CoolPix: Lean & Mean North American X-15 (1961)

(click pic for hi-res)

 I was born the same year this photo was taken of the #3 North American X-15 sitting on a dry lakebed, and I gotta say it was pretty cool growing up with the X-15 program still operational. This image seems to say it all when it comes to how cool the X-15 is. It's lean, mean and so secure in what it's designed to do that it didn't even need wheels on the main gear! It's part Batman and part astronaut all rolled into one.

 This is the #3 aircraft (the last one built) - and tragically, it's the only one totally lost in the program. On November 15, 1967 Michael James Adams lost his life when the X-15 went out of control and broke apart. Accident details from his wiki entry: Adams' seventh X-15 flight, flight 3-65-97, took place on 15 November 1967. He reached a peak altitude of 266,000 feet (81 km); the nose of the aircraft was off heading by 15 degrees to the right. While descending, at 230,000 feet (70 km) the aircraft encountered rapidly increasing aerodynamic pressure which impinged on the airframe, causing the X-15 to enter a violent Mach 5 spin. As the X-15 neared 65,000 feet, it was diving at Mach 3.93 and experiencing more than 15-g vertically (positive and negative), and 8-g laterally, which inevitably exceeded the design limits of the aircraft. The aircraft broke up 10 minutes and 35 seconds after launch, killing Adams. The United States Air Force posthumously awarded him astronaut Wings for his last flight.

 The other two X-15's remain today with #1 at the National Air & Space Museum and #2 at the Air Force Museum. The X-15 represents brave men courageously exploring the boundary of earth... and the risks that came with it.

Day #3: Air Force Museum MeetUp - Avgeeks, Bacon, And Airplanes!

The perfect Sunday morning breakfast for real avgeeks must include bacon!

(7 pix)

 A total of 12 people made it to the 2nd annual AirPigz Air Force Museum Meetup over this last Fri - Sat - Sun, and it was a fabulous time of avgeek hangar flying and historic aviation overload. Can't wait to do it again next year! (more on that later)

 In addition to spending time in the massive Air Force Museum facilities, many of us also gathered for several meals off site. Like the pic above from the final breakfast on Sunday shows, nothing sparks great avgeek hangar flying like tasty strips of bacon!

 I'll have a detailed post (or several) in the coming months about many of the fantastic aircraft seen during the MeetUp, but for now I wanted to share some sweet teasers with you. If looking at these Research & Development Hangar pix below makes you all tingly inside, then I suggest you get yourself over to the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio sometime very soon!

Cool NASA meatball logo on the right side of the North American X-15

Beware Of Blast: one of the left side nose reaction control rockets on the X-15

Click to read more ...

The Mega Mothership Space System From Stratolaunch

A new space launch system named Stratolaunch introduces the mega mothership

 Yesterday Paul Allen announced an ambitious space launch project called Stratolaunch... it takes the high-altitude mothership launch system concept seen in his 2004 collaborative effort with Burt Rutan on SpaceShipOne to a massive new scale.

 In fact, this mothership, to be built by Scaled Composites, will have a wingspan of over 380 feet making it by far the largest aircraft in the world based on wingspan. Possibly more amazing is that the largest aircraft by this measure is still the Howard Hughes H-4 Hercules (Spruce Goose) built in the mid 1940's which has a wingspan of just a tic under 320 feet. This mothership will also come close to being the heaviest aircraft on earth with a projected gross weight of over 1.2 million pounds, but the An-225 at 1.323 million pounds and the A380 at 1.3 million pounds will have it beat on the scales.

 The basic launch configuration looks very much like a scaled up version of Virgin Galactic's sub-orbital system, logically so because Burt Rutan is directly involved in the Stratolaunch project. His success in using a mothership to launch a spacecraft at high-altitude in both the SpaceShipOne and Virgin Galactic systems is being taken to a new massive size that should make space access far more economical than traditional launch systems.

Rendering of the Stratolaunch high-altitude launch system in action

 It would seem pretty basic that it would require less energy and complexity to launch a spacecraft horizontally from an aircraft at 30,000 to 50,000 than it does to literally go directly against gravity from the ground with a ballistic launch system like we have used for years - like with the Space Shuttle. The amount of horsepower (and unimaginable amounts of fuel to feed that power) make the task incredibly difficult and expensive. High-altitude launching just seems to make a lot of sense. It also allows potentially faster turn around times with far simpler systems to prep (and the ability have multiple, affordable motherships), and it offers the ability to travel some distance once airborne to find the best weather for launch.

 SpaceX will be building the approximately 120 foot long spacecraft and multi-stage booster for the Stratolaunch system. Initial efforts will be focused on delivering unmanned cargo into space in the 10,000 lb class, with manned spaceflights taking place once safety and reliability have been proven. The timetable for all of this is obviously difficult to project, but Stratolaunch hopes to have the mega mothership built and flying by 2016. Former NASA administrator Mike Griffin is on the Stratolaunch board (as is Burt Rutan), and former NASA manager Gary Wentz is CEO/Chairman. Watch for more info and systems details to be posted in the future.

Learn more at Stratolaunch.com

CoolPix: X-15 Pilots... Does This Spacesuit Make My Butt Look Big?

(click pic for hi-res)   NASA X-15 pilots showing some early space humor in 1966

 I was 5 years old in 1966 when this NASA picture was taken. I definitely remember the North American X-15 being part of my culture growing up from about age 7 on - what an amazing time in aviation and aerospace history! In all, three X-15's were built, with the first of the programs 199 flights taking place in 1959. The program officially ended in December 1970. This high altitude rocket plane, which was launched into flight from a B-52 mothership, was an essential part of the research and development that put Americans into space. Can you even imagine that at its maximum, the X-15 flew up to 354,200 feet (67.08 miles) and at a speed of 4,520 mph (Mach 6.7) - Wow!

 This CoolPix is a whole lot more about the pilots tho than the airplane. Given how much these guys were pushing the envelope of flight, it's no surprise that they also knew how to ham it up a bit. It's also interesting that this group of guys represents exactly half of the total number of X-15 pilots. One of them not in this picture was Neil Armstrong. You might have seen the CoolPix of Neil with the X-15 that I posted in February 2010. These are some amazing historical images to be sure!

 Of the three X-15's built, one was tragically lost along with pilot Michael J. Adams in 1967, one is on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC, and the one pictured here with the playful pilots is on display at the Air Force Museum in Dayton Ohio. That's my cue to mention that a second annual AirPigz meetup at the Air Force Museum is now in the works... it'll most likely take place in late January 2012, and I'd like to encourage some of you to consider meeting up with 10 or 15 of us avgeeks to experience the amazing aviation history on display there.

 I'll be posting more info as we move into December, but if you're interested in being on an email list for more details, send me a quick note at mcc@airpigz.com to let me know. Museum admission is free, and of course there's no charge for the AirPigz meetup on Saturday and/or Sunday. I'll also be planning to take in the behind-the-scenes tour on Friday again (the only day they offer the tour), and I highly recommend you join that experience too, it's amazing. And seeing this X-15 is another example of a piece of aviation history on display there that's worth the trip : )

Welcome Home Atlantis - The Shuttle Era Comes To A Successful End

 This is a long version of the Atlantis STS-135 pre-dawn landing at Kennedy Space Center this morning... the landing that brings the Space Shuttle Program to a close.  If you're short on time, bump up to the 4:30 mark for the final approach, including some fabulous views looking down the lighted runway from the pilot's seat.

 The Space Shuttle has served America very well. Even with the Challenger and Columbia tragedies, and with leadership in Washington that sometimes seems confused about why we go into space, I know I'll always look at the Shuttle as a magnificent accomplishment of the American spirit.

 Thank you to each and every of the thousands and thousands of people who have made the Shuttle Program a reality over the last 30 years. You have done amazing things and made us proud.

The Space Shuttle Program commemorative patch signifying 30 years of service

Atlantis STS-135: The Sentimental Journey Begins (CoolPix + Must See Video)

(click pic for hi-res)                                                               (photo: NASA/Bill Ingalls)

 I'm a little late to the launch party today because I've been working all day trying to make some much-needed cash. Space Shuttle Atlantis left earth earlier today at 11:29 am EDT on the last scheduled Space Shuttle mission, STS-135. It's a sentimental journey to be sure. I think it'll definitely feel like something is out of place when our only active manned space system is parked for the last time.

 But right now it's all about this current mission and the successful launch today. This beautiful picture taken by Bill Ingalls for NASA shows Atlantis with her nose pointed at the heavens with her tail on fire for the last time. Be sure to click the pic to see it in a big CoolPix size.

 If you haven't been paying attention as these last few missions have been flown in the last year, you might find yourself suddenly aching for more Shuttle. If so, I highly recommend you watch the lengthy and very informative video below. It's full of stunning slow motion video of a range of Shuttle launches from a wide variety of up-close views... plus it has friendly and comfortable commentary to take you on a journey into the inner workings of the launches like you've never seen before. It's simply awesome. It's well worth you finding the 45 minutes it takes to watch it all. Especially now that the Shuttle program is truly coming to an end.

 Godspeed Atlantis.

Endeavour Does The Fast-Gear-Drop For The Last Time (2 Videos)

 The end of the line for Shuttle Endeavour was reached at 2:35am eastern time this morning with a landing in darkness at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The video above gives you a great view of a beautiful landing... and remember, the fire flashes seen near the vertical stabilizer are from one of the auxiliary power units as it does a controlled burn-off of the highly toxic and dangerously unstable hydrazine fuel that powers them. It's all completely normal.

 This last-ever mission for Endeavour, STS-134, was a very successful final mission for the youngest of all of the Shuttles, and it leaves us just one final mission in the Shuttle Program: STS-135 with Atlantis, currently scheduled for launch on July 8, 2011.

 You probably know I like to take a little different look at the way things tick in the world of aviation/aerospace, and I found a video to help me with an interesting point with Endeavour's landing gear. It all starts with the fact that the shuttles are one of the few aircraft to takeoff with their landing gear up, but then extend it for landing. And if you've been paying attention, the shuttles extend their gear pretty fast. I never really gave the retraction side of the gear much thought until I watched the video below. There's not enough info with the video to know if the gear typically fights the force of gravity in such a lazy manner, but really, there's no need for it to go up in a hurry anyway. 

 And it's true, watching a main gear leg retract and the door close behind it for over a minute and a half isn't exactly exciting, but I'm enough of a geek to really enjoy it. If you get bored and wanna bail, hop over and check out the CoolPix I posted from back in February 2010 when Endeavour made another night landing... it's very cool stuff. 

 Welcome home Endeavour, you've served US well.

Got a minute and a half?  Endeavour main gear retraction

CoolPix: Was The F-15 Originally Intended To Land On Skids?

(click pic for hi-res)

 So, was the F-15 originally intended to land on skids? Well of course not. But then what's going on in this NASA pic from the mid 70's? It's actually an unmanned, Remotely Piloted Research Vehicle (RPRV) that's an un-powered, mostly fiberglass 3/8 scale model of the F-15. The RPRV was used to test the aerodynamics of the design at high angles of attack, as well as in stalls and in spins. The airplanes were launched from a B-52 similar to how the X-1 and X-15 were launched. 

 Three of these 3/8 sized F-15 models were built, and as you can imagine, they were an extremely cheap and safe way to expand the design's flight envelope and to examine the extreme aerodynamic behavior with very little risk. It's really interesting to me that the early flight tests were recovered in-the-air by some sort of helicopter capture system, after a parachute deployed on the RPRV (wish we had pix of that!), but later in the test phase they had fitted these toy F-15's with skids and landed them as seen in the pic above.

 Be sure to click the pic to check it out in the big CoolPix size. I think it looks pretty cool with its shadow fast approaching. And I wonder where these baby F-15's are today... I sure don't know, but I did find this pic from 1978 of the airplane mounted on a B-52 when it was on display during an open house at Edwards. If you're interested in seeing more B-52 launch platform pix, check out this page from the Goleta Air and Space Museum, and you can get the NASA details on the F-15 RPRV on this page. It's all pretty cool stuff : )

Video: Shuttle Launch Triple Play As Endeavour Makes Final Flight

 The bittersweet days of the Space Shuttle program resurfaced in a big way this morning as Endeavour lifted off on her final mission. For mission details, check out the NASA STS-134 overview page, and you might also like this NASA Endeavour tribute image gallery. Today's launch leaves just one more to go: STS-135 with Shuttle Atlantis.

 I've also included two other launch videos from the past that are well worth seeing. The first one below is from April 12 1981 - the very first Shuttle launch ever with the orbiter Columbia. It's interesting to me how similar this first launch and the one this morning are. In the broadest sense, it appears little has changed in the launch process.

 STS-1 is also interesting to me in that it carried only 2 crew members: John Young as commander and Robert Crippen as pilot. John Young has always been special to me - when I was 11 years old, I watched the Apollo 16 launch on April 16, 1972 with my dad from as close as we could get to the launch pad. I'll never forget the names of the 3-man crew... Young, Mattingly and Duke. John Young was the commander of Apollo 16 and the 9th man to walk on the moon. I also just located the 8mm movie my dad shot that day. If it turns out to have anything interesting on it, I'll post it to youtube.

 STS-1 launch on April 12, 1981 with Columbia

 And the last video below is from December 9, 2006 as Discovery launched at night. It's in HD, and while you don't see as much in a night launch, the view of the rocket on top of the massive fireball as it approaches and then passes thru the cloud layer is truly spectacular.

 STS-116 night launch on December 9, 2006 with Discovery

 For the mission currently underway, I say Godspeed to Endeavour and crew... as we also begin to look toward the final Shuttle mission ever, STS-135 scheduled for July 2011.

NASA Video: Endeavour's Final Mission... Let Freedom Roar!

 The final launch for the youngest of all Space Shuttles, Endeavour, and mission STS-134 is scheduled for 3:47pm EDT (19:47 GMT) today. This will leave just one launch left for the entire Shuttle program, STS-135 with Atlantis in late June, so you better be watching.

 This video gives an excellent overview of this mission as well as the history of Endeavour. My favorite line from the video: "Let Freedom Roar."

 Godspeed Endeavour... and indeed, before it's too late, "Let Freedom Roar."