Blue Ghost aced its lunar landing attempt on Sunday (March 2), setting down close to Mons Latreille, a solitary lunar peak in the vast basin Mare Crisium ("Sea of Crises") in the northeastern region of the moon's near side.
And the spacecraft is already getting to work, starting up its science payloads and capturing amazing images of its surroundings and the distant Earth from the lunar surface.
In 1963, Bill Lear (of Learjet fame) was living in Geneva, Switzerland and flying a surplus P-51. After numerous problems with the starter clutch on his Packard-built Merlin, he contacted Rolls-Royce. They instructed Lear to send them the clutch, which was quickly repaired and returned. Lear wrote: “I called my benefactor to thank him and to ask him when to expect an invoice. His reply was: ‘My dear Mr. Lear, Rolls-Royce-designed products do not fail. They may require occasional adjustment, but this is covered by our unlimited warranty. So there is no charge, sir.’ I was blown away. The engine and clutch had been manufactured under license in the U.S.A. by Packard in 1944, yet Rolls still stood behind them in 1963!”
Bill Lear's biography is amazing. He invented the suspension speaker, the 8 track tape, autopilot and of course, made the infamous Lear Jet.
Also, I knew a man who bought a new RR in England and drove it on vacation all through Europe. The engine seized in France. RR flew over a mechanic, repaired the engine. When this man called RR, their answer was, "There has never been a record of an RR engine ever failing. There is no charge on your account."
