The ‘Space Race’ between the US and the USSR during the 1960s can kind of be looked at as a sport. The Russians took a huge early lead, being the first to successfully launch a satellite; put an animal into space (poor Laika); and, as an almost ‘nail in the coffin,’ sent famed (and consequently doomed) cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin into orbit. All the US had to offer was to launch astronaut Alan Shepard into sub-orbit; he was in the air for less than half an hour. But this massive rocket the Soviets built turned out to be their downfall.

With the successful Apollo 11 program, the US did what was needed to win what in hindsight seems like a bizarre and macabre game. The Saturn V carried Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins to the moon for the first successful moon landing. Where were the Soviets? While Neil and Buzz were sauntering around and playing golf on the moon, the USSR was doing what they love most: Being secretive. They designed and built a rocket called the N1, a shuttle slightly shorter than the Saturn V but with much, much, much more fire power…too much, it turned out. The American space program strapped five huge engines on the Saturn V; the Soviets went the other route and used an astonishing thirty engines.

Although they were much smaller, 24 of them were assembled into a ring for the first launch stage. Their logic seems similar to the kind used by the crazy uncle we all have who, during a July 4^th celebration, thinks it’s a good idea to put two or three superfluous mortars into the firing tube. The USSR executed four test launches of the gargantuan N1. All were disastrous, especially the mega-blaze of glory that was the second attempt. Subsequently scrapped, the program was denied until 1989, as it was seen as a huge embarrassment.

(via Jalopnik)

The post Space Race or Insanity? Soviet Union’s Doomed Rockets first appeared on Gajitz.

War may be hell, but it often brings about the kind of technological advances that would otherwise take years and years more to come about. Such was the case during the American Civil War, when an architectural engineer named William C. Powers wanted to help his neighbors in the South (he lived in Mobile, Alabama) break through the North’s blockade. Since the blockade was naval-based, Powers did the logical thing: he started planning a helicopter to fly over the ships.

Keep in mind that the civil war was 150 years ago. The first viable, successful helicopter wasn’t actually produced until 1940. Yet Powers envisioned this crazy flying machine that would use Archimedean screws (seen as squiggly lines in his schematic drawings)  to both lift the contraption and give it thrust. And presumably, in his mind, break the blockade and win the war for the South.

The engine, using two smokestacks, would have been located in the center of the machine. A rear rudder would have provided for steering. Although we know now that the contraption would never have gotten off of the ground, the Confederate helicopter plan is a fascinating look back into the mindset of the time period and the intense desire of both sides to outsmart the other.

Powers did manage to make a small model of his device, which can be seen at top. However, he was unable to find the support – both financial and intellectual – to ever create a full-size working version. His family hid the plans for years, fearing that the Union would find them, build his brilliant aircraft, and then use it to defeat the Confederates.

(via: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum)

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In the 1960s, the world was still all about innovative transportation, a carryover from the golden days of the automobile. In the midst of figuring out how humans would get around in the decades to come, some pretty crazy ideas were thrown around. This hover scooter, unsurprisingly, never actually made it into production…but it was one of the coolest concepts to come out of that time period.

It was little more than a seat and handlebars on top of a scarily loud fan. The spinning fan produced a six-inch cushion of air to keep the scooter just barely off of the ground, allowing it to hover over land or water with ease. We can’t figure out why these never caught on, because we’d drive the crap out of a hover scooter.

The post 1960s Hover Scooter Looks Awesome But Sounds Deadly first appeared on Gajitz.

It seems that it is part of human nature to be somewhat suspicious of any new technology. This was certainly the case in the late 1970s and early 1980s when digital calculators were first introduced. In Japan, where the abacus had been used by everyone from schoolchildren to senior citizens for as long as anyone could remember, the new electronic gadgets were regarded with a special measure of suspicion. Out of that suspicion rose one of the weirdest gadgets ever: the hybrid calculator/abacus.

After centuries of relying on the abacus for every mathematical equation that couldn’t be figured out mentally, the Japanese people didn’t believe that these new machines could possibly compute accurately. Electronics manufacturer Sharp produced these two-in-one gadgets to give owners the best of both worlds. People who felt more comfortable with the abacus could use it for simple equations but move on to the calculator for more complicated problems.

The calculator/abacus gadgets were only sold for a few years, but they serve as an important reminder of how outgoing and incoming technology can overlap. We may be able to use both for a short time, to exist with both the old and the new in harmony, but eventually everyone has to choose a side. There are those who still swear by the abacus and those who use calculators exclusively, but we doubt there are many who still use an antique combination gadget like these.

The post When Worlds Collide: Weird Tale of the Calculator Abacus first appeared on Gajitz.

Modern gadgets are remarkably small considering everything that they can do (hello, phone that plays Sudoku, streams radio stations and lets us take crystal-clear videos of our bizarre neighbors), but our generation was far from the first to think of miniaturizing stuff. Back in the age of records, the Sound Burger was amazing music lovers with its shockingly tiny size and portability. It was basically a clamp that could fit onto either 45 or 33 1/3 RPM records so you could keep your tunes rolling even when you were on the go. Of course, because it had to be played on a flat surface you had to be basically sitting or standing still while it played…but at least you could switch rooms between records.

The Sound Burger was sold in the early 1980s in Japan, but after it made the jump to the U.S. it was renamed Mister Disc – probably because Audio Technica, the company responsible for the awesome gadget, knew how we brutish Americans would mercilessly make fun of something called a “Sound Burger.” Unfortunately, even the love of rich vinyl sound couldn’t save this player from a sad fate. It was released right around the time that Sony’s Walkman was becoming popular, and given the choice between a cassette player that you could walk around with and a record player that you couldn’t…well, we all know how the story ended for the ill-fated Sound Burger/Mister Disc. Luckily for modern vinyl lovers, they still pop up every now and then on eBay – but they always seems to pull a hefty price.

The post Granddaddy of the iPod? Retro 80s Portable Record Player first appeared on Gajitz.