Then I'll bet you miss Mesilla Valley Kitchen too... Thanks for the links - that's pretty cool!
GsT
MVK was a good breakfast joint for several years. They kinda went downhill before they closed. It was good while it lasted.
You are familiar with the area? Did you work on one of the sites?
This place is propulsion central. Every type of bullet, rocket, missile and bomb is made and tested in the area. Most people have worked at several facilities on several projects.
HELSTF laser and WSTF/NASA was my direct experience. But we supported a bunch of programs from the rail gun to a whole bunch of secret stuff over on WSMR.
My brother managed the HEBF at Stallion. They simulate nuclear blasts in a WalMart sized furnace using a propane fire and powdered aluminum dust. I built a whole town in there with houses, trucks, rubber people and even dogs and cats. They fired up the flame and when they dumped the powdered aluminum to it the joint gets white hot.
We blew up dozens of the Thiokol solid rocket boosters. Nike Ajax solid propellant in big chunks the size of volkswagons for a mile radius burning and tumbling through the desert.
We did a hydrogen/liquid oxygen explosion a few times. Very near Stallion and Trinity site. Just incredible power.
They have a man made mountain with a whole facility under it to test the bunker buster bombs.
NASA/WSTF mostly worked with hypergol engines and burning metals. But I got a chance to witness a whole bunch of cool tech all over the area. And the HELSTF laser is wicked awesome stuff. We shot 55 gallon barrels at 5 miles with it and burned holes in blocks of stainless steel many feet thick.
It's a cool area for guys that like guns, bombs and rockets. Any tech you can think of is done on a large scale here. Everyone I know works in some aspect of aerospace/defense systems.
Merry ChristmaHanuKwanza to all! Stay safe, shoot straight!
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