Jaunted - Tag: NASA

A Rocket-Airplane Will Fly Mach 20 Today, But Won't Be Taking Passengers

JetSetCD — 2011-08-10T08:56:08-05:00

The space race is way over, and sadly so is the entire NASA Space Shuttle program as well. But just because we aren't shipping astronauts up into orbit anymore doesn't mean the US isn't playing around still in outer space. Today actually marks the second test launch of a strange form of airplane-slash-rocket: the Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 (FTVH2). Capable of cruising at over 13,000mph (that's Mach 20 or 20x the speed of sound), the unmanned FTVH2 isn't a new travel or research toy, but a military one.

Around 7am PDT, an 8-story Minotaur IV rocket will shoot into the skies from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Inside of it waits the Falcon, until, as International Business Times reports:

The rocket will puncture the atmosphere and releases FTVH2. Then the super-fast weapon will glide over the Pacific Ocean at nearly 20 times the speed of sound. The test flight will last 30 minutes before the FHTV2 hit the water and sink near the Kwajalein Atoll, about 4,100 miles from the Vandenberg Air Force Base. If the aircraft can complete its 30 minute flight, the project will continue otherwise the project will be shelved indefinitely.

Space Shuttle 'Endeavor' Launch Captured in Photos and Video from a Delta Flight

JetSetCD — 2011-05-16T16:35:00-05:00

NASA may have hosted a massive tweet-up at Kennedy Space Center today for the final launch of the Endeavor Space Shuttle, but, as we've seen before, the real magic is in the skies as passengers onboard nearby aircraft snap photos of the launch and share them almost immediately on Twitter.

User Stefanie Gordon (@stefmara) admitted to having the perfect flight earlier today, going from New York-LaGuardia to Palm Beach onboard Delta with a row of seats to herself and this awesome view out the window. With her iPhone, she captured these two photos, plus a video you can watch here.

Mapping the Future Homes of the Four NASA Space Shuttles

JetSetCD — 2011-04-12T16:34:40-05:00

Houston is so pissed right now. Why? Because they were passed over in NASA's decision on where to retire the four remaining space shuttles. Instead, four other US cities will welcome different crafts for permanent exhibits, reaping in the tourist dollars that follow anything space travel-related. Let's see who got what, shall we?

· Cape Canaveral, FL: The original home of the shuttles is Kennedy Space Center, so of course they get to keep one. The Space Shuttle Atlantis, which originally launched in 1985 and completed 35 flights, will settle in for posterity at the Visitor Center. Atlantis will fly again before powering down, with a final launch scheduled for June 28.

FL: There Are Only Two More Chances to Watch the Space Shuttle Launch, Ever

JetSetCD — 2011-02-28T09:31:33-05:00

Sometimes, thinking about the vastness of outer space and Earth's attempts to explore the most infinitesimal pinch of it via assorted space programs leaves our mind reeling and frankly, we get a little freaked out at the vast unknown surround us. We've pretty much accepted that man won't be walking on Mars in our lifetime, or maybe even on the moon again, but at least there's the rare chance that we could at least witness a Space Shuttle launch from the skies.

This is exactly the awesome chance a recent passenger had, while on a flight to Orlando. Eye-to-eye with the Space Shuttle Discovery for a moment at 30,000, as the shuttle blasted off for its final mission to the International Space Station, he captured the moment on camera, slapped it on YouTube and it's become an instant classic. You can watch it above, but we highly recommend clicking the link and viewing it larger for full, awe-inspiring effect.

Foursquare Goes Where No Man Has Gone Before With An Extraterrestrial Check In

juliab — 2010-10-25T11:30:08-05:00

We’re pretty sure this is the coolest Foursquare badge and check in that you can get – on Friday, NASA astronaut Douglas H Wheelock used it to check in to space. Who knew cellphones worked up there?

He checked in at the International Space Station and, according to Foursquare, became the first human to “use a location-based service from space.” Now there’s something to tell the grandkids.

While he was up there, he also unlocked the new NASA Explorer badge, which will surely become the ultimate Foursquare badge to get. And the good news is that you don’t have to be up in the air to get it – soon, you’ll be able to unlock it when you check in at NASA properties on terra firma. Awesome! That's $200,000 saved right there.

NASA and Boeing Team Up to Figure Out the Future of Flight

kjb — 2010-04-13T08:31:31-05:00

It’s no secret that we’ve been closely following the progress of Boeing’s latest airplane, but even if the 787 is more fuel efficient than the competition it hardly will become an in-flight Prius. That’s why Boeing has been teaming up with NASA to figure out how airplanes can be more efficient, and they recently tested out one of their latest flying machines.

The test plane is part of the X-48B program, and this really fancy remote control airplane uses a blended wing design to increase fuel efficiency. The current test plane is kind of small—it’s only an 8.5 percent model with about a 20-foot wingspan—so we’ve still got years and years before we’re complaining about the lack of in-flight WiFi on a plane like this.

Will NASA's Loss Be Space Tourism's Gain?

Omri — 2010-02-04T12:43:35-05:00

As part of the President's pivot to fiscal responsibility, the White House unveiled a new budget last week that scraps NASA's moon program and shifts $6 billion into promoting private space flight. Instead of using NASA's space shuttles to move our astronauts back and forth, the government would contract private firms to do the flying. The goal is to kill two birds with one budgetary allocation: the US would get to maintain its presence in space even while it injected badly-needed funds into the country's growing space tourism industry.

If the plan works out, the space industry in 2020 will look a lot like the airline industry a hundred years earlier. Until the 1920's, American planes were operated by the newly minted US Air Force. Then a bunch of small regional airlines began to develop, relying in no small part on guaranteed government air mail funding. In 1930 they merged into the corporation that became American Airlines, and the basis for modern civilian aviation was born.