Photos of Space Exploration Hardware I have now added a link to HistoricSpacecraft.com . Historic Spacecraft is a project I’ve been working on for several years. At its core is a collection of several hundred space exploration hardware photos I've taken over the years. Included are photosets of historic space capsules, spacesuits, rockets, and launch facilities. I plan on adding many more photos in the future. Additional content of interest to space buffs includes a list of upcoming missions to the International Space Station, a list of upcoming robotic space exploration missions, a list of space related quotes, an extensive list of acronyms, and a timeline giving the year of launch for hundreds of space missions. Posted July 28, 2008

Visit to the Michigan Steam Engine and Threashers Club Annual Reunion On July 25th, I visited the Michigan Steam Engine and Threshers Club Annual Reunion. This event is held each July near Mason, Michigan. The event draws over 200 antique tractors and includes plowing demonstrations, threshing demonstrations, tractor pulling, a flea market and much more. Visit the Photo Gallery to see more photos. Posted July 26, 2008

LSM-275 Webpage Updates I have recently been contacted by two LSM-275 crewmembers, Bobbie Gene Smith and Ronald B Garrigan. Mr. Smith has provided some additional photos and Mr. Garrigan has provided a short written history of his time on the ship. Expect more photos and information to be added in the coming months. Visit the LSM-275 webpage to see the updates. Posted July 18, 2008

Mineral Hunting Trip In June, a friend and I went on a rock and mineral hunting trip in the Upper Peninsula. We visited the Caledonia Mine near Mass city, Michigan. Visitors can purchase a two yard ‘pile’ of ore for $50. We had around four hours to dig through the piles. Minerals such as copper, calcite, epidote, feldspar and datolite can be found. Anything you find in the pile is yours to keep. As you can see from the photos, I found some nice pieces of native copper. We also visited the Quincy Mine in Hancock, Michigan. The tour included both an underground portion and a tour of the hoist house. The massive, reinforced concrete, hoist house enclosed the worlds largest steam hoist. This was actually a good time. I might visit them again in the future. Visit the Photo Gallery to see more photos. Posted July 17, 2008

Website Changes

I'm in the process of re-designing richardkruse.com. Expect the look of the page to change over the next few days. For starters, I plan on updating the page much more frequently. Expect some kind of update every few days.

For years I have included a random quote script on the home page. I have eliminated that script and added a ‘Favorite quotes’ page to permanently list all of the quotes.

Any major updates on my other web pages will be mentioned on this page.

From time to time, I will be promoting specific products from my online stores.