#yankee clipper

[lonestarflight]

"A view of Earth as photographed from the Apollo 12 spacecraft some three and a half hours after it lifted off on Nov. 14, 1969. Parts of the United States and Central America can be seen through the clouds. The area includes Texas, Lake Michigan, Florida and the Yucatan Peninsula."

Date: November 14, 1969

NASA ID: AS12-51-7587

[aryburn-trains]

The New Haven's " Yankee Clipper"

The westbound "Yankee Clipper" and its two Alco PA's speeds through Saybrook, CT

Photographed by John Wallace, March, 1949.

[spockvarietyhour]

“The Yankee clipper Pride of Baltimore entered Toronto harbor under full sail 1981″ (Toronto Star Archives)

[fdrlibrary]

A Smashing Good Time

On March 3, 1939, Eleanor Roosevelt had the honor of christening the Yankee Clipper, one of the new flying boats that would inaugurate transatlantic service between North America and Europe. Wearing a red suit and hat, along with white gloves, Mrs. Roosevelt brandished a bottle of water from the seven seas, which she energetically smashed on the craft’s metal body. Mrs. Roosevelt knew how to wield a bottle, apparently, for the smash was so great that her red suit and hat, and white gloves, received a healthy spray of the seven seas.

The mammoth plane then took VIPs on a brief flight over Washington, DC, taking off from the Anacostia River and circling the capital city. This observer notes with some alarm the notion of smashing a bottle over an aircraft and then taking flight. The press recorded no mention of dents or damage to the plane, but did point out the ruin of Roosevelt’s ensemble. Just another day in the life of the First Lady. One unexpected consequence of takeoff was the large wake which washed over the press corps. Here, one radio man gallantly carries on.

[coolthingsguyslike]

[kuiperkat]

Apollo 12: Intrepid Explorers

ICYMI: In a few hours, the crew of Apollo 12 will touchdown on the Moon after being launched on November 14, 1969, from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, four months after Apollo 11. They will be the sixth Apollo Program crew, and the second to land on the Moon.

Commander Charles "Pete" Conrad, Apollo Lunar Module Pilot Alan L. Bean and Command Module Pilot Richard F. Gordon made the journey with the objective of further lunar seismic study, deploying the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP). This was similar to the Early Apollo Scientific Experiments Package (EASEP). 

Other objectives included a survey “and samplings in landing areas; development of techniques for precision-landing capabilities; further evaluations of the human capability to work in the lunar environment for a prolonged period of time; deployment and retrieval of other scientific experiments; and photography of candidate exploration sites for future missions”. The crew also retrieved parts from Surveyor 3, A robotic probe that was landed in April 1967. 

Commander Conrad and Pilot Bean landed the ‘Intrepid’ Lunar Module in the southeastern portion of what is known as the Ocean of Storms on the Moon, well within walking distance of the site of the Surveyor 3 probe, while Command Module Pilot Gordon orbited the Moon in ‘Yankee Clipper’. The area, nicknamed “Pete’s Parking Lot”, was photographed by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2011. 

Despite lightening striking the Saturn V upon liftoff, causing a host of service issues for a time, the mission was a success. Credit: @nasa​

[onceuponatown]

Interior of a Boeing 314 Flying boat. 

[johnbyrnedraws]

Marvel: The Lost Generation #3, page 2 by John Byrne & Al Milgrom & Glynis Wein. 2000.