ANT

There's a fine image on this Long Island Aerospace History page of a model of an ANT in 1962, a Grumman Lunar Landing Concept. A real life working prototype is also pictured from 1964.

The ANT made a one-off appearance in a strip in the 1968 Project SWORD Annual. Alas it never made it to the toy workshop.

Is it a vehicle you like?

https://projectswordtoys.blogspot.com/2018/02/long-island-aerospace-history-site-and.html

GRUMMAN MOON ROVER AKA THE PROJECT SWORD ANT

Do you like this concept vehicle readers?

GRUMMAN LSS ROVER ON FILM: THE PROJECT S.W.O.R.D ANT

 Oh my God! I have been checking for footage of this old rover for ages on YT.

Here it is!

Project SWORD called this vehicle the ANT in the 1968 Annual - click on the labels.

It would had made a fab Century 21 SWORD toy!

Do you agree?

Has anyone seen this rover in the flesh?

THE NASA MOON CHARIOT

Hi Woodsy,

I hope all is well at Moonbase Central. After the terrible news from Britain, things are still quiet in NZ. We are up to 708 cases, with just one death so far, which was on Sunday.

I have been enjoying all the posts, and just saw the one on Kev's Star Cops Sketches. The Moon Buggy reminded me of a model by Matchbox. 

It is the NASA S.E.V./Chariot. Model number MB1080, this came out in 2018. 

While it is not identical, it is also a six-wheeler, with a large cab - only the port side has an airlock. 

The white crew compartment is metal, while the gold base is plastic. The wheels have gold hubs, and the windows are tinted blue. This seems to be based on a real NASA design, although rather simplified. 

Still a very nice model, Matchbox have never had many space or SF models in their standard toy line. 

The backing card shows the vehicle traversing rocky terrain, with various desert plants in the background - presumably this depicts the vehicle under test in the US, rather than on the Moon or Mars.

Paul A 

New Zealand

Anyone else got this model?

COMAN BOYS: SPANISH SPACE MEN

I love this TV ad!

Check out all those cool vehicles Comansi put out!

The wheeled rover reminds me of the ANT, guest vehicle in the Project SWORD Annual.

What do you think?

Long Island Aerospace History Site and the ANT

Project SWORD Annual readers may recall the ANT.

Its a multi-stage space vehicle that features in its own story in the book. Its based on a real Sixties design.

The excellent Long Island Aerospace History site has some interesting stuff on this design. 

It includes this wonderful picture including a model of what Project SWORD called the ANT to the right of the image 
[ I did have trouble loading this image readers ].

http://www.longislandaerospacehistory.com/Select/LM/XXX-LM-PROJECT/LM%20project/DESIGN/design-1.html

If it doesn't load then try this Google search and the image should be one of the first, Grumman Lunar Landing Concept 1962.

I wonder what happened to that model?

A large prototype ANT, the Grumman MOLAB, dangles from an American ceiling.

It's hanging from the ceiling in the Red Planet cafe of the Cradle of Aviation Museum, Mitchel Field, Long Island, USA and advertised as part of their children's party space offer.

The picture is shown with kind permission from it's taker, Gary Agranat. 

You can see it on Gary's flickr album here.

Anyone been?

Have you seen an ANT model or prototype?

3d printed space wheels

Woodsy, the other day you were discussing 3d printed parts. For future toy conversions, here is a familiar 3" 3d printed wheel you might recognize. 

A friend designed this print file for me that is set up to print 3" or 6" moon wheels, depending on the size of the project.

Bob Aucutt

GRUMMAN ANT IN LONG ISLAND

I love this old signed pic of the Grumman MOLAB over at MemReg.

Project SWORD fans will recognise the general shape of this MOLAB as the ANT featured in the project SWORD Annual 1968.

The real thing hangs in the Red Planet Cafe of the Cradle of Aviation Museum, Mitchel Field, Long Island, USA. Get yourself down there if you live nearby and tell us what its like!

The ANT's Metalastic Wheels

The Grumman ANT had metalastic wheels as did the SpaceX MEV2 [pictured below in Bill's garden]. Here's a great short article about them by space writer David S. Portree http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/01/metalastic-wheels-1962/

 

[thanks Richard B. for pointing this out].

 

ANT NEST