Thank goodness we have the journalistic integrity of the Weekly World News to fill us in on what’s really going on in our city…
The Space Needle will once again become this city’s tallest building in April 2009, when NASA launches the tower into Earth orbit.
The unmanned mission will test the landmark’s suitability for carrying astronauts to the moon, Mars, and beyond.
“We hope this flight will point us in the direction of cheaper modes of space travel,” said Project Director Mike Dale.
Early next year, NASA engineers will remove the 72 bolts anchoring the Needle to her 6,000-ton concrete foundation. Construction cranes will lower the building onto its side, and a convoy of trucks will transport the structure to Cape Canaveral, using the straightest roads possible.
“There, the building will be thoroughly caulked against the vaccuum of space,” Mr. Dale said.
The Needle’s elevator shaft will be filled with rocket fuel, her antennas will be oriented toward Houston, and her manned explorations of the solar system will begin no later than 2014, according to Dale.
Despite the reduced costs to NASA, the Space Needle project represents a giant leap in astronaut amenities.
“The rotating restaurant will provide simulated Earth gravity, not to mention fresh salmon and Dungeness crab from Washington and Alaska waters,” Dale said.
“It was NASA spacecraft that originally inspired the tower’s architecture,” Dale reflected from his seat in the Needle’s whirling restaurant. “But now the tables are turning.”
(via seattle)
From the same source: Maybe while it is out and about, it can take some of that Alaska food to the Eskimo colony on Mars.
Yeah, right. I think I like the “spinning” restaurant best. Obviously not concocted by a person who has been in the restaurant!
You’ve got a lot of info in your sidebar, but I can’t read it because it’s so tiny.
See you next month.