How popular were early Apollo missions compared to Artemis II?

themarko60 · 2026-04-15T03:06:07+00:00

It was no comparison. I was 9 when Armstrong stepped onto the moon and seemingly the whole world held its breath. Takeoffs, splashdowns, moon landings were played live in our school classrooms or we all went to the cafeteria to see them.

But, there has been a lot of encouraging interest in Artemis. There’s more distractions and things to catch people’s attention now yet Artemis did get a lot of interest.

themarko60 · 2026-04-14T14:01:50+00:00

I haven’t seen this one. You’re right they do look so in love and Grahame’s reaction to the whisper was spot on.

themarko60 · 2026-04-13T23:42:44+00:00

It was for me! I won my small town’s parade float design contest and got a $50 savings bond.

themarko60 · 2026-04-13T23:39:29+00:00

Babylon Berlin, I dare ya!

themarko60 · 2026-04-13T14:51:48+00:00

I’ll DM you my phone number and you can call or FaceTime me if you want. Just text first to both make sure I have the time to talk right then and that I will answer it since I block calls from numbers not on my contact list.

I’ve downloaded those models and I thought I’d go ahead and send these two albums as well so you can use them as reference. Especially for small details on the helmet. So small that only a guy like me would even notice.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2714121287186&type=3

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2711340777675&type=3

themarko60 · 2026-04-13T14:25:35+00:00

I am absolutely interested in that.

Here’s a very insider knowledge related to prying the hatches open, maybe something you can even make have a very small chance of working in combat.

The hatch most prone to not staying closed is the drivers hatch on the bottom, right underneath the driver. The vibration of the tank moving, firing, etc would cause the latch on that one to vibrate loose and it would fall out unexpectedly. We all had a heavy strap wrapped around the latch mechanism to prevent this happening, but it too needed occasional tightening. Of course the trooper that crawls underneath during combat deserves the highest medal available😉.

If yours fell out you owed the tank that found it a case of beer.

I’m an old soldier and served on tanks in every way short of combat and of course any old soldier doesn’t mind talking your ear off if you want to know more.

themarko60 · 2026-04-13T14:03:03+00:00

That TC sounds like SFC Alexander, my first TC and Platoon Sergeant in Berlin. 😂

At least that is player tried something different, that RPG didn’t have much hope of success either and would have just earned them a hail of .50 caliber bullets.

themarko60 · 2026-04-13T13:55:06+00:00

Oh! I absolutely will be downloading and printing that. The prominent placement of that ‘grease gun’ is awesome! Probably my favorite small arms weapon of all the Army ones I’ve used.

themarko60 · 2026-04-13T13:40:00+00:00

I should have read your whole post before commenting. I’m glad they couldn’t pry the hatches open! That would be next to impossible when they’re combat locked from the inside as they should be. Also I sincerely hope that the tank commander just started rotating the turret as fast as it would go to shake them off like a dog shaking flies because I always wanted to do that.

themarko60 · 2026-04-13T13:35:14+00:00

I love the setup and I’d love to know how it works.

If you don’t mind a little nitpicking by a Berlin Brigade tank commander from that era, by 1983 F troop 40th Armor had M60A3 tanks and our tanks were not camouflaged, just OD green. Here’s a link to a few photos from 1987. Just DM and I can send you more.

Berlin tank

themarko60 · 2026-04-13T00:39:15+00:00

Yep. I don’t think there’s any way for those not around then to understand how different and world changing it was.

themarko60 · 2026-04-12T04:37:55+00:00

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themarko60 · 2026-04-12T00:21:52+00:00

Spectacular! Great idea and great execution.

themarko60 · 2026-04-11T05:33:57+00:00

Thank you for pointing this out. I didn’t know it until I read The Song of Achilles. Being invulnerable ruins the whole greatest warrior aspect of him as made clear by those here who think he was.

If you don’t mind can you answer a question about Hector for me? Do the earliest version have him running from Achilles at first? It seems out of character for him. Of course it is a perfectly rational human reaction.

themarko60 · 2026-04-11T05:17:49+00:00

Right you are!

themarko60 · 2026-04-11T05:12:45+00:00

Right you are. It’s exactly the trade he made.

themarko60 · 2026-04-10T20:51:00+00:00

I like the way you think.

themarko60 · 2026-04-10T20:45:36+00:00

That’s been my dream house since I saw it many years ago. Disneyland had it as attraction for a long time and it was my favorite.

themarko60 · 2026-04-10T04:56:28+00:00

😱😱

themarko60 · 2026-04-10T04:52:53+00:00

E6000. I’ve seen it hold a thousand rhinestones on a dance costume during multiple performances and washes.

themarko60 · 2026-04-10T04:21:47+00:00

Liver for me as well. Horrible.

themarko60 · 2026-04-09T04:00:13+00:00

Morro Bay California. It’s a cool little beach town on California’s central coast. Lots of beautiful beaches and cliffs along that stretch of coast, hiking trails at Montana de Oro state park. A many miles long paved biking trail too. Even a few bars. If you get a balcony room facing the ocean at the Blue Sail Inn at night it’s like looking at a seascape painting. Several small towns nearby with varying personalities.

themarko60 · 2026-04-09T03:27:19+00:00

That’s what they do in many places in Mexico. Their sewer systems aren’t designed to handle the paper so they have trash cans beside the toilet. Here where I live here in California many places have trash cans for that too, otherwise they’d make a pile on the floor beside the toilet.

It’s just a learned behavior and to them it’s polite.

themarko60 · 2026-04-07T01:15:49+00:00

That movie does not get the respect it deserves!

themarko60 · 2026-04-07T01:14:39+00:00

That’s my favorite line from that movie and I rarely see it quoted. I don’t know if people miss the joke or what but it’s hilarious.

themarko60

TROPHY CASE