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Employees at Rockwell International Corporations Space Division take a look at a 1:1 scale prototype model of the 1975 space shuttle (via Berg Blog)

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Myself with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner

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Germans Test Australian SCRAMSPACE Hypersonic Vehicle

via Parabolic Arc by Doug Messier on 12/11/11

DLR PR – Can new types of engine make spaceflight easier and more economical? This question is being investigated by researchers at the German Aerospace Center...

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futuramb:

The Future of Science 2021: A Multiverse of Exploration - Boing Boing

Another beautiful future map from Institute For The Future…

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I love old space videos

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cozydark:

Google Tech Talk by Eugene Levin: Discusses using electrodynamic tethers to deorbit large space debris.

The future.

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sciencecenter:

Satellite Finds Evidence of Antimatter Belt Around Earth

Data from the cosmic ray satellite PAMELA has added substantial weight to the theory that the Earth is encircled by a thin band of antimatter.

The satellite, named Payload for Antimatter Matter Exploration and Light-nuclei Astrophysics, was launched in 2006 to study the nature of cosmic rays — high-energy particles from the Sun and beyond the solar system which barrel into Earth.

When those cosmic rays smash into molecules in the Earth’s upper atmosphere, a shower of smaller particles is created. Physicists have assumed that a small number of those resulting particles will be anti-protons.

Most of those will be instantly annihilated when they collide with particles of ordinary matter. But those which don’t collide should get trapped in the Earth’s torus-shaped Van Allen radiation belt, and form a layer of antimatter in the Earth’s atmosphere.

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cozydark:

Study: Space Debris Has Reached A ‘Tipping Point’ |

 The National Research Council released a report today that sounds an alarm about the amount of debris orbiting Earth. The report recommends that NASA develop a formal strategy to track and perhaps remove debris to “mitigate risks.”

In its summary, the Council said the debris has reached a “tipping point, with enough currently in orbit to continually collide and create even more debris, raising the risk of spacecraft failures…”

“The current space environment is growing increasingly hazardous to spacecraft and astronauts,” Donald Kessler, chair of the committee that wrote the report and retired head of NASA’s Orbital Debris Program Office, said in a statement. “NASA needs to determine the best path forward for tackling the multifaceted problems caused by meteoroids and orbital debris that put human and robotic space operations at risk.”

The problem is very real. In its story today, USA Today recountstwo minutes in June when the crew of the International Space Station was about ready to evacuate. A piece of debris — perhaps the remnants of a rocket or an old spacecraft or satellite — was about to collide with the space station. Luckily, the space shuttle was docking at that same time and when it did, it moved the station just enough to get it out of the way of the debris. continue reading

photo caption: “In June, the International Space Station had a near miss with some debris.”

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cozydark:

SpaceX Unveils Plan for World’s First Fully Reusable Rocket |

The private spaceflight firm SpaceX will try to build the world’s first completely reusable rocket and spaceship, a space travel method that could open the gates of Mars for humanity, the company’s milionaire CEO Elon Musk announced.

A fully reusable rocket would dramatically decrease the cost of lofting cargo and humans to space, making the exploration and colonization of other worlds such as Mars more feasible, Musk said in a speech at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

Musk did not guarantee success, acknowledging the daunting task his SpaceX team has taken on. SpaceX released a video animation of its proposed reusable rocket and space capsule system to illustrate how it would work. [Video and photos of SpaceX’s reusable rocket plan]

“We will see if this works,” Musk said. “And if it does work, it’ll be pretty huge.” continue reading

As champion of cheap spaceflight, I think this is awesome. As an engineer, I think this is a waste of payload mass, fuel, and almost nonviable economically to develop and manufacture. Personally, I like unmanned cargo space planes that would be single stage to orbit and managed and used like they should unlike the Space Shuttle. I think using parachutes, heat shields and inflatable airbags would be better for a totally reusable rocket, but I haven’t really crunched the numbers on that not that I could very accurately though.

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I haven't updated this blog in a while and it has been bothering me that I haven't. I am about 2 months into my new job as a Structural Design Engineer and it is going better than I expected. I felt coming out of college that I did a lot of work with little or none benefit from it. The seven months after graduation I had to contemplate my degree before I landed a job gave me quite a perspective. I began to feel like I learned a lot of miscellaneous and random engineering intricacies and that I didn't actually know how to be an engineer. But I figured out during that 7 months of self loathing (pretty much at the end my 7 months of purgatory) that it really doesn't matter if you can spit out navier stokes equations from memory or solve partial differential equations. All that really matters is that when given the tools to solve a problem, creativity, ingenuity, and a valid engineering process will get you though most problems or tasks you will ever encounter. Basically, if you can plan a solution, follow that plan, execute the solution, revise the plan from the results and repeat until an acceptable outcome you will be successful most of the time. Always ask questions, even if you think they are stupid ones. It is always better to look stupid and do it right the first time than not asking questions and getting it wrong the first time. Know that you are bringing fresh ideas into the soup so don't be afraid to voice them, who knows, it probably is a good idea. I've found out that I am pretty good at what I do and that surprised me a little, I think. Everyone is nervous when they start a new job, but for me it was the first time that I was responsible (a very small role on my account)  for engineering where the safety of the air travelers mattered.  I have every drop of faith in my work and believe we will do great things in the near future and beyond... Now this is what I've learned in a little over 2 months of being an engineer, I can't wait for the next 20 years of being an engineer.    

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sagansapien:

spacettf:

Farewell, Atlantis (NASA, International Space Station, 07/19/11) by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center on Flickr.

Via Flickr: This picture of the space shuttle Atlantis was photographed from the International Space Station as the orbiting complex and the shuttle performed their relative separation in the early hours of July 19, 2011. The Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module, which transported tons of supplies to the complex, can be seen in the cargo bay. It is filled with different materials from the station for return to Earth. Onboard the station were Russian cosmonauts Andrey Borisenko, commander; Sergei Volkov and Alexander Samokutyaev, both flight engineers; Japan Aerospace Exploration astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and NASA astronauts Mike Fossum and Ron Garan, all flight engineers. Onboard the shuttle were NASA astronauts Chris Ferguson, commander; Doug Hurley, pilot; and Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim, both mission specialists. Image credit: NASA

Click through for high-res shuttlefication

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spaceandstuffidk:

complex34:

STS-135 (Atlantis) and ISS in broad daylight - 7/17/11 

What? I seriously would have peed if I could have done this. I wouldn’t have thought it possible. From the videographer, he did it thusly:

The final mission of the space shuttle, captured 1.25 hours after sunrise. Tracked with an 8” LX200 Classic Schmidt-Cassegrain @ f/10 using Brent Boshart’s Satellite Tracker software. Recorded with a modified Samsung SDC-435. 1/500 sec exposure, AGC off. This is the raw video with no edits other than trimming.

ho-lee-balls

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Boeing 787 wing break test

I remember watching the 777 max loading wing test in my structures course. Still amazing. 

Hopefully I will be able be part of this soon!

With out doubt failure beyond 150% max wing load.

Oh yeah 1.5 factor of safety!

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inothernews:

DOCK STEADY   Backdropped by a night time view of the Earth and the starry sky, the Space Shuttle Endeavour is photographed docked at the International Space Station on May 28, 2011. The STS-134 astronauts left the station the next day on May 29, after delivering the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer and performing four spacewalks during Endeavour’s final mission.  (Photo via NASA)

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chromatichouse:

Why we might send humans to the Mars moon Deimos before we go to Mars itself

by Alasdair Wilkins —

Our best chance to send humans to Mars will be in the mid-2030s, but the Red Planet might not be our final destination. It might actually be much easier and just as effective to land on Mars’s moon tiny Deimos.

That’s the plan put forward by Lockheed Martin’s Project Red Rocks, which suggests Deimos would be a useful intermediary step before attempting to land on Mars itself. They point out that we can land on Deimos using pretty much the exact same technology we used to put the Apollo craft on the Moon, sidestepping the massive challenge of escaping Mars’s far greater gravity.

The best windows for trips to Mars will be in 2033 and 2035. Not only will the relative positions of Earth and Mars allow us to keep propulsion costs down, the Sun’s magnetic field will be particularly strong at those times, offering astronauts a natural shield from cosmic radiation. One plan then would be to send equipment and supplies ahead in a probe in January 2031, then send astronauts to Deimos in 2033. They would then spend 18 months orbiting Mars before returning by November 2035.

According to the Lockheed Martin engineers who came up with Project Red Rocks, a Deimos landing offers a lot of benefits. There’s a spot in the northernmost regions of the moon that enjoys continuous sunlight for ten straight months, which would allow the mission to harness simple solar energy systems. During the Martian winter, they could then shift to a similar spot in the southern hemisphere.

Being on Deimos wouldn’t cut the astronauts off from Mars completely. They could still control rovers much like we do now, but the fact that they would only be several thousand miles away instead of many millions of miles would give them much finer control and cut out the time delay imposed by the speed of light. Deimos would also be useful as it’s a natural middle ground where astronauts could quarantine and examine samples brought up from Mars without risking contamination back on Earth.

The Lockheed Martin fact sheet also argues:

“Sending astronauts to Deimos will demonstrate key technologies that will be needed for subsequent human Mars landings, such as reliable life-support recycling systems, long-term cryogenic propellant storage, and the biomedical technology to protect astronauts from the effects of microgravity and space radiation. [This mission would be more affordable] because it postpones the development of difficult technologies needed only for Mars landings, such as nuclear power, lightweight space suits, biological containment to prevent interplanetary contamination, and advanced re-entry systems for landing large spacecraft.”

The Deimos mission could accomplish a very healthy percentage of what we want out of a Mars mission - except for the huge psychological component of actually being able to say we landed on another planet, of course - all without requiring massive upgrades to our existing technologies. Lockheed Martin engineer Josh Hopkins explains:

“Each mission is designed to incrementally build up capabilities for the next mission and address scientific questions about a common theme: the origins and formation of our solar system. The Red Rocks mission builds on each of those prior missions, and it, in turn, lays the groundwork for an eventual human landing on Mars. There are things required for the interplanetary trip in space from Earth to Mars and back, and then there are the challenges specific to actually landing and operating on Mars itself. A trip to Deimos is very similar to the in-space parts of a trip to Mars in terms of distance, duration, and environment.”

Deimos and its companion moon Phobos are also of interest to researchers beyond their role as natural space stations for Mars explorers. They’re tiny, irregular objects, nothing like our own Moon, and we still don’t have a good handle on exactly what they are or how they formed. While a mission to Deimos lacks some of the raw grandeur of actually landing on Mars, it might actually offer even more exciting opportunities than a mission to the Red Planet itself.

Via Space.com.

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fastcompany:

Could the solution to our growing space junk problem be to add more space junk? Gurudas Ganguli and his colleagues at the US Naval Research Laboratory have conjured up an ingenious and radical idea that involves releasing a giant cloud of tungsten dust, which would then cover the earth and act as a kind of vacuum for space junk. More details of the inventive idea can be found here: How Heavy Metal Dust Could End Our Space Junk Odyssey