Hoover Panorama - Nevada Side

Hoover Panorama - Nevada Side
Originally uploaded by nekosoft

When I was stitching this panorama together, I though I was missing a photo because there was a giant shadow that just stopped. Then I realized there was nothing wrong.

The Hoover Dam Bypass Project is an effort to ease congestion over the Hoover Dam by building a two thousand foot long concrete bridge supported by a 1,060 foot twin-rib concrete arch 900 feet over the Colorado River. Construction is due to be completed in 2010 - if you want to keep an eye on how they're doing there's a webcam at the project webpage.

Mojave Airplane Graveyard

Mojave Airplane Graveyard
Originally uploaded by nekosoft

The Mojave Airport is home to an aircraft graveyard, though unlike many such locations around the world, many of the planes at Mojave are destined to fly again. The high desert makes an ideal storage area and many airlines just park their aircraft here until they need them again.

For many reasons, the storage area is off-limits to the general public. Patrick Smith coaxed one of the owners into giving him a tour and wrote it up in Salon.

The airport's also used to shoot movies and TV shows: Speed, Waterworld, 24, Die Hard 2, Airwolf and a couple of episodes of MythBusters. Also the video for Berlin's Take My Breath Away.

Orbital "Stargazer" L-1011 Carrier Aircraft

Orbital "Stargazer" L-1011 Carrier Aircraft
Originally uploaded by nekosoft

Although little from the outside distinguishes this plane from the thousands landing at your local airport, this is actually a platform for launching rockets into space.

Orbital Sciences Corporation uses the Stargazer as a air-launch vehicle for Pegasus rockets. There have been 32 successful Pegasus launches from the Stargazer, the most notable being the April 21, 1997 flight that carried a portion of the remains of Timothy Leary and Gene Roddenberry into orbit.

Appropriately, the name "Stargazer" is a Star Trek reference: prior to their assignments to the Enterprise, Picard and Riker served on the Stargazer and the Pegasus, respectively.

The next scheduled mission for this aircraft is launching a Pegasus rocket containing an X-Ray telescope.



Here's what the Stargazer looks like from space.


The airplane on ABC's Lost is a dismantled L-1011. 

Parade of Hearses

Parade of Hearses
Originally uploaded by nekosoft

The Frozen Dead Guy Days photos from 2009 are up on the Flickr. This year was the best yet, although my camera died. I had to rely on the lackluster iPhone lens, but still was able to capture most of the grandeur and splendor of the event.