Missionary in Costa Rica dies in his sleep.

[_DrW]

Yep. Had a definite affinity for ol' CG - in no small part because he had served his country, stepped in to help now and then, and we saw eye to eye on a number of other issues as well.

Must admit that I would have never tumbled to the fact that you and CG were one in the same. Thanks for setting me straight.

Thanks, DrW! I appreciate the kind words.

Yeah, I'm like herpes. You can't get rid of me.

Just so you know - as an M48-A3 TC in a long past life, I was sort of partial to CG as a screen name and it had nothing to do with Voodoo. ('Nuff said.)

[_The Erotic Apologist]

by the way: As an M48-A3 commander in a long past life, I was partial to CG as a screen name and it had nothing to do with Voodoo. ('Nuff said.)

Oh yeah, "Corpsegrinder" looks effing awesome when it's painted on the fume extractor of one of these:



I spent a good three years riding around in the turret of a Stryker MGS during reliability and maintainability testing at the Yuma Proving Ground. Before that, it was the Stryker mortar carrier. And before that, it was the Stryker MEV. I got to mess around with tracked systems every now and then, but nowhere near as much as with Strykers, MRAPs, JLTVs & etc.

I once got to ride in the turret of a factory fresh T-80, but never an M-48. I'm guessing the M-48 would be a lot more comfortable than the T-80...

If I recall correctly, you once said you spent some time at YPG...did you ever get a chance to see the HARP gun while you were down there?

[_DrW]

by the way: As an M48-A3 commander in a long past life, I was partial to CG as a screen name and it had nothing to do with Voodoo. ('Nuff said.)

Oh yeah, "Corpsegrinder" looks effing awesome when it's painted on the fume extractor of one of these:



I spent a good three years riding around in the turret of a Stryker MGS during reliability and maintainability testing at the Yuma Proving Ground. Before that, it was the Stryker mortar carrier. And before that, it was the Stryker MEV. I got to mess around with tracked systems every now and then, but nowhere near as much as with Strykers, MRAPs, JLTVs & etc.

I once got to ride in the turret of a factory fresh T-80, but never an M-48. I'm guessing the M-48 would be a lot more comfortable than the T-80...

The last Russian tank I saw was in the Highway of Death / Hwy 8 military equipment scrap yard just outside of Kuwait city - in burned out pieces. There were Iraqi T-54, T-55 and T-72 tank hulls, turrets and sections of track scattered around over several acres surrounded by a high earthen berm keep them out of sight from the road.

If I recall correctly, you once said you spent some time at YPG...did you ever get a chance to see the HARP gun while you were down there?

Worked at YPG testing a power pack health monitoring system we built for the M1-A2. Lots of Russian equipment there at that time, as well. Some of it pretty shot up, If I recall correctly. Didn't even know about the HARP then - well above my pay grade.

[_Gunnar]

by the way: As an M48-A3 commander in a long past life, I was partial to CG as a screen name and it had nothing to do with Voodoo. ('Nuff said.)

Oh yeah, "Corpsegrinder" looks effing awesome when it's painted on the fume extractor of one of these:



I spent a good three years riding around in the turret of a Stryker MGS during reliability and maintainability testing at the Yuma Proving Ground. Before that, it was the Stryker mortar carrier. And before that, it was the Stryker MEV. I got to mess around with tracked systems every now and then, but nowhere near as much as with Strykers, MRAPs, JLTVs & etc.

I once got to ride in the turret of a factory fresh T-80, but never an M-48. I'm guessing the M-48 would be a lot more comfortable than the T-80...

The last Russian tank I saw was in the Highway of Death / Hwy 8 military equipment scrap yard just outside of Kuwait city - in burned out pieces. There were Iraqi T-54, T-55 and T-72 tank hulls, turrets and sections of track scattered around over several acres surrounded by a high earthen berm keep them out of sight from the road.

If I recall correctly, you once said you spent some time at YPG...did you ever get a chance to see the HARP gun while you were down there?

Worked at YPG testing a power pack health monitoring system we built for the M1-A2. Lots of Russian equipment there at that time, as well. Some of it pretty shot up, If I recall correctly. Didn't even know about the HARP then - well above my pay grade.

The comments about HARP are a fascinating diversion, but don't seem to be very relevant to this thread, unless we want to talk about the possibility of using HARP to launch people into Heaven.

Assuming that there is any such thing as Heaven where the righteous go after death, using HARP would be a sure way of accomplishing that, because it would surely kill them!

HARP certainly couldn't be used to launch live people into orbit. Launching anything into, say, a low earth orbit 300 miles (480 km )up from the latitude of Barbados (where the main HARP experiments were performed) would require a delta Vee of approximately 23,500 feet (7160 meters) per second, and since the HARP cannon was less than 120 feet (36 meters) long (according to my internet search), that would have required subjecting the payload to an acceleration of more than 70,000 gs, according to my calculations! Few payloads other than inert, solid chunks of matter could survive such an acceleration. Certainly humans could not! In fact, it would not be easy to design a cannon that short that could survive the pressure needed to launch any substantial payload into low earth orbit.

According to my calculations, a cannon that could launch a human into orbit safely with a maximum acceleration of 3 gs would have to have a barrel more than 540 miles (870 km) long! If we allow a maximum acceleration of 10 gs, we could shorten the barrel length to just over 160 miles (260 km) or so.

Of course, I realize that no one ever intended for HARP to ever be used to launch living payloads.

[_ludwigm]

Of course, I realize that no one ever intended for HARP to ever be used to launch living payloads.

Please see my answer at viewtopic.php?p=903198#p903198 ( )

[_DrW]

Of course, I realize that no one ever intended for HARP to ever be used to launch living payloads.

Please see my answer at http://www.mormondiscussions.com/phpBB3 ... 98#p903198 ( )

Gunnar,

Nice segue from religion to physics (which is much more interesting and important, by the way).
_____________

Hey Ludwig,

Thanks for the sidelight on Vern's suggestion of Tampa, Florida as a place from which to launch a journey to the moon. Never heard that before. Very interesting. Do we really think that Vern understood that much about orbital mechanics?

Ahem, as long as the thread is derailed anyway, and you are a Russian trained electromagnetic wave guy - when I saw 'HARP', I first thought CG was talking about 'HAARP'.

This is a US installation that uses a technology similar to that which certain Russians claim(ed) could be used to change the weather and even (I kid you not) increase the probability of earthquakes (*sort of like God).

Any comment?
____________________

* Qualifies post as appropriate for this board, because it relates to religion and belief in God.

[Guest]

Of course, I realize that no one ever intended for HARP to ever be used to launch living payloads.

Please see my answer at viewtopic.php?p=903198#p903198 ( )

Yes, I am familiar with Jules Verne's story, and have watched the old silent movie based on it, but the scientists involved with HARP certainly didn't seriously intend that humans ever would or could be launched into orbit that way.

Verne apparently knew enough about orbital mechanics to realize that it would be advantageous to launch things into orbit from a location as close to the equator as possible, but did he fully realize the impracticality of using cannons to do so (especially launching humans into space)? I doubt it!

[_Gunnar]

Gunnar,

Nice segue from religion to physics (which is much more interesting and important, by the way).

Yes, I thought it might make an interesting diversion, and perhaps prevent banishment to the Off Topic Forum. I hope someone enjoyed it.
_____________

Hey Ludwig,

Thanks for the sidelight on Vern's suggestion of Tampa, Florida as a place from which to launch a journey to the moon. Never heard that before. Very interesting. Do we really think that Vern understood that much about orbital mechanics?

Ahem, as long as the thread is derailed anyway, and you are a Russian trained electromagnetic wave guy - when I saw 'HARP', I first thought CG was talking about 'HAARP'.

This is a US installation that uses a technology similar to that which certain Russians claim(ed) could be used to change the weather and even (I kid you not) increase the probability of earthquakes (*sort of like God).

Any comment?
____________________

* Qualifies post as appropriate for this board, because it relates to religion and belief in God.

I suspect that Ludwig would agree (as I do) that it is possible that Jules Verne at least realized that launching things into orbit would be somewhat easier from a near equatorial location. He was no dummy!

I think I like H.G. Wells' method involving the imaginative "Cavorite" covered vehicle somewhat better than the firing from a cannon approach, however. If only we could discover or invent some workable kind of anti-gravity approach to space travel! Wouldn't that be nice? Perhaps that is how God moves throughout the Universe?