NASA tests alternative to shuttles //NASA launches first Antares Rocket
NASA tests alternative to shuttles
Published on 24 Apr 2013
The Orbital Sciences Corporation has become a contender in the commercial space
arena. On Sunday, the private company launched a rocket from the Eastern Shore of
Virginia in an effort to supply the International Space Station with materials it needs.
Keith Cowing, editor of nasawatch.com join Meghan Lopez to discuss it.
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NASA launches first Antares Rocket
Published on 23 Apr 2013
For the first time NASA test-launched the Antares Rocket that is supposed to replace the
shuttle program that was retired after 30 years in service. For several years US space
program had to rely on Russian Soyuz rockets to send astronauts to the International
Space Station. But now with the launch of Antares there is hope that NASA will have it's
own rocket capable of launching astronauts into space.
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Re: NASA tests alternative to shuttles //NASA launches first Antares Rocket
How impressive!!!
"Rockets" are originally pre 1930 tech slightly improved on since (Only Material Science and Electrical Engineering wise)... It is NOW 2013 and TPTB, NASA and the Media wants us to believe that a Zillion Dollar Fire Cracker is as far as we have come in space faring technology?
"Stupid is as stupid does" and that is one hell of an expensive cover story paid for by our tax dollars and an unbalanced budget on a rapidly collapsing economy. Which is worse, THEM putting this backwards tech BS propaganda out there or us eagerly believing it and hoping for a spot of grass to sit on and watch $$$ signs blow out of the back of an antique?
Anyone else feeling warm and fuzzy about right now?
:doh:
Re: NASA tests alternative to shuttles //NASA launches first Antares Rocket
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29 April 2013 Last updated at 16:43
Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic spaceship ignites engine in flight
By Jonathan Amos
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The spaceplane being developed by UK billionaire Sir Richard Branson has made its
first powered flight.The vehicle was dropped from a carrier aircraft high above
California's Mojave Desert and ignited its rocket engine to go supersonic for a few
seconds.Sir Richard's intention is to use the spaceship to carry fare-paying
passengers on short pleasure rides above the Earth's atmosphere.His company
Virgin Galactic has already taken hundreds of deposits.
The rocket vehicle is known as SpaceShipTwo (SS2).
Although it has been in the air on more than 20 occasions, this was the first time its
hybrid motor had been ignited.It was only a short burn lasting about 16 seconds,
but it propelled SS2 beyond the sound barrier to a speed of Mach 1.2. Future
outings should see progressively longer burn durations, enabling the plane
eventually to reach sufficient velocity to climb more than 100km into the sky.
Space target
Monday's mission began at the Mojave Air and Space Port at just after 07:00 local
time (14:00 GMT). Test pilots Mark Stucky and Mike Alsbury were reported to be at
the controls of SS2.It took off slung beneath the WhiteKnightTwo aircraft, which
does the job of lifting the rocket plane to its launch altitude - some 45,000ft (14
km).A little under an hour later, SpaceShipTwo was released, dropped a short
distance to get clear of WhiteKnightTwo and then lit its engine, which burns a
combination of a solid rubber compound and liquid nitrous oxide.
SpaceShipTwo ignites its engine in flight for the first time
After shutting down its motor, the vehicle then glided back to the Mojave runway,
touching down just after 08:00 local time. Sir Richard said in a statement: "For the
first time, we were able to prove the key components of the system, fully
integrated and in flight. Today's supersonic success opens the way for a rapid
expansion of the spaceship's powered flight envelope, with a very realistic goal of
full space flight by the year's end."
Family first
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The entrepreneur is reluctant these days to say precisely when SpaceShipTwo will
enter commercial service.Richard Branson & Mark Stucky Richard Branson greets
pilot Mark Stucky after the supersonic flight in SS2 Projections for a start date
issued in the early days of the project in the mid-2000s have long since passed as
engineers have grappled with the complexities of developing the world's first
spaceliner.
The delay appears not to have dissuaded prospective passengers, however.
More than 500 people, including celebrities such as physicist Stephen Hawking and
former Dallas actress Victoria Principal, have put down a deposit for a ticket that
will cost them about $200,000. The initial service will be run out of a purpose built
facility in the New Mexico desert known Spaceport America. Each flight will
accommodate two pilots and six passengers.Sir Richard says he will take his family
on one of the first outings to demonstrate his faith in the vehicle's safety.
Onboard camera A camera mounted on SS2 itself captures the burn The rocket
plane itself is a derivative of SpaceShipOne, which became the first private manned
vehicle to fly to the edge of space and back in 2004.It was the brainchild of aviation
pioneer Burt Rutan, whose Mojave company, Scaled Composites, then designed the
current prototype passenger version for Sir Richard.
The pair formed The Spaceship Company to manufacture future vehicles.
There are other companies hoping to offer sub-orbital flights in the near future.
XCOR Aerospace, which also has an operation in Mojave, is developing a smaller
rocket plane called Lynx. This would carry one pilot and one ticketed passenger to 100km.
Neither it nor SS2 can achieve the speeds needed to go into orbit.
On the runway SpaceShipTwo, slung beneath the carrier aircraft WhiteKnightTwo, prepares for take-off
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Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22344398
Re: NASA tests alternative to shuttles //NASA launches first Antares Rocket
The Spaceship of the future is here ....concept.
Uploaded on 6 May 2010
All rights reserved to DW TV. The space ship of the future is here
Re: NASA tests alternative to shuttles //NASA launches first Antares Rocket
Quote:
Posted by
Cidersomerset
Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic spaceship ignites engine in flight
We're also tracking this Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo progress over on this thread: A Commercial Space Race Would Jumpstart the Global Economy (IMO)
Re: NASA tests alternative to shuttles //NASA launches first Antares Rocket
Published on 30 Apr 2013
Virgin Galactic spaceship made its first engine-powered flight on Monday in a test
that moves the company toward its goal of flying into space later this year. While
SpaceShipTwo did not break out of the atmosphere during the test flight, it marked
a significant milestone for Virgin Galactic, which intends to take passengers on
suborbital joyrides. During the early morning flight, SpaceShipTwo, strapped to the
belly a twin-fuselage jet, took off from an airport runway in the Mojave Desert
north of Los Angeles.
