Dynamic Subspace

Category: Science Fiction

  • Photos of the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, August 2008

    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Entrance

    In August 2008, Y and I visited Washington, DC. One of our stops was the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air and Space Museum, which holds some amazing aerospace artifacts including the B-29 Enola Gay, an SR-71 Blackbird, and Space Shuttle Enterprise. There are also many military aircraft, space related artifacts, robots (and rovers), computers, toys, and even a Hugo Award. Below, I’ve included photos grouped around an artifact or theme, but they are not arranged in a particular order–kind of like meandering around such a huge museum.

    Enola Gay B-29

    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, B-29 Enola Gay
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, B-29 Enola Gay
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, B-29 Enola Gay
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, B-29 Enola Gay
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, B-29 Enola Gay
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, B-29 Enola Gay

    Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird

    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird

    Grumman F-14 Tomcat

    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Grumman F-14 Tomcat
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Grumman F-14 Tomcat
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Grumman F-14 Tomcat
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Grumman F-14 Tomcat
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Grumman F-14 Tomcat
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Grumman F-14 Tomcat
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Grumman F-14 Tomcat

    Lockheed T-33A-5-LO Shooting Star

    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star

    Bell XV-15 Tilt Rotor Research Aircraft

    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Bell XV-15 Tilt Rotor Research Aircraft
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Bell XV-15 Tilt Rotor Research Aircraft
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Bell XV-15 Tilt Rotor Research Aircraft
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Bell XV-15 Tilt Rotor Research Aircraft

    Lockheed Martin X-35B STOVL

    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Lockheed Martin X-35B STOVL
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Lockheed Martin X-35B STOVL
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Lockheed Martin X-35B STOVL

    NASA Space Shuttle Enterprise

    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, NASA Space Shuttle Enterprise
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, NASA Space Shuttle Enterprise
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, NASA Space Shuttle Enterprise
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, NASA Space Shuttle Enterprise
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, NASA Space Shuttle Enterprise
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, NASA Space Shuttle Enterprise
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, NASA Space Shuttle Enterprise
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, NASA Space Shuttle Enterprise
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, NASA Space Shuttle Rocket Motor
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, NASA Space Shuttle Rocket Motor
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, NASA Space Shuttle Rocket Motor

    Mars Pathfinder and Sojourner Rover

    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Mars Pathfinder and Sojourner Rover

    Rocketdyne F-1 Rocket Motor

    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Rocketdyne F-1 Rocket Engine
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Rocketdyne F-1 Rocket Engine
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Rocketdyne F-1 Rocket Engine
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Rocketdyne F-1 Rocket Engine
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Rocketdyne F-1 Rocket Engine

    Various Rocket Motors and V-2 Turbopump

    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Rocket Motor
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Rocket Motor
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Rocket Motor
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Rocket Motor
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Rocket Motor Cutaway
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, V-2 Turbopump

    Early Space Capsules

    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Early Space Capsules
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Early Space Capsules
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Early Space Capsules
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Early Space Capsules

    Apollo Spacesuit and Helmets and Gloves

    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Apollo Space Suit, Helmets, and Gloves

    Robert Goddard Rocket Motor

    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Robert Goddard Rocket Motor

    Bell Rocket Belt

    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Bell Rocket Belt
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Bell Rocket Belt

    North American F-86 Sabre

    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, North American F-86 Sabre
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, North American F-86 Sabre
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, North American F-86 Sabre
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, North American F-86 Sabre
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, North American F-86 Sabre
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, North American F-86 Sabre

    Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15

    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15

    Curtiss P-40 Warhawk

    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Curtiss P-40 Warhawk
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Curtiss P-40 Warhawk and Vought F4U Corsair

    Vought F4U Corsair

    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Vought F4U Corsair
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Vought F4U Corsair

    Lockheed P-38 Lightning

    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Lockheed P-38 Lightning

    Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde

    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde

    Scaled Composites Model 311 Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer

    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Scaled Composites Model 311 Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer

    LZ 129 Hindenburg Airship Artifacts

    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, LZ 129 Hindenburg Airship Fabric
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, LZ 129 Hindenburg Airship Girder

    Jim Bede BD-5 Kit Plane

    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, BD-5
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, BD-5
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, BD-5
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, BD-5
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, BD-5

    Rutan VariEze Kit Plane

    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Rutan VariEze

    PDP-11/35

    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, PDP-11/35
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, PDP-11/35
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, PDP-11/35

    UNIVAC 1232

    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, UNIVAC 1232
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, UNIVAC 1232

    CDC 3800 Launch Computer Processor

    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, CDC 3800 Launch Computer Processor

    IDEX II Work Station

    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, IDEX II Work Station

    NASA VR Headset and Payload Computer

    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, NASA VR Headset and Payload Computer

    Spacesuit Testing Android

    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Spacesuit Testing Android

    Willy Ley’s 1956 Best Feature Writer Hugo Award

    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Willy Ley's 1956 Best Feature Writer Hugo

    Space Toys

    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Mego Star Trek and Kenner Star Wars Action Figures
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Space Patrol Rocket Port Playset with Control Tower
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Captain Video Space Drome Playset and Space Cars
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Toy Rockets
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Toy Pistols
    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon Pistols

    Leaving the Udvar-Hazy Center

    National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Exiting the Center

  • Thoughts on Posthumanism, Social Justice, and Environmentalism on the Ivan Allen College Website

    Screenshot of top of article titled, "How the Posthuman Helps Us Respond to a Changing World." Link to article in the text below.

    How can we leverage posthumanist ideas to respond to the world’s social and ecological crises? My colleagues at Georgia Tech (Lisa Yaszek, Regents Professor of Science Fiction Studies; Zita Hüsing, Assistant Director of the Writing and Communications Program and Marion L. Brittain Postdoctoral Fellow; and Paul B. Foster, Associate Professor of Chinese) and I give our perspectives in this brief multimodal article that might be great to share with students if you need a resource that succinctly breaks down what posthumanism is and addresses its connections to feminism, social justice, and environmentalism.

    Previously, Lisa Yaszek and I wrote an book chapter on Posthumanism and Science Fiction for The Cambridge Companion to Literature the Posthuman (2016). You can read our chapter here.

    If you’d like to talk about posthumanism or collaborate on a related project, drop me a line at my email address in the about box to the right.

  • Doctor Who Up Close Exhibition at Spaceport, Merseyside in 2006

    Doctor Who Up Close Exhibit Entrance Poster

    At the beginning of our MA in Science Fiction Studies program in 2006, Christian, Sunshine, and I boarded the River Mersey Ferry for a trip to Spaceport in Wirral where the Doctor Who Up Close Exhibition was taking place, which I wrote about here. Sadly, Spaceport has been replaced, but these photos–most are mine and a couple were taken by Christian when my camera battery died–recall one of its coolest exhibits there.

    L to R: Me, Christian, and Sunshine on the
    Me, Christian, and Sunshine on the Mersey Ferry.
    Cybermen
    Cybermen
    Tenth Doctor/David Tennant and Rose Tyler/Billie Piper's Costumes
    Tenth Doctor/David Tennant and Rose Tyler/Billie Piper’s Costumes
    Characters from "The End of the World" episode.
    Characters from “The End of the World” episode.
    K-9
    K-9
    Slitheen
    Slitheen
    Sisters of Plenitude
    Sisters of Plenitude
    Ood
    Ood
    Clockwork Repair Droid
    Clockwork Repair Droid
    Dalek
    Dalek

  • LEGO 8099 Midi-Scale Imperial Star Destroyer Built with Spare Bricks

    LEGO Millennium Falcon is fleeing a pursuing Midi-Scale Imperial Star Destroyer

    Thankfully, LEGO provides digital copies of their set instruction books online. This means that if you have the bricks, you can build anything in the LEGO catalog. Of course, it might take time and energy to hunt down each individual brick and element that you might need to assemble a given set if your collection is as disorganized and binned as mine is. Nevertheless, it’s satisfying being able to build something new with what you have instead of having to go out and buy it.

    In this case, I assembled a set that didn’t buy when it came out in 2010: 8099 Midi-Scale Imperial Star Destroyer. It took a considerable amount of time to find all of the bricks that I needed to complete it, and I had to cannibalize some other sets to get all of the parts. Eventually, it came together. However, I did have to make one off-color substitution deep within and hidden from external view.

    LEGO 8099 Midi-Scale Imperial Star Destroyer front view
    LEGO 8099 Midi-Scale Imperial Star Destroyer rear view
    LEGO 8099 Midi-Scale Imperial Star Destroyer side view

  • LEGO R2-D2 10225, a Reliable Desktop Companion

    LEGO R2-D2 10225 closetup of dome

    I picked up this faithful R2 unit from LEGO when I began my position as a Brittain Fellow at Georgia Tech in 2012.

    It’s the 10225 R2-D2 set that was released in 2012 (shortly before I moved back to Atlanta).

    It features a turning head, a little bit of wobble, arms, saw, data port interface, and a retractable third leg. It’s blockier looking than the 2021 R2-D2 75308 set, but its the blockiness that makes it endearing.

    LEGO R2-D2 10225 front
    LEGO R2-D2 10225 dome turned
    LEGO R2-D2 10225 left side
    LEGO R2-D2 10225 back
    LEGO R2-D2 10225 right side
    LEGO R2-D2 10225 tools deployed
    LEGO R2-D2 10225 third leg extended

    Though, be warned that R2, when left to his own devices, might try to hack your computer . . .

    LEGO R2-D2 hacking my desktop computer