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Monthly Archives: February 2012

Visiting The Denver Air And Space Museum

February 25th, 2012

Visiting The Denver Air And Space Museum
The intergalactic technology exhibits at Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum include models and displays demonstrating spacecraft and missile technology both historically and in the future. Visitors get to explore the science of spaceflight with the interactive exhibit and experience the adventure.

The Space Station Module started life as Martin-Marietta’s mock-up for a proposed cosmos station entry to be called “Freedom.” The original proposal was for an American-only cosmos station.

The concept was later changed to include Russia and the European Space Agency and became known as the International Space Station. Martin’s entry into the proposal race was rejected and ultimately found its way to this Denver museum.

The institution also has an Apollo Command Module boilerplate. This is a full scale replica which was used by NASA to develop and test capsule retrieval procedures and train astronauts for the Apollo missions to the moon.

Anchoring the south-east corner of Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum’s main floor is an actual inter-stage skirt from a Titan IV rocket. Lockheed Martin built Titan IV’s to launch large National Defense payloads into earth orbit.

A Titan IV was also used to launch the National Aeronautical and Space Administration’s (NASA) Cassini probe to the planet Saturn. There are an assortment of scale models ranging in size from a table-top diorama of a moon base to a sixteen foot model of a Titan II launch vehicle as well as several hands-on exhibits demonstrating some of the conditions encountered in cosmos.

The Avionics and Radios Exhibit has a wonderful collection of beautifully restored examples of period radio, telephone and avionics technology. Colorado Air National Guard exhibit is an interactive history experience that celebrates the unique past of the Air National Guard as well as demonstrates how new discoveries in air and cosmos will shape the future.

The Colorado Aviation Heritage display celebrates the history of Colorado aviation and the contributions of pioneers in Colorado aviation history. The Eisenhower Dining Room is a replica of the room President Dwight D. Eisenhower established as his “Summer White House” in the Denver area.

The Eisenhower Room exhibits examples of the furnishings, artwork and lifestyle from his quarters on base. The Howard Model Collection is a unique collection of model airplanes designed and built by master aircraft designer Frederick Howard.

The collection includes many of Mr. Howard’s tools, plans, and photos. The Lowry Room is one of the larger meeting rooms and contains an extensive collection of photos and memorabilia from throughout the history of Lowry Air Force Base.

The Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum Restoration Department is tasked with preserving many of the collection’s artifacts. Activities range from simple routine cleaning of pieces to undertaking major restoration projects.

Although none of the museum’s artifacts are ever again expected to function as originally intended, it is the goal of the institution to reconfigure the precious treasures to as close to original condition as possible for accurate representation.

Always on the lookout for new talent, the only prerequisite for a volunteer restoration member is that he or she be willing to contribute some time to the overall effort. Whereas previous experience or specialized training are qualities in constant demand, there are no special skills required.

Anyone with an interest in helping to conserve or restore these artifacts is welcome. Scheduled sessions of instruction in the form of initial and recurring training seminars are available to all volunteer restoration members.

Housed in the institution’s historic 150,000 sq. ft. 1930′s-era former Air Force hangar, Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum maintains a collection of over four dozen aircraft and intergalactic vehicles. Highlights of the collection include: a rare B-18A Bolo, five of the Century Series fighters, and an RF-84K Thunderflash parasite.

The collection also includes the Grumman F-14 Tomcat and an Alexander Eaglerock built in Colorado. In addition, WINGS is the only place in the world outside of the SAC Museum in Nebraska, where the public can see a B-1A Lancer.

Terry Daniels has worked as a travel agent for the last 35 years and written several of articles about things to do in Denver.

Contact Info:
Terry Daniels
terrydaniels@gmail.com

http://www.thingstodo.com/states/CO/denver.htm

Led Grow Lights And The Space Factor

February 15th, 2012

Led Grow Lights And The Space Factor
LED grow lights have really revolutionized the way plants are grown indoors. They have so many advantages to their name. For one thing, they tend to last a very long time, with some coming with guaranteed lifetimes ranging between even ten and fifteen years. They are extremely energy efficient and stimulate and promote plant growth in a way few other things have been able to.

In connection to this, they have very low heat outputs and these two factors combine together to give way to yet another benefit which is that they are very economical. They are also quite versatile in nature because their light is tunable. Of course, these grow lights aren’t perfect and do have their drawbacks but here is an interesting fact: the appeal of these lights has gone so far that even NASA has started using them now.

A recent breakthrough in the science behind LED grow lights has resulted in the concept known as Solid State Lighting (SSL). SSLs have demonstrated a capability to emit light either at the site or very near to the visible part of the color spectrum. What this means is that the given off light can be used straight or can be converged to a small extent if required. In addition to this, you can rest assured if you are using SSL technology that any damaging effects of the light sources will be completely cut out. It is here that we come back to NASA; the famous space centre has started using this SSL technology in its space farming programs.

The space farming effort that NASA is undertaking has the purpose of developing artificial light sources that would help any future space explorers to be more self sufficient when landing on colonies set anywhere in outer space. The reason why NASA has started to use LED lighting technology is because of the big list of benefits that it brings to the table. This is unlike fluorescent and incandescent lamps which are simply not feasible because where energy is concerned there is very little efficiency in terms of the amount of electricity being consumed.

Scientists at NASA have therefore utilized LED grow lights to encourage the growth of salad plants like lettuce and radishes while in outer space. Like when used on earth, the grow lights are blue and red in color to encourage fast and optimal growth of the plants that they are being directed towards. The scientists have eradicated all other wavelengths found within the spectrum of white light, which means that the energy needed to help plants grow has reduced in quantity. This has led to a dramatic decrease in energy costs.

It should be taken into account that the lack of green lights to the plants that are subjected to the LED grow lights often results in a somewhat black color of leaves. If need be though, artificial green light can be introduced to remedy the situation.

Robert is an expert on
LED grow light.