Long March Bivouacs Unannounced

On August 27, at 4:06 AM Eastern Time, The home-owner became aware of forced entry.  Investigation proved to be the mother of all break-ins.  

The unwelcome guest, the Chinese homeowner was experiencing proved to be the first stage engine from a  Long March 4C rocket.   The three-stage rocket in question  lifted off at 10:31 PM U.S. Eastern Time on Aug. 27.  It's mission: to launch China’s new Yaogan-27 satellite which was a success - however the first stage was jettisoned over northeast China’s Shanxi province.   Since the Taiyuan Launch Base is also in Shanxi Province  and completely land locked, its a given that this type of mishap was bound to happen at one time or another.   

The complete Gizmodo article can be found HERE

Paul Allen is Building a Giant Rocket-Toting Plane!

Paul Allen's huge six Boing 747 jet engine touting bemouth has been tagged The Stratolaunch carrier aircraft. The Stratolaunch is set to become the largest airplane ever built.

Stratolaunch Systems is building an enormous airplane that will carry huge rockets to 30,000 feet and release them for trips into low-Earth orbit.

The carrier plane is being built for Stratolaunch in California's Mojave Desert by founder Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites. With a wingspan of 385 feet, the twin-fuselage carrier aircraft will be the largest ever made. As the graphic illustrates, the plane's wings stretch further than those of a 747-8 Intercontinental, Airbus A-380-800, Antonov An-225, or even Howard Hughes's infamous "Spruce Goose," which only flew once.

NASA Successfully Static Tests It's New RS-25 Engine

January 9, 2015 NASA successfully completed a static test when it started and ran it's new RS-25
engine.

NASA to Build Largest Rocket To Date!

Check out some of these very impressive stats

A  rocket that will tower at 384 feet tall, set to become the largest rocket ever built, dwarfing even the mighty Saturn V rockets of the Apollo era

This rocket, sitting on the launch pad will weigh 6.5 million pounds

NASA's recently released schedule for the new Space Launch System notes that the space agency will begin testing the engines that will be used.  SLS will use 4 sls rs-25 liquid fuel engines with two outboard SRBs.  If the RS25 designation sounds familiar, they are indeed shuttle main engines that provided massive lifting capabilities.  These engines  have undergone modifications.  At launch the SLS rocket will be providing 9.2 MILLION lbs of thrust.

The schedule calls for the SLS' first test flight 2017. 

Read more of Mail Online article HERE

NASA SLS Peeks

NASA unveiled peeks of the proposed new heavy launch rocket called the Space Launch System or SLS. 

The news launcher will set a record as the largest payload ever built.  Still under construction, the SLS will have its inaugural flight sometime in 2017.  The first payload will weigh in at 77 tons which in and of itself is amazing as that is three times what the Shuttle could put into low Earth orbit.  Once the initial flights have proven the system sound (NASA just recently took delivery of the flight control electronics which will be tested on a frame to simulate a launch with all the flight control hardware situated on the frame as it will be on the SLS) NASA will modify the system to carry 143 tons, more that any other rocket in history.  With lift capabilities like these, the SLS could conceivably lift a spacecraft larger than the shuttle and still have enough left over to send it on a deep space mission.

NASA is confident that the new rocket would allow for direct routes to many of the destinations that now have to depend on gravity assists and coasting for much of the flight.  Direct routes would cut transit time in half. 

Check out the complete IO9 article HERE

Iran to Space a Cat.....

Yep, Iran wants a space cat....Persian if you please.

What am I babbling about?  Well the word from IRNA (Iran's news agency) is that Iran is planning on sending a Persian cat into space.

Honest!  Oh and it is not like Iran doesn't have a track record for these type of launches, they claim to have sent a monkey into space already, although there is quite a lot of controversy surrounding that claim because the picture of the monkey that Iran says they launched is a different breed of monkey that came back....(it was aliens.....i seen em).

It would seem that Iran's Persian will be in rarefied company as only France in 1963 sent a cat on a 15 minute space flight.

Well anyway, Iran plans the cat launch for Mach of 2014. 

The complete article is at this address

Current & Former UoM Set to Make Rocket Science History

A group of seven current and former students are set travel to Nevada where they hope to launch a 500 lb 18 ft. tall rocket of their own design, 35 miles into the upper atmosphere.  

This first flight of "Team Ursa's" rocket will be a test flight to prove that their design is hardy enough to withstand the rigors of space flight, re-entry and landing.  If all goes well,   Team Ursa's design will be used by high school student groups  to build countless  other smaller versions and to inspire

the next generation of interested young people in hopes that they will take up rockets and other engineering persuasions.   

Ultimately Team Ursa's endeavors will hopefully fill a huge void that was vacated by NASA when budget cuts were put into place, that of high altitude atmosphere testing and sampling.  

Earth's atmosphere is apx. 60 miles deep.  Planes and balloons can only reach a small fraction of   the air column.  The highest flying planes top out at about 16 miles and research balloons can reach maybe 25, but above that is a virtual scientific frontier.  Researchers have only rudimentary idea of what kind of spores and other lifeforms that might exist in the higher reaches of the atmosphere.    

It is hoped by groups such as Mavericks which support efforts  of a younger generation of engineers, that Team Ursa's will help fill the research void. 

Read the complete article HERE     

Unexpected Passenger on Recent NASA Launch

In a recent NASA "LADEE" launch, (LADEE stands for Lunar Atmosphere & Dust Environment Explorer.  The craft is on a 100 day mission in orbit around the moon.  From the ABC article The purpose of the mission is to gather measurements and explore the moon's atmosphere, sending information back to the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.) employees discovered that the Minotaur launch rocket had an unexpected stow-away. 

Chris Perry was in charge of setting up cameras to catch still photos of the launch.  In one frame there is the unmistakable outline of a frog.   Perry said that the frog was more than likely about 150 feet away from the rocket when it fired.    

Frogs and toads are common around the Wallops Flight Facility with hundreds  living in the acres of marsh lands surrounding the launch pad.  Quite likely the frogs are attracted to the area by the flies and other insects that proliferate in the area. 

However as NASA employee Keith Koehler stated, "We've never seen this at Wallops before. I've been here 30 years,"

As you can see, the frog's outline shows up clearly in the upper left of the photo.

Read the complete ABC News HERE

NASA Tests Revolutionary New Rocket Engine Component

On Aug. 22 NASA fired a new rocket engine that in many ways a milestone for one of many important advances the agency is making to reduce the cost of space hardware.  

The engine in question was capable of generating a record setting 20,000 pounds of thrust. which in many ways was 10 times more thrust than many previous components were able to deliver before.  

One component in particular that NASA was monitoring was a special injector that was responsible for delivering propellants to the engine's combustion chamber.  

The test injector passed with flying colors which caused a great deal of excitement.  The reason for the interest was the process by which the injector was manufactured.  The innovating process is called additive manufacturing, or 3-D printing which is hoped to bring about new and more cost-effective manufacturing processes in the agency.  

From the Article:

• The component was manufactured using selective laser melting. This method built up layers of nickel-chromium alloy powder to make the complex, subscale injector with its 28 elements for channeling and mixing propellants. The part was similar in size to injectors that power small rocket engines. It was similar in design to injectors for large engines, such as the RS-25 engine that will power NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket for deep space human missions to an asteroid and Mars.

Pic is of a Shuttle rs-25 main engine being test fired. 

full article here

Grasshopper Leaps to 820 Feet

And of course, Space X is not sitting on its' thumbs either. Test flights of the VTOL system designation "Grasshopper" continues to operate in a stellar fashion. Space X's Grasshopper out did its March 7th flight by flying to 820 feet, tripling the performance of March 7th flight. Check out the video of Grasshopper's latest test flight.

Antares Orbital Sciences Launches Antares

A rocket built by Orbital Sciences Corp. lifted off from Wallops Island, a NASA facility on the Virginia coast and transitioned into space Sunday, in a near picture-perfect maiden flight. This test flight demonstrates Orbital Sciences Corp's ability to deploy to the space station carrying cargo. It is hoped that deliveries will be able to start later this year. Sunday's 5:00pm launch was described as a total success. Check out the short video of Sunday's launch.

Space X's Grasshopper Demoed

The Dragon supply capsule has proved itself very successful. But Space X is not about to set back on its' laurels. Recent tests of the Grasshopper are very encouraging. The most recent flight of Grasshopper had the rocket fly to a height of 263 feet, hovering for 34 seconds then returning to the launch pad. This goes a long way towards proving the viability of the reusable system. The Grasshopper consists of a Merlin 1D engine, a Falcon 9 tank and four legs. Though no plans as of yet include a space launch, the Grasshopper has made great strides since its' first 8 foot test flight. And yes that is a cowboy on the side of the rocket.....

Apollo Era Engines Recovered from the Depths?

From the Miami Herald via Xnewsman and others, is word that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has made good on his promise and has raised an engine thought to be from the Apollo Saturn rocket that launched American astronauts towards the moon. Bezos and NASA on Wednesday that the rusty relics fished from the bottom of the Atlantic may well be parts to two Saturn V F-1 engines of which the Saturn main stage had 5. Bezos says it is difficult to determine which mission they came from, as the serial numbers have corroded off most of the exposed surfaces. NASA is helping track down the information on the engines.

 NASA's Saturn V still holds the record for the only rocket to take humans beyond earth orbit as well as holding the record for largest payload. Fully fueled, the Saturn tipped the scale a 6.5 million pounds. It could loft 260,000 pounds to low Earth orbit (leo) of which 90,000 could be delivered to Moon orbit.

Read more at the WIKI site here And the Miami Herald here

Thanks to Xnewsman for the info

New Russian Luna Spacecraft

Standing on decades of successful operation of the Soyuz, Russia has made no secret that it has plans that place their crafts well outside Earth orbit.   To effect these plans Russia has finalized the design for a new spacecraft capable of transporting humans to the Moon. 

The "Prospective Piloted Transport System, as it has been designated, design contract has been was awarded to Energia in 2009 and is the company that presently construct the Soyuz.  All indications point to the PPTS being ready for flight soon.   Energia  execs have said  "If we get normal financing, we will start flight tests of the spaceship in 2017."   

Here is the complete Dvice article   and the original RT article here

Static Test of the Largest Amateur Liquid Fuel Rocket Engine

Here is the text from the YouTube video that in a nutshell shows the firing on a static test platform of the biggest amateur built liquid fueled engine.

On May 20 2012 Copenhagen Suborbitals tested its liquid propellant TM65 engine running on LOX and 75% ethanol.

Also check the image gallery at: https://picasaweb.google.com/copsub

Ok all you liquid fueled rocket engine nuts out there, here is news on the new engine from SpaceX. Here is the video text:

• SpaceX successfully test fires SuperDraco, a powerful new engine that will play a critical role in efforts to change the future of human spaceflight. These engines will power a revolutionary launch escape system that will make Dragon the safest spacecraft in history and enable it to land propulsively on Earth or another planet with pinpoint accuracy. In a series of tests conducted at SpaceX's Rocket Development Facility in McGregor, Texas, the SuperDraco sustained full duration, full thrust firing as well as a series of deep throttling demonstrations.

How NASA Fixed Aries for Five Bucks

You know, sometimes it good to see that NASA can still pull the fat out of the fire when push comes to shove....(oh dear...mixed Metaphors!)

You have heard here that the Aries lifter had a flaw that to fix would cost hundreds of millions. This flaw was a vibration that built up as the solid boosters burned down. This vibration, when coupled to the control deck made it impossible for the astronauts to read the craft's digital read outs and therefor impossible to complete the tasks of getting the system to orbit. Plans to correct the flaw went to ridiculous springs to even more unusual redos. But in this Gizmodo article, NASA engineers think if not outside the capsule, at least outside the box. In the article, after measuring the oscillations of the solid boosters, engineers scrounged up simple accelerometers and associated circuitry costing a mere fraction of the projected booster re-engineering. The fix was not to stop the vibration, but to strobe the digital readouts in the cabin at the same frequency as the solid rocket boosters - saving untold millions!

It is kind of moot since the Aries has been delayed and shelved numerous times, but it does show that there is still a certain amount of inventiveness still going on in NASA. Check out the Gizmodo article here

SpaceX Testing New Heavy Lift System

From SpaceXhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif via Boing Boing is news on SpaceX's new heavy lifting system, The Falcon Heavy which according to the website:

• (is)the world’s most powerful rocket. (The Falcon Heavy has) the ability to carry satellites or interplanetary spacecraft weighing over 53 metric tons (117,000 lb) to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), Falcon Heavy can lift nearly twice the payload of the next closest vehicle, the US Space Shuttle, and more than twice the payload of the Delta IV Heavy.

The Falcon Heavy develops over 3.8 million pounds of thrust at liftoff. To put that into perspective: that kind of thrust is equal to fifteen Boeing 747 aircraft at full power. That makes it one of the most powerful rockets since Apollo's Saturn 5 main stage.

(I KNOW! Saturn 5 WAS the main stage! But lets be honest, when most people see the whole Saturn stack they think Saturn 5! I know...Saturn 3 was the next stage and Saturn 1 was what pushed the "Luna stack" towards Luna insertion. I just KNOW some of you rocket jocks would call me on that if I hadn't said something! lol)

Check out the SpaceX page here

NASA underestimated shuttle dangers

In a recent USA Today article I read where NASA's Shuttle Program Safety and Mission Assurance Office at Johnson Space Center in Houston did a risk assessment of the dangers of shuttle missions.

As much as I hate to NASA bash, the initial results are disturbing to say the least.

When NASA start flying the shuttles in 1981, NASA managers thought there was only a 1-in-100,000 chance of losing a shuttle and its crew. Engineers thought the probability was closer to 1 in 100. The frightening fact is that those early missions had odds of less than 1 in 10!

From the article:

• Consider this: There was only a 6% chance that NASA would fly its first 25 shuttle missions without losing an astronaut crew, the assessment shows.
• Moreover, on the 88 shuttle missions flown between the Challenger and Columbia accidents, there was only a 7% chance disaster would be averted.

NASA realizes that to be more successful they need a " very robust test program" and collect as much data as possible.

In fact after two major accidents and many near misses shuttle now is 10 times safer than it was during the first flight in April 1981. The odds of a catastrophic failure now are 1 in 90.

New ION Engine Passes 200KW

In a NewScientist article sent in by Shaun Saunders we read about the world's most powerful ion engine developed by the Ad Astra Rocket Company of Webster, Texas. Astra has run their new engine at full power for the first time. In a recent test, the company's VX-200 engine powered to 201 kilowatts in a vacuum chamber, passing the 200-kilowatt mark for the first time.

One of the near future uses for this new engine would be to provide periodic boosts to the orbit of the International Space Station (ISS). a scaled up version ( in the 10 to 20 megawatts power range) could power astronauts to Mars in as little as 39 days vs the 6 months or longer it would take now.

One of the first order gains from these types of engines is their efficiency. Ion engines are about 25 times more efficient than conventional rocket engines. Though not strong enough to launch to orbit, the real savings would be realized when maneuvering in Earth orbit.