Gordon Cooper rocked the rocket 50 years ago.
Launched May 15, 1963, Faith 7 carried Cooper for a then record duration flight. He was the first astronaut to sleep in space during his 34hr 19min flight. The fact that he lost capsule power and did a manual re-entry based on sighting on star constellations just adds to the orbs of titanium aura these Rocket Men emitted.
Almost time to leave Station. Hard to express all of my emotions, but mostly gratitude. I came here on behalf of so many people - thank you.
He’s such an excellent spokesperson for manned space missions. More people need to have this experience.
Heres a motivational/propaganda ish poster featuring NASA´s mars rover, curiosity.
This…this is amazing.
Gravity — Teaser Trailer - Official Warner Bros. UK (by warnerbrosuktrailers)
Looks like George and Sandra might have picked a bad day to play in space.
NASA | NASA’s Heliophysics Fleet Captures May 1, 2013 Prominence Eruption and CME (by NASAexplorer)
Saturn, as seen from my driveway in Vermont.
6” F8 Reflector with 17mm Hyperion eyepiece and 2x Barlow.
Snapped with handheld Galaxy S3 phone.
There is nothing better then relaxing after a long day of work watching Star Trek with Wil.
I love this. I hoped that, when we made the little plushie Wils (Lil’ Wils) that they’d have all sort of adventures, and get all sorts of little costumes.
That hasn’t happened as much as I hoped, but when I see things like this, I am happy, because little Wil is obviously having all kinds of fun.
If a Wee Will were to come visit, I would gladly send my guest on a ride in a high power sport rocket. Flame protective blanket wrap, included. Does anybody have a “Traveling Lil’ Will” that is making the rounds for such adventures?
SpaceShipTwo via Space.com Credit: Virgin Galactic
Wow. High hopes for Virgin Galactic!
In Thrust We Trust
SpaceShipTwo’s first powered flight a success
The rumors were true this time. Early Monday morning, WhiteKnightTwo took off from the Mojave Air and Space Port with SpaceShipTwo slung between its twin fuselages. About 45 minutes after its 7:02 am PDT (1402 GMT) takeoff, WhiteKnightTwo released SpaceShipTwo, as it had done about two dozen times previously. This time, though, SpaceShipTwo did something it hadn’t yet done: ignite its hybrid rocket motor in flight. The motor burned for 16 seconds before turning off, after which SpaceShipTwo glided to a safe runway landing in Mojave. According to a Virgin Galactic statement issued after the flight, SpaceShipTwo reached a peak altitude of 16,800 meters (55,000 feet) and went supersonic, topping out at Mach 1.2.
“The first powered flight of Virgin Spaceship Enterprise was without any doubt, our single most important flight test to date,” Virgin Group chairman Sir Richard Branson said in a statement after the flight. “Today’s supersonic success opens the way for a rapid expansion of the spaceship’s powered flight envelope, with a very realistic goal of full space flight by the year’s end.”
“The rocket motor ignition went as planned, with the expected burn duration, good engine performance and solid vehicle handling qualities throughout,” said Virgin Galactic President and CEO George Whitesides. “The successful outcome of this test marks a pivotal point for our program. We will now embark on a handful of similar powered flight tests, and then make our first test flight to space.”
The company hasn’t disclosed a timetable for SpaceShipTwo’s future flights, beyond a “full space flight” (presumably to at least 100 kilometers altitude). After its first powered test flight on the Wright Brothers’ centennial (December 17, 2003), which was similar in performance to this one, SpaceShipOne flew three more test flights before its historic June 21, 2004, flight to 100 kilometers. That suggests there’s likely to be at least three more flights, and perhaps more, before SpaceShipTwo shoots for the Karman Line.
Link to the video of the powered portion of the flight, from Virgin Galactic: http://youtu.be/VXbbEGK9oMI
