In 1959, a cement mixer with a full load of cement, wrecked near Winganon, Oklahoma 🇺🇸
By the time a tow truck came to haul it away, all of cement had hardened inside of mixer. Tow truck was not able to remove all wreckage at same time because of weight, and decided to haul only cab/frame and would come back for detached mixer later, which never happened.
Today, 67 years later, it still sits where it fell. Locals have painted it and added "rocket thrusters" to make it look like a space capsule.
@LanceJZ @isaackuo @archaeohistories
That's a piece of Art, and congratulations to the locals for maintaining it.
(Actually the capsule would have had thrusters: there would be Capsule:Flotation Bag:Heat Shield:Thruster Pack, with the thruster pack held on by straps so it could be jettisoned after deceleration but before hitting atmosphere. On one mission they re-entered with the thruster pack attached because the flotation bag light had come on and they were concerned about the heat shield.)
@LanceJZ @isaackuo @archaeohistories
Back then they were still in the Mercury or Gemini programmes, and the capsule *did* have thrusters.
I don't have my copy of "The Right Stuff" to hand, but the incident with the "Air Cushion Inflation" warning light and the decision to re-enter with the thruster pack attached was given to the astronaut _without_ telling them why. (So it would have been Mercury.) Continued... (1/2)
@LanceJZ @isaackuo @archaeohistories
Mission Control were "concerned" that if the air cushion (meant to absorb the shock of landing) had inflated prematurely it would have dislodged the heat shield, and they'd have a total loss of the capsule (with extra-crispy occupant). They elected to re-enter with the thruster pack attached, and it melted with bits going past the window as the descent continued. Thankfully the warning light was due to a wiring fault. (2/last)
@LanceJZ @Cadbury_Moose @archaeohistories This is what people think of when they think of the Apollo "capsule". It has a big main thruster in the tail, and lots of thruster clusters all over the place.
That's the reason why the artists modifying the cement mixer tank felt the need to add thrusters. It didn't look right without them, because the overall shape looks like a capsule plus its service module.
@LanceJZ @Cadbury_Moose @archaeohistories I know what you mean, but that's what people think of.
One reason they think of the Apollo "capsule" as the Command Module and Service Module is that there isn't any footage of the Command Module by itself in space. No one left on the Service Module to shoot the Command Module after separation.
(The Command Module is just the return capsule.)
@NovaNaturalist @LanceJZ @Cadbury_Moose @archaeohistories It's okay for a boilerplate mass simulator.
@Cadbury_Moose @LanceJZ @archaeohistories While this is true of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo capsules (including the Apollo service module), a reusable capsule could enter nose first rather than tail first.
Nuclear missile reentry heat shields are blunt cones entering nose first.
That said, Dragon does do tail first reentry, placing the thrusters on the sides rather than the tail. I just think it "looks" wrong.
@isaackuo @Cadbury_Moose @LanceJZ @archaeohistories That is only true for modern ballistic missile RVs, initially they were launched blunt end forward, since the materials of that time didn't allow a more accurate short end forward reentry because these cause higher temperatures. (That is also why the Space Shuttle got a rather blunt nose)
Also, there are far more than just one kind of capsule. Imagine this as a biconic lifting body, and it isn't that much fictive to retain its aft thrusters.
@LanceJZ @isaackuo @archaeohistories mercury had thrusters (tho they should be jet by time it lands)
Dragon and that Chinese one both have thrusts I think.
The Apollo service module had a big nozzle on it. Not supposed to land but it's art not a real spacecraft
Cute, but a big hazard if a vehicle has to leave the road. I would move this thing off.
Or at least further away from the road. A crane could do this in less than four hours. Much cheaper than having a vehicle plow into it.
@davevolek That would likely require someone to pay for it. Given the little bits I've gleaned about local governance in the U.S. I can easily see no one having any spare budget for it.
I suspect it has stayed on the ground for 67 years because of its novelty and notoriety more than the expense of removing it. Locals probably like talking about it--------------until one of their own plow into it.
Renting a crane for four hours and a truck to haul it away is not a big expense. Municipalities use these machines a lot.
@davevolek That's definitely more likely but I am a little jaded by hearing about places where local government's get stuck because they need almost line item approval for stuff. The street my aunt lives on in a rural California community is an absolute wreck because they can't get enough people to vote to repave it.
I would need more info to proffer any perspective on your California situation. But it sounds like a situation where local governance is ineffective. I can see several possible reasons for this.
Maybe another sign that American democracy is failing?
BTW, I am an inventor of a new democracy. Check out my byline if interested.
I'm pretty sure this new democracy would find a way to pave that road.
@Chigaze @davevolek @archaeohistories I read that too fast as:
"I can easily see no one having any space budget for it."
The photo looks like a rural highway to me. This means fairly high speeds. If a car "hits the ditch," a bumpy ride turns into a fatal accident.
I suspect the jurisdiction belongs to whoever owns the highway. It could be the state or it could be the county.
A couple of heavy tow wreckers could move this machine. Less than $5000.
But there may be political pressure to keep the machine in place. It does look cute.
There may indeed be more to the story.
I come from a rural background. Many people drive 80 kph (50 mph) on these roads. And they hit the ditch more often.
There might be some weight restrictions that prohibit big trucks on this road. The pavement in the photo (or oily gravel) looks a little on the weak side to me.
Anyways, we need more info to know why this thing has remained in the ditch for 67 years.
> Cute, but a big hazard if a vehicle has to leave the road.
It's been 67 years, presumably all of them with no roadside accident.
Depending on one's grasp of statistics, an accident is either unlikely to happen at all, or there's one due any day now.
@archaeohistories Lt. Google Streetview liegt der heute noch da
This is about four miles from my brother's farm.
Tell me government in Oklahoma is a failure without saying government in Oklahoma is a failure.
@hananc they are not just entirely pointless 
I am not reply-guy hater, in fact, I find this kind of Internet debate kind of amusing, it is somehow how we were always doing. I am bit of an aerospace nerd myself, so I must acknowledge, that some of the comments have pretty good point.
But if you ask me, if this is the way, how the federated nerdom of Internet is going to beat the combined Trumpism, Elonism, Putinism, and other mad -isms, plagueing the world these days... well, I am not sure. 🤔 But is is marginally funny.
Of course, they are missing the whole spectrum of possible symbolic meanings of that sculpture in public space, which on the other hand seems so obvious to some people, that they don't even bother to comment. But maybe it is obvious, but people choose to comment in a silly way, because it is more fun. This is why I posted this. I need to figure it out... 
Anyway, the space capsule artifact is a good job.
What I love about the fediverse is that I can choose my small circle and no algorithm will shove to my feed people and posts I don't want.
@Seitansbraten @archaeohistories
Yeah. That's what stopped me, too.
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