Commercial Space
NASA Funds Experimental “Near Space” Vehicles
Armadillo Aerospace's SuperMod vehicle. Credit: William Pomerantz, Google Lunar X PRIZE
Dragon Drop Tests and Heat1X-Tycho Brahe Set to Launch – SpacePod 2010.08.24
Home made rockets launched from home made submarines next to dragon wings floating in the ocean on your SpacePod for August 24th, 2010
Interview with Elon Musk
SpaceX founder, CEO and CTO Elon Musk sat down with the Spacevidcast team for about 20 minutes to talk about space and SpaceX. This is the 10 minute SpacePod edition which has a little under 1/2 the interview available. We chat about the Falcon X, the future of space and why he built SpaceX.
Virgin's Spaceship Enterprise Makes First Crewed Flight
For the first time, Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo, named the Enterprise, flew with crew on board. While it stayed attached to the "Eve" mothership for the duration of the July 15 flight, Scaled Composites – the builders of the spacecraft – called the flight a "significant milestone as the team marches towards the first solo flights." Numerous combined vehicle systems tests were conducted, as two crew members on board VSS Enterprise, evaluated all of the spaceship’s systems and functions from end to end in the air, and all objectives were achieved.
(...)
Read the rest of Virgin's Spaceship Enterprise Makes First Crewed Flight (153 words)
Falcon 9 Launch Gallery; 'Fantastic Day,' P–G Singularity and More
A Prandtl–Glauert singularity, or shock cone forms around the Falcon 9 rocket during launch. Credit: Alan Walters (awaltersphoto.com) for Universe Today.
SpaceX Falcon 9 Successfully Launches, Reaches Orbit
Screenshot from SpaceX's video feed of the launch of Falcon 9. Credit: SpaceX
SpaceX Hopeful For Successful Flight Test of Falcon 9
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands vertical on its launch pad at Cape Canaveral, FL. Credit: SpaceX
Masten Successfully Re-Ignites Rocket Engine During Test Flight
“This was by far the coolest rocket flight I’ve ever seen!” said Ian Garcia, Guidance, Navigation, and Controls Engineer for Masten Space Systems.
I'll second that! With their motto, "Just gas 'em up and go!" the Masten team today successfully demonstrated in-air engine re-light capability on their Xombie vehicle, and this was the first time that a vertical take-off, vertical landing vehicle has successfully performed a such a re-ignition during flight.
(...)
Read the rest of Masten Successfully Re-Ignites Rocket Engine During Test Flight (264 words)
Study Says 11,800 Jobs to be Created Per Year by Commercial Space Flight
Falcon 9/Dragon configured for cargo delivery to the ISS. Credit: SpaceX
