Briefs: Balloon burst at 99,340 feet; Reaction Rockets update; Ares 1 launch abort system
The latest
JP Aerospace balloon flight did not succeed at launching two model rockets at the max altitude but a HD camera "did record some amazing footage of the balloon burst":
Away 38 Balloon Burst
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Reaction Engines posts their latest update:
June 2009 (via
Rocketeers.co.uk).
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A discussion of the launch abort systems in study for the Ares I:
Ares Launch Abort Systems Block I & II - ZZakk's Lab - July.3.09
07/04/09 12:42 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category General
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Masten Space tests
Ben Brockert has posted
new videos from this week's tethered flight tests:
/--
Masten Space Flight 9 2009.07.02 - brief up and down flight
/--
Masten Space Flight 10 2009.07.02 - test of autoland system
/--
XA-0.1B-750 flight 11, 2009.07.02 - another autoland test
There is also this video with a view from the top of the crane looking down for the 60 second flight in early June:
60 second rocket flight 2009.06.03 - flight 8
In a post on the aRocket forum, Ben said that in addition to the auto-landing tests:
/-- They are now using only helium in the gas system on board: "Previously we had one tank of nitrogen for RCS, purge, and IPA tank pressurization, and one tank of helium for LOX tank pressurization".
/-- The engine uses "our second aluminum chamber".
He also says they will be competing in both levels of the
NG-LLC. (This was apparently mentioned during the ISDC but I missed it.) They will use the above vehicle for Level 1 and a new vehicle for Level II.
07/03/09 08:13 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category VTVL Rockets
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Space Settlement Blog Day update
Space bloggers, don't forget to
sign up for
Space Settlement Blog Day.
07/03/09 02:11 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Space Settlement
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Briefs: Masten tests; British rocket test facilities refurbished
Masten Space returned to tethered flight tests on Thursday. Don't see any videos posted yet but here are some
Twitter postings about the tests.
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The entrepreneurial company
Airborne Engineering in the UK is renovating some rocket engine test facilities used in the 1960s for the British Blue Streak rocket program:
British Rocket Company Blazes a Trail to the Future - Airborne Engineering - July.2.09 ( via
Rocketeers.co.uk).
07/03/09 02:02 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category NewSpace
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Space policy review and ITAR reform
A couple of interesting items in the latest weekly
Space News summaries (temporary links):
/--
President Orders Sweeping U.S. Space Policy Review
/--
Obama ITAR Reform Could Move Satellites Back To Commerce
07/02/09 06:31 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Space policy
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Notes on RAeS Space Tourism conference
Representing
HobbySpace,
Andrew Janes attended the
Royal Aeronautical Society's Space Tourism conference (
pdf) held in London this week. I've now compiled his notes into
this web page along with some of his photos.
Briefs: Chartered Soyuz update; Tethered Armadillo
Rob Coppinger talks with Eric Anderson about the schedule for the dedicated Soyuz flight that Space Adventures would like to arrange for two private travelers to the ISS:
Will the June 2011 deadline for a 2013 private Soyuz flight be met? - Hyperbola - July.1.09.
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I hope
this is not because Russell did something bad to Mod or Pixel.
07/02/09 02:04 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category NewSpace
2 comments | Permalink |
Briefs: NASA manager's alternative to Ares; HSF panel log
Nancy Atkinson discusses the Shuttle-derived side-mounted heavy cargo lifter design presented by NASA program manager John Shannon to the Augustine Commission:
Faster, Cheaper (and Better?) Way to the Moon - Universe Today - July.1.09.
Includes a video animation of the system.
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The
website for the Augustine panel includes a page with a log of their activities:
See What The Committee Is Doing. There is also a
Twitter account and one at
Facebook.
07/02/09 01:46 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category NASA
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SpaceShipTwo rocket motor tests log
In addition to the
WhiteKnightTwo flight log, Scaled Composites is now posting updates on the
Rocket Motor 2 Hot-Fire Test Summaries.
07/01/09 01:21 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Transport Companies
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Space tourism meeting Q&A
Rob Coppinger has posted on his
Hyperbola blog the following audio recordings made at the RAeS space tourism meeting yesterday :
/--
[XCOR] and Space Adventures Q&A
/--
Spaceports speak up Q&A
/--
Astrium and Galactic Q&A
Briefs: India/Russia space partnership; MOST update
Not clear what sort of reusable spacecraft they are referring to. Probably just a capsule :
India plans to develop reusable spacecraft with Russia: Nair- TIMESNOW.tv (via
spacetoday.net).
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The Canadian
MOST (The Microvariability and Oscillation of Stars) micro-satellite reaches its sixth year of operation:
MSCI-Microsat Systems MOST, Canada's Space Telescope, Celebrates Birthday Number Six - MSCI - June.30.09. See also
MOST: Canada's First Space Telescope. I'll note that space info storehouse
Henry Spencer was the Software Architect for the mission.
NewSpace 2009 speakers
Check out
the speakers at the upcoming
NewSpace 2009 Conference at NASA Ames, July 17-20:
Speaker List Revealed for NewSpace 2009 Conference - SFF.
See also the meeting
Agenda.
07/01/09 11:15 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Events
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Briefs: Kourou report; HSF ini Alabama
Ken Davidian is posting
lots of photos during his trip to Kourou to see the TerreStar-1 launch.
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The
Augustine panel visited NASA Marshall Spaceflight Center in Huntsville and the
ULA facility in Decatur, Alabama last week.
Human space flight review panel updates Web site with Huntsville information - al.com.
Some pictures from their trip:
Site Visit Week of June 22-26, 2009 - a set on Flickr.
07/01/09 11:11 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category General
1 comment | Permalink |
Briefs: UK space tourism; Guinness space tourism prize;
A report on Will Whitehorn's comments at the RAeS space tourism conference yesterday:
UK 'yet to embrace space tourism' - BBC.
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Guinness includes a space tourism prize as part of its 250 year anniversary celebration:
Guinness offers drinkers chance to win space flight: Guinness has launched a competition offering drinkers the chance to win a trip into space aboard Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic spacecraft - Telegraph (via
Jeff Foust).
More info on the Guinness space tourism contest is available at
250 - Remarkable Experiences.
Briefs: SBSP in Japan; DIRECT v.3 video
This article says Japan is beginning a space based solar power program:
Japan Shooting For Space-Based Solar Power -Nikkei - June.28.09.
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A video illustrating the latest iteration of the
DIRECT Launcher design:
Shuttle-to-DIRECTv3 - The Original Rocket Dungeon - June.30.09.
07/01/09 02:32 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category General
2 comments | Permalink |
