The first of two Grail space probes has entered lunar orbit
The first of two Grail space probes has entered lunar orbit.
The first of two Grail space probes has entered lunar orbit.
Tag: engineering
The first of two Grail space probes has entered lunar orbit
China issues a white paper on space, outlining its future goals
China today issued a white paper on space, outlining its future goals. In addition to additional launches of its manned Shenzhou manned capsule,
China also plans to launch space laboratories, manned spaceship and space freighters, and will start a research on the preliminary plan for a human landing on the moon, the document said.
As an important part of deep-space exploration, the country’s lunar probe projects follow the idea of “three steps” — orbiting, landing and returning. In next five years, the country plans to launch orbiters for lunar soft landing, roving and surveying to implement the second stage of lunar exploration, then it will start the third-stage project of sampling the moon’s surface matters and get those samples back to Earth, the white paper said.
You can download the full white paper here [pdf]. Hat tip to Spaceref.com.
China today issued a white paper on space, outlining its future goals. In addition to additional launches of its manned Shenzhou manned capsule,
China also plans to launch space laboratories, manned spaceship and space freighters, and will start a research on the preliminary plan for a human landing on the moon, the document said.
As an important part of deep-space exploration, the country’s lunar probe projects follow the idea of “three steps” — orbiting, landing and returning. In next five years, the country plans to launch orbiters for lunar soft landing, roving and surveying to implement the second stage of lunar exploration, then it will start the third-stage project of sampling the moon’s surface matters and get those samples back to Earth, the white paper said.
You can download the full white paper here [pdf]. Hat tip to Spaceref.com.
Soyuz rocket successfully launched six satellites into orbit today
Good news: A Russian Soyuz-2 rocket successfully launched six satellites into orbit today, less than a week after a differently configured Soyuz-2 rocket had failed.
Good news: A Russian Soyuz-2 rocket successfully launched six satellites into orbit today, less than a week after a differently configured Soyuz-2 rocket had failed.
China has activated its own GPS satellite system
China has activated its own GPS satellite system.
China had so far launched 10 satellites for the Beidou system, including one this month, and planned to put six more in orbit in 2012 to enhance the system’s accuracy and expand its service to cover most of the Asia Pacific region.
China has activated its own GPS satellite system.
China had so far launched 10 satellites for the Beidou system, including one this month, and planned to put six more in orbit in 2012 to enhance the system’s accuracy and expand its service to cover most of the Asia Pacific region.
A family struggles to complete a Knoxville to Nashville trip using an electric car
An exercise in absurdity: A family struggles to complete the 180 mile trip from Knoxville to Nashville using an electric car.
The Blink fast-charge station was on the blink. Efforts to use the two available plugs yielded nothing for Stephen Smith when he and his family arrived in Lebanon in their electric vehicle.
But all was not lost as the Smiths closed in on their destination – a brother’s house only 22 miles away in Antioch. With ten miles of available power left on their car, they could take advantage of a slower charger next to the other at the Blink station at Cracker Barrel. It took about an hour, but the boost gave enough energy for a total of 30 miles.
They also had to pay attention to whether the route was flat or hilly, as any hills significantly reduced their range of about 75 miles. In addition, they found that even that number was unreliable, and that often the maximum range the car could travel was far less.
Even the fast-charge station still needed about 30 minutes to charge up the car. Imagine having to wait 30 minutes every time you needed to fill up, and imagine having to do it every 70 miles.
There is a reason electric cars can’t compete with gasoline, and this journey illustrates it.
An exercise in absurdity: A family struggles to complete the 180 mile trip from Knoxville to Nashville using an electric car.
The Blink fast-charge station was on the blink. Efforts to use the two available plugs yielded nothing for Stephen Smith when he and his family arrived in Lebanon in their electric vehicle.
But all was not lost as the Smiths closed in on their destination – a brother’s house only 22 miles away in Antioch. With ten miles of available power left on their car, they could take advantage of a slower charger next to the other at the Blink station at Cracker Barrel. It took about an hour, but the boost gave enough energy for a total of 30 miles.
They also had to pay attention to whether the route was flat or hilly, as any hills significantly reduced their range of about 75 miles. In addition, they found that even that number was unreliable, and that often the maximum range the car could travel was far less.
Even the fast-charge station still needed about 30 minutes to charge up the car. Imagine having to wait 30 minutes every time you needed to fill up, and imagine having to do it every 70 miles.
There is a reason electric cars can’t compete with gasoline, and this journey illustrates it.
A day made of glass
An evening pause: Though it really doesn’t make sense to spend the money for electronic road signs, this public relations video from Corning still gives one a hint of some of the cool technology coming down the pike.
As Arthur Clarke once said, “Any science sufficiently advanced is indistinguishable from magic.”
Russia scrubs launch of Proton rocket due to “technical problems.”
Russia has scrubbed the launch of a Proton rocket today due to “technical problems.”
After the launch failure on Saturday of a Soyuz rocket, I suspect that top management got gun shy about doing another launch so soon thereafter.
Russia has scrubbed the launch of a Proton rocket today due to “technical problems.”
After the launch failure on Saturday of a Soyuz rocket, I suspect that top management got gun shy about doing another launch so soon thereafter.
The Leaning Towers from around the world
The leaning towers from around the world. With pictures.
And the Tower of Pisa is not number one in tilt!
The leaning towers from around the world. With pictures.
And the Tower of Pisa is not number one in tilt!
Engineers say the mysterious sphere that crashed in Africa is a hydrazine tank from a rocket
Engineers say the mysterious sphere that crashed in Africa is a hydrazine tank from a rocket.
Engineers say the mysterious sphere that crashed in Africa is a hydrazine tank from a rocket.
The man who invented the Erector set
The man who invented the Erector set.
The man who invented the Erector set.
Fragments from the failed Russian launch crash onto “Cosmonaut Street” in Siberia
Fragments from yesterday’s failed Russian launch crashed onto “Cosmonaut Street” in Siberia.
Fragments from yesterday’s failed Russian launch crashed onto “Cosmonaut Street” in Siberia.
Mystery space ball drops on Namibia
Chicken Little report: A mysterious metal sphere fell out of the sky in Namibia.
Chicken Little report: A mysterious metal sphere fell out of the sky in Namibia.
Bringing an asteroid home in a bag.
The NASA shuttle simulator for training astronauts is going to at Texas A&M
The NASA shuttle simulator for training astronauts is going to Texas A&M.
Valasek said it won’t be a static display for viewing but a functional flight simulator. Visitors will be able to sit in the seats and cockpit and manually fly a simulated re-entry as the shuttle astronauts did. “When operational again, the SMS will be the centerpiece of many educational, outreach, and research activities for a long time to come,” Valasek said. “And it will be accessible. Until now, 355 astronauts have trained on the Shuttle Motion Simulator and flown on a space shuttle mission. Now the rest of us can experience at least a part of the excitement of space exploration, just the way the astronauts trained for it.”
The simulator will be used in aerospace engineering courses and accessible to all Texas A&M students, staff, and faculty. Spaceflight enthusiasts and fans of technology, whether affiliated with the university or not, will also be able to enjoy it.
Now, this is what an engineering school should be focused on, rather than the skin color of its students.
The NASA shuttle simulator for training astronauts is going to Texas A&M.
Valasek said it won’t be a static display for viewing but a functional flight simulator. Visitors will be able to sit in the seats and cockpit and manually fly a simulated re-entry as the shuttle astronauts did. “When operational again, the SMS will be the centerpiece of many educational, outreach, and research activities for a long time to come,” Valasek said. “And it will be accessible. Until now, 355 astronauts have trained on the Shuttle Motion Simulator and flown on a space shuttle mission. Now the rest of us can experience at least a part of the excitement of space exploration, just the way the astronauts trained for it.”
The simulator will be used in aerospace engineering courses and accessible to all Texas A&M students, staff, and faculty. Spaceflight enthusiasts and fans of technology, whether affiliated with the university or not, will also be able to enjoy it.
Now, this is what an engineering school should be focused on, rather than the skin color of its students.
Bigotry on campus
The newly named “associate dean for equity and inclusion” at the College of Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, is promising “disruptive progress” in his effort to increase minorities at the school.
The plan [pdf] includes more money for staffing and facilities for the “equity and inclusion” department, plus more money and power for student organizations. Sadly, this is money and facilities that will no longer be available for actual education or research.
» Read more
Russia launches three astronauts to ISS
Doing the work NASA can’t do: Russia successfully launched three astronauts to ISS this morning.
Doing the work NASA can’t do: Russia successfully launched three astronauts to ISS this morning.
Miniatur Wunderland – largest model railway in the world
Swallowed pen still works 25 years later
Good engineering: A swallowed pen, stuck in a 76-year-old woman’s stomach for 25 years, still worked after it was removed.
Good engineering: A swallowed pen, stuck in a 76-year-old woman’s stomach for 25 years, still worked after it was removed.
A telescope to go where no telescope has gone before
Russia’s GPS system, Glonass, has reached full operational capability for the first time since the fall of the Soviet Union
Russia’s GPS system, Glonass, has returned to full operational capability, lost shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union.
Russia’s GPS system, Glonass, has returned to full operational capability, lost shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union.
Five ridiculous gun myths promoted by movies
Five ridiculous gun myths promoted by movies. I like this one:
It’s an old joke by now that nobody runs out of bullets in action movies (unless it’s suddenly convenient to the plot, that is). Hollywood shows some restraint with revolvers–usually no more than 10 or 11 shots per six-shot cylinder–but damn, do they go hog-wild with anything that fires full-auto. So much so that that most of us have wound up with an utterly ridiculous concept of how those guns work. They’re seriously depicting these things firing a hundred times more bullets than they can actually hold.
Five ridiculous gun myths promoted by movies. I like this one:
It’s an old joke by now that nobody runs out of bullets in action movies (unless it’s suddenly convenient to the plot, that is). Hollywood shows some restraint with revolvers–usually no more than 10 or 11 shots per six-shot cylinder–but damn, do they go hog-wild with anything that fires full-auto. So much so that that most of us have wound up with an utterly ridiculous concept of how those guns work. They’re seriously depicting these things firing a hundred times more bullets than they can actually hold.
Festive Mechanized Holiday Cat Accessories
A Spanish company has announced it will build a space hotel by 2012
A Spanish company has announced it will build a space hotel by 2012.
The story suggests that Virgin Galactic will providing the tourist ferry to their orbital hotel, which is puzzling as that company is only building a suborbital spacecraft at this time.
A Spanish company has announced it will build a space hotel by 2012.
The story suggests that Virgin Galactic will providing the tourist ferry to their orbital hotel, which is puzzling as that company is only building a suborbital spacecraft at this time.
Using the spacecraft’s last drops of fuel, engineers are attempting to aim Deep Impact toward a rendezvous with near Earth asteroid 2002 GT.
Using the spacecraft’s last drops of fuel, engineers are attempting to aim Deep Impact to a 2020 rendezvous with near Earth asteroid 2002 GT.
Using the spacecraft’s last drops of fuel, engineers are attempting to aim Deep Impact to a 2020 rendezvous with near Earth asteroid 2002 GT.
Europe to test fly a suborbital space plane in 2014
Virgin Galactic isn’t the only one building a suborbital spaceplane: Europe plans to test fly its own suborbital spaceship in 2014.
Virgin Galactic isn’t the only one building a suborbital spaceplane: Europe plans to test fly its own suborbital spaceship in 2014.
Richard Branson talks to the Wall Street Journal
Richard Branson talks to the Wall Street Journal about space.
Mr. Branson is still radiating enthusiasm. “We’ve got just short of 500 people now signed up to go, which is actually more people than have been up to space in the history of space travel, and we hope to put those up in our first year of operation,” he says, predicting the first commercial flight by “about next Christmas,” although he acknowledges that there have been many delays.
Richard Branson talks to the Wall Street Journal about space.
Mr. Branson is still radiating enthusiasm. “We’ve got just short of 500 people now signed up to go, which is actually more people than have been up to space in the history of space travel, and we hope to put those up in our first year of operation,” he says, predicting the first commercial flight by “about next Christmas,” although he acknowledges that there have been many delays.
Russian rocket completes its second launch from French Guiana
A Russian Soyuz rocket has completed its second launch from French Guiana, carrying six military satellites into orbit.
A Russian Soyuz rocket has completed its second launch from French Guiana, carrying six military satellites into orbit.
The Fukushima nuclear reactor has reached the state of cold shutdown
Good news: The Fukushima nuclear reactor has reached the state of cold shutdown.
This means that the reactor core has cooled enough that there is no need to recirculate the water to keep the fuel cool. However, because the reactor continues to leak that water recirculation is still necessary, and will be for years.
As is typical of many modern journalists, the article above is also an unstated editorial both hostile to nuclear energy as well as private enterprise, best shown by the article’s concluding paragraph:
Meanwhile, the Japanese public and many of its politicians remained deeply mistrustful of the situation at Fukushima. In this week’s issue of Nature, two members of the Japanese parliament call for nationalization of the Fukushima Plant, to allow scientists and engineers to investigate exactly what happened inside the reactors, and to reassure the public that the decommissioning will be done with their interests at heart. Regardless of whether you agree with the authors, nationalization seems almost inevitable. The lengthy decommissioning process that will follow this cold shutdown, and the enormous cost involved, make it a job for a government, not a corporation. [emphasis mine]
First, he has no idea what the Japanese public thinks of this situation. Second, there is no evidence that the government could do this job better than the company that runs the reactor. Both conclusions are mere opinion, inserted inappropriately in a news article without any supporting proofs.
Good news: The Fukushima nuclear reactor has reached the state of cold shutdown.
This means that the reactor core has cooled enough that there is no need to recirculate the water to keep the fuel cool. However, because the reactor continues to leak that water recirculation is still necessary, and will be for years.
As is typical of many modern journalists, the article above is also an unstated editorial both hostile to nuclear energy as well as private enterprise, best shown by the article’s concluding paragraph:
Meanwhile, the Japanese public and many of its politicians remained deeply mistrustful of the situation at Fukushima. In this week’s issue of Nature, two members of the Japanese parliament call for nationalization of the Fukushima Plant, to allow scientists and engineers to investigate exactly what happened inside the reactors, and to reassure the public that the decommissioning will be done with their interests at heart. Regardless of whether you agree with the authors, nationalization seems almost inevitable. The lengthy decommissioning process that will follow this cold shutdown, and the enormous cost involved, make it a job for a government, not a corporation. [emphasis mine]
First, he has no idea what the Japanese public thinks of this situation. Second, there is no evidence that the government could do this job better than the company that runs the reactor. Both conclusions are mere opinion, inserted inappropriately in a news article without any supporting proofs.
Rider on the Storm
At approximately 6:00 pm, Lt Col Rankin concluded that his aircraft was unrecoverable and pulled hard on his eject handles. An explosive charge propelled him from the cockpit into the atmosphere with sufficient force to rip his left glove from his hand, scattering his canopy, pilot seat, and other plane-related debris into the sky. Bill Rankin had spent a fair amount of time skydiving in his career—both premeditated and otherwise—but this particular dive would be unlike any that he or any living person had experienced before.
Or since.
At approximately 6:00 pm, Lt Col Rankin concluded that his aircraft was unrecoverable and pulled hard on his eject handles. An explosive charge propelled him from the cockpit into the atmosphere with sufficient force to rip his left glove from his hand, scattering his canopy, pilot seat, and other plane-related debris into the sky. Bill Rankin had spent a fair amount of time skydiving in his career—both premeditated and otherwise—but this particular dive would be unlike any that he or any living person had experienced before.
Or since.
Alan Boyle describes the details behind NASA’s decision to go with simpler contracting for future commercial rocket contracts
Alan Boyle describes the details behind NASA’s decision to go with simpler contracting for future commercial rocket contracts.
If you read the article, you’ll notice that the opposition to this decision comes from a Congressman and the GAO. In both cases they cite safety as an issue, as is by some magic giving NASA a lot of bureaucratic approval rights on every design is going to make the rockets or capsules safer. All this will really do is slow things down, increase costs, and possibly increase risks as the companies will no longer have as many resources to focus on design issues. Instead, they will have to spend a fortune pleasing NASA bureaucrats.
And yes, I call them bureaucrats. Any NASA engineer who spends his or her time looking over the shoulder of another engineer — who is doing the real design work — is nothing more than a bureaucrat. Better to quit NASA and get a job with one of these new companies where you can do some real work.
Alan Boyle describes the details behind NASA’s decision to go with simpler contracting for future commercial rocket contracts.
If you read the article, you’ll notice that the opposition to this decision comes from a Congressman and the GAO. In both cases they cite safety as an issue, as is by some magic giving NASA a lot of bureaucratic approval rights on every design is going to make the rockets or capsules safer. All this will really do is slow things down, increase costs, and possibly increase risks as the companies will no longer have as many resources to focus on design issues. Instead, they will have to spend a fortune pleasing NASA bureaucrats.
And yes, I call them bureaucrats. Any NASA engineer who spends his or her time looking over the shoulder of another engineer — who is doing the real design work — is nothing more than a bureaucrat. Better to quit NASA and get a job with one of these new companies where you can do some real work.