The BMW S54 was a high performance engine with these features:
1. Increased cylinder bore to 87 mm (from 86.4 mm) for a new total displacement of 3,246 cc (from 3,201 cc)
2. Modified camshafts
3. High pressure Double VANOS continuously variable valve timing system with faster operation at high rpm
4. Increased compression to 11.5:1 (from 11.3:1)
5. More advanced BMW/Siemens MSS 54 engine management control
6. Finger-type rocker arms for reduced reciprocating mass and friction
7. One-piece aluminum head casting for lighter weight
8. Scavenging oil pump to maintain pressure during heavy cornering
An unknown source broke the entire engine down and laid it out carefully for us to enjoy. Now we just need someone to label each part for our didactic purposes.
NASA was officially created on October 1st, 1958 to “provide for research into the problems of flight within and outside the Earth’s atmosphere, and for other purposes.” However, space and aeronautics research was being conducted for several decades before NASA’s inception under the guidance of NACA, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics.
The images seen here are just a sample of the gorgeous photographs taken during the infancy of the United States Space Program.
Vintage NASA Photographs
Pictured at the top is the Explorer XVII Satellite, a pressurized stainless steel sphere which measured the density, composition, pressure and temperature of Earth’s atmosphere after its launch from Cape Canaveral on April 3, 1963
This image, taken in 1950, features a 19 foot Pressure Wind Tunnel at the Langley Aeronautical Laboratory.
(April 15, 1944) Engine on Torque Stand at the Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory in Cleveland, Ohio, now known as the John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field
(Sept. 23, 1969) The Apollo 11 astronauts (1st people to walk on the Moon), Neil A. Armstrong, Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., and Michael Collins, wearing sombreros and ponchos, are swarmed by thousands in Mexico City as their motorcade is slowed by the enthusiastic crowd.
(June 16, 1969) A Lunar Landing Training Vehicle, piloted by Astronaut Neil Armstrong, goes through a checkout flight at Ellington Air Force Base on June 16, 1969.
(August 25, 1949) An engine mechanic checks instrumentation prior to an investigation of engine operating characteristics and thrust control of a large turboprop Python engine with counter-rotating propellers under high-altitude flight conditions in the 20-foot-dianieter test section of the Altitude Wind Tunnel at the Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, Cleveland, Ohio, now known as the John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field.
The United States had a clear goal — beat the Russians the Moon — and in 1969, we succeeded. However, I can’t help but feel our space program has been a bit lost ever since…
