Video: Welcome Home (I Think) - X-37B Lands After 469 Days In Space

 Do you remember the launch of an Atlas V rocket back on March 5, 2011 that was carrying the second Boeing X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle on its first flight? Well unless you're an uber space geek then you probably don't remember that launch. You're more likely to remember the return from space of the first X-37B back on December 3, 2010. Well anyway, the point is that early this morning, Saturday June 16, 2012, X-37B OTV-2 landed autonomously (pre-programmed making its own decisions) at California's Vandenberg Air Force Base at 5:48 am local time after spending 469 days in space circling the Earth.

Video screenshot: X-37B landing rollout early this morning after 469 days in space
 

 The mission appears to have been very successful. Great launch, great landing. It's what happened in between that stirs up all kinds of crazy talk. I haven't dug very deep to try to learn what the micro shuttle spacecraft might have been up to, but so far it appears to all be classified, including what the payload was. China seems to think it's a weapon and the U.S. Air Force (who actually operates the mysterious X-37B) says it's just a technology testbed for future satellites. Time will tell. Well, maybe it will.

 I put up a post with some background info on the X-37B (Getting To Know Discovery’s Runt Cousin: The Air Force X-37B) a little over a year ago. What I didn't know at the time was that Boeing also envisions the X-37C, an enlarged version of the X-37B (sized between 165% and 180%) that could actually be used to transport up to six astronauts and some cargo into space. That's pretty impressive as a people hauler given that the X-37C is still quite tiny compared to the Space Shuttle. You can learn more about the X-37C at Space.com: Secretive US X-37B Space Plane Could Evolve to Carry Astronauts.

X-37B, X-37C and Space Shuttle size comparison (illustration: Boeing)
 

 I find it all a remarkably encouraging actually... from the recent success of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft to the SpaceDev Dream Chaser making steady progress toward aerodynamic drop tests, we are seeing an amazing collection of ideas and realities for future manned space exploration. Almost makes me feel like a kid again : )

CoolPix: ISS Self Portrait... Sittin' On Top Of The World!

(click pic for hi-res) Amazing view! ISS self portrait - Tracy Caldwell Dyson (photo: wiki)

 No, AirPigz is not going 'all space, all the time', but with the fabulous success story of the SpaceX Falcon 9/Dragon mission recently completed, I've been spending a little more time paying attention to off-Earth hardware like the International Space Station. That's how I stumbled on to this amazing self-portrait taken back in 2010 by astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson while on Expedition 24 to the ISS. This view looks like something out of 2001 A Space Odyssey... imagine being in orbit above the Earth, in a short sleeve shirt leaning against a huge window with a massive view of the Earth below. Wow!

 The big windows are the part of the Cupola (ISS module) which has been in the works for many years but didn't actually get shipped and fitted to the ISS until February 2010. Tracy's picture was taken on September 11, 2010, not all that long after the Cupola has become a part of the ISS. The large windows in the Cupola (six trapezoid shaped and the really large circular, 31 inch diameter one) give the astronauts by far their best opportunity for external observation. The windows also all have shutters that are able to be closed to protect against object impact. You can see the shutters open in the CoolPix hi-res Cupola pic below, and in the closed position in the far bottom photo.

 Seeing that big round window and knowing you have such an incredible view of earth from it has made me wish, for the first time ever, that I could go spend some time at the ISS. What an adventure that would be!

(click pic for hi-res)  External view of the Cupola module on the ISS   (photo: wiki)

Wider view showing the Cupola module attached to the Tranquility (Node 3) module

Video: SpaceX Dragon Parachute Deploy And Splashdown (May 31, 2012)

 This video is still nothing like the fancy one from the 2010 helicopter test drop and splashdown of the SpaceX Dragon, but it's waaaay better than the first video released of the actual and historic return from space of Dragon on May 31st. This video begins with Dragon descending at a fairly high rate of speed with the two drogue chutes out. These drogues help slow the spacecraft down, keep it stabilized in preparation for the big parachutes to deploy, and then they are used to extract those big parachutes.

 I was raised around parachutes and skydiving so I find the opportunity to watch the main parachute deployment to be ultra cool. It's especially important here too because a proper deployment of the parachutes was a critical last benchmark for making this SpaceX demonstration flight to the ISS so successful. And while I don't know the details of the reefing system (a system used to dramatically slow the inflation of a parachute to prevent damage to the parachute and/or the payload) you can clearly see that the area where the lines attach to the parachutes is held to a rather small size for 15 to 20 seconds before the parachutes are finally allowed to inflate freely. The reduction in airspeed during that time of reefing is significant... and it appears that the system worked very well.

 The video continues to splashdown, tho it's not very clear to see when that happens. Additional videos may eventually be released but at least this one shows some very critical systems working exactly as needed. Again I say to the people at SpaceX - Bravo! 

 Description of the video from the ReelNASA youtube page:  During the reentry of SpaceX's Dragon capsule, NASA and the United States Navy flew a P-3 Orion Cast Glance aircraft to capture airborne views of the spacecraft's descent. The aircraft, based at the Navy's VX-30 squadron at the Naval Air Station Point Mugu, Calif., was able to record Dragon's reentry, parachute chute deployment and the capsule in the water. Dragon splashed down at 11:42 a.m. EDT on May 31 in the Pacific Ocean, more than 560 miles off the coast of Baja California. During its mission, Dragon became the first commercial spacecraft the rendezvous and berth with the International Space Station, paving the way for future commercial cargo delivery flights.

Video screenshot of the SpaceX Dragon successfully returning to Earth May 31, 2012

Video: Round Trip Success - SpaceX Dragon Capsule Splash Down! (May 31, 2012)

 
 The SpaceX Dragon capsule was launched on a Falcon 9 rocket on May 22nd, and after spending 5 days connected to the ISS (delivering cargo on a test mission) Dragon returned to Earth today (May 31, 2012) with a successful splashdown southwest of California in the Pacific Ocean. An excellent end to an excellent mission!

 The video above is pretty much all that's available at the moment of the descent under parachutes for Dragon... it's not fast paced or very good quality imagery, but I'd like to think they spent the money on the spacecraft hardware rather than on the expensive task of trying to capture high quality video of the splashdown. My understanding is that you never know exactly where the capsule will land, so being in the right place at the right time is very difficult. What's important is that this re-usable spacecraft, designed and built by a private company, has proven itself to be up to the task on every front in its first ISS demonstration. Bravo SpaceX!

Dragon spacecraft in the Pacific Ocean after splashdown May 31, 2012 (photo: SpaceX)

 The much nicer video below shows a test drop of the Dragon capsule in August 2010 from an Erikson Air-Crane at 14,000 off the coast of Morro Bay, California. This video gives an excellent idea of what today's successful recovery likely looked like. Very impressive stuff! 

NOTE: the video above is a test drop from 2010 and not the splashdown from today.

Video: Enter The Dragon - ISS Crew Answers Questions From Inside The SpaceX Dragon

 The youtube channel for NASAtelevision has been posting a lot of great videos of what's been taking place with the Dragon spacecraft at the International Space Station in the last few days. The Dragon is the first commercial/private spacecraft to demonstrate the capability of resupplying the ISS, and is expected to add the capability of being a manned capsule sometime in the next three years.

 Dragon left Earth as part of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch on May 22nd and thus far the mission has been extremely successful. Three members of the six person ISS crew are seen in this video answering questions from reporters and sharing their positive feedback on the the design and performance of Dragon. The videos posted by NASAtelevision aren't flashy entertainment pieces, but they are excellent viewing for anyone with a serious interest in space and the fantastic events currently taking place in the cooperative effort between SpaceX and NASA... I hope you'll take some time and check it al out!

Video screenshot showing 3 ISS crewmembers inside the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft

Video: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) Successful Falcon 9 Launch May 22, 2012

 At a time when many of the forward-thinking people in America have been kicking around dust with the toe of their shoe wondering what really is next for the United States and space exploration (Shuttle Program retired, Constellation Program termination) - today brings some sunlight out from behind a darkened planet... SpaceX has successfully launched their ambitious, unmanned Falcon 9 spaceflight launch system. Liftoff came at 3:44 am EDT at Cape Canaveral in Florida. Congratulations to Elon Musk and the hardworking people who have made this day a reality!

 The real work in developing a truly viable space launch system is really just beginning, but today's successful launch will fuel both the desire and the drive to keep pushing forward toward complete success.

 This video gives a good view of the launch (1:13) and continues on thru main engine cutoff (4:19) - secondary engine cutoff (10:51) - Dragon Spacecraft separation (11:19) - and then solar array deployment (12:52). The best moment comes directly after as you hear thunderous applause and great cheering from the people involved in making it all happen.

 This, this is a good day.

Video screenshot of the successful SpaceX Falcon 9 launch May 22, 2012

Shuttle Discovery Makes Final Flight To Air And Space Museum (5 Videos)

Yesterday (April 17, 2012) while I was at the 70th Reunion of the Doolittle Raiders at the Air Force Museum getting pictures of the 20 B-25's gathered there, the Space Shuttle Discovery made its final flight... this one atop the 747 repositioning it from Florida to Dulles Airport. You probably already saw all about this in the news, but I thought I'd find a good collection of videos from the event and post them here. So here are the five videos I found that I think are worth your time to check out.

 The first one above is short and has a good views of the takeoff in Florida, plus some close in passes made with this interesting pair of flying machines.

 This video shows the pair making several passes over the Washington D.C area and is presented without any narration or other distractions. The destination of Dulles Airport brings Discovery to the Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy facility to replace the Shuttle Enterprise (the glide test Shuttle) that has been on display there for many years. Enterprise will soon be moved to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York.

 This video is a GoPro style view from the chase plane as Discovery and the 747 made their passes over the D.C. area. Definitely some pretty amazing views even if we never really get up as close as we'd all like to see.

 Video number 4 has the landing at Dulles and taxiing on the airport to the stopping point. It's not a fast pace after the touchdown but it does offer many great views of the pair while moving around the airport.

 This final video is actually my favorite even tho we never see the pair in the sky. It shows the loading of discovery onto the 747 prior to making the final flight to Dulles. This video is not fast paced either but if you're any kind of geek for Shuttle details then I think you'll find it a really interesting one to watch.

 I'm looking forward to the day when I can get to Udvar_Hazy and see Discovery up close and personal. I'm actually beginning to plan an AirPigz meetup sometime late in the fall of 2012 at the Air and Space Museum, so maybe I'll see you there too : )

Video: To The Edge Of Space & Back On The Solid Rocket Boosters (Must See)

 This video has been very popular in the last week but with my vacation to California I didn't get around to posting it here. In fact, I didn't even get around to watching it myself until just now. Wow. This is one of the coolest videos I've seen in a long time. You just never know how people will react to an experience like this, but for me, seeing video images from multiple cameras (and truthfully from two different launches) that show both the ascent and the descent of the Solid Rocket Boosters is simply stunning. It amounts to a real-time experience to the edge of space and back (about 145,000 feet) while getting to see the Shuttle and Main Tank from several points of view as well as the other separated SRB at times.

Video screenshot showing the Shuttle and main tank after SRB separation
 

 The standout visual for me in the video is the deployment of the three recovery parachutes. I really enjoyed seeing some of the reefing process used on the parachutes to control the rate at which they fully inflate. As a parachute guy in a past life, that's really cool stuff. This is just something you never get to see from this perspective... and actually, the whole SRB recovery process has been a bit of a mystery thru the Shuttle era. It's really cool to have so much of the process shown in this video.

Screenshot of the awesome SRB recovery parachutes deploying
 

 For more interesting SRB info check out my post from a year ago: NASA Releases First-Ever HD Footage of SRB Recovery Mission that includes another great video.

 And for this video, it doesn't hurt that the sounds accompanying it have been tweaked by the folks at Skywalker Sound (Lucasfilm) to maximize the experience. According to the video description tho, these are the actual sounds picked up by the camera mics, they've just been optimized to take it all to a much higher level. Anyway, I hope you take the time to experience all eight and a half minutes of this spectacular video!

Red Bull Stratos & Felix Baumgartner Successful At Over 71,000' (With Video)

Felix Baumgartner ready to leave capsule at over 71,000' on 3-15-12 (photo: facebook)

 I was really excited when I first learned about the Red Bull Stratos project and Felix Baumgartner's plan to attempt to break Joseph Kittinger's amazing high altitude jump record of 102,800' from 1960. My dad started skydiving in 1958, so the incredible jumps of Joe Kittinger were part of household talk when I was a kid. But when the Stratos project went on hold in late 2010 due to a legal battle over how this new project had been conceived (see story here), I lost a lot of my interest. But with yesterday's test jump from over 71,000 feet that launched from Roswell New Mexico, and the success that has been achieved thus far, it's hard not be excited again. (apparently some sort of out-of-court settlement got the project back on track in mid 2011)

 I'm guessing there will be some extensive freefall video available before long, but for now the video below gives a good overview of the project and the jump from yesterday.

 It's pretty much off-the-scale-cool that Joe Kittinger is involved in the Stratos project encouraging Felix along... and it's great to see that this new project has helped bring attention to Joe's amazing accomplishments from so long ago. And the Stratos project is more than just a stunt. The next generation of pressure suits are being tested here, and then there's that interesting idea that Felix may indeed go supersonic when he gets to the big jump planned for 120,000 feet. I don't know if there's really anything interesting or useful to be learned from a man in a pressure suit falling at supersonic speeds, but I guess we won't know until it's done!

 For more details on the Red Bull Stratos project, check out:

RedBullStratos

facebook.com/RedBullStratos

FelixBaumgartner.com

facebook.com/felixbaumgartner

Video: We Stopped Dreaming - Neil deGrasse Tyson (NASA & The Future)

Caution: small political rant to follow, read at your own risk

 This video is about NASA, politics, science, aerospace, America and the future… and it gives me an opportunity to make a spiritual point as well. You may already know who Neil deGrasse Tyson is… I wouldn’t have recognized his name, but I did recognize his voice right away when I first watched this video. Neil has been tapped as an expert in many science related programs that have been on PBS, History and more. He’s got a lot of knowledge and has a great way of presenting what he knows.

 I don’t know the specific origins of this video posted by youtuber Scrunchthethird, but it appears to be a montage of statements Neil has made related to NASA (and the money we invest in space science) set to video images that really help drive his message home. That message is basically that ’we stopped dreaming’ when it comes to exploring the universe (and the technologies that make that happen) and because of that we have somewhat lost our way. He also makes the very powerful point that the entire NASA budget in over 50 years of work is still LESS than the bank bailout of 2008/2009! The added point that the NASA budget amounts to 4 tenths of a penny out of every dollar brought in really puts some perspective on how little is spent on an agency that has so much impact on the way we all live.

 As America continues to struggle with massive national debt stemming from wasteful and misguided spending in areas that the government should stay out of… like entitlements for retirement, health care and massive social programs, we have to look at the politics of what’s going on. Our leaders have made decisions over the last 40 years that have taken the focus off of what it is that makes the economic engine work and instead have cultivated a massive subculture of weakened people who drag our progress down. I’m not saying that these thoughts are specifically Neil’s, but these are the thoughts I have when I hear his powerful words in the video.

Screenshot from the 'We Stopped Dreaming' with Neil deGrasse Tyson video
 

 There’s something very amazing in the human spirit about moving forward, exploring and trying to build a better world. I believe that comes from the Creator, by God’s design. Others certainly see that differently. From what I see about Neil, he has a hard time believing that there’s a benevolent God out there responsible for the Universe… but you might find it very interesting that he has stated at times (like in this video) that across the varied disciplines of science, on average, 40% of scientists in America pray to a personal God. Even more interesting to me is his assertion that among engineers and mathematicians that percentage jumps to 60. The idea that science and spirituality aren’t compatible seems to be challenged by those within the science field itself. I make this point to just bolster my idea that God has put in man the desire to understand His creation, and anything that stands in the way of this natural desire has the effect of diminishing the entire human experience.

 Ultimately, it may simply be too late for the old America to resurface and lead the world into the future. But for most of us, I’m pretty sure we’d all like to see us give it a try by putting the right perspective back in place… and a step in the right direction would be adequate funding for NASA to explore the Universe (and discover the technologies needed to do that) - Thanx Neil for your very encouraging words concerning this!

 Lastly, I’d like to make it clear my belief that all of mankind is far better off when the responsibility for taking care of those in need is left to the individual and not the government. We all have a huge responsibility to take care of those truly in need, but that is done more effectively and far less costly by real ‘neighbors’ instead of a cold, calculating and power-hungry entity like ‘government’.