Congratulations are due to Elon Musk and his team at SpaceX. On Sunday, they successfully launched the Falcon 1 rocket from the Marshall Islands. The rocket took off at 16:16 PDT; the second stage reached an orbital velocity of 52,00 meters per second at 8 minutes and 21 seconds after launch.
The rocket carried a “payload mass simulator of approximately 165 kg (364 lbs), designed and built by SpaceX specifically for this mission. Consisting of a hexagonal aluminum alloy chamber 1.5 meters (5 feet) tall, the payload attaches to the standard Falcon 1 payload mounting structure. It does not separate, but remains attached to the second stage as it orbits the Earth,” according to SpaceX.
The Shenzhou 7 spacecraft touched down in Northern China on Sunday afternoon, successfully returning taikonauts Zhai Zhigang, Liu Boming, and Jing Haipeng to Earth after a 68-hour flight that thrilled the Chinese nation.
The flight’s main highlight was a 20-minute spacewalk in which Zhai climbed outside of the spaceship clutching a Chinese flag. The nation’s first spacewalk was broadcast live throughout China.
This was the third successful manned flight of the Shenzhou, which is similar to the Russian Soyuz transport. China plans to eventually construct a space station in Earth orbit.
Rob Coppinger reports that the first test flight of Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo carrier ship may be slipped until closer to the end of the year.
“There have been various taxi trials outside the hangar already, but undertaken at night. The first flight trials will take place when we are ready and will definitely be this year and possibly within the next few weeks,” Virgin Galactic President Will Whitehorn told Coppinger.
Meanwhile, Bill Deaver has taken a spin into space aboard SpaceShipTwo - a good eighteen before any paying passengers will. Sort of.
Continue reading ‘WhiteKnightTwo Flights Set to Begin Later This Year’
Spacemen: Two men behind the future of American space exploration and commerce compete to launch little white balls into the unknown
Washington Post Magazine
“Early this year, I learned that Peter Smith, the principal investigator and driving force behind NASA’s astoundingly successful Phoenix Mission to explore Mars via remote-controlled robots, was also a golf enthusiast. I did a quick calculation: [Burt] Rutan, space flight pioneer + Smith, nation’s leading Mars authority + golf, male-bonding session = irresistible story.”
Space exploration key to mankind’s survival: NASA chief
AFP
“Mankind’s very survival depends on the future exploration of space, said NASA chief Michael Griffin in an interview with AFP marking the 50th anniversary of the US space agency.
“This journey, said the veteran physicist and aerospace engineer, is full of unknowns and has only just begun.
‘Does the survival of human kind depend upon it? I think so,’ he said.”
During the last two weeks, a series of dizzying, stomach-churning events have sent shock waves around the world.
The American financial system has come thisclose to a complete meltdown, threatening to take the planet’s economy down with it. A venerable investment firm has collapsed, another was forced into a shotgun merger, and U.S. government now owns 80 percent of the world’s largest insurance company. President George W. Bush - about to bequeath a half-trillion dollar annual budget deficit on his successor - has proposed spending an additional $700 billion to buy out bad real estate investments. And that might be conservative. The national debt will be raised to a staggering $11.3 trillion.
You might think this would cause people to rethink some of our national priorities - such as building expensive housing for a handful of astronauts on the Moon, for example. But, you’ll be happy to know that NASA Administrator Mike Griffin is having none of it.
Continue reading ‘No Bucks, No Tom Wolfe Analogies’
ODYSSEY MOON PRESS RELEASE
Veteran U.S. Civil and Commercial Space executive Jay Honeycutt has
been named President of Odyssey Moon Ventures LLC, responsible for all Odyssey Moon U.S. programs and commercial launch operations.
Jay Honeycutt’s experience spans over 40 years of successfully managing and operating large-scale engineering, technical and operational activities, including serving as Director of the NASA Kennedy Space Center from 1995-1997 and Director of Shuttle Management and Operations from 1989-1995. Following his distinguished career with NASA, Honeycutt became President of Lockheed Martin Space Operations from 1997-2004.
Continue reading ‘X Prize Update: Odyssey Moon Names Former KSC Chief Jay Honeycutt as President’
Orbital Sciences Corporation will break ground on a new launch complex at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at a ceremony on October 6, according to published reports.
The new launch facility on Wallops Island in Virginia will support Orbital’s new Taurus II launch vehicle, which the company is developing under NASA’s COTS program. The rocket is designed to carry cargo and possibly crews to the International Space Station.
The space agency is funding two COTS programs. A California-based company, SpaceX, is building the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft. SpaceX will launch the rocket from a new complex on Cape Canaveral.
The Rocketsandsuch blog has an interesting post about what might be causing re-entry problems with Soyuz spacecraft returning from the International Space Station. The last two missions to return from orbit experienced rough, ballistic re-entries because the pyrotechnic charges designed to separate the crew return module from the rest of the ship failed to fire properly.
Continue reading ‘Is Soyuz Unsafe?’
Undaunted by three straight failures, SpaceX could launch its fourth Falcon 1 vehicle as early as Tuesday. Company founder Elon Musk’s latest blog update on Friday indicates that the company is close to a launch from its facility in the Marshall Islands.
“Having said that, it is still possible that we encounter an issue that needs to be investigated, which would delay launch until the next available window in late October. If preparations go smoothly, we will conduct a static fire on Saturday and launch sometime between Tuesday and Thursday (California time).”
Continue reading ‘Falcon 1 Could Launch as Early as Tuesday’
