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10 October 2007
Beautiful satelloon! What else has NASA invented that I never could have imagined? And it only weighed 132 pounds!
I only recently learned that Tang wasn't invented by NASA at all, but by Kraft's William A. Mitchell (also in his portfolio: Pop Rocks). After NASA included Tang on the menu for one of the Gemini missions, Kraft began including that fact in their marketing.
Wow, really cool. And I love the big rotating-horn ground station, too. I'd seen pictures of that in physics books for discussions of the background radiation discovery, but I never knew it was there to talk to giant silver space balloons.
I think the big point is: NASA made the first Mylar balloon! So thank (or blame) NASA for the metallic balloon bouquet in your cubicle on your next birthday. Still, there is something about the name "satelloon" that makes me say "I WANT THAT!"
That second one is cool! I'd hate to be the one in charge of polishing it, though. Also is a satelloon as cross between a satellite and some pantaloons?
photo by splunge
photo by TheophileEscargot
photo by Kronos_to_Earth
photo by ethylene
