Buzz on Apollo 11 mission
This is a really interesting read. Buzz Aldrin tells his feelings on the Ares 1-X shot from 2 weeks ago. Buzz Aldrin has always been one of the most vocal of the astronauts and a definite champion of manned spaceflight.
November 11, 2009
November 7, 2009
On Board video from winning Masten flight
Posted by rocketry under Daily Journals | Tags: X Prize |1 Comment
Here is the on-board video of the second leg of the winning Masten LLC flight. It really brings to light how short the trip was and how long Xoie hovered to complete the 3 minutes. Also take note of the accuracy of the landing from this perspective.
November 6, 2009
Falcon: Apollo 15 mission
These digitally enhanced photos from the Apollo missions bring new life to those incredible events.
These are processed versions of the original ISD images from the NASA Image Science and Analysis Labratory.
November 2, 2009
One of my favorite photos from last weeks Ares 1-X launch showed a very defined shock collar developing around the vehicle. Shock collars, shock eggs, or vapor cones are also known as the Prandtl-Glauert singularity occur when a drop of air pressure cause condensation around a craft traveling at transonic speeds.
Wikipedia article on Prandtl-Glauert singularity
Here are a few of my favorite rocket shock collars:
Ares 1-X shock collar
Apollo 11 shock collar
Shuttle shock collar
October 31, 2009
Unreasonable Rocket: Out of fuel
Posted by rocketry under Daily Journals | Tags: X Prize |Leave a Comment
Just in… The father son team of Unreasonable Rocket was just short of the L1 first leg requirements of the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge.
Congratulation to the Breeds on a great flight. They ran out of fuel at 85 secs.
They will be trying for Level 2 tomorrow.
More LLC news:
Latest video from Armadillo – First boosted hop to 200m
UPDATE: Unreasonable Rockets Level 2 attempt rocket the Silver Ball suffered from a punctured tank and will not be flying.
October 30, 2009
Masten Space Systems completes Level 2 of LLC
Posted by rocketry under Daily Journals | Tags: X Prize |[5] Comments
Masten Space System joins Armadillo Aerospace in completion of the Northrop Grumman Lunar Landing Challenge Level 2!
Looks like Masten has now bumped Armadillo into 2nd place by having greater accuracy on the landings. First flight today had an accuracy of 28 cm and observers said that the second flight looked the same. This would beat the 89cm of Armadillo.
Incredible flight control and an overall beautiful flights.
Unreasonable Rocket will be trying later today for Level 1 and Level 2 possibly tomorrow.
October 30, 2009
Unreasonable Rocket to attempt Lunar Lander Challenge today
Posted by rocketry under Daily Journals | Tags: X Prize |1 Comment
Unreasonable Rocket's Blue Ball
Unreasonable Rocket will be making it’s attempt for the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge today. The vehicle is known as the Blue Ball.
They will be following Masten Space Systems as they make another attempt today after yesterday’s 1st flight and small fire. The judges ruled they will get another chance today.
Masten will begin their final attempt on Friday, October 30, 2009 at approximately 9am PT/16:00 UTC
Unreasonable Rocket are scheduled to start their window at 1pm PT/20:00 UTC. They will try to webcast that attempt as well.
Good Luck to both teams!!!
October 29, 2009
After a failed attempt yesterday Masten Space Systems has several windows available today to attempt the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge Level 2. Today however is the last day of 2009 for an attempt.
Watch live at the X-Prize site.
update: Masten had a successful flight but suffered fire damage to the Xoie craft. There will be another flight attempt on Friday Oct. 30th. Judges have approved.
Fire damage after flight. Wires burnt including sensor cables
check for updates times and updates on the Twitter feed
October 28, 2009
Ares 1-X Launch Video in HD
Posted by rocketry under Daily Journals | Tags: Ares 1-X |Leave a Comment
So the big day arrived and the launch was a beautiful sight.
When will the next launch be? See the Proposed future flight timeline.
October 27, 2009
Ares 1-X launch scrubbed for Tues. Oct 27th
Posted by rocketry under Daily Journals | Tags: Ares 1-X |Leave a Comment
The Ares 1-X launch is scrubbed for Tues. Oct 27th. They are analyzing weather forecast to help decide on a new launch schedule.
Keep up to date on launch plans at the Official Ares 1-X website and the Twitter feed
UPDATE: Beautiful Launch!!!
October 26, 2009
Ares 1-X is seen here 1 day before the planned launch. Just down on the next pad is the Shuttle.
Tomorrow’s launch window is 4 hours
Launch Vehicle: Ares I-X
Targeted Launch Date: Oct. 27
Launch Window: 8 a.m. – 12 p.m. EDT
Launch Pad: 39B
Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
Ares 1-X and Shuttle (click to enlarge)
October 23, 2009
Fun with Rockets:Roasting Hot Dogs with Rocket Propulsion
Posted by rocketry under Daily Journals1 Comment
Armadillo engineers prepare for lunch
Yes. You read it right. I think I saw Burt Rutan do this first with a motor test leading up to Spaceship One’s successful flight but the folks at Armadillo Aerospace have taken it up a notch with the inclusion of the “Wiener Cam”.
October 22, 2009
Remember this is only a test flight.
As quoted from NASA:
“The flight test profile will closely follow the approximate
flight conditions to be experienced by the Orion/Ares I
vehicle through Mach 4.7 – more than four times the
speed of sound. Approximately two minutes into flight,
at approximately 130,000 feet, the launch vehicle’s first
stage will separate from the upper stage. The maximum
altitude, or apogee, of the flight test will be about
150,000 feet.”
“The primary test objectives for the Ares I-X flight include
demonstrating the flight control system performance
during ascent and gathering information to help
engineers better understand how to control the Ares I
system’s roll torque during flight.”
image:NASA click to enlarge
Download the entire PDF from NASA with all of the mission objectives here
October 20, 2009
Ares 1-X on pad
The Ares I-X now is secured on Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The countdown begins.
Launch Vehicle: Ares I-X
Targeted Launch Date: Oct. 27
Launch Window: 8 a.m. – 12 p.m. EDT
Launch Pad: 39B
Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
Check the Ares 1-X Twitter feed for updates
or
Ares 1-X on it's way to pad
October 13, 2009
click to visit Life magazine gallery
Life magazine online has posted this interesting gallery of NASA models entitled “Weirdly Beautiful Spacecraft Models“. Most interesting in the gallery is the evolution of the Lunar Lander.
Here is the first post in this series: NASA’s Magnificent Models
