[Supah Fly]

In the movie, Elwood tells Jake that he bought the Bluesmobile at the Mt. Prospect Police Auction the previous spring. The Caddy they had before was
traded by Elwood for a microphone.

The craft will use the sound clip to signal that it has safely reached it's destination. Like a broadcast back to earth saying "Hi, I made it."

The musical call sign, composed by a well-known band, is based on a simple mathematical sequence and is used in lieu of the more conventional digital handshake call sign that other probes might typically employ.

Does that help?

[skankin4yaweh]

Right. I live about an hour north of Mt. Prospect, by the way.

I will stand by my previous guess of the Pluto-Kuiper express.

Alright,
1. Who was responsible for Lincoln's beard?
2. A certain song inspired Charles Manson's killing spree in the late 1960s. What was it?

[Supah Fly]

It's not Pluto. Mars, actually. The European Space Agency's Beagle 2 Martian lander will feature a radio call sign composed by British rock band Blur.

Scheduled for launch in the summer of 2003 and for arrival on Mars in late December, the Beagle 2 will use the Blur-recorded sound clip to signal that it has safely touched down on the Martian surface. The musical call sign is based on a simple mathematical sequence and is used in lieu of the more conventional digital handshake call sign that other probes might typically employ.

The extraterrestrial rock and roll broadcast isn't the only pop-cultural flourish added to the Beagle 2. A "spot painting" by British artist Damien Hirst also will be included among the probe's contents. Like the audio clip, the spot painting serves a practical purpose: The painting is composed of more than a dozen, differently-colored chemical pigment dots attached to an aluminum slate. These colored dots will calibrate the Beagle 2's optical sensors, ensuring that the images the probe returns are color-cued and spectrographically accurate.

Together, the audio clip and the spot painting will be the first commissioned art works demonstrated on another planet. Cool or what? *lol*

I'm still looking into Lincoln and Manson, but being Christmas this week and next week I'm flying out to Milwaukee for a week... so it could be 16 or more days before I post a response.

[skankin4yaweh]

Clever! I was thinking about NASA, the ESA never crossed my mind! Don't worry about not responding, I'm gone from tomorrow to the 3rd of January, and I'm gonna try to make it a computer fast, too.

Merry Christmas to all my trivia buds!

[Supah Fly]

The history of food in space has largely been one of utility over
taste. The zero-gravity environment aboard spacecraft and orbital stations means that conventional food and (especially) drink would literally fly off the plate and obscure sensitive instruments and computing systems. As a result, food scientists developed a highly unappetizing array of gelatin-coated food cubes, food packets that were rehydrated with water pistols, and the infamous "food in a tube" array of toothpaste-like nutrient purees. Astronauts found their menu selections so distasteful that a lighthearted food protest during a 1965 Gemini mission led to the first official reprimand of an astronaut.

WHAT PROTEST OF UNAPPETIZING SPACE FOOD LED TO THE FIRST OFFICIAL REPRIMAND OF AN ASTRONAUT?

[skankin4yaweh]

One of the Gemini astronauts (I want to say Gus Grissom) smuggled a balogna sandwich on board, infuriating NASA.
That's the short answer, I'll see if I can get details.

[Supah Fly]

Wow! You're good! Here's the details you required: On March 23, 1965, astronaut John Young smuggled a corned beef sandwich aboard his Gemini 3 capsule rather than eat the standard dehydrated space rations. The sandwich, consumed by Young's astronaut partner Virgil "Gus" Grissom, became the subject of a Congressional hearing that involved the testimony of more than 40 NASA employees and ended in Grissom and Young's reprimand for deviating from strict flight guidelines. Despite the hubbub, the protest did result in improved space food, as Apollo capsules boasted heated water for rehydrating meals and a complement of plastic "spoon bowls," which allowed astronauts to eat meals that are somewhat more conventional.

[Supah Fly]

Few electronic innovations are as closely associated with a single application as the tilt mechanism is with modern pinball machines.
Designed to serve dual roles as an anti-cheating and damage-prevention device, the tilt mechanism halts a game when a pinball machine is excessively shaken or slammed to affect play.

The very first pinball machine to feature a tilt sensor, Bally's SIGNAL, came to market almost 70 years ago, and since that time, most major production pinball games feature some form of tilt mechanism. Of course, the tilt sensor found inside SIGNAL is quite different from modern designs, and it wasn't originally known as a tilt device.

The first recognized tilt design consisted of a small metal ball resting on a nonconductive pedestal above a metallic ring. If the pinball game were inordinately jostled, the ball was shaken off the pedestal and onto the metal ring, thus completing a circuit that halted game play.

Because of the specifics of the design and its purpose to alert game operators to cheating and vandalism, these devices were originally known as "stool pigeons." Alas, the pedestal-and-ball design was unreliable, and was replaced as early as 1935 with an improved version that used a small pendulum. The same pinball pioneer designed both the original and revised tilt mechanisms.

WHO DESIGNED THE FIRST PINBALL TILT MECHANISMS?

[skankin4yaweh]

Where do you get these things?

Anyway, I think it was Tommy, the deaf blind and dumb kid.

Just kidding, I'll figure it out.

[Supah Fly]

I subscribe to an assortment of techie email lists - one of which specializes in obscure Geek Trivia. *lol*

[skankin4yaweh]

Wow, I'm going off what I know off the top of my head and my "1001 Little Known Facts" book. I love that book.
Alright, some music trivia:
What is the reason for Mitch Mitchell's crazy psychotic drumming on Jimi Hendrix' version of "The Star Spangled Banner"? (No, it's not LSD, but that's a good guess.)

[Supah Fly]

First off, it was not "Tommy" despite what Rock-Operas you may have seen. I was recently shocked beyond all reason to learn that "Tommy" was a fictional character contrived by "The Who" - imagine that......

Anyways, what REAL pinball pioneer designed the original "stool pigeon" and succeeding pendulum-based tilt mechanisms?

Stanford engineer Harry Williams, who would later found legendary pinball manufacturer Williams Electronics, designed both the original pedestal and now commonplace pendulum tilt mechanisms.

The revised design consisted of a metal chain hung within a horizontal metal ring. If the pinball machine were tilted or rattled, the chain would swing into the ring, completing the circuit and halting game play. This design was more reliable than the ball-and-pedestal predecessor, which Williams called the stool pigeon. Williams rechristened his invention after he overheard early pinball players using the term "tilt."

Williams' pinball legacy is hardly limited to the tilt mechanism. He also designed the first electrically powered pinball machine. Pacific Amusements' Contact, which first appeared in 1933, included a scoring pocket with a solenoid kicker inside powered by a dry cell battery. If a player managed to cajole a ball into the scoring pocket, the kicker would automatically eject it, prolonging the game and allowing for higher scores. Contact proved so popular that within two years, every pinball manufacturer had adapted to the electric craze.

[Supah Fly]

Nobody willing to take a chance here? I'll wait a little longer... but I don't have all eternity...

[Supah Fly]

Originally posted by skankin4yaweh
Wow, I'm going off what I know off the top of my head and my "1001 Little Known Facts" book. I love that book.
Alright, some music trivia:
What is the reason for Mitch Mitchell's crazy psychotic drumming on Jimi Hendrix' version of "The Star Spangled Banner"? (No, it's not LSD, but that's a good guess.)

You know what? I don't have a clue. You'll have to fill me in on this one. lol

[Andrew]

Originally posted by Supah Fly
Nobody willing to take a chance here? I'll wait a little longer... but I don't have all eternity...

please, just give us the answer.