Apple's Intentional Design. The Vanguard from the Outside. SpaceX Unveils the Dragon2. The Imaginarium.

Hello Troops,
Alex Anderson shared this video with us at our last Imagineering meeting.  It is Apple's mission statement concerning design.  The message it carries applies to our creative work at our various simulators.  Please take a minute and watch.  

The Vanguard (Exterior)

I'd like to share this with you.  Alex and Brent are working on Farpoint's first ship, the Vanguard.  This is a photo of the ship as it will appear in the simulator's controls.  Pretty impressive, wouldn't you say?

Space and Science News

Dragon version 2 Unveiled by SpaceX

Display replica of the Dragon V2 manned spacecraft.

Over the next couple of years we will see the testing of spacecraft from three companies. Boeing is building the CST100 capsule, a traditional capsule similar to the Apollo mission spacecraft. Although similar from the outside, the interior boasts a futuristic airliner-like quality and 21st century technology. Sierra Nevada Corporation is designing the Dreamchaser, a lifting body design which has more in common with the recently terminated Space Shuttle, only smaller. The Dreamchaser will return to Earth as a glider to land on runways. The Dragon Version 2, however, is revolutionary from several technical aspects.

Interior of the new spacecraft, which can seat seven astronauts.

Designed to accommodate seven astronauts, the Dragon V2 will possibly be the safest spacecraft to fly into space. The Dragon V2 will include the new SuperDraco thruster engines which will firstly act as an escape system during the ENTIRE flight into space (previous escape towers only functioned at certain points of the initial launch), and then will work as the landing engines - yes, landing engines.

Artist concept drawing of Dragon v2 in orbit. The service module underneath the capsule is covered with solar panels. It is jettisoned prior to re-entry.

Dragon V2 will launch conventionally atop SpaceX's Heavy Falcon or the Falcon 9 rockets. After concluding their orbital missions, the spacecraft will return to Earth in a new remarkable way. On its way down, Dragon V2 will be protected by SpaceX's new advanced heat shield system. Once through the outer layers of the atmosphere, the craft will use the SuperDraco thrusters to slow its descent and control its approach to a landing site at any designated point: airports, fields, you name it - instead of the usual watery landing. Instead of being limited to a runway of sufficient quality and length, the Dragon V2 will land with helicopter precision. And then, the capsule will be refurbished and launch again. Reusability was foremost in the minds of the designers. The landing style is reminiscent of the old sci-fi movies of the 1950's and 60's, when finned rockets would land tail-first and pointed up into the sky for ready flight. As Elon Musk, the owner of SpaceX commented, "It's the way a spaceship SHOULD land!"

The vertical landing aspect allows a great capability for the spacecraft. It means that the ship would have the capability of landing on foreign bodies as well - which includes the Moon, and of course - Mars.
By Mark Daymont
Spacerubble.blogspot.com

The Imaginarium

A Lesson in History

Left in a restaurant instead of a tip

Space and Science News. The Imaginarium.

Space and Science News

New Crew Joins Expedition 40 on ISS

Soyuz spacecraft faces the ISS (image from a previous mission).

Blasting off at night from Kazakhstan, Soyuz TMA-13M lifted off for a rendezvous with the ISS and the Expedition 40 crew already aboard. On the Soyuz were Soyuz Commander Max Suraev, astronaut Reid Wiseman, and ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst. The flight used the new "shortcut" orbital approach so that instead of 2 days, the capsule arrived at the station around six hours later. Docking occurred at 9:44 PM EDT and the hatches opened a couple of hours later. The new orbital approach means that it takes less time for astronauts to get to the ISS than it does for some overseas airline flights!

The full crew of Expedition 40. 

The new crew joins Expedition Commander Steve Swanson and flight engineers Oleg Artemyev and Alexander Skvortsov who had arrived March 27. The Soyuz is docked at the Russian mini-research module Rassvet. The ISS is orbiting at about 290 miles above the Earth. 

POSTED BY MARK DAYMONT  

50 Years Ago: Saturn 1 SA-6 Mission Success

Saturn 1 rocket mission SA-6 on pad LC-37B.

On May 28th, 1964, NASA launched the 6th test flight of a Saturn rocket from Cape Canaveral. In this case the rocket was the Saturn 1, boasting eight H-1 engines in the first stage. On this mission, the payload was not the Jupiter nose cone, but was the first "boilerplate" or test version, of the Apollo capsule.

Before the launch: Engineers prepare the "Boilerplate" capsule for the mission.

The mission for this flight was to allow over 113 sensors in the capsule to measure the stresses of flight on the spacecraft, monitoring pressures and acceleration. The capsule was not planned to separate from the stage, but would remain attached.

Dr. Werner Von Braun in front of pad LC-37B. Seeing his dream of rockets to the Moon being tested.

There had been two previous attempts to launch the rocket. The first attempt was scrubbed because of fuel contamination, the second attempt failed due to overheating the guidance system. On this third attempt, engineers discovered a flaw in the optical unit of the instrument panel, covered by liquid oxygen vapors. Engineers determined it would not impact the flight, and a go was given.

Aerial view of the Saturn stack ready for launch.

The rocket lifted off from launch complex pad 37B at seven minutes after Noon, Eastern time. The only problem in the flight occurred when one of the H-1 engines shut down early. The other motors continued to burn a bit longer to compensate. After first stage separation, the second stage ignited and ten seconds later the escape tower jettisoned.

Moment of truth: The first stage ignites.

The second stage with the Apollo test capsule entered orbit reaching up to 123 miles high. The craft managed to make 54 orbits, eventually coming down into the Pacific Ocean.

Artist's concept of the SA-6 mission. The second stage propels the rocket higher into space after dropping the expended first stage.

After examining the instrumentation records, engineers determined that a gearing piece in the H-1 engine was at fault. The gears were replaced for the next launch and no further H-1 engine failures occurred.

Sea Launch Success and Rocket News

Sea Launch mobile launch platform. Credit: Ria Novosti.

Time to get an overview of recent rocket launches from around the world. We'll start with today's successful launch of a Zenit-3SL rocket from the SeaLaunch floating pad from the Pacific Ocean. Sea Launch is a multi-national corporation owned by companies from Norway, Russia, Ukraine, and the United States. DEspite the current political and military crisis occurring between Ukraine and Russia, the project has gone ahead and lifted a EutelSat 3B Communications satellite into space. This was the 36th rocket launch for the company. Its last launch on February 1st ended badly as the rocket crashed into the sea soon after take-off. The cause has been pin-pointed to a faulty hydraulic oil pump.

Proton-M rocket ready for Launch from Kazakhstan. Credit: RiaNovosti.

From today's Sea Launch success, let's turn back to May 16th and the latest Russian launch embarrassment. A Proton-M rocket carrying an Express-AM4R GPS/communications satellite failed to place its payload into orbit as the second stage failed. The satellite would have been Russia's most capable comsat in space. News reports have indicated that pieces of the craft crashed near a Chinese city. The failure comes just after Russian President Putin made jokes about NASA's problems. The Proton series has experienced a number of failures since its first launches.

Delta IV lifts into the sky from Cape Canaveral. Credit: Florida Today.

The United Launch Alliance (ULA) performed a great launch of the Delta IV rocket on May 16th. Lifting off from Pad LC-37 at Cape Canaveral, the rocket placed an updated GPS satellite into orbit. The $245 million satellite will be the 31st to join the constellation of American GPS satellites. 

Atlas V on the Pad at Cape Canaveral. Credit: NASAspaceflight.com.

A week after the Delta launch, ULA performed a launch of the Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral's LC-41. The payload was a classified military satellite. The Atlas V uses a Russian-built RD-180 rocket engines, and the current political stand-off between Russia and the US over Russia's invasion of the Crimea has caused a potential stoppage of supplies of this engine. Russian President Putin has determined that the RD-180 is not to be used by the US for any military missions and there may be further interrupting of missions to the ISS after 2020. ULA has previously used the Delta II rocket for some military applications, but it has been discontinued with one possible flight remaining. The Delta IV launch vehicle may become the military go-to launcher if the Atlas V becomes limited to commercial flights only, but no final determination has been made.

Rokot blasts off from  Plesetsk Cosmodrome. Credit: ITAR-Tass.

On the 23rd, the Russians also launched a military mission. Lifting off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, the Rokot booster lifted the Bris-M upper stage into high altitude before placing 3 Russian military satellites into their orbits. The Rokot is a lighter vehicle, and I'm not aware if it can lift satellites designed to work with the troublesome Proton-M rocket.

Rokot ascending. Credit: ITAR-Tass.

Japan's H2A lifts off from Tanegashima Space Center. Credit: KYODO/The Japan Times.

Finally we get to the Far East, where the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (also known as JAXA) launched a heavy H-2A rocket carrying the Advanced Land Observing Satellite-2. This spacecraft is designed to map regions of the Earth that suffer natural disasters and emergencies. It will also be used to study tropical rain forests, ice packs and other geological features affected by natural and man-made disasters.

Perhaps it can located trouble before the next Godzilla attack (Just kidding, no offense!).

Posted by Mark Daymont

The Imaginarium

Those Old Cartoons were the best!