Sierra Hotel Blog
On the 27th of April, 1944; Squadron Leader Anthony F Martindale took off on a very unique mission. To put his Mark XI Spitfire through the wringer and find her true top speed. The Spitfire, who’s beauty and proclivity for...
Continue reading
A Christmas like no other...Twenty hours, ten minutes, and 13 seconds after Apollo 8 entered lunar orbit, it was Christmas day, and the crew were looking forward to pointing their spacecraft back towards earth for the long journey home, but only...
Continue reading
Pete Conrad was born June 2nd, 1930, in Philadelphia, just prior to the Great Depression. Pete struggled continuously with his schoolwork, suffering from dyslexia, a condition little understood at the time. After failing most of his 11th grade exams, Pete was expelled...
Continue reading
A young man nicknamed Mac was born on April 9th 1899 in the city of Denver Colorado. James Smith McDonnell was raised in Little Rock, Arkansas, and after graduation from Little Rock High School in 1917, Mac left Arkansas for Princeton...
Continue reading
. October 30th 1961; No, it wasn't Marvin's Illudium Q -36 Explosive Space Modulator, but the RDS-220 hydrogen bomb (code name "Ivan" or "Vanya"). The most powerful nuclear weapon mankind ever detonated. Its test on October 30th, one that is referred to as Tzar...
Continue reading
