Behold the first test of the Falcon 9 Reusable rocket, launching and then smoothly landing in another location—an entire rocket going up and landing back on Earth ready to be refilled and launched again. Unlike the Grasshopper, this thing is huge! It is so amazing that I squeaked like a little girl when I saw it in action.
No, this is not a deleted scene or an abandoned set from a science fiction movie. But you’re not far off. Actually, this colorful structure is the 50m tall, 1000-ton mobile launch gantry for ESA’s Vega launcher in French Guiana, as seen from the bottom looking up, captured by photographer Edgar Martins. [ESA]
Rocket hardware
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Pictures of rockets, meteors and the Milky Way are all amazing. But one with all three makes for an overwhelming image indeed.
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Okay, confession time: I’ve got a crush on the Russian Proton-M rocket. Okay, so it’s not the most reliable
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I love rocket launches photos, especially when they are as awesome as this photo by Pat Corkery, featured by the US Air Force.
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A child is one who has plenty of imagination, so much so that when you hand him or her a normal cardboard box, they will be able to turn it into a spaceship, a time machine, a race car, the list goes on and on. Having said that, how about a specially manufactured piece of cardboard that will literally add some color and light to your child’s life? We are talking about the £39.99 Cardboard Rocket, where it is a snap to assemble, not to mention ready to be painted as well as decorated. Oh yeah, and the trees of the hills will undoubtedly be relaxed, since the Cardboard Rocket itself is made out of environmentally friendly cardboard.
The Cardboard Rocket will be avaialble in white (all the easier for you to paint it with afterwards), and comes in a sturdy corrugated cardboard outer for storage when not in use. Following in the footsteps of furniture giant IKEA when it comes to its packaging, the Cardboard Rocket would be flat-packed, measuring around 113cm x 105cm x 5.5cm. Once it has been fully assembled and constructed, it will measure around 90cm x 162cm x 90cm. Needless to say, at such dimensions, adults are strictly prohibited from joining in the adventures of your child’s imagination.
[ Cardboard Rocket is combustible but fun for sure copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
NASA is always out to find new way to propel their rockets. One enterprising geek apparently took it upon himself to send NASA a proposal to power a rocket with a “shit load of Coke” and a bunch of Mentos. Clearly, the letter was meant as a joke, but NASA Associate Administrator Steven Malkovich took the time to respond.
Malkovich told the sender, one Mr. Jones, that it had no interest in his rocket proposal. NASA says there is no practical use for the tech, even if they used a “shit load” of Coke as Mr. Jones suggested. My favorite part of the NASA response is where they point out it takes years of training to become an astronaut.
Mr. Jones had apparently said that he wanted to be a “spaceman” and that it appeared to be so simple even a chimp could do it. You can click the image of the letter to get a better look at the text for yourself. I’m now crafting a much better plan to fuel rockets involving feeding astronauts a steady diet of Taco Bell Chilitos and a flatulence capturing apparatus.
[via Reddit]
While most of the news about SpaceX has surrounded the Grasshopper lately, the firm has been plugging away at its Falcon rocket, too. This just-launched Falcon 9 (dubbed version 1.1) boasts 60 percent more powerful engines, longer fuel tanks and according to the Global Post, other new features that were designed to boost lift capacity and “simplify operations for commercial service.” To that end, the spacecraft was carrying a science and communications satellite for Canada’s MDA Corp. when it left Earth’s atmosphere. The take-off comes just over five years after the first Falcon’s departure, and its itinerary will take it around both poles. Just remember, for a cool $56.5 million you too can send a Falcon 9 into space.
Filed under: Transportation, Science
Via: YouTube
Source: SpaceX (YouTube), SpaceX (Twitter)
Affordable is a relative term, but in the world of rocket science Japan’s recently launched Epsilon qualifies as such. Costing just $37-million (albeit not directly comparable, NASA claims a typical launch costs around $450-million) to send off, Jaxa — Japan’s space agency — rightly considers it a steal. Epsilon launched from the south-west of the country at 2pm local time. Its mission? To deploy a telescope that Jaxa advises will observe our neighboring planets from its position in Earth’s orbit. The cost efficiency is being put down to the rocket’s artificial intelligence, something that slashes the man-power needed from 150 to 8. Let’s just hope the thriftiness wasn’t just to fund that other recent launch.
Filed under: Science
Via: BBC
Source: Jaxa
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