USA 2016: Luchtvaart & Ruimtevaart

In the United States, the armed forces are held in high regard. This was evident, for example, during a NASCAR race we attended (more on that later). Whenever you saw soldiers in uniform walking among the rest of the crowd, they were constantly thanked by people for the work they do for their country. You also see different rates for active and retired military personnel in many places. The country is also proud of all its achievements in aviation and space travel, among other areas. This was also evident in our museum visits. In New York, we visited the Intrepid Museum; an aircraft carrier on the outskirts of Manhattan that also houses various planes, helicopters, and the space shuttle Enterprise. That day, NBC News was also broadcasting live from the deck because of the Commander in Chief forum with the presidential candidates that was being held there that evening. Unfortunately, we couldn't go below deck inside the aircraft carrier. At the pier where the carrier was moored, we were also able to take a look inside the USS Growler, a diesel submarine. Mike, a former Navy officer we'd met the day before, happened to be there at the same time as us. He told us about the conditions aboard such a submarine. We saw the cramped spaces. And also the small bunks; each bunk was occupied by several people, so you took turns—nice and cool. We also visited the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in Washington. Just like in New York, there was a space shuttle there, the Discovery. The Enterprise had been used as a guinea pig for test flights and had spent zero days in space. The Discovery, on the other hand, had spent the most time in space of all the space shuttles, one year, 365 days spread over multiple missions. The heat tiles on the bottom of the craft showed the traces of the enormous friction and heat released during re-entry. Still, they were impressive machines to behold—no small fry. And while you're there, you have to remember that the rocket they flew up in was much larger. The museum in Washington also had a variety of aircraft from various decades on display. There are also a few other notable sights, such as the capsule Felix Baumgartner used for his famous jump from space. His record has since been broken. But since there was no Red Bull promotion behind it, you probably never heard about it ;-) The "Enola Gay" was also there, the B-29 bomber that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Maybe those anti-nuclear-bomb protesters at the White House in Washington had a point after all?