The top news story at Wired right now is a Michael Belfiore piece on the Rocket Racing League. There are plenty of things that could stop this from taking off (argh - unintended pun), but I think there’s a good chance that the novelty will sustain it long enough for it to get a popular following. Marketed right, and with the right spectator viewing aids like the HUD camera displays that they have been talking about, this should be nothing short of spectacular.
I tend to agree with Clark:
I expect that once there are vehicles flying, the reality of rocket racing will start to sink in with the press and the public and then attention and interest will rise substantially.
John Carmack at Armadillo Aerospace has posted a new progress report.
“The engine continues to work well, reliably making 1050 lbf at 350 psi tank pressure.”
A hard start, a new igniter, and some engine testing later, John reports that Armadillo’s latest vehicle is close to being flight ready. It’s going to be pretty exciting to see this one flying. With those long legs to keep the engine off the ground, the ship looks like it would be quite comfortable on the cover of a 1950’s SF mag, resting on the lunar surface with an astronaut backing out the hatch.
With one of NASA’s upcoming suborbital challenges being a lunar lander analog, that might not be quite as far-fetched as it sounds.
(Thanks to Clark at HobbySpace for pointing this out).
The Albuquerque Tribune argues here why New Mexico must pursue the construction of a spaceport in the state.
Columbia:
Rick D. Husband, Commander
William C. McCool, Pilot
Michael P. Anderson, Payload Commander
David M. Brown, Mission Specialist
Kalpana Chawla, Mission Specialist
Laurel Blair Salton Clark, Mission Specialist
Ilan Ramon, Payload Specialist
Challenger:
Francis R. (Dick) Scobee, Commander
Michael J. Smith, Pilot
Judith A. Resnik, Mission Specialist
Ronald E. McNair, Mission Specialist
Ellison S. Onizuka, Mission Specialist
Gregory B. Jarvis, Payload Specialist
Sharon Christa McAuliffe
Apollo One:
Lt. Col. Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom, USAF
Lt. Col. Edward H. White II, USAF
Lt. Roger B. Chaffee, USN
“If we die, we want people to accept it. We are in a risky business, and we hope that if anything happens to us it will not delay the program. The conquest of space is worth the risk of life.”
Virgil I. Grissom
Command Module Pilot
Apollo 1
A room full of stars makes way for a room full of “Stars.”(???)
Just what we need more empty-headed statues of empty-headed celebrities.
There’s not much else to say about this, so I’ll just provide the link and you can read for yourselves.
Beech, Martin
“Meteors and Meteorites: origins and observations”
The Crowood Press
02/2006
ISBN: 1-861-26825-4
Publisher’s Web Site
Niles, Steve & Dan Wickline. Illus. by Milk
“30 Days of Night - Dead Space #2″
IDW Publishing
02/2006
