Space exploration and technology
- Thread starter pyromaniac
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Revestroke, i sure do appreciate your very kind information . It gives me a better understanding of the technical capabilities of the various arms of the ISRO and IAF and what they can do ..... and as an NRI , gives us a good feeling! I only wish that there would be more people like yourself and i believe there will be . For india to make the maiden voyage with 2 vyomanauts will be a world's first and perhaps a way to leap-frog some intermediate stages. Looking forward to the actual launch - meanwhile wishing you and all in the ISRO a Jai Hind
SHASH2K2
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Capability to neutralise enemy satellites proved
The fresh success of the interceptor missile mission on Sunday has demonstrated the country's capability to neutralise adversarial satellites in space, according to V.K. Saraswat, Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister.India has "all the technologies and building blocks which can be used for anti-satellite missions" in the low-earth and polar orbits. However, "India's policy is that it will not weaponise space, and we are committed to the peaceful uses of outer space," he said.
Out of the six interceptor missions conducted so far by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), five have been successful.
"Fantastic success"
Dr. Saraswat, who is also the DRDO Director-General, called Sunday's mission "a fantastic success." The interceptor boasted new technologies such as directional warhead, fibre-optic gyroscopes and a radio-frequency seeker that guided the interceptor to attack the incoming "enemy missile" at an altitude of 16 km above the Bay of Bengal.
The incoming missile, a modified Prithvi, blasted off at 9.32 a.m. from the launch complex III of the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, Orissa. It mimicked the trajectory of a ballistic missile with a 600-km Range. In no time, radars at different locations swung into action, tracking the "enemy" missile, constructing its trajectory and passing on the information in real time to the Mission Control Centre (MCC) to launch the interceptor, an Advanced Air Defence (AAD) missile. It had a directional warhead to go so close to the adversarial missile before exploding to inflict the maximum damage on it. The interceptor had state-of-the-art guidance systems to achieve a manoeuvrable trajectory.
The MCC identified the attacker as a ballistic missile and assigned it to the Launch Control Centre (LCC) on Wheeler Island. After making quick calculations, the LCC launched the interceptor "right on the dot at the required instant," Dr. Saraswat said. The AAD soared into the sky at 9.37 a.m. from Wheeler Island to take care of the "threat."
The interceptor manoeuvred in the direction of the target, which was called the "least energy manoeuvre," he said. The interceptor raced into the sky at 4.5 Mach. In the terminal phase of the attacker's flight, as it was hurtling towards the earth, the interceptor's radio frequency seeker "acquired the target, rolled the interceptor in the right direction and, when it was a few metres from the target, gave the command to the directional warhead to explode," Dr. Saraswat explained.
The warhead detonated, blasting the attacker to pieces. The ground-based radars and the sensors on board the targeted missile tracked the debris, which rained down over the Bay of Bengal, "confirming a very good kill," the DRDO Director-General said. "Based on the data from the target, a 100 per cent kill was achieved." The radars were located at Konark and Kendrapara, near Paradip, in Orissa.
V.L.N. Rao, Programme Director; Avinash Chander, Director, Advanced Systems Laboratory, DRDO, Hyderabad; K. Sekhar, Chief Controller (Missile Systems and Low Intensity Conflict), DRDO; and S.P. Dash, Director, ITR, were present on Wheeler Island. Defence Minister A.K. Antony congratulated the DRDO missile technologists on the successful demonstration of the ballistic missile defence system.
Dr. Saraswat said the next test would be done later this year to intercept a 2000-km-range incoming missile at an altitude of 150 km. India's plans for putting in place the first phase of the two-layered ballistic missile defence shield by 2012 and the second phase by 2016 were on course. This would be done by integrating it with the Air Defence System of the Indian Air Force and the Army.
Only the U.S., Russia, France, Israel and India have the capability to put in place a ballistic missile defence shield. China is still developing it. It conducted an anti-ballistic missile test on January 11, 2010. The target missile, launched from Xichang, was intercepted and destroyed at an altitude of 700 km by a KT-2 variant missile that took off from near Korla in Xinjiang province.
The fresh success of the interceptor missile mission on Sunday has demonstrated the country's capability to neutralise adversarial satellites in space, according to V.K. Saraswat, Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister.India has "all the technologies and building blocks which can be used for anti-satellite missions" in the low-earth and polar orbits. However, "India's policy is that it will not weaponise space, and we are committed to the peaceful uses of outer space," he said.
Out of the six interceptor missions conducted so far by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), five have been successful.
"Fantastic success"
Dr. Saraswat, who is also the DRDO Director-General, called Sunday's mission "a fantastic success." The interceptor boasted new technologies such as directional warhead, fibre-optic gyroscopes and a radio-frequency seeker that guided the interceptor to attack the incoming "enemy missile" at an altitude of 16 km above the Bay of Bengal.
The incoming missile, a modified Prithvi, blasted off at 9.32 a.m. from the launch complex III of the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, Orissa. It mimicked the trajectory of a ballistic missile with a 600-km Range. In no time, radars at different locations swung into action, tracking the "enemy" missile, constructing its trajectory and passing on the information in real time to the Mission Control Centre (MCC) to launch the interceptor, an Advanced Air Defence (AAD) missile. It had a directional warhead to go so close to the adversarial missile before exploding to inflict the maximum damage on it. The interceptor had state-of-the-art guidance systems to achieve a manoeuvrable trajectory.
The MCC identified the attacker as a ballistic missile and assigned it to the Launch Control Centre (LCC) on Wheeler Island. After making quick calculations, the LCC launched the interceptor "right on the dot at the required instant," Dr. Saraswat said. The AAD soared into the sky at 9.37 a.m. from Wheeler Island to take care of the "threat."
The interceptor manoeuvred in the direction of the target, which was called the "least energy manoeuvre," he said. The interceptor raced into the sky at 4.5 Mach. In the terminal phase of the attacker's flight, as it was hurtling towards the earth, the interceptor's radio frequency seeker "acquired the target, rolled the interceptor in the right direction and, when it was a few metres from the target, gave the command to the directional warhead to explode," Dr. Saraswat explained.
The warhead detonated, blasting the attacker to pieces. The ground-based radars and the sensors on board the targeted missile tracked the debris, which rained down over the Bay of Bengal, "confirming a very good kill," the DRDO Director-General said. "Based on the data from the target, a 100 per cent kill was achieved." The radars were located at Konark and Kendrapara, near Paradip, in Orissa.
V.L.N. Rao, Programme Director; Avinash Chander, Director, Advanced Systems Laboratory, DRDO, Hyderabad; K. Sekhar, Chief Controller (Missile Systems and Low Intensity Conflict), DRDO; and S.P. Dash, Director, ITR, were present on Wheeler Island. Defence Minister A.K. Antony congratulated the DRDO missile technologists on the successful demonstration of the ballistic missile defence system.
Dr. Saraswat said the next test would be done later this year to intercept a 2000-km-range incoming missile at an altitude of 150 km. India's plans for putting in place the first phase of the two-layered ballistic missile defence shield by 2012 and the second phase by 2016 were on course. This would be done by integrating it with the Air Defence System of the Indian Air Force and the Army.
Only the U.S., Russia, France, Israel and India have the capability to put in place a ballistic missile defence shield. China is still developing it. It conducted an anti-ballistic missile test on January 11, 2010. The target missile, launched from Xichang, was intercepted and destroyed at an altitude of 700 km by a KT-2 variant missile that took off from near Korla in Xinjiang province.
LETHALFORCE
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A Reusable Manned Deep - Space Craft
http://www.space-travel.com/reports/A_Reusable_Manned_Deep_Space_Craft_999.html
Almost a year after Launchspace contributing editors suggested an exploration vehicle that would take crews from low Earth orbit to many solar system destinations such as asteroids and lunar circumnavigation, NASA has come up with NAUTILUS-X, which stands for Non-Atmospheric Universal Transport Intended for Lengthy US space eXploration.
The suggested NASA version is a tubular-looking spacecraft that could serve as a reusable vehicle, holding a crew of six and enough supplies for a two-year expedition. This vehicle would be built in orbit and, if funded, could be ready for space missions by 2020.
Launchspace originally suggested that the ISS might be a good base of operations for such a transporter.
However, NASA suggests it would be assembled from expandable structures, such as Bigelow's inflatable habitats. Part of the vehicle would contain a ring centrifuge to provide partial gravity. A radiation-mitigation system would be needed to project the crew. This might be done with tanks of water or liquid hydrogen slush.
Since Nautilus is intended to be a multi-mission exploration vehicle, it could incorporate mission-specific systems such as propulsion for high delta-V missions, or extra life support for longer coasting periods. As originally suggested by Launchspace, this approach would relieve the need to carry heavy atmospheric ascent and entry systems and structures.
However, we still need to ferry the crews from Earth surface to low orbit. At the moment, the US does not have such a vehicle beyond mid-2011, when the Shuttle will be retired. Hopefully, a replacement option will soon arrive.
NASA estimates the cost to be about $3.7 billion and construction time to be at least five years. Launchspace thinks this could be an exciting international program to which many nations would be happy to contribute. Such a partnership should reduce NASA's cost considerably, and offer several Earth-to-orbit crew options.
Let's see how far the idea gets.
http://www.space-travel.com/reports/A_Reusable_Manned_Deep_Space_Craft_999.html
Almost a year after Launchspace contributing editors suggested an exploration vehicle that would take crews from low Earth orbit to many solar system destinations such as asteroids and lunar circumnavigation, NASA has come up with NAUTILUS-X, which stands for Non-Atmospheric Universal Transport Intended for Lengthy US space eXploration.
The suggested NASA version is a tubular-looking spacecraft that could serve as a reusable vehicle, holding a crew of six and enough supplies for a two-year expedition. This vehicle would be built in orbit and, if funded, could be ready for space missions by 2020.
Launchspace originally suggested that the ISS might be a good base of operations for such a transporter.
However, NASA suggests it would be assembled from expandable structures, such as Bigelow's inflatable habitats. Part of the vehicle would contain a ring centrifuge to provide partial gravity. A radiation-mitigation system would be needed to project the crew. This might be done with tanks of water or liquid hydrogen slush.
Since Nautilus is intended to be a multi-mission exploration vehicle, it could incorporate mission-specific systems such as propulsion for high delta-V missions, or extra life support for longer coasting periods. As originally suggested by Launchspace, this approach would relieve the need to carry heavy atmospheric ascent and entry systems and structures.
However, we still need to ferry the crews from Earth surface to low orbit. At the moment, the US does not have such a vehicle beyond mid-2011, when the Shuttle will be retired. Hopefully, a replacement option will soon arrive.
NASA estimates the cost to be about $3.7 billion and construction time to be at least five years. Launchspace thinks this could be an exciting international program to which many nations would be happy to contribute. Such a partnership should reduce NASA's cost considerably, and offer several Earth-to-orbit crew options.
Let's see how far the idea gets.
Someoneforyou
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SpaceX Announces Launch Date for the World's Most Powerful Rocket
SpaceX Announces Launch Date for the World's Most Powerful Rocket
UNITED STATES - 14 MARCH 2011
Falcon Heavy will lift more than twice as much as any other launch vehicle
WASHINGTON | Yesterday, Elon Musk, CEO and chief rocket designer of Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), unveiled the dramatic final specifications and launch date for the Falcon Heavy, the world's largest rocket.
"Falcon Heavy will carry more payload to orbit or escape velocity than any vehicle in history, apart from the Saturn V moon rocket, which was decommissioned after the Apollo program. This opens a new world of capability for both government and commercial space missions," Musk told a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.
"Falcon Heavy will arrive at our Vandenberg, California, launch complex by the end of next year, with liftoff to follow soon thereafter. First launch from our Cape Canaveral launch complex is planned for late 2013 or 2014."
Musk added that with the ability to carry satellites or interplanetary spacecraft weighing over 53 metric tons or 117,000 pounds to orbit, Falcon Heavy will have more than twice the performance of the Delta IV Heavy, the next most powerful vehicle, which is operated by United Launch Alliance, a Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture.
53 metric tons is more than the maximum take-off weight of a fully-loaded Boeing 737-200 with 136 passengers. In other words, Falcon Heavy can deliver the equivalent of an entire commercial airplane full of passengers, crew, luggage and fuel all the way to orbit.
Falcon Heavy's first stage will be made up of three nine-engine cores, which are used as the first stage of the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle. It will be powered by SpaceX's upgraded Merlin engines currently being tested at the SpaceX rocket development facility in McGregor, Texas. Falcon Heavy will generate 3.8 million pounds of thrust at liftoff. This is the equivalent to the thrust of fifteen Boeing 747s taking off at the same time.
Above all, Falcon Heavy has been designed for extreme reliability. Unique safety features of the Falcon 9 are preserved, such as the ability to complete its mission even if multiple engines fail. Like a commercial airliner, each engine is surrounded by a protective shell that contains a worst case situation like fire or a chamber rupture, preventing it from affecting other engines or the vehicle itself.
Anticipating potential astronaut transport needs, Falcon Heavy is also designed to meet NASA human rating standards, unlike other satellite launch vehicles. For example, this means designing to higher structural safety margins of 40% above flight loads, rather than the 25% level of other rockets, and triple redundant avionics.
Falcon Heavy will be the first rocket in history to do propellant cross-feed from the side boosters to the center core, thus leaving the center core with most of its propellant after the side boosters separate. The net effect is that Falcon Heavy achieves performance comparable to a three stage rocket, even though only the upper stage is airlit, further improving both payload performance and reliability. Crossfeed is not required for missions below 100,000 lbs, and can be turned off if desired.
Despite being designed to higher structural margins than other rockets, the side booster stages will have a mass ratio (full of propellant vs empty) above 30, better than any vehicle of any kind in history.
Falcon Heavy, with more than twice the payload, but less than one third the cost of a Delta IV Heavy, will provide much needed relief to government and commercial budgets. In fact, Falcon Heavy at approximately $1,000 per pound to orbit, sets a new world record in affordable spaceflight.
This year, even as the Department of Defense budget was cut, the EELV launch program, which includes the Delta IV, still saw a thirty percent increase.
The 2012 budget for four Air Force launches is $1.74B, which is an average of $435M per launch. Falcon 9 is offered on the commercial market for $50-60M and Falcon Heavy is offered for $80-$125M. Unlike our competitors, this price includes all non-recurring development costs and on-orbit delivery of an agreed upon mission. For government missions, NASA has added mission assurance and additional services to the Falcon 9 for less than $20M.
Vehicle Overview:
Mass to Orbit (200 km, 28.5 deg): 53 metric tons (117,000 lbs)
Length: 69.2 meters (227 ft)
Max Stage Width: 5.2 m (17 ft)
Total Width: 11.6 meters (38 ft)
Weight at Liftoff: 1,400 metric tons or 3.1 million lbs
Thrust on Liftoff: 1,700 metric tons or 3.8 million lbs
Please note that Falcon Heavy should not be confused with the super heavy lift rocket program being debated by the U.S. Congress. That vehicle is authorized to carry between 70-130 metric tons to orbit. SpaceX agrees with the need to develop a vehicle of that class as the best way to conduct a large number of human missions to Mars.
Illustration Falcon Heavy Rocket. The Falcon Heavy Rocket will be the most capable rocket in the world.
Source: Space Exploration Technologies Corp.
SpaceX Announces Launch Date for the World's Most Powerful Rocket
UNITED STATES - 14 MARCH 2011
Falcon Heavy will lift more than twice as much as any other launch vehicle
WASHINGTON | Yesterday, Elon Musk, CEO and chief rocket designer of Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), unveiled the dramatic final specifications and launch date for the Falcon Heavy, the world's largest rocket.
"Falcon Heavy will carry more payload to orbit or escape velocity than any vehicle in history, apart from the Saturn V moon rocket, which was decommissioned after the Apollo program. This opens a new world of capability for both government and commercial space missions," Musk told a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.
"Falcon Heavy will arrive at our Vandenberg, California, launch complex by the end of next year, with liftoff to follow soon thereafter. First launch from our Cape Canaveral launch complex is planned for late 2013 or 2014."
Musk added that with the ability to carry satellites or interplanetary spacecraft weighing over 53 metric tons or 117,000 pounds to orbit, Falcon Heavy will have more than twice the performance of the Delta IV Heavy, the next most powerful vehicle, which is operated by United Launch Alliance, a Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture.
53 metric tons is more than the maximum take-off weight of a fully-loaded Boeing 737-200 with 136 passengers. In other words, Falcon Heavy can deliver the equivalent of an entire commercial airplane full of passengers, crew, luggage and fuel all the way to orbit.
Falcon Heavy's first stage will be made up of three nine-engine cores, which are used as the first stage of the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle. It will be powered by SpaceX's upgraded Merlin engines currently being tested at the SpaceX rocket development facility in McGregor, Texas. Falcon Heavy will generate 3.8 million pounds of thrust at liftoff. This is the equivalent to the thrust of fifteen Boeing 747s taking off at the same time.
Above all, Falcon Heavy has been designed for extreme reliability. Unique safety features of the Falcon 9 are preserved, such as the ability to complete its mission even if multiple engines fail. Like a commercial airliner, each engine is surrounded by a protective shell that contains a worst case situation like fire or a chamber rupture, preventing it from affecting other engines or the vehicle itself.
Anticipating potential astronaut transport needs, Falcon Heavy is also designed to meet NASA human rating standards, unlike other satellite launch vehicles. For example, this means designing to higher structural safety margins of 40% above flight loads, rather than the 25% level of other rockets, and triple redundant avionics.
Falcon Heavy will be the first rocket in history to do propellant cross-feed from the side boosters to the center core, thus leaving the center core with most of its propellant after the side boosters separate. The net effect is that Falcon Heavy achieves performance comparable to a three stage rocket, even though only the upper stage is airlit, further improving both payload performance and reliability. Crossfeed is not required for missions below 100,000 lbs, and can be turned off if desired.
Despite being designed to higher structural margins than other rockets, the side booster stages will have a mass ratio (full of propellant vs empty) above 30, better than any vehicle of any kind in history.
Falcon Heavy, with more than twice the payload, but less than one third the cost of a Delta IV Heavy, will provide much needed relief to government and commercial budgets. In fact, Falcon Heavy at approximately $1,000 per pound to orbit, sets a new world record in affordable spaceflight.
This year, even as the Department of Defense budget was cut, the EELV launch program, which includes the Delta IV, still saw a thirty percent increase.
The 2012 budget for four Air Force launches is $1.74B, which is an average of $435M per launch. Falcon 9 is offered on the commercial market for $50-60M and Falcon Heavy is offered for $80-$125M. Unlike our competitors, this price includes all non-recurring development costs and on-orbit delivery of an agreed upon mission. For government missions, NASA has added mission assurance and additional services to the Falcon 9 for less than $20M.
Vehicle Overview:
Mass to Orbit (200 km, 28.5 deg): 53 metric tons (117,000 lbs)
Length: 69.2 meters (227 ft)
Max Stage Width: 5.2 m (17 ft)
Total Width: 11.6 meters (38 ft)
Weight at Liftoff: 1,400 metric tons or 3.1 million lbs
Thrust on Liftoff: 1,700 metric tons or 3.8 million lbs
Please note that Falcon Heavy should not be confused with the super heavy lift rocket program being debated by the U.S. Congress. That vehicle is authorized to carry between 70-130 metric tons to orbit. SpaceX agrees with the need to develop a vehicle of that class as the best way to conduct a large number of human missions to Mars.
Illustration Falcon Heavy Rocket. The Falcon Heavy Rocket will be the most capable rocket in the world.
Source: Space Exploration Technologies Corp.
within the space community there are people are are placing high hopes on spacex and the commercial movement they are 'leading' to shake things up in an industry that has been stagnant in the US for some time. Of course there is also the 'old guard' who are skeptical of SpaceX's reliability and ability to bring their talk into reality. Whether the 53 tons or so is a fully upgraded end result Falcon Heavy or whether it is right out of the box (or somewhere in between) is unknown. I'd like to think Elon knows things that the rest dont, but I also can't help but think something's fishy when such a huge upgrade in an LV is possible with a level of costs coming close to touching the much sought after holy grail.
We will know in 2-3 years time Whether there is more to the Falcon Heavy than words. certainly the next 10 years will be an exciting time in the commercial space industry, at least in the US.
We will know in 2-3 years time Whether there is more to the Falcon Heavy than words. certainly the next 10 years will be an exciting time in the commercial space industry, at least in the US.
Someoneforyou
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Mayflower Test Satellite Proves Succesful During Recent SpaceX Mission
Mayflower Test Satellite, Jointly Developed by Northrop Grumman and Applied Minds, Proves Successful During Recent SpaceX Mission
UNITED STATES - 11 MAY 2011
Northrop Grumman and Applied Minds First Commercial Cubesat Deployed Into Orbit by SpaceX Moves Microsatellites Closer to Demonstrating Unique Capabilities and Novel Payloads
REDONDO BEACH, Calif., May 11, 2011 -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) and Applied Minds, LLC announced the success of a recent launch and orbit of a Mayflower test microsatellite.
Data gathered from around the world was analyzed, showing all tested systems functioned correctly including a new, previously unproven advanced solar cell deployment system. While this first flight collected baseline design data, subsequent flights at higher altitudes will demonstrate unique propulsion, communication and orientation capabilities, and novel payloads.
"Microsatellites are an important part of our future in advancing and maturing technologies," said Paul Meyer, vice president and general manager of advanced programs and technology at Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems. "We are pleased to be working with Applied Minds to develop the technologies that will make microsatellites successful, and make space mission participation more accessible to nontraditional partners."
The satellite, launched on Dec. 8, 2010, was the first commercial cubesat deployed into orbit by SpaceX.
A cubesat is a type of miniaturized spacecraft used for research. Mayflower was launched on a Falcon 9 Dragon test mission and successfully injected into an elliptical orbit approximately 285 kilometers above earth.
The system was designed to test a set of microsatellite components in space. Following standard specifications, microsatellites easily combine with one another onto existing rockets, and only require low development costs, making space mission participation more accessible to those outside the industry.
Mayflower and other microsatellites are being jointly developed by Applied Minds and Northrop Grumman, expanding the types of payloads on satellites, and consequently, the types of missions completed by satellites.
Built at Applied Minds in 2010, Mayflower and a payload designed by the University of Southern California were integrated and tested at Northrop Grumman, and then integrated into the Falcon 9 Dragon test mission by California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.
Communications from Mayflower were received at numerous locations around the world and collectively analyzed by NovaWorks, an innovation center for development and operations at Northrop Grumman. Mayflower is serving as the technology development forerunner for other space products at NovaWorks.
"This was an exciting mission for us, and we are proud to be SpaceX's first nongovernment customer," said Danny Hillis, co-founder of Applied Minds. "We hope to launch many more satellites with them in the future."
Source: Northrop Grumman Corporation
Mayflower Test Satellite, Jointly Developed by Northrop Grumman and Applied Minds, Proves Successful During Recent SpaceX Mission
UNITED STATES - 11 MAY 2011
Northrop Grumman and Applied Minds First Commercial Cubesat Deployed Into Orbit by SpaceX Moves Microsatellites Closer to Demonstrating Unique Capabilities and Novel Payloads
REDONDO BEACH, Calif., May 11, 2011 -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) and Applied Minds, LLC announced the success of a recent launch and orbit of a Mayflower test microsatellite.
Data gathered from around the world was analyzed, showing all tested systems functioned correctly including a new, previously unproven advanced solar cell deployment system. While this first flight collected baseline design data, subsequent flights at higher altitudes will demonstrate unique propulsion, communication and orientation capabilities, and novel payloads.
"Microsatellites are an important part of our future in advancing and maturing technologies," said Paul Meyer, vice president and general manager of advanced programs and technology at Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems. "We are pleased to be working with Applied Minds to develop the technologies that will make microsatellites successful, and make space mission participation more accessible to nontraditional partners."
The satellite, launched on Dec. 8, 2010, was the first commercial cubesat deployed into orbit by SpaceX.
A cubesat is a type of miniaturized spacecraft used for research. Mayflower was launched on a Falcon 9 Dragon test mission and successfully injected into an elliptical orbit approximately 285 kilometers above earth.
The system was designed to test a set of microsatellite components in space. Following standard specifications, microsatellites easily combine with one another onto existing rockets, and only require low development costs, making space mission participation more accessible to those outside the industry.
Mayflower and other microsatellites are being jointly developed by Applied Minds and Northrop Grumman, expanding the types of payloads on satellites, and consequently, the types of missions completed by satellites.
Built at Applied Minds in 2010, Mayflower and a payload designed by the University of Southern California were integrated and tested at Northrop Grumman, and then integrated into the Falcon 9 Dragon test mission by California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.
Communications from Mayflower were received at numerous locations around the world and collectively analyzed by NovaWorks, an innovation center for development and operations at Northrop Grumman. Mayflower is serving as the technology development forerunner for other space products at NovaWorks.
"This was an exciting mission for us, and we are proud to be SpaceX's first nongovernment customer," said Danny Hillis, co-founder of Applied Minds. "We hope to launch many more satellites with them in the future."
Source: Northrop Grumman Corporation
LETHALFORCE
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Climate scientists reveal new candidate for first habitable exoplanet
Climate scientists reveal new candidate for first habitable exoplanet
The planetary system around the red dwarf Gliese 581, one of the closest stars to the Sun in the galaxy, has been the subject of several studies aiming to detect the first potentially habitable exoplanet. Two candidates have already been discarded, but a third planet, Gliese 581d, can be considered the first confirmed exoplanet that could support Earth-like life.
This is the conclusion of a team of scientists from the Laboratoire de Metrologie Dynamique (CNRS/UPMC/ENS/Ecole Polytechnique) at the Institut Pierre Simon Laplace in Paris, France, whose study is published in "The Astrophysical Journal Letters".
Are there other planets inhabited like the Earth, or at least habitable? The discovery of the first habitable planet has become a quest for many astrophysicists who look for rocky planets in the "habitable zone" around stars, the range of distances in which planets are neither too cold nor too hot for life to flourish.
In this quest, the red dwarf star Gliese 581 has already received a huge amount of attention. In 2007, scientists reported the detection of two planets orbiting not far from the inner and outer edge of its habitable zone (Gliese 581d and Gliese 581c). While the more distant planet, Gliese 581d, was initially judged to be too cold for life, the closer-in planet, Gliese 581c, was thought to be potentially habitable by its discoverers.
However, later analysis by atmospheric experts showed that if it had liquid oceans like Earth, they would rapidly evaporate in a 'runaway greenhouse' effect similar to that which gave Venus the hot, inhospitable climate it has today. A new possibility emerged late in 2010, when a team of observers led by Steven Vogt at the University of California, Santa Cruz, announced that they had discovered a new planet, which they dubbed Gliese 581g, or 'Zarmina's World'. This planet, they claimed, had a mass similar to that of Earth and was close to the centre of the habitable zone.
For several months, the discovery of the first potential Earth twin outside the Solar System seemed to have been achieved. Unfortunately, later analysis by independent teams has raised serious doubts on this extremely difficult detection. Many now believe that Gliese 581g may not exist at all. Instead, it may simply be a result of noise in the ultra-fine measurements of stellar 'wobble' needed to detect exoplanets in this system.
Today, it is finally Gliese 581g's big brother - the larger and more distant Gliese 581d - which has been shown to be the confirmed potentially habitable exoplanet by Robin Wordsworth, Francois Forget and co-workers from Laboratoire de Meteorologie Dynamique (CNRS/ UPMC/ ENS/ Ecole Polytechnique) at the Institute Pierre Simon Laplace in Paris, in collaboration with a researcher from the Laboratoire d'astrophysique de Bordeaux (CNRS/Universite Bordeaux 1).
Although it is likely to be a rocky planet, it has a mass at least seven times that of Earth, and is estimated to be about twice its size.
At first glance, Gliese 581d is a pretty poor candidate in the hunt for life: it receives less than a third of the stellar energy Earth does and may be tidally locked, with a permanent day and night side. After its discovery, it was generally believed that any atmosphere thick enough to keep the planet warm would become cold enough on the night side to freeze out entirely, ruining any prospects for a habitable climate.
To test whether this intuition was correct, Wordsworth and colleagues developed a new kind of computer model capable of accurately simulating possible exoplanet climates. The model simulates a planet's atmosphere and surface in three dimensions, rather like those used to study climate change on Earth.
However, it is based on more fundamental physical principles, allowing the simulation of a much wider range of conditions than would otherwise be possible, including any atmospheric cocktail of gases, clouds and aerosols.
To their surprise, they found that with a dense carbon dioxide atmosphere - a likely scenario on such a large planet - the climate of Gliese 581d is not only stable against collapse, but warm enough to have oceans, clouds and rainfall.
One of the key factors in their results was Rayleigh scattering, the phenomenon that makes the sky blue on Earth. In the Solar System, Rayleigh scattering limits the amount of sunlight a thick atmosphere can absorb, because a large portion of the scattered blue light is immediately reflected back to space. However, as the starlight from Gliese 581 is red, it is almost unaffected.
This means that it can penetrate much deeper into the atmosphere, where it heats the planet effectively due to the greenhouse effect of the CO2 atmosphere, combined with that of the carbon dioxide ice clouds predicted to form at high altitudes. Furthermore, the 3D circulation simulations showed that the daylight heating was efficiently redistributed across the planet by the atmosphere, preventing atmospheric collapse on the night side or at the poles.
Scientists are particularly excited by the fact that at 20 light years from Earth, Gliese 581d is one of our closest galactic neighbours. For now, this is of limited use for budding interstellar colonists - the furthest-travelled man-made spacecraft, Voyager 1, would still take over 300,000 years to arrive there. However, it does mean that in the future telescopes will be able to detect the planet's atmosphere directly.
While Gliese 581d may be habitable there are other possibilities; it could have kept some atmospheric hydrogen, like Uranus and Neptune, or the fierce wind from its star during its infancy could even have torn its atmosphere away entirely.
To distinguish between these different scenarios, Wordsworth and co-workers came up with several simple tests that observers will be able to perform in future with a sufficiently powerful telescope.
If Gliese 581d does turn out to be habitable, it would still be a pretty strange place to visit - the denser air and thick clouds would keep the surface in a perpetual murky red twilight, and its large mass means that surface gravity would be around double that on Earth.
But the diversity of planetary climates in the galaxy is likely to be far wider than the few examples we are used to from the Solar System. In the long run, the most important implication of these results may be the idea that life-supporting planets do not in fact need to be particularly like the Earth at all.
Climate scientists reveal new candidate for first habitable exoplanet
The planetary system around the red dwarf Gliese 581, one of the closest stars to the Sun in the galaxy, has been the subject of several studies aiming to detect the first potentially habitable exoplanet. Two candidates have already been discarded, but a third planet, Gliese 581d, can be considered the first confirmed exoplanet that could support Earth-like life.
This is the conclusion of a team of scientists from the Laboratoire de Metrologie Dynamique (CNRS/UPMC/ENS/Ecole Polytechnique) at the Institut Pierre Simon Laplace in Paris, France, whose study is published in "The Astrophysical Journal Letters".
Are there other planets inhabited like the Earth, or at least habitable? The discovery of the first habitable planet has become a quest for many astrophysicists who look for rocky planets in the "habitable zone" around stars, the range of distances in which planets are neither too cold nor too hot for life to flourish.
In this quest, the red dwarf star Gliese 581 has already received a huge amount of attention. In 2007, scientists reported the detection of two planets orbiting not far from the inner and outer edge of its habitable zone (Gliese 581d and Gliese 581c). While the more distant planet, Gliese 581d, was initially judged to be too cold for life, the closer-in planet, Gliese 581c, was thought to be potentially habitable by its discoverers.
However, later analysis by atmospheric experts showed that if it had liquid oceans like Earth, they would rapidly evaporate in a 'runaway greenhouse' effect similar to that which gave Venus the hot, inhospitable climate it has today. A new possibility emerged late in 2010, when a team of observers led by Steven Vogt at the University of California, Santa Cruz, announced that they had discovered a new planet, which they dubbed Gliese 581g, or 'Zarmina's World'. This planet, they claimed, had a mass similar to that of Earth and was close to the centre of the habitable zone.
For several months, the discovery of the first potential Earth twin outside the Solar System seemed to have been achieved. Unfortunately, later analysis by independent teams has raised serious doubts on this extremely difficult detection. Many now believe that Gliese 581g may not exist at all. Instead, it may simply be a result of noise in the ultra-fine measurements of stellar 'wobble' needed to detect exoplanets in this system.
Today, it is finally Gliese 581g's big brother - the larger and more distant Gliese 581d - which has been shown to be the confirmed potentially habitable exoplanet by Robin Wordsworth, Francois Forget and co-workers from Laboratoire de Meteorologie Dynamique (CNRS/ UPMC/ ENS/ Ecole Polytechnique) at the Institute Pierre Simon Laplace in Paris, in collaboration with a researcher from the Laboratoire d'astrophysique de Bordeaux (CNRS/Universite Bordeaux 1).
Although it is likely to be a rocky planet, it has a mass at least seven times that of Earth, and is estimated to be about twice its size.
At first glance, Gliese 581d is a pretty poor candidate in the hunt for life: it receives less than a third of the stellar energy Earth does and may be tidally locked, with a permanent day and night side. After its discovery, it was generally believed that any atmosphere thick enough to keep the planet warm would become cold enough on the night side to freeze out entirely, ruining any prospects for a habitable climate.
To test whether this intuition was correct, Wordsworth and colleagues developed a new kind of computer model capable of accurately simulating possible exoplanet climates. The model simulates a planet's atmosphere and surface in three dimensions, rather like those used to study climate change on Earth.
However, it is based on more fundamental physical principles, allowing the simulation of a much wider range of conditions than would otherwise be possible, including any atmospheric cocktail of gases, clouds and aerosols.
To their surprise, they found that with a dense carbon dioxide atmosphere - a likely scenario on such a large planet - the climate of Gliese 581d is not only stable against collapse, but warm enough to have oceans, clouds and rainfall.
One of the key factors in their results was Rayleigh scattering, the phenomenon that makes the sky blue on Earth. In the Solar System, Rayleigh scattering limits the amount of sunlight a thick atmosphere can absorb, because a large portion of the scattered blue light is immediately reflected back to space. However, as the starlight from Gliese 581 is red, it is almost unaffected.
This means that it can penetrate much deeper into the atmosphere, where it heats the planet effectively due to the greenhouse effect of the CO2 atmosphere, combined with that of the carbon dioxide ice clouds predicted to form at high altitudes. Furthermore, the 3D circulation simulations showed that the daylight heating was efficiently redistributed across the planet by the atmosphere, preventing atmospheric collapse on the night side or at the poles.
Scientists are particularly excited by the fact that at 20 light years from Earth, Gliese 581d is one of our closest galactic neighbours. For now, this is of limited use for budding interstellar colonists - the furthest-travelled man-made spacecraft, Voyager 1, would still take over 300,000 years to arrive there. However, it does mean that in the future telescopes will be able to detect the planet's atmosphere directly.
While Gliese 581d may be habitable there are other possibilities; it could have kept some atmospheric hydrogen, like Uranus and Neptune, or the fierce wind from its star during its infancy could even have torn its atmosphere away entirely.
To distinguish between these different scenarios, Wordsworth and co-workers came up with several simple tests that observers will be able to perform in future with a sufficiently powerful telescope.
If Gliese 581d does turn out to be habitable, it would still be a pretty strange place to visit - the denser air and thick clouds would keep the surface in a perpetual murky red twilight, and its large mass means that surface gravity would be around double that on Earth.
But the diversity of planetary climates in the galaxy is likely to be far wider than the few examples we are used to from the Solar System. In the long run, the most important implication of these results may be the idea that life-supporting planets do not in fact need to be particularly like the Earth at all.
LETHALFORCE
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NASA plans capsule to take humans into deep space
NASA plans capsule to take humans into deep space - CNN.com
Miami (CNN) -- NASA plans a return to yesteryear by developing a space capsule that will carry humans into deep space, it announced Tuesday.
"We are committed to human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit and look forward to developing the next generation of systems to take us there," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said.
The new spacecraft, to be built by Lockheed Martin, will be known as the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, or MPCV. It will carry four astronauts and be based on designs originally planned for NASA's Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle, whose development was canceled by President Barack Obama.
NASA says astronauts would not fly onboard until at least 2016. NASA has not flown astronauts beyond low-Earth orbit since the Apollo program, in the 1970s.
"We hope to have test flights in this decade. We're not sure when but certainly as early as possible," said Douglas Cooke, NASA's associate administrator for exploration systems mission.
Like the Apollo spacecraft, which landed 12 men on the moon, the MPCV will splash down in the Pacific Ocean upon return to Earth. However, the new craft will be the 21st-century version: Much larger and 10 times safer to launch and land than the space shuttle, NASA says.
"We would have an abort system, all the way from sitting on the pad, to flying up, up and away. The space shuttle has never had that capability," Cooke said.
This new spacecraft is NASA's first step forward in its next great leap, as the U.S. space shuttle program heads into retirement.
Officials say this vehicle will be able to go to the moon or do a deep space mission to Mars. Any deep space mission would be accompanied by a larger compartment for the crew, Cooke said.
The MPCV is currently at Lockheed Martin's facility in Denver, undergoing testing.
NASA is hoping to start flying as soon as possible to close the gap in the U.S. manned space program. With the retirement of the space shuttle, expected in July, the U.S. will have to pay the Russian space agency to take astronauts back and forth from the station until the MPCV is ready.
NASA is also hoping that private, commercial companies will soon be able to fly astronauts to the space station in newly developed vehicles.
The original Orion spacecraft was part of NASA's Constellation program to take man back to the moon, and later, to Mars. That program was canceled.
In 2010, it was resurrected, and downsized to be used as a "lifeboat," in the event of an emergency on the space station. Five billion dollars have already been spent on Orion -- another reason to keep the design.
NASA has not yet developed a rocket powerful enough to propel this spacecraft out of Earth's atmosphere.
"As we aggressively continue our work on a heavy-lift-launch vehicle, we are moving forward with an existing contract to keep development of our new crew vehicle on track," Bolden said.
Obama has committed $3 billion for NASA to develop the heavy-lift-launch vehicle.
NASA plans capsule to take humans into deep space - CNN.com
Miami (CNN) -- NASA plans a return to yesteryear by developing a space capsule that will carry humans into deep space, it announced Tuesday.
"We are committed to human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit and look forward to developing the next generation of systems to take us there," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said.
The new spacecraft, to be built by Lockheed Martin, will be known as the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, or MPCV. It will carry four astronauts and be based on designs originally planned for NASA's Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle, whose development was canceled by President Barack Obama.
NASA says astronauts would not fly onboard until at least 2016. NASA has not flown astronauts beyond low-Earth orbit since the Apollo program, in the 1970s.
"We hope to have test flights in this decade. We're not sure when but certainly as early as possible," said Douglas Cooke, NASA's associate administrator for exploration systems mission.
Like the Apollo spacecraft, which landed 12 men on the moon, the MPCV will splash down in the Pacific Ocean upon return to Earth. However, the new craft will be the 21st-century version: Much larger and 10 times safer to launch and land than the space shuttle, NASA says.
"We would have an abort system, all the way from sitting on the pad, to flying up, up and away. The space shuttle has never had that capability," Cooke said.
This new spacecraft is NASA's first step forward in its next great leap, as the U.S. space shuttle program heads into retirement.
Officials say this vehicle will be able to go to the moon or do a deep space mission to Mars. Any deep space mission would be accompanied by a larger compartment for the crew, Cooke said.
The MPCV is currently at Lockheed Martin's facility in Denver, undergoing testing.
NASA is hoping to start flying as soon as possible to close the gap in the U.S. manned space program. With the retirement of the space shuttle, expected in July, the U.S. will have to pay the Russian space agency to take astronauts back and forth from the station until the MPCV is ready.
NASA is also hoping that private, commercial companies will soon be able to fly astronauts to the space station in newly developed vehicles.
The original Orion spacecraft was part of NASA's Constellation program to take man back to the moon, and later, to Mars. That program was canceled.
In 2010, it was resurrected, and downsized to be used as a "lifeboat," in the event of an emergency on the space station. Five billion dollars have already been spent on Orion -- another reason to keep the design.
NASA has not yet developed a rocket powerful enough to propel this spacecraft out of Earth's atmosphere.
"As we aggressively continue our work on a heavy-lift-launch vehicle, we are moving forward with an existing contract to keep development of our new crew vehicle on track," Bolden said.
Obama has committed $3 billion for NASA to develop the heavy-lift-launch vehicle.
sandeepdg
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Atlantis blasts off for one final ride
CAPE CANAVERAL: Four astronauts are taking space shuttle Atlantis for one last ride — the very last one of the 30-year space shuttle era.
It's the smallest crew since the early shuttle flights - usually there are six or seven astronauts.
The size was necessitated by the need to use Russian Soyuz capsules in case commander Christopher Ferguson and his crew get stranded aboard the International Space Station.
With the other two shuttles already retired, there isn't another one left to rescue the Atlantis astronauts if their ship were severely damaged in flight. Joining Ferguson on the 12-day flight are co-pilot Douglas Hurley, flight engineer Rex Walheim and astronaut Sandra Magnus, experienced space fliers all.
"We all want to be able to remember this," Ferguson said. "We want to be able to pass to our children and our children's children that we were fortunate enough to be a part of the space shuttle."
With only four on board, commander Christopher Ferguson likes to point out that this is a retro astronaut crew. Nasa hasn't had such a small space shuttle crew since the sixth flight in 1983. That explains the black suits that the astronauts wore for their formal preflight news conference. Ferguson couldn't resist, especially given his co-pilot's Project Mercurythrowback flattop cut. (Pilot Douglas Hurley's a Marine.)
"No solemnity with this event," Ferguson insisted. "It's a celebration. Thirty years." He scoffs at those who said they shunned Nasa's last shuttle launch because they perceived it as a funeral.
Atlantis blasts off for one final ride - The Times of India
CAPE CANAVERAL: Four astronauts are taking space shuttle Atlantis for one last ride — the very last one of the 30-year space shuttle era.
It's the smallest crew since the early shuttle flights - usually there are six or seven astronauts.
The size was necessitated by the need to use Russian Soyuz capsules in case commander Christopher Ferguson and his crew get stranded aboard the International Space Station.
With the other two shuttles already retired, there isn't another one left to rescue the Atlantis astronauts if their ship were severely damaged in flight. Joining Ferguson on the 12-day flight are co-pilot Douglas Hurley, flight engineer Rex Walheim and astronaut Sandra Magnus, experienced space fliers all.
"We all want to be able to remember this," Ferguson said. "We want to be able to pass to our children and our children's children that we were fortunate enough to be a part of the space shuttle."
With only four on board, commander Christopher Ferguson likes to point out that this is a retro astronaut crew. Nasa hasn't had such a small space shuttle crew since the sixth flight in 1983. That explains the black suits that the astronauts wore for their formal preflight news conference. Ferguson couldn't resist, especially given his co-pilot's Project Mercurythrowback flattop cut. (Pilot Douglas Hurley's a Marine.)
"No solemnity with this event," Ferguson insisted. "It's a celebration. Thirty years." He scoffs at those who said they shunned Nasa's last shuttle launch because they perceived it as a funeral.
Atlantis blasts off for one final ride - The Times of India
Someoneforyou
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SpaceX Falcon Heavy - The World's Most Powerful Rocket
SpaceX Breaks Ground on Vandenberg Launch Site for Falcon Heavy - The World's Most Powerful Rocket
UNITED STATES - 15 JULY 2011
VANDENBERG U.S. AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. | SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies) today took another major step toward the first launch of the Falcon Heavy. This will be the world's most powerful rocket, with more than twice the payload-to-orbit capacity of the space shuttle, but at only one third the cost of the Boeing/Lockheed Delta IV Heavy. The Falcon Heavy will be the first ever rocket to break the $1,000-per-pound-to-orbit barrier, less than a tenth as much as the Shuttle.
SpaceX CEO and chief rocket designer Elon Musk was joined by California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, 30th Space Wing Commander Colonel Richard W. Boltz and Lompoc Mayor John Linn to break ground on a new launch site for the Falcon Heavy—Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Air Force Base.
Falcon Heavy, along with SpaceX's medium-lift Falcon 9, offers the next generation of launch capability to the US Air Force, NASA, and commercial satellite companies at revolutionary costs. With a launch site at Vandenberg and the world's largest rocket, SpaceX will be ready to compete for the full range of US government business, provided competition is allowed. Currently, United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed, has a sole-source monopoly contract for Defense Department business.
"These are difficult fiscal times for our federal government and the Falcon vehicles can save the Department of Defense almost $2 billion per year in launch costs, while increasing reliability and capability," said Musk. "This presents a great opportunity for the DoD to avoid cancelling other programs and minimize reductions in personnel as budgets contract."
Falcon Heavy is to arrive at Vandenberg by the end of 2012, and its inaugural flight will follow soon after. It will be the most powerful rocket in the world since the Saturn V, which launched the Apollo spacecraft to the moon. The SpaceX launch vehicle boasts 3.8 million pounds of thrust from its 27 engines—equivalent to fifteen 747s at full power.
The first flight from SLC-4E (previously known as PALC2-4—Point Arguello Launch Complex) was Aug. 14, 1964, when a National Reconnaissance Office KH-7 satellite launched atop an Atlas-Agena D. The last vehicle to launch from this site was a Titan IV carrying a NRO B-26 payload on Oct. 19, 2005.
Vandenberg AFB has been the proving ground for US defense vehicles for more than half a century, from the critical Intercontinental Ballistic Missile testing that helped win the Cold War to mighty launch vehicles like the aforementioned Titan. The Falcon family of launch vehicles will continue this rich tradition, with its wide range of capabilities for the NRO and other Department of Defense agencies, NASA and other civil customers, as well as commercial customers.
Vehicle Overview:
Mass to Orbit (200 km, 28.5 deg): 53 metric tons (117,000 lbs)
Length: 69.2 meters (227 ft)
Max Stage Width: 5.2 m (17 ft)
Total Width: 11.6 meters (38 ft)
Weight at Liftoff: 1,400 metric tons or 3.1 million lbs
Thrust on Liftoff: 1,700 metric tons or 3.8 million lbs
Falcon Heavy, the world's most powerful rocket, represents SpaceX's entry into the heavy lift launch vehicle category. With the ability to carry satellites or interplanetary spacecraft weighing over 53 metric tons (117,000 lb) to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), Falcon Heavy can lift nearly twice the payload of the next closest vehicle, the US Space Shuttle, and more than twice the payload of the Delta IV Heavy.
Illustration Falcon Heavy Rocket. The Falcon Heavy Rocket will be the most capable rocket in the world.
Source: Space Exploration Technologies Corp.
SpaceX Breaks Ground on Vandenberg Launch Site for Falcon Heavy - The World's Most Powerful Rocket
UNITED STATES - 15 JULY 2011
VANDENBERG U.S. AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. | SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies) today took another major step toward the first launch of the Falcon Heavy. This will be the world's most powerful rocket, with more than twice the payload-to-orbit capacity of the space shuttle, but at only one third the cost of the Boeing/Lockheed Delta IV Heavy. The Falcon Heavy will be the first ever rocket to break the $1,000-per-pound-to-orbit barrier, less than a tenth as much as the Shuttle.
SpaceX CEO and chief rocket designer Elon Musk was joined by California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, 30th Space Wing Commander Colonel Richard W. Boltz and Lompoc Mayor John Linn to break ground on a new launch site for the Falcon Heavy—Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Air Force Base.
Falcon Heavy, along with SpaceX's medium-lift Falcon 9, offers the next generation of launch capability to the US Air Force, NASA, and commercial satellite companies at revolutionary costs. With a launch site at Vandenberg and the world's largest rocket, SpaceX will be ready to compete for the full range of US government business, provided competition is allowed. Currently, United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed, has a sole-source monopoly contract for Defense Department business.
"These are difficult fiscal times for our federal government and the Falcon vehicles can save the Department of Defense almost $2 billion per year in launch costs, while increasing reliability and capability," said Musk. "This presents a great opportunity for the DoD to avoid cancelling other programs and minimize reductions in personnel as budgets contract."
Falcon Heavy is to arrive at Vandenberg by the end of 2012, and its inaugural flight will follow soon after. It will be the most powerful rocket in the world since the Saturn V, which launched the Apollo spacecraft to the moon. The SpaceX launch vehicle boasts 3.8 million pounds of thrust from its 27 engines—equivalent to fifteen 747s at full power.
The first flight from SLC-4E (previously known as PALC2-4—Point Arguello Launch Complex) was Aug. 14, 1964, when a National Reconnaissance Office KH-7 satellite launched atop an Atlas-Agena D. The last vehicle to launch from this site was a Titan IV carrying a NRO B-26 payload on Oct. 19, 2005.
Vandenberg AFB has been the proving ground for US defense vehicles for more than half a century, from the critical Intercontinental Ballistic Missile testing that helped win the Cold War to mighty launch vehicles like the aforementioned Titan. The Falcon family of launch vehicles will continue this rich tradition, with its wide range of capabilities for the NRO and other Department of Defense agencies, NASA and other civil customers, as well as commercial customers.
Vehicle Overview:
Mass to Orbit (200 km, 28.5 deg): 53 metric tons (117,000 lbs)
Length: 69.2 meters (227 ft)
Max Stage Width: 5.2 m (17 ft)
Total Width: 11.6 meters (38 ft)
Weight at Liftoff: 1,400 metric tons or 3.1 million lbs
Thrust on Liftoff: 1,700 metric tons or 3.8 million lbs
Falcon Heavy, the world's most powerful rocket, represents SpaceX's entry into the heavy lift launch vehicle category. With the ability to carry satellites or interplanetary spacecraft weighing over 53 metric tons (117,000 lb) to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), Falcon Heavy can lift nearly twice the payload of the next closest vehicle, the US Space Shuttle, and more than twice the payload of the Delta IV Heavy.
Illustration Falcon Heavy Rocket. The Falcon Heavy Rocket will be the most capable rocket in the world.
Source: Space Exploration Technologies Corp.
Someoneforyou
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Vandenberg U.S. Air Force Base welcomes SpaceX
UNITED STATES - 15 JULY 2011
Col. Richard Boltz, the 30th Space Wing commander, speaks during the ground breaking ceremony at Space Launch Complex 4 East here Wednesday, July 14, 2011. SpaceX has plans to launch their Falcon Heavy from Vandenberg in 2013.
UNITED STATES - 15 JULY 2011
Col. Richard Boltz, the 30th Space Wing commander, speaks during the ground breaking ceremony at Space Launch Complex 4 East here Wednesday, July 14, 2011. SpaceX has plans to launch their Falcon Heavy from Vandenberg in 2013.
indian_sukhoi
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Wonder how their financing come from??
Never thought Privatisation of Space Transport would become realistic.
Never thought Privatisation of Space Transport would become realistic.
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Launch vehicles in US are all Private, Lockeed, Boeing, Martin all of them are private corporations.
Funny thing is this private company is more advanced than ISRO, its falcom 9 can lift of more than GSLV3. The only difference between GSLV 3 and F-9 is that the F-9 does it with no huge boosters like GSLV-3, imagine how advanced it is!
Matter of fact the none of the falcon rockets require boosters, they fly only with internal fuel! That is super advanced, we would only catch up in 2030.
Falcon-9 without booster can lift 4.500 kgs.
GSLV-3 with boosters can lift 4,500kgs!
Falcon-9 with booster can lift 54,000kgs!
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Your di@k has two boosters! This is what happens if you have porn in your next tab, it will resemble what you saw last!Wondering why most of these Space Rockets are 'd1ck heads' ?
Is there any scientific reasoning behind that ?
The rocket has the same shape as the p@nis for the same reason, for smooth penetration through the atmosphere!
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The bulge at the tip of most rockets is to accomodate payloads with bigger diameter than the main rocket.
