Z is for Zero-X

Zero-X is the first manned spacecraft to land on Mars. It uses two separate lifting bodies as wings whilst in the Earth's atmosphere, allowing the craft to take off and land from a runway like a conventional aircraft. One in the upper atmosphere, these detach and return to Earth, as the ship heads off.

The Martian Exploration Vehicle (MEV) at the front of the craft is the ship's main control centre, which detaches on arrival at Mars, leaving the main body (and one astronaut) in orbit. The MEV then lands, using extendable caterpillar tracks to travel on the rocky surface.

The Zero-X appeared in two Gerry Anderson productions - the 1966 film Thunderbirds Are Go and the 1967 TV series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons.

"Zero X launch" by Source. Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Zero_X_launch.jpg#/media/File:Zero_X_launch.jpg

T is for Thunderbird 3

Thunderbird 3 is International Rescue's single stage to orbit (SSTO) space vehicle, which is designed for space rescue, and also for maintaining the systems and crew of the space station (Thunderbird 5). The ship is is 87m long, with a 7m wide body and a 24m span (including engines). It uses chemical rockets for lift-off and boost, an ion drive for propulsion while in space and chemical retro rockets for reverse thrust in space. It could travel from Earth to within range of the Sun in 65 hours.

Thunderbirds was created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, and produced between 1964 and 1966 using marionette puppetry and scale-model effects. Two series of 50-minute TV episodes were filmed. A reimagined CGI series entitled 'Thunderbirds Are Go' has recently aired in 2015, giving us a further 26 20-minute episodes, and a second series is to follow. (Note: in the new series, the three protruding buttresses on Thunderbird 3 can fold out into grappling arms, which can be used to grab onto things in space. Useful! )

Paving The Way

Isaiah 45: 1-7 (MSG)
God's Message to his anointed, to Cyrus, whom he took by the hand
To give the task of taming the nations, of terrifying their kings—
He gave him free rein, no restrictions:

"I'll go ahead of you, clearing and paving the road.
I'll break down bronze city gates, smash padlocks, kick down barred entrances.
I'll lead you to buried treasures, secret caches of valuables.
Confirmations that it is, in fact, I, God, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.
It’s because of my dear servant Jacob, Israel my chosen,
That I've singled you out, called you by name, and given you this privileged work.
And you don’t even know me!

I am God, the only God there is. Besides me there are no real gods.
I’m the one who armed you for this work, though you don’t even know me,
So that everyone, from east to west, will know that I have no god-rivals.

I am God, the only God there is.
I form light and create darkness, I make harmonies and create discords.
I, God, do all these things."

A magnificent passage, one that really leapt out at me when I stumbled across it the other day. I really got the feeling of power. I pictured the Almighty as a great, unstoppable force - powerful, letting neither mountains or trees get in His way.

My mind went back to my childhood - to episodes of that classic series 'Thunderbirds' where mighty

machines tore across the landscape. One of these was a giant road making machine which quickly dealt with rocks and foliage as it passed over them, leaving in its wake a paved highway right behind it (Gerry Anderson fans should check out the episodes "End of the Road" and "Atlantic Inferno" to see it in action).

The imagery conveys the message powerfully - whether the problem be a natural barrier or man-made 'gates of brass' - the result is still the same.  God knows where the one thing you are looking for is to be found and can lead you right there.It might not be anything that you haven't heard of, yet. But my Father in heaven knows about it. And can lead you right there.

And do I really know Him? I hope so. I really want to...

Rest In Peace, Gerry

I've just heard about the passing of Gerry Anderson, the creator of so many of the TV shows that helped define me as a youngster. Stingray. Thunderbirds. Joe 90. UFO. Space: 1999.
Gerry died earlier today, aged 83. Thanks for being such an inspiration!