Best Picture of Sea Plane!

Cr: National Geographic

This is the best picture of a seaplane I have ever seen!

Interesting Aviation Facts

Now that it is winter break, I will be able to update much more! Winter break could be fun, but sometimes your stuck at your house and your very very very very bored.
If thats your case, the sites below have interesting facts about aviation:

This one is mostly about the Boeing 747:
http://www.balticaa.com/en/about-us/news-and-press-releases/top-10-interesting-facts-about-aviation/

Not focused on a part of aviation, but still interesting:
http://www.keystoneaviation.com/blog/7-airplane-fun-facts/

Fun facts about outer space:
http://listverse.com/2007/11/13/top-10-cool-facts-about-space/

http://listverse.com/2013/04/27/10-fascinating-facts-about-our-solar-system/?utm_source=more&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=direct

About space travel:
http://listverse.com/2012/12/31/10-issues-that-are-hindering-avoyage-to-mars/?utm_source=more&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=direct

Raisbeck Aviation Highschool

A few days ago, I visited the Raisbeck Aviation High School Open House. I met many teachers and students, which were all welcoming to me. I noticed that many students had the same interests as me, and that I would make a lot of friends if I went to school.
There are many extra curriculum classes and clubs, and each one interested me. Aside from the Science Olympiad and Robotics team, which I would love to join if I got accepted, the Culture Club really interested me, as I love learning about other people's cultures and languages. Learning Japanese and Spanish is also something I would look forward to.
The facility is amazing, especially the cafeteria where they do assemblies. Every classroom had interesting posters and made me want to learn about the subject.
Many students are interns at places such as Boeing, the Museum of Flight, and other places where you could learn about Earth and overall science.
Raisbeck Aviation High School is a great school for people who love science and aviation with a great facility, and I think everyone that is interested should apply. Some people (including myself) live far from this school, but there are public transportations to get you there on time. Carpooling is another option.

Supersonic N2 Baseline

I am using the Open VSP software to modify aircraft designs.
The Supersonic N2 baseline is not a "real" aircraft, so I do not have any information about it. I do know that it would be a plane that would fly past the stratosphere, not as usual airplanes do.
The only thing I modified about this design is that I enlarged the engine. I also made the fuselage longer so it wouldn't flip over because of the strong engine and short body.

Lunar Plant Growth

This is an amazing experiment! We will definitely need to grow our own food in space for long-term trips, this is the first step towards a biosphere on the moon and mars!
More on this subject:
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/plantgrowth/home/#.Up12YMRDt8F

Planets of our Solar System

I have a notebook where I record notes about aviation, outer space, and technology, and I wanted to share some info.

1. Sun

• Is a star. Also is a ball of gas.
• The solar atmosphere part of the sun is where we see sunspots and solar flares.
• Makes up 99.8% of the solar system.

2. Mercury

• Smallest planet in our solar system- barely larger than our moon.
• Because it is closest to the sun, it has the fastest orbit rate- 88 days.
• Has no moons

3. Venus

• One day there (time for it to spin once) takes as long a 243 Earth days.
• Has no moons
• More than 40 spacecrafts have explored Venus.
• Is in retrograde rotation (spins backwards). Means that sun rises is west and sets in east.

4. Earth

• Unlike other terrestrial planets (planets that have solid surface), it is an ocean planet. 70% of its surface is covered in oceans
• The atmosphere protects us from meteorites
• Many planets have atmospheres, but ours is the only breathable one

5. Mars

• Makes complete orbit around sun (called a year) in 687 Earth days.
• Has two moons: Phobos and Deimos

6. Jupiter

• If a sun was a door, then the Earth's size would be a nickel, and Jupiter's size would be a basketball.
• One days is 10 hours in Earth time
• One year is 12 Earth days
• Not a terrestrial planet
• Has 67 moons
• Has a faint ring

7. Saturn

• One days is 10.7 Earth hours
• One year is 29 Earth days
• Not a terrestrial planet
• Has 62 moons- some COULD support life
• Has 7 rings with gaps and divisions between

8. Uranus

• One day is 17 Earth hours
• One year is 84 Earth days
• Not a terrestrial planet
• Has 27 moons and also has faint rings
• Also is retrograde rotation

9. Neptune

• One day is 16 Earth hours
• One year is 165 Earth YEARS
• Not a terrestrial planet
• Has 13 moons and 6 rings

Hope this helped!

Interstellar Mayflower

It would be amazing to build this! 

Cr: National Geographic

 Inside the interstellar Mayflower. Has its own gravitational pull. A similar ship is shown in the window.

Joint Base Lewis McChord

The Joint Base Lewis McChord is a military base in Tacoma, Washington.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Base_Lewis-McChord

Today, I went on a tour of the JBLM. It took about one hour, and we went to a few places, but mostly we toured around the air traffic control tour (which still had a lot of interesting things to look at). The main point I learned from this tour is that if you want to be an air traffic controller, you need to be sufficient at memorizing vocabulary, codes, symbols, and rules. You also need to know how to handle much pressure, as there are many times where you need to guide a helicopter/plane to its landing place without seeing it in the air- only with the map on the computer. A fact that really surprised me was that air traffic controllers have used touch screens since the 90's! In my memory, touch screen phones were a very big deal around 2008.
We saw many helicopters, some new, some in repair, but the one that really caught my attention was the Apache Helicopter. I am not sure which one it is that I saw- it could have been any of the AH-64A to AH-64E. The reason it caught my attention was because it could sense where the human eye was looking at, and could aim at that exact place for attack. This would really help the pilot fly the helicopter while attacking.

At the air traffic control tower, I learned that since there were many parts to guiding a plane to its landing place, teamwork was very crucial. There are three parts (therefore usually three people and three main computers). One that controls the ground, one that controls the flying space fairly close to the ground, and one that controls space (which is at the Sea-tac Airport).

There are three lights they use in case the radio is not working. Green, red, and white. This becomes really handy when it is foggy or rainy even when the radio is working.

This tour really inspired me to research more about helicopters. I do have a Drone, but after I nearly broke it I had lost my interest in helicopters. I think this really helped me to find my love for helicopters again. I definitely recommend it!

Singapore Airlines First Class

Did you know about Singapore Airlines' first class?

                        A380

Life on Mars

I do not remember the first time I had heard that Mars might support human life. It must have been a long time since this subject has been around if I cannot remember what age I was when I had heard about it. Either way, I have been thinking about whether Mars could really support life on Earth. I am still organizing the facts, but so far (you could call it my halfway conclusion) is that Mars is able to support human life. My reason is: if we build a biosphere that humans could live in, as long as we do not leave it we would be able to survive. The problem is, is that from what I know the biosphere project in Arizona did not turn out well. The people that lived in the biosphere came out half crazy and they still do not talk to each other. I believe that if we can upgrade biosphere, we have a great chance of living in Mars. As I said- still organizing info about this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonization_of_Mars

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biosphere_2

National Park on the Moon

I know this might be old news to people, but I still think it would be interesting to find out your opinions. I'm also wondering- did they ever decide? I was curious and tried to do some research, but all I could find were articles from the summer...

My opinion is that we should not make a national park on the moon. First of all, we have no right. The moon is not in the ownership of the U.S. What gives us the right to claim ownership? Instead of making a national park, I think making a petition with other countries about leaving things on the moon the way it is would be easier. It might also improve relationships with some countries throughout the process. 

Opinions?

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/07/15/congress-bill-favors-national-park-on-moon/2518193/

International Space Station

Recently, I have grown a great interest in the ISS (International Space Station). I made a whole power point on it, but sadly I was not thinking and made it on my school gmail account. As you know, you cannot copy and paste a power point, so I cannot show you...
It is a very interesting subject, and you will want to know more once you start researching about it.
Here are some links to get you started:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/#.Um1G7fmsh8E

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Space_Station

http://www.boeing.com/boeing/defense-space/space/spacestation/overview/facts.page

Antarctic Ozone Smaller

The Antarctic Ozone is smaller than average this year. It could just be a seasonal difference, or it could be global warming.... Opinions?
Link to article:
http://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/antarctic-ozone-hole-slightly-smaller-than-average-this-year/index.html#.Um1GGfmsh8E

Mt Rainier at Night

A few days ago, I went to Mt Rainier to go stargazing. It did take a lot of time going to and back from Mt. Rainier, but it was definitely worth it! There were so many stars- I nearly forgot about the cold. I saw so many stars I had never even heard of, although I did see a few constellations I could recognize. I took some pictures but it didn't come out as well as the real thing...

 

MH4

Tried to make the plane more eco-friendly (as one of my goals is to design eco-friendly planes one day) by increasing the scale factor of wings, rudder, horizontal stabilizer, and propeller so the engine could use less energy while in flight.

MIG-21

Here is one of my edited designs (I'm sorry I do not have the original form, I forgot to save it. Although you cannot really see the difference of the designs...) It is the MIG 21, a jet fighter aircraft. To give you a quick summary of what kind of "war plane" it is, it was the most produced supersonic jet in aviation history. It started being developed in the 1950s and was a successful Soviet aircraft.
For more info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-21

And my design:

Aviation Designs

One of my new hobbies lately is to edit other peoples' designs of planes. It may sound odd at first but it is actually really fun- similar to solving a puzzle. It makes you think about how a plane really works, and how you could improve it. Right now, I am only at the step of studying other people's designs, but soon I think I will try designing some myself.

National Geographic

A little earlier, I was looking for a good website without annoying ads, viruses, and most important- wanted news articles about space with proof. This is when I found out that National Geographic had not only worldwide news articles, but a whole section about space. I always had interest in National Geographic magazines, and believe that the articles have definite proof. So, if you are looking for a good website about outerspace, I would definitely recommend National Geographic.

The link is below:

http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/?rptregcta=join_free_np&rptregcampaign=20130731_lightbox_membership_nonhp_all_c#close-modal

The Endeavour

The Endeavour Space Shuttle is now at the LA Science Center. But before it retired, it had made many goals and had been in the center or attention many times. In 2011 it had also been captured at the ISS (International Space Station) for the first time since 1996. It had flown 122,853,151 miles and lived 299 days in space. That is why I felt it and honor to be able to see the space shuttle when I went to LA. I had also seen its departure in 2008 Florida and also felt excited to see it up close.

                        Endeavour Space Shuttle in Los Angeles.

               Captured at the ISS.

Domino's uses Drone to Deliver Pizza

Domino's, a pizza place that is known for having fast delivery, has finally reached the point of studying a way to deliver pizza by the Drone. I think this is fascinating because this proves that aviation is not only advancing in the ways of transporting people, but is also used in many other ways. (I will post about that later). 

Although, many states in the U.S. have already banned this idea, I think this is a great idea. The pizza would not be stuck in traffic and be cold by the time it reaches its destination. It would also reduce the cause of a car crash, because many pizza deliverers drive "dangerously" to get the pizza on time. 

When there are pluses, there are always minuses. A thing that I would be concerned about would be that there are some crazy people in the world, and might break the Drone. This would cause a lot of arguments, and might even reach to law suits. Another thing I might be concerned about would be that if it was windy or rainy, there is a chance that the Drone could fall anywhere. It could be a highway or even on someone's house. This would lead to serious accidents, and to more arguments.

For more info:

http://www.kansascity.com/2013/06/04/4273606/uk-dominos-taps-uav-technology.html

                                       

Air Fact!

Air New Zealand used to be the only airline to circumnavigate the world until in March 2013, when they canceled flights from Hong Kong to London.

Air New Zealand

Air New Zealand:

Alaska Airlines

Alaska Airlines is the 7th largest airline- customer wise. It used to be an airline called McGee Airlines, until they merged and renamed themselves as Alaska Airlines in 1944. It goes everywhere in the U.S, and has the most passengers that go to Alaska. It also goes to Mexico.
Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_Airlines

Airlines

I have decided that I will expand my view in aviation, and will try to write more about regular planes.

Drone

Today, I got the Drone (helicopter).
Unfortunately I have no idea on how to control it, and it will take a long time before I upload videos of it flying. Here is the model with so-called-useless instructions.

I will not use the name Thing #1 because my friend has decided to stop blogging.... Now it will be just me.

Russia's Meteorite

On February 15th 2013 a "small meteorite" exploded in Russia, injuring 1,000 people and destroying 3,000 buildings. 200 of the injured were children, luckily the injuries were not serious. Many of the 3,000 buildings were broken glass (probably the result from the shock of the explosion). NASA announced it was a once-in-a-100-year incident.
For more info, or a video, click on this link:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/15/world/europe/russia-meteor-shower

Airplane (models) Videos

I'm thinking about trying this out.
http://www.flyingmachinearena.org/videos/

 Thing #1

The USS Midway

"......Indeed, star differs from star in glory"
                -unknown soldier on USS Midway
   As you know, a few days ago I went to see the USS Midway. It was interesting to ME because I love both planes and boats. If you do not like planes or boats, its not worth your money and time freezing out on the ship.
The USS Midway (CV-41) was an airplane carrier for the US Navy.

• It was the largest ship until 1995.
• It retired in 1992, and is now a museum in San Diego
• It is the only remaining aircraft carrier of the World War II era.
• It had taken action in the Vietnam War, Operation Mainbrace (in the North Atlantic), and Operation Desert Storm (Persian Gulf).
• This ship was a lifesaver to the last escapees of the Vietnam War. (Soldiers say that every inch of the ship was occupied with a person at that time).

    If you didn't know, I will tell you now. I have a keen interest in boats. And cars. And all machinery, you could say. This is why I learned to love the USS Midway, which is the only airplane carrier from World War II. I also have learned many things from this wonderful experience. Not only did I explore the world of planes and helicopters, I took a detailed tour of the ship itself. While gaining knowledge on how soldiers lived at the ship, I was amazed on how people could survive on the grim, smelly, and stuffy quarters. They had the same food every day. If they got injured in wars, very little medical care could be done for them.
   I also learned that the ship was not only used as an airplane carrier, but also as a haven for refugees (from the Vietnam War) and a machinery for bombs. Many may not know, but parts of the bombs had to be sent to the ship, and soldiers would put the parts together.
Here are some pictures of the ship and planes (sadly my camera ran out of battery, so I could not take many pictures):

               My favorite :)

                                   Thing #1

Endeavour Space Shuttle

Last week, I went to the California Science Center in LA. There were interesting things, but the highlight was the well known Endeavour Space Shuttle. I especially wanted to see it because when I was about 7 years old, I had seen the Endeavour blast off in Florida.
I was mesmerized about how enormous it was, it barely fit in one picture! The whole body of the Shuttle looked very worn-down, but at the same time very proud (if an object could look proud) of itself. I spent my time exploring every symbol, nail, and surface of the gigantic thing.
After taking 100s of pictures, I moved on to the facts that we posted on the walls. Here are some things I learned:

• It first blasted off on May 7th, 1992 for its first mission- to connect with a stranded satellite, and put it back to service.
• It had been made to replace the Challenger, which exploded with the 7 astronauts.
• It is the youngest space shuttle.
• Over the course of 19 years, it had accomplished 25 missions.
• Its last mission was in May, 2011.

Here are some pictures:

      I think this is a panorama shot........... 

                                   Thing #1

South Korea Space Launch Successful

After 11 attemps, South Korea finally succeeds in launching their rocket,Naro.

Good Job!!!
                            Thing #1

Question of the Day

Name three reasons the sun and water are so crucial to us. (not a question, but still)

                       Thing #1

The Sun

The sun, that blazing ball of hot plasma is crucial to our survival. Many may not know this, but without the sun, it would be hard for us to live even a few hours. Actually, many people think that the sun cause natural disasters, and forgot the importance of it.
The reason the sun is so crucial to us is because it heats up our atmosphere. Without the sun, nights would be so cold we would freeze to death even with the warmest clothes on.
Not only does the sun heat up our atmosphere, it is the most important part of photosynthesis. Without plants  growing, we would be 100% carnivores, since there are no plants that can live without the sun.
Finally, without vitamins from the sun and plants, we would die from malnutrition.
After reading this SHORT summary of the sun, you may want to thank the sun for all its things it gives us.

           Thing #1

Earth at Night

Earth at night!

                Thing #1

Orion Spacecraft

NASA's Orion Spacecraft is planning to blast off in 2017. Its mission is to the moon, an asteroid, and finally, to the moon.
I think this is very exciting, because there goal is to reach somewhere else than the moon.
For more info click on this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_%28spacecraft%29

Thing #1

New Year Goals

Since it is the New Year, I decided to make some goals.

1. Blog at least 3 times a week.
2. Research not only on the outer space, but on regular planes too.
3. Go to The Museum of Flight in Washington D.C.
4. Make more airplane projects by myself
5. Improve on my plane, helicopter, and rocket drawing skills

           Lets hope I accomplish all these goals by the end of the year!
                       Thing #1

Question #2 Answer

NASA stands for: National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Some of NASA's accomplishments would be:

• Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin, and Michael Collins (all the first people to land on the moon) rode the Apollo 11 (the rocket NASA made) and blasted off on July 16th, 1969 to the moon.
• NASA has invented the Mars Rover and many other rovers that have landed on Mars.
• The Hubble Space Telescope, one of the most largest and famous telescopes, snaps pictures of the galaxy with almost no background light. It has taken the most visible light images and has accurately determined the rate of expansion of the universe (part of astrophysics). It is expected to function until 2013.

                                 Thing #1

Question of the Day #2

Q: What does NASA stand for? What are some accomplishments NASA made?

                   Thing #1

NASA

I will be posting the latest news about NASA, but meanwhile if YOU want more information about NASA, here is the link to their website.
http://www.nasa.gov/news/index.html
Thing #1

The Difference Between Thing #1 and #2

Hello everyone! I am Thing #1, and usually if there is a post about Nasa or any other company that has to do with our space, it is ME who is posting about it. Thing #2 is about planes, but I am more about the space and rockets. Of course, we both love traveling so decided to put that on our blog too.

Clouds Question #1 Answer

Clouds form when invisible water vapor rises and mixes with the air. As many many particles form, they clump together, called condensation. When there is more water then the air, the air cannot hold any more water, and clouds form.

Thing #1

Question of the Day

Everyday we will have a question you might want to think about. Sometimes, the next day we might post the answer, or, if its not a fact- question, we will ask for comments.
Q: How do clouds form? How can they hold water? ARE they water? hmmmmmm

Thing #1

Intro to Our Blog

Hey Everyone,
We made a blog on science and traveling, and I (lets just say I'm Thing #1 and my friend is Thing #2. We might change names later) are excited about blogging about things we like. Since its two people, we'll probably be blogging everyday, so be sure to check by regularly!

Thing #1 and Thing #2