Everyones Gone to the Moon

It's now even easier to have a close look at our nearest neighbour thanks to the Lunar Reconaissance Orbiter. The Nearside Spectacular site you can view extremely detailed closeups of the near side of the moon. Got to: http://wms.lroc.asu.edu/lroc_browse/view/wac_nearside

Keen eyed observers will spot the location of Moonbase Central on the edge of the Sea of Rains and some miles distant the ragged scar left by the impact of the early atomic transport during the initial phase of the development of the base. The mass transport vehicle was remotely controlled from Earth Base, but a solar flare interrupted communications on the final approach and landing and the huge craft overshot the landing site and careered into the lunar mountainside. Luckily the nuclear drive wasn't severely damaged, but all the components for the intended moon base modules were destroyed by the impact. The project was set back considerably by this event and all future transports were accompanied by a full flight of Task Force craft, as a precaution.

Red Space

Hi Paul,

just discoverred this Russian blog about a science magazin in the kind of modern mechanix and thought of you. Perhaps you like it [example of content pictured].

http://scienceillustration.mypage.ru/

Regards

Klaus

www.blechroboter.de

Blue Moon

I recently came across these pictures from rears of two different SPACEX backing cards. Not having many carded SPACEX myself, I was intrigued by the prevelance of blue vehicles here. There's a blue Tractor T1, a blue Nuclear Pulse and most fascinating of all, a blue Moon Bus! Has anyone got better pictures or the actual toys?

PS. Was the Space Patrol 1 rocket ship [top left] often found in yellow or is that unusual? Is there a yellow knockoff as well?

WOTAN Butts in:

Don't get me started on spacex colours! I spent many an hour poring over the card backs in anticipation of my next purchase from Woolies, only to find that many times the vehicles never matched the pics on the card. I always wanted a Tractor T5 or Forklift with those lovely balloon tyres. Most of all, I wanted the white Interplanetary 1 on the launch pad and a blue pulse! So much so that after years of playing with the originals and not expecting to ever find any more, I took a can of white Humbrol paint and set to on the rocket with disastrous results. It was only after I met the venerable Mr Vreede that I found out that the rocket came in white in the Golden Astronaut release - gahhhh! 

My Nuclear Pulse had suffered years of neglect and play and was always a big thorn in my side as it appears on the card in beautiful blue and red livery, on the gorgeous box art in dayglo green and was actually made in a hideous nauseating orange. Consequently, when I had snapped off most of the wheels and damaged the dome on the top, I set to repairing it and ended up rebuilding the base and finally painting it to loosely match the card artwork. Mercifully, i've not discovered one produced in blue since.. 

Bumper T Crop

If your'e a T-Head like me, Arto and Ferryman then you might add to your growing T-Fleet. In Germany you'll find a Prospector  and if you try checking out Ebay US [and here too] there's currently a bumper crop of cool plastic boats, rockets and unusual games. Most of them are via Ebay US [with many originating in Argentina], together with one UK offering from blog reader Ferryman on Ebay UK.

PS. When searching for T-Toys, try T-Toys, T in Circle and Tai Hing, all from Hong Kong [not to be confused with T for Tarheel from Tarboro, NC, USA].

Emergency SWORD Ten

Further to my SWORD ambulance reference we had some great comments [BTW I'm OK thanks!]. Yorkie reminded me of the TF2 ambulance in the SOLO strip. I've posted it in full here from 19th August 1967. You can see in the cutaway mention is made of a 'stretcher hold', which certainly suggests that TF2 was an ambulance, but how did they get in and out?  [I'm sure there's an even clearer reference to this in SOLO but just can't find it]. Confusingly in the last frame but one, one solar week later, the patient appeears to be in the 'probe ship' at the Booster Rockets fore. Another ambulance? I agree with EvilEd that the Moonbus would have made a natural ambulance as well. And Toadster's observation about SWORD mopping up enviro-disasters got me thinking that SWORD was a sort of 'green' Thunderbirds. I remember a British '60's film called DOOMWATCH, which was just that, a bio-rescue squad [anyone seen it?] sugesting that it was a popular theme [and fear?] in the sixties [maybe even the Fifties if you include Quatermass as a sort of enviro-team?]

Did Thunderbirds or any of the other Anderson shows include futuristic ambulances?

Flat Spin

As a kid growing up in the space age, everything seemed to point towards a streamlined, fabulous sci-fi future. Immersing myself in toys, books, tv and films about space, it seemed natural that the 21st century would have sleek aerodynamic cars, planes would not look out of place in Thunderbirds and man would be living it up on the moon. Now, as I approach my own half century, I look around and wonder why cars are still mostly clumsy boxy things apart from the italian supercars gracing Top Gears test track, the space shuttle looks like a jumbo jet and the race for the moon appears to have turned into a fun run. Aerospace design seems to have stalled in its steep climb and flamed out into a flat spin.

However, every now and again something appears which seems to show a promise, however late, or the shape of things to come. The current darling of the armed forces, the UAV or unmanned aerial vehicle seems to be developing from the ungainly heath robinson rotor driven contraption through the current Predator drone which has too much of a saturday afternoon model airplane club look to it, to something befitting of the 21st century.

Boeing have been testing various species of airframe to develop a low visibility, stealth aircraft, starting with the piloted 'Bird of Prey' which had a streamlined body and distinct wings, to the latest version of the X-45 - aptly named the 'Phantom Ray' and unmanned drone airplane.

The blended wind and sleek delta shape look suitably sci-fi and the absence of canopy and inclusion of the subtle intake, make it look seriously sinister. Can we expect future aircraft to follow similar lines in other areas ?The superstreamlined aspect adds to fuel economy and increased performance, so the benefits wont just apply to the military. Maybe before I get into serious old age ill be able to look up and see silver delta shapes passing overhead instead of the nasty orange and white sleazyjet birds ?

SWORD ER

Just got back from the local Emergency Room and I got to thinking whether there could be a SWORD or SPACEX ambulance? What might it look like?

Hurricane Force

After the PF3, couldn't resist this one too!

Ark V's

Ark V's

inspired by SWORD Annual

Custom Dyna Soar Box Art: John Schoenherr Style

Being in love with vintage space art I can't help letting it influence box art like Century 21's own box artists did and in my case re-touching their original SWORD boxes. Here's a custom Dyna Soar box celebrating a fabulous X-20 cover painting by John Schoenherr from ANALOG magazine 1963 with its cover story The Trouble With Telstar. I've customised the box cover purely for fun and for readers of this blog. It's ficticious.