Telstar Logistics

Navy Plans to Scrap Sea Shadow Stealth Warship

Since no one seems to want to take the thing, the US Navy has announced plans to scrap its Sea Shadow stealth warship prototype, which was built during the 1980s. Until recently the ship was in mothballs at Suisun Bay, near San Francisco, but its future now looks bleak:

Navy spokesman Chris Johnson told FoxNews.com the ship's fate is all but sealed: To the junk heap it will go.

"The next disposition is dismantling and recycling," he said.

Johnson said that from 2006 until this year, the Navy made the Sea Shadow available for donation. "While several letters of interest were received, only one organization submitted an application, which was determined to be non-viable,” he said.

The ship is perhaps best known as the inspiration for the stealth ship in the 1997 James Bond film, "Tomorrow Never Dies." Johnson said he couldn't give a time frame for its actual demise, but he said the decision is based on the lack of interest from any viable taker. “A ship that pristine is too expensive,” Johnson said. 

The Sea Shadow, made in secrecy, stored in secrecy and constructed for secrecy, once cost the United States Navy $195 million to build and operate. 

Completed in 1985 by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and Lockheed Martin, it was the Navy’s first experimental stealth ship. The Sea Shadow is 160 feet long and 70 fee wide, has a maximum speed of 14 knots and has the ability to operate in Sea State 5 conditions, or winds from 17 to 21 knots. But it was never intended for missions, just for testing.  

“The craft was built to examine application of stealth technology on naval missiles,” Johnson said.

Hat Tip: SF Citizen

 

 

Ridiculously Cool New Map Shows Live Location of San Francisco's Vintage Streetcar Fleet

This is geeky, but for San Franciscans or visiting tourists, it's also way cool. There is a new, live data feed available via San Francisco's NextBus and Market Street Railway that offers a realtime visualization of which vintage streetcars are operating on the F Line, and where exactly they are along the route. 

The map is even animated, so it's basically like having a dashboard for San Francisco's vintage streetcar fleet. In fact, here's a photo of the new map in actual use inside the Telstar Logistics Mission Control facility:

For normal civilians, the new map means if you want to go streetcar-spotting (it happens), you can efficiently collect the whole set. Even better, the map works like a charm on the iPhone. Bookmark!

Harried parents will love it when their precocious children say, "But, but... I want to ride on a GREEN ONE!!"  (Been there.) Railfans will know if they can hop on one of the rare super-bonus streetcars, and where they'll want to be when to make that happen.

Check out the map! (NextBus)

Check out the current in-service fleet! (Market Street Railway)

PHOTOS: Telstar Logistics

Evil, Embittered AMC Autos Menace the Innocent in Pixar's "Cars 2"

By the end of summer you will no doubt be sick of hearing about these two. Until then, however, we were amused to learn that the thugs in Pixar's upcoming "Cars 2" are both American Motors vehicles from the unfortunate 1970s. Ridiculed as failures, the duo are part of an evil Axis of Lemons.

Telstar Logistics Senior Automotive Analyst Phil Patton brings the details in the New York Times:

Early screenings of “Cars 2,” the sequel to the 2006 Pixar film, opening nationwide on June 24, suggest the truism holds for CGI-variety baddies, too. Upstaging the Owen Wildon-voiced hero car, Lightning McQueen, are the new miscreants, Professor Z and his flunkies — two American Motors-inspired sidekicks, a Pacer with bad attitude and a Gremlin who could hail from the Kremlin.

Grem is a beat-up orange AMC Gremlin, which Pixar said in a news release “has a big chip on his fender that has led him to the underworld of international espionage.” His partner Acer, an AMC Pacer, “joined forces with fellow ‘lemon’ cars as henchmen for the devious Professor Z.”

Funny coincidence: Telstar Logistics was oogling an AMC Gremlin survivor we spotted recently in San Francisco. In case you're wondering how a showroom-stock Gremlin looks after soldiering on for three decades, wonder no more. It ain't pretty:

A NASCAR-Style Preview of Coming Attractions at the 2013 America's Cup

The 34th America's Cup will be held on San Francisco Bay in 2013. It will be a grand spectacle, and Team Oracle has been promoting the event out on the water -- in the heavy winds that have buffeted the Bay Area in recent days. But yesterday, their show-off cruise took a NASCAR turn:

A 45-foot catamaran owned by Oracle Racing capsized Monday afternoon during a practice race in San Francisco Bay, injuring a crew member.

The crew member, Shannon Falcone, fell through the boat’s sail. He did not appear to be seriously injured.

The accident happened during an event promoting the America's Cup Races, which are being held in San Francisco. The two boats on display today were running practice races at the Golden Gate Yacht Club. The vessels, both owned by Oracle Racing, will be used in the first two seasons of the America’s Cup World Series.

The boat tipped over before the practice race even began as the vessels jockeyed for position, sources said.

Accidents are not uncommon in boat racing. In March, Craig Thompson, CEO of the America’s Cup Event Authority, even boasted that the high-speed action would make for good TV.

“It’s dangerous, and television is going to love it,” Thompson said. “These guys are getting catapulted into the air, big time.”

Indeed! Here's the video:

Goodyear Blimp Crashes in Germany, Heroic Pilot Killed

This is so unfortunate. A Goodyear blimp caught fire and crashed in Germany on Sunday, killing the pilot.

From the Cleveland Plains Dealer:

The German newspaper Spiegel reports that the blimp was about to land at an airfield in Reichelsheim in western Germany when fire broke out in both engines.

The blimp was about 6 feet above the ground when the pilot told his passengers, all journalists, to jump to the ground while he tried to land safely. The blimp, part of an advertising campaign for the Goodyear tire company,was returning from an appearance at a local music festival, and the journalists had been taking aerial photographs.

The Daily Mail reports that as soon as the passengers jumped to safety, the pilot, an Australian, took the airship rapidly to a height of around 150 feet, making it impossible for the pilot to escape, eyewitnesses said.

Here is the video:

 

Look at the Amazing Habitat for Humans We Built in Outer Space

Sorry for the recent spate of NASA-related items, but with the imminent retirement of the Space Shuttle fleet, we really should enjoy all this while we still can.

In that vein, NASA has released a superb video that affords an amazing, up-close perspective on the amazing, improbable structure that our species built to serve as a semi-permanent habitat in outer space. The footage was captured a team of astronauts as they undocked from the International Space Station on May 23, and  one commenter on NASA's website put it, "Kubrick would have been proud."

So true! Of course, on some level, we'd expected the whole shebang to look a bit more like this:

Nevertheless, the detail on the real thing is mighty impressive. Let's zoom in (click to embiggen):

Serious wow.

So let's not quibble about the visual aesthetics. Here and now, NASA's wonderful original video did not include a soundtrack, so Telstar Logistics remixed it with the appropriately Kubric-esque "Blue Danube" and uploaded the whole thing to YouTube for your viewing pleasure. 

Nicely done, humans.

PHOTO: NASA

Mexican Drug Cartels Building DIY Armored Vehicles

The militarization of Mexico's criminal cartels continues, as authorities have seized an increasing number of home-built -- and sophisticated -- armored vehicles.

From today's New York Times:

MEXICO CITY — Rhino trucks, narco tanks, Mad Mex-inismos? No one can agree on what to call the armored monster vehicles that Mexican criminal groups have been welding together in recent months, but this much is clear — they are building more of them.

Over the weekend, Mexican authorities found two more of these makeshift road warriors in Tamaulipas, the same northern border state where the first armored vehicle appeared in April after a battle between the Gulf Cartel and the Zetas gang. In the latest case, the Mexican Defense Department said, the armored trucks were found in a metalworking shop in Camargo, which also held at least two other partly modified monsters and 23 additional trucks.

The completed versions were bigger than what has been found before. Built on three-axle truck beds, they had room for 20 armed men, one official said. They were covered with inch-thick steel, which could withstand 50-caliber fire, and each had been equipped with insulation.

Here's a modified Ford F-350 that was captured in May:

And another:

Aaaaand yet another:

Video: First Air France A380 Arrives at SFO

Air France began Airbus A380 service to San Francisco International Airport yesterday, joining Lufthansa, which inaugurated SFO's first regularly scheduled A380 service a few weeks ago. 

Here's a good video of yesterday's Air France arrival, including a runway-side view of the landing and the airport's celebratory fire truck waterworks display. Apologies for the musical soundtrack... it's not our fault.

Surf's Up! The Lost Los Angeles "Submarine Bus Fleet"

For a time during the 1970s, Los Angeles operated a small fleet of public buses to carry beach-crazed kids from the distant valleys of San Fernando and Pasadena to the cowabunga sands of Santa Monica. The Los Angeles Transportation Library website tells it:

Back in 1974, June got off to a very splashy start for the Southern California Rapid Transit District.

The RTD launched its summer “Street Fleet on four new bus lines (605, 606, 607 and 608) to carry people from different parts of Los Angeles County to Santa Monica. 

The motorcoaches were specially decorated to look like submarines, painted battleship gray along with bright blue waves to create the appearance of churning through the ocean as they rolled down the street.

The fleet was even decked out with conning towers on top to replicate housing of periscopes to reinforce the nautical theme.

The June 18 issue of the RTD employee newsmagazine Headway described the service as “four summer ‘life preservers’ to kids who live in the inland areas of Los Angeles County, running seven days a week for the “93-day summer beach season.”

Line 605 picked up its “crew members” throughout the San Fernando Valley, Line 606 served Pasadena and Altadena, Line 607 departed from East Los Angeles, and Line 608 carried riders from Compton and Watts.

Note also: Surfboards were permitted on the bus! 

This promotional video from 1974 really clinches the package. Sing along:

PHOTOS: Metro Transportation Library and Archive

Hat Tip: BLDGBLOG

The Cars of the 2011 Carnival Parade

The 2011 Carnival Parade took place in San Francisco last weekend. Telstar Logistics appreciated the gracious charm of the scantily clad dancers we saw parading up our city streets, but -- surprise, surprise -- it was the cars that really grabbed our attention. 

There was a whole pack of them: Lowriders and classics from a few of the local clubs. They cruised and bounced and bounced and cruised up 24th Street in the Mission District, and in the glorious sunshine they were fun to behold. The photos shown here are just a sampling, but if you want more, just view the complete photoset:

PHOTOS: Telstar Logistics

Contemplating Shuttle Endeavor Floating Over Oceania

Last weekend, Telstar Logistics flipped on NASA TV for a few minutes to unwind. We don't normally watch NASA TV as leisuretime entertainment, but we heard via the Twitter that Space Shuttle Endeavor was doing some formation flying with the International Space Station somewhere in Earth's orbit, and that sounded nifty. So we tuned in to watch.

The spectacle was hypnotic. Endeavor was flying 620 feet directly below the ISS. The shuttle's cargo bay doors were open, and the orbiter floated effortlessly above Oceania and Western Australia. 

It was beautiful. And given that this is Endeavor's last flight ever, the event also prompted a quiet moment as we absorbed the spectacle for all it represents -- because soon the sight of manned space shuttles drifting above the planet's surface is not something any of us are likely to ever again see in our lifetimes.

UPDATE: 1 June, 2011

Here's another awe-inspiring shuttle moment, just released by NASA:

Backdropped by a night time view of the Earth and the starry sky, the Space Shuttle Endeavour is photographed docked at the International Space Station on May 28, 2011. The STS-134 astronauts left the station the next day on May 29, after delivering the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer and performing four spacewalks during Endeavour's final mission.

PHOTOS: Screen grabs from NASA TV, 28 May, 2011

 

Drive-Thru: Bad Wagons, Good Airplane Bars, Star Wars Grilled Cheese, and a Mountain of Dead Streetcars

Here's a round-up of a few recent items that caught the fancy of the Telstar Logistics executive team:

The Worst Station Wagons Ever Produced (Hooniverse)

Five Airport Bars Made from Actual Airplanes (Jaunted)

Adventures in the Abandoned Ships of Suisun Bay (Bearings)

The Grillennium Falcon is a Star Wars-Themed Food Truck in Alabama (Eater)

A Mountain of Dead Streetcars in Los Angeles, 1956 (Los Angeles Times)

1979 Chevy Impala + Pabst Blue Ribbon = Battering Ram Music Video! (Jalopnik)

A Mariner's Guide to Waves (gCaptain)

Thunderbirds Meets 2001 in the Skylon Spaceplane Render Animation (YouTube)

 

Want: Lego Maersk Container Ship Set

It is only through colossal force of will that we are avoiding the temptation to purchase a copy of the Lego Maersk Container Ship set. But if you're tempted, it can be had for $119 from Lego Direct.

Or, If intermodal rail is more your thing, they can set you up with that as well:

Hat tip: gCaptain

RIP: NASA Declares Spirit Rover Dead on Mars

It wasn't a fast drive, nor particularly long, but it will be remembered in the history books as one of humanity's greatest off-road adventures. After traversing almost 5 miles of Martian terrain, NASA's Spirit rover has fallen silent, and the agency thinks the vehicle has reached the end of its journey.

From the NASA announcement:

Spirit last communicated on March 22, 2010, as Martian winter approached and the rover's solar-energy supply declined. The rover operated for more than six years after landing in January 2004 for what was planned as a three-month mission. NASA checked frequently in recent months for possible reawakening of Spirit as solar energy available to the rover increased during Martian spring. A series of additional re-contact attempts ended today, designed for various possible combinations of recoverable conditions.

"Our job was to wear these rovers out exploring, to leave no unutilized capability on the surface of Mars, and for Spirit, we have done that," said Mars Exploration Rover Project Manager John Callas of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

Spirit drove 4.8 miles (7.73 kilometers), more than 12 times the goal set for the mission. The drives crossed a plain to reach a distant range of hills that appeared as mere bumps on the horizon from the landing site; climbed slopes up to 30 degrees as Spirit became the first robot to summit a hill on another planet; and covered more than half a mile (nearly a kilometer) after Spirit's right-front wheel became immobile in 2006. The rover returned more than 124,000 images. It ground the surfaces off 15 rock targets and scoured 92 targets with a brush to prepare the targets for inspection with spectrometers and a microscopic imager.

Here is one of the final images Spirit beamed back to Earth:

On the brighter side, the Opportunity rover is still rolling, and is now en route to a Martian crater 3 miles ahead. 

 

PHOTOS: Top, Rendering of a NASA Mars rover. Below, One of the last images from Spirit, both via NASA.

Hat Tip: BoingBoing

 

P-Funk Mothership Descends on Smithsonian Institution; Hootie Fans Still Not Entertained

The mothership has landed, but you won't find it at Area 51. No, this mothership previously belonged to Parliament-Funkadelic, and it's now headed to the Smithsonian Institution:

The funkiest UFO in the galaxy is about to land in Chocolate City.

The Mothership — the iconic stage prop made famous by legendary funk collective Parliament-Funkadelic — has been acquired by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture where it will help anchor a permanent music exhibition when the museum opens its doors in 2015.

“I’m about to cry!” Parliament-Funkadelic frontman George Clinton said over the phone from his home in Tallahassee on Wednesday. “They’re taking the Mothership! They’re shipping it out! . . . But I’m glad it’s going to have a nice home there.”

It isn’t the original Mothership. This 1,200-pound aluminum spacecraft was built in the mid-’90s — an indistinguishable replica, Clinton says, of the smoke-spewing stage prop he first introduced to slack-jawed funk fans in 1976.

This news made Telstar Logistics smile, not least because it also caused us to flash-back to a hilarious 1997 article in The Onion that envisioned the P-Funk mothership crash-landing at a Hootie and the Blowfish concert:

ROSEMONT, IL—Confusion and awkwardness resulted Monday when the P-Funk Mothership, outer-space chariot of Dr. Funkenstein and the Star Child, accidentally descended upon a sold-out Hootie and the Blowfish concert at the Rosemont Horizon arena in suburban Chicago.

"Thumpasaurus Peoples! You have summoned us through the Groove, and we have returned to refunkatize the planet!" said Dr. Funkenstein, the fur-bedecked, disco-booted Mothership Supreme Commander, moments before the popular South Carolina-based band was about to launch into the song "I Only Wanna Be With You."

Members of Hootie and the Blowfish, whose 1995 release Cracked Rear Viewsold over 14 million copies, were caught off guard by the arrival of the Mothership.

"The man who came out of the spaceship attempted to shoot me with something he called a 'Bop Gun,'" lead singer Darius Rucker told reporters. "Somehow I sensed it would be detrimental to my career as a singer."

Added a visibly distressed Rucker: "He also seemed to imply that if I let my mind go free, something would happen to my bottom."

The Onion piece ends with a comment that has since become a regular fixture of our lexicon:

"I did not wish to get 'funked up,'" said Roger Kleist, 33. "If I did, I would have attended a Dave Matthews Band concert.

PHOTO: The P-Funk Mothership in action