Welcome to Must Read, where we single out the best stories from around the automotive universe and beyond. Today we have reports from Popular Mechanics, Grantland, and The New York Times.
Step Inside the Russian Spacesuit Factory — Popular Mechanics
One of the more interesting photo tours you'll see today. Or any day, really.
The town of Tomilino, some 16 miles southeast of Moscow, is rather unassuming about its role in the history of space exploration. A snack kiosk and a shaky sign for a bus stop are about all there is to greet a visitor getting off the commuter train. There is no statue of the world's first cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin, in his bright-orange spacesuit waving to earthlings after his successful landing. But that's a shame, because Tomilino is the home of the world's few workshops where space travelers can get their outfits.
Rocked: An Oral History Of The 1989 World Series — Grantland
The Loma Prieta Earthquake occurred during the World Series in 1989. Here's how it shook (seriously, pun definitely not intended) out.
If the asterisk didn't play such a nasty role in baseball lore, the 1989 World Series would deserve one. None of its four baseball games were any good. More to the point, they weren't necessary. The Series was shoved aside when a powerful earthquake — a "7," in San Francisco lingo — ripped through the city on October 17, 1989, about 20 minutes before the scheduled start of Game 3. Suddenly, baseball felt like an interloper. Players were driving down darkened streets in their uniforms; Dave Stewart was peering at a pancaked freeway in Oakland; and Fay Vincent was convening candlelit meetings to decide when, and if, the Series should restart.
Placing Reality on Hold, at Least Temporarily, in a Ferrari FF — The New York Times
The New York Times, they know how to do things classy. That's why when you go to Italy, you get a Ferrari FF and not some sort of roving poncemobile.
It was Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, the urbane chairman of Ferrari, who suggested where driving one of his company’s fastest grand touring cars might carry me.