Speed Kills!
De-classified NASA wind tunnel photos from project "Hot Dog".
At speeds above 500 mph the test subject's ears, eyelids, and lips tore away, rendering the attempt to break the sound barrier a failure.
(Left to right: 200 mph, 300 mph, 400 mph, 500 mph)
Roswell Incident
In July of 1947 near the small town of Roswell, New Mexico, an unidentified
craft crashed on the ranch of Mack Brazel. There has been much speculation as
to the other worldly origins of the wreckage, but the fact is that the rocket
originated from the U.S. Army Missile Range at the White Sands Proving Ground
in New Mexico. The launch was the culmination and ultimate failure of 'Project
Hot Dog'. The study involved aerodynamic / thermodynamic properties of the chihuahua.
The test vehicle was a modified German V-2 rocket that had been captured at
the end of World War II. A crude capsule with limited heat shielding was placed
at the top of the V-2. The ability of the chihuahua to withstand the fiery heat
generated during the reentry process made it the perfect candidate. Werner von
Braun removed himself from the project as he believed it too early to attempt
a sub-orbital flight with living specimens.
The launch took place on schedule, July 2, 1947. The passengers were four specially
trained Chihuahuas that wore primitive protective clothing that consisted of
a thin flexible outer coating made of aluminum. (This development was later
spun off to the commercial sector and sold as Aluminum Foil, ed.).
Approximately 2 minutes into the flight the steering vane motor failed and caused
the V-2 to veer off course, eventually crashing on Mack Brazel's ranch. The
capsule containing the four chihuahuas broke free from excessive g-loads, and
impacted several miles from the main crash site. Only one of the passengers
survived, named 'Oscar'. He was found embedded in a piece of debris from the
capsule and could not be removed for fear of death. (Oscar lived, for over five
more years, stuck in a chunk of titanium, ed.) As eye witnesses approached
the scene of the second crash site, the charred remains of the other three chihuahuas
were easily mistaken for 'martians'.
Maj. Jesse Marcel was quoted that he thought the debris was from a 'flying disc'.
This was part of an intricate plan of deceit, implemented by the pentagon. The
public, fascinated with tales of 'martians' and 'flying saucers', believed the
press release issued from Roswell Army Air Base, that the Army had retrieved
a crashed 'disc'. It wasn't until 1992 that the truth was revealed, and 'Project
Hot Dog' took its place in history and in our space program.
