I Draw Occasionally

I was specifically using the "Qualification Test Unit" LRV that the Smithsonian has for reference here as a part of me doing Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum redesigns. The LRV's seem to have a little color variation across them, so it depends on which.

Not so surprisingly I have no other grounders planned for a NASM redesign as there isn't exactly many ground vehicles in an air and space museum.

Here's the sketch before making the ref

- [x] Skyfire - Space Shuttle (Discovery)

* Skylynx - SR-71 Blackbird

* Soundwave (Prime) - MQ-1L Predator A

* Silverbolt - Concorde (F-BVFA)

* Fireflight - F-4S Phantom II

* Thrust (Armada) - F-14 Tomcat

* Starscream - F/A-18(C) Hornet (Blue Angels) Or F-15C

* Thundercracker - F-105 Thunderchief or Republic P-47D-30-RA Thunderbolt

* Beachcomber - LRV : Lunar Roving Vehicle**

* Powerglide - Loundenslager Laser 200 (aerobatics)

* Cosmos - Hiller Model 1031-A-1 Flying Platform

Copters/Rotorcraft:

* Drift (bayverse)- Sikorsky X2 Technology Demonstrator (Predecessor to S-97 Raider)

- [x] Incinerator (2007 toy)- Bell XV-15 TRRA (Tilt Rotor Research Aircraft) (Predecessor to V-22 Osprey)

* Vortex - Bell UH-1 "Huey" (replaced by black hawk)

* Blackout - Bell AH-1F Cobra

* Blades - Bell-H13J(lookalike)

_____

** the National Air and Space Museum is actually two buildings, Beachcomber would be in DC rather than Chantilly like the rest of these guys. If i ever make this a very cracky AU.

The W.I.P.P. (Waste Isolation Pilot Plant) Is what gave me this idea initially, specifically the Sandia report that proposed long term (10,000 years minimum due to the radioactive waste halflife) warning messages that could be universally understood. It is a very interesting read, report pdf here.

^ from the report (though this is a color version i found, the report I linked is a b&w digital scan of the whole thing and these artworks don't read nearly as well in it), this is also the one I've seen the most of online, but there were more proposed! (This one is landscape of thorns)

A big thing about the proposed marker systems for the W.I.P.P. is that an understanding of our current languages and symbols (ie. skull and crossbones or the radioactive symbol) can't be assumed when talking about this wide a time frame, though they are still included in some smaller markers and messages. Defense in excess, so if one message doesn't hit the mark initially, others can fill in the details and give clues to as what that marker you initially didn't understand is getting at.

I should've explained what the WIPP is: its a storage area for nuclear waste created from the US making nuclear weapons* in new mexico, 2,150 ft below ground is where the waste is actually stored.

* i gotta double check this tbf in terms of them being a by product of making nuclear weapons and not smth else, but i'm pretty sure i read that's what it is from

So the giant ass physical markers are to mark the area directly above the hella radioactive storage room, and make it hard to do ANYTHING above it.

No drilling (especially), no farming, no living and settling down in the area. They're meant to be uncomfortable and evoke harm (hence a lot of spikes/thorns being used), which is more universal than our current languages and symbols. they're not the actual danger, just marking it and letting it be known.

Although if is definitely an exception to a lot of other famous long lasting messages imo, i'm not knowledgeable enough atm to say that confidently. Its first and foremost goal isn't to document (although it definitely does do that), it isn't to celebrate or commemorate, it is to make you aware something manmade is there, and that the something is dangerous and deadly.

Related:

Anyways yea the WIPP's various proposed marker systems and their individual markers are really interesting, I could go on but i have another example i wanna talk a little about.

I need to read up on it again cause it been a while and I forgot the name but satellites are definitely one of the longest landing man made things we have, specifically ones in higher orbits. I forgot the name I'll have to find it again, but there's a satellite in a high orbit (like past the graveyard orbit i think) that has a similar plaque/disc that the voyagers,pioneers 10 & 11, and new horizons had.

I'd love to include the interstellar* (*not technically) space probes but they're so far and they're so fast. Maybe some transformer runs into one in space somehow with the infinitesimal odds and finds earth that way, since the voyager golden discs have a map to Earth practically, ntm the contents of the actual record(pictures and a song if i remember right, i forgot how many pics but its mostly humans, like "this is us!", or was) .

Record for ref, left side: bottom left is the "map" detailing the location of Earth.

I'll read up on it again if anyone wants more info on the record and the efforts to make it literally universally understandable, i forgot too much and can't explain it well now.