A PREMIUM ON SPACE

Next stop—the junk pile of impractical designs.

Above: a colorized photo from 1960 of a two-piece lunar exploration suit worn by a scientist from the Republic Aviation Corporation’s Life Sciences Laboratory, based in Farmingdale, New York. The suit includes a tripod and built-in seat in case the one-sixth gravity on the moon is too exhausting. No, actually, we’re guessing it was so the occupant could be stable while performing whatever duties a moon mission might require. In this case he has a couple of cheap wrenches for hands, so he’s probably about to assemble a piece of Ikea furniture. Trivia question: Which is older, Ikea or NASA? Simply by asking, you already know the answer. Anyway, moon suit designs advanced rapidly during the 1960s until reaching the point that they could actually keep astronauts’ blood and saliva from boiling in the vacuum of space, then of course they were never used because the moon landings were faked. And these older suits? They became garbage cans outside the Life Sciences Laboratory cafeteria.

New York, Farmingdale, Republic Aviation Corporation

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

January 19

1915—Claude Patents Neon Tube

French inventor Georges Claude patents the neon discharge tube, in which an inert gas is made to glow various colors through the introduction of an electrical current. His invention is immediately seized upon as a way to create eye catching advertising, and the neon sign comes into existence to forever change the visual landscape of cities.

January 19

1937—Hughes Sets Air Record

Millionaire industrialist, film producer and aviator Howard Hughes sets a new air record by flying from Los Angeles, California to New York City in 7 hours, 28 minutes, 25 seconds. During his life he set multiple world air-speed records, for which he won many awards, including America’s Congressional Gold Medal.

January 18

1967—Boston Strangler Convicted

Albert DeSalvo, the serial killer who became known as the Boston Strangler, is convicted of murder and other crimes and sentenced to life in prison. He serves initially in Bridgewater State Hospital, but he escapes and is recaptured. Afterward he is transferred to federal prison where six years later he is killed by an inmate or inmates unknown.

January 17

1950—The Great Brinks Robbery Occurs

In the U.S., eleven thieves steal more than $2 million from an armored car company’s offices in Boston, Massachusetts. The skillful execution of the crime, with only a bare minimum of clues left at the scene, results in the robbery being billed as “the crime of the century.” Despite this, all the members of the gang are later arrested.

January 17

1977—Gary Gilmore Is Executed

Convicted murderer Gary Gilmore is executed by a firing squad in Utah, ending a ten-year moratorium on Capital punishment in the United States. Gilmore’s story is later turned into a 1979 novel entitled The Executioner’s Song by Norman Mailer, and the book wins the Pulitzer Prize for literature.