The ill-fated Challenger, the second space shuttle to be built was the first to conduct a spacewalk. Unfortunately 3 years later in January of 1986, disaster struck when a seal on a rocket booster failed, leading to the shuttle’s destruction 72 seconds into its mission. It was a disaster on many levels for NASA, because … Read More “The Space Shuttle (1981 – 2011) – Part 2” »
Nearly 2 years ago, NASA retired its fleet of space shuttles, which started operating 30 years before. Several companies have thrown their hat in the ring to be its successor in different ways, so let us have a look back at the program that gave us the Magellan spacecraft, the Hubble telescope, and the International … Read More “The Space Shuttle (1981 – 2011) – Part 1” »
You might wonder what 3D printing has to do with space? Well, the opportunities are endless! But before we dive into that, let us have a closer look at how 3D printing – also called ‘additive manufacturing’ – actually works. Image an old-school inkjet printer that sprays ink on a page. There are several evolutions … Read More “3D Printing – The Second Industrial Revolution” »
Ever wondered how rockets create all that trust to blast off into space? Queue Tom Mueller, SpaceX’s Vice President of Propulsion Development, who will tell you all about it with his narrated schematic of SpaceX‘s Merlin rocket engine here. Don’t forget to toggle the full screen option. Of course, this engine isn’t your run of … Read More “How Does A Rocket Engine Work?” »
By far the most known man-made object in space must be the International Space Station, or ISS. As large as a football field, with some patience and knowing where to look (check here for its current position) you could even spot it with the naked eye. The best chance to see it would be the … Read More “The International Space Station (ISS)” »
In May of last 2012, Dragon became the first commercial spacecraft to successfully rendezvous and connect with the International Space Station (ISS) and with that it put SpaceX firmly on the map. For those curious on how that would have looked like, check out the following link and make sure to drag your cursor around. … Read More “Dragon” »
The launch vehicle that Virgin Galactic will be using as part of its two-stage approach to sub-orbital spaceflight is the WhiteKnightTwo (also known as WK2), with the first one christened VMS Eve after Richard Branson‘s mother and the second one will be named after Steve Fossett, that other adventurer who sadly had a less than … Read More “WhiteKnightTwo” »
Virgin Galactic‘s SpaceShipTwo breaks sound barrier in first rocket-powered flight – check out the video: SpaceShipTwo firing its engines Sir Richard said in a statement: “For the first time, we were able to prove the key components of the system, fully integrated and in flight. Today’s supersonic success opens the way for a rapid expansion … Read More “Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo breaks the sound barrier for the first time” »
