{"id":12638,"date":"2011-12-15T16:37:01","date_gmt":"2011-12-15T16:37:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/?p=12638"},"modified":"2011-12-20T09:16:37","modified_gmt":"2011-12-20T09:16:37","slug":"a-century-of-southern-california-aerospace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/2011\/12\/15\/a-century-of-southern-california-aerospace\/","title":{"rendered":"A Century of Southern California Aerospace"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_12645\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12645\" style=\"width: 480px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/IMG_4994.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"12645\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/2011\/12\/15\/a-century-of-southern-california-aerospace\/img_4994\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/IMG_4994.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1280,836\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;4&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;Tim Jones&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS 7D&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1323641850&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Copyright Tim Jones&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;17&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;1600&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0125&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Blue Sky Metropolis Exhibition at Huntington Library (Photo:Tim Jones)\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;Blue Sky Metropolis Exhibition at Huntington Library (Photo:Tim Jones)&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Blue Sky Metropolis Exhibition at Huntington Library (Photo:Tim Jones)&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/IMG_4994-1024x668.jpg\" class=\"size-large wp-image-12645\" title=\"Blue Sky Metropolis Exhibition at Huntington Library (Photo:Tim Jones)\" src=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/IMG_4994-1024x668.jpg\" alt=\"Blue Sky Metropolis Exhibition at Huntington Library (Photo:Tim Jones)\" width=\"480\" height=\"313\" srcset=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/IMG_4994-1024x668.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/IMG_4994-476x310.jpg 476w, https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/IMG_4994.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-12645\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Blue Sky Metropolis Exhibition at Huntington Library (Photo:Tim Jones)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>One of my favourite NASA clips shows the 1972 Apollo 17 lunar module blasting off, bringing home astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmidt &#8211; the last humans to set foot on the moon.<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/HyWVGa6I7Gk?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The film is presently looping, next to an R-18 rocket engine like the one used in the ascent, at the Huntington Library&#8217;s\u00a0 <em> <a href=\"http:\/\/huntington.org\/huntingtonlibrary_02.aspx?id=9892\">Blue Sky Metropolis<\/a><\/em> exhibition &#8211;\u00a0 chronicaling a hundred years of Southern Californian aerospace.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 172px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a title=\"RS-18 Lunar Module Engine on Display by The Huntington Library, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/huntingtonlibrary\/6217876381\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm7.staticflickr.com\/6056\/6217876381_7c56c68616.jpg\" alt=\"RS-18 Lunar Module Engine on Display\" width=\"172\" height=\"243\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">RS-18 Lunar Module Engine on Display (Photo:Huntington Library Flickr)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">There wouldn&#8217;t be much of an economy in the region if it wasn&#8217;t for aerospace\u00a0 &#8211; that, and the entertainment industry.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">From the first fly-ins and air-meets of Wright Brothers&#8217; style aeroplanes in 1910, to the birth of commercial aviation in the 1920s, to World War II fighter production and surveilance aircraft for the Cold War, to a still evolving space programme; this single-room display is an impressive distillation of the events, people, and motivations behind it all.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_12770\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12770\" style=\"width: 480px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/IMG_4993_21.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"12770\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/2011\/12\/15\/a-century-of-southern-california-aerospace\/img_4993_2-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/IMG_4993_21.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1280,853\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;4&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;Tim Jones&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS 7D&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1323641810&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Copyright Tim Jones&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;17&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;1600&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.01&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Blue Sky Metropolis Exhibition at the Huntington Library (Photo:Tim Jones)\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;Blue Sky Metropolis Exhibition at the Huntington Library (Photo:Tim Jones)&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Blue Sky Metropolis Exhibition at the Huntington Library (Photo:Tim Jones)&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/IMG_4993_21-1024x682.jpg\" class=\"size-large wp-image-12770\" title=\"Blue Sky Metropolis Exhibition at the Huntington Library (Photo:Tim Jones)\" src=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/IMG_4993_21-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"Blue Sky Metropolis Exhibition at the Huntington Library (Photo:Tim Jones)\" width=\"480\" height=\"319\" srcset=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/IMG_4993_21-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/IMG_4993_21-476x317.jpg 476w, https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/IMG_4993_21.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-12770\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Blue Sky Metropolis Exhibition at the Huntington Library (Photo:Tim Jones)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Documented photographs dominate the display.\u00a0 I liked this shot of a flight hostess in 1929, framed serving tea in the doorway of a Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT) passenger aircraft &#8211; something of a contrast to pilot Amelia Earhart leaning against the hanger doors of an aircraft factory.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_12717\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12717\" style=\"width: 201px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/blue_tathostess.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"12717\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/2011\/12\/15\/a-century-of-southern-california-aerospace\/blue_tathostess\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/blue_tathostess.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"270,347\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"blue_tathostess\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;TAT Hostess, 1929 (Photo: Huntington press release)&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/blue_tathostess.jpg\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12717\" title=\"blue_tathostess\" src=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/blue_tathostess.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"201\" height=\"260\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-12717\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">TAT Hostess, 1929 (Photo: Huntington press release)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_12718\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12718\" style=\"width: 222px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/blue_ameliaearhart.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"12718\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/2011\/12\/15\/a-century-of-southern-california-aerospace\/blue_ameliaearhart\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/blue_ameliaearhart.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"270,209\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;CanoScan 9900F&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1207846301&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"blue_ameliaearhart\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Amelia Earhart at Lockheed factory, 1930s (Photo: Huntington press release)&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/blue_ameliaearhart.jpg\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12718 \" title=\"blue_ameliaearhart\" src=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/blue_ameliaearhart.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"222\" height=\"172\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-12718\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Amelia Earhart at Lockheed, 1930s (Photo: Huntington press release)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Politics might not be the most noble motivation for the conquest of space, but the launch of Sputnik 1 by the Russians in 1957 sure pushed the pace.\u00a0\u00a0 In 1958, under Eisenhower and with the passing of the National Aeronautics and Space Act, NASA was formed.\u00a0 Later that year, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Explorer_1\">Explorer 1<\/a> satellite (the horizonal object in the glass case above) shot into orbit in response to the Sputnik challenge.<\/p>\n<p>The accompanying social commentary is also fascinating, and with family connections (on my wife&#8217;s side), we found the photographs of 50&#8217;s\/60&#8217;s laboratory life &#8211; like JPL&#8217;s all-women &#8216;platoon&#8217; of mechanical calculator operators lined up at their desks &#8211; especially interesting.<\/p>\n<p>(A recent scholarly analysis of NASA history can be had for free in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/connect\/ebooks\/hist_nasa50_detail.html\"><em>NASA 50th Anniversary Proceedings, NASA&#8217;s first 50 Years:Historical Perspectives<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0 For cultural insights on the era, see my posts <a href=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/2009\/07\/07\/home-chemistry-in-the-golden-age-of-american-science\/\"><em>Home Chemistry in the Golden Age of American Science<\/em><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/2010\/02\/06\/buck-rogers-a-copper-clad-lesson-from-history\/\"><em>Buck Rogers &#8211; a Copper Clad Lesson from History<\/em><\/a>) )<\/p>\n<p>The exhibition isn&#8217;t just about NASA though.\u00a0 For more info, check out the <a href=\"http:\/\/huntington.org\/huntingtonlibrary_02.aspx?id=9892\">website<\/a> or visit till the 9th January 2012.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of my favourite NASA clips shows the 1972 Apollo 17 lunar module blasting off, bringing home astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmidt &#8211; the last humans to set foot on the moon. The film is presently looping, next to an R-18 rocket engine like the one used in the ascent, at the Huntington Library&#8217;s\u00a0 &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/2011\/12\/15\/a-century-of-southern-california-aerospace\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">A Century of Southern California Aerospace<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[494,101,1109,8,732,336,17],"tags":[1254,1253,877,1412],"class_list":["post-12638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aviation","category-history","category-history-of-science-history","category-museums","category-nostalgia","category-space","category-visits","tag-blue-sky-metropolis","tag-aerospace","tag-huntington","tag-nasa"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pkpOr-3hQ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12638","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12638"}],"version-history":[{"count":83,"href":"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12638\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12781,"href":"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12638\/revisions\/12781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}