Top Gear And The Homebuilt Space Shuttle (Make Go Boom)
Thursday, February 10, 2011 at 01:28PM In our modern world of gigabyte input and general sensory overload, it's easier than ever before to miss something cool... mostly because you were distracted checking out some other thing that's cool. And if the viralness of the one cool thing doesn't get hot enuf to penetrate your circle of life, then you're off chasing the next big thing and you still wind up missing that first one. All that to ask this question: Did you ever see that rather huge Space Shuttle with a car as the orbiter that the guys from Top Gear had built back around 2007?
Since I stumbled on to it for the first time over the recent weekend of the AirPigz Air Force Museum meetup, I'm guessing there's a chance you haven't seen it either. I was convinced even more that this was a good video to share when @adamcanfly tipped me off about it the day after the meetup, which was interesting since he was even staying at the same guest house that weekend where I saw the episode on Top Gear re-runs, but he didn't arrive til a couple after it was over. I figure if both he and I hadn't seen this crazy stunt then it's probably worth posting. Hey, even if you have seen it, it's probably whacked enuf to be worth watching again!
Lastly, I did a little checking and it seems that a lot of folks believe they never intended for the orbiter (the Reliant Robin car) to separate and have a real chance to fly. The solid boosters separated right on cue, but the Robin rode the main tank right on down to good ole terra firma. That massive explosion at the end is what really seems to indicate gratuatis TV stunt... but hey, they had fun, and we had fun watching them have fun... rock on : )
Reader Comments (2)
that little movie is what got me to watching top gear!
rcpylon- I'm not sure when I first started watching Top Gear, but somehow I sure missed the shuttle episode! That was def a good place for you to start : )