* How did the Bolo One get its name? Gary – Leo 65, 0025 (07-14-2006)
That’s a great question! The South American Gauchos (or cowboys) used a device called a bola or bolo (from the Spanish word ‘bola’ meaning ‘ball’), to capture animals. It was a set of either two or three balls or weights attached to each other by cords. The Gaucho would swing the bolo over his head while holding one of the weights, or the cord where the weights came together. Once he had it spinning, he would throw it in an attempt to entangle the legs of the animal.
Referring back to the third question about artificial gravity, our habitat and burnt-out launch booster are spinning around the center of gravity of our tether, like two weights of a bolo. The difference is in our direction of flight. The thrown bolo flies flat, kind of like a Frisbee, but our flight path is at a right angle to that. So we are flying more like two objects out at the tips of an old plane’s propeller. If you could see the tips of a propeller illuminated at night as it moved down a runway in slow motion, the two tips would appear to spiral around each other. That’s the way our habitat and booster are rotating through space. And of course, the ‘One’ refers to this being the first mission to Mars using this artificial gravity technique. (Great question)
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Well, that wasn’t so bad. If you have any other questions from the class, let me know. For the next round, I’ll talk to the rest of the other crewmembers and see if I can get them in on the fun. The more the merrier.
Signing off for now and enclosing all of my love, Brandon
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