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Successful first test of high speed 'penetrator'
High speed ‘penetrators’ that could one day be used to breach the surface of planets have successfully passed their first test in the UK, accelerating to 700 miles per hour before striking their target. A team led by University College London (UCL) test-fired the projectiles in Wales, recording a peak of 20,000 gee upon impact (where humans can survive up to 10 gee).
New system will improve interaction between autopilots and pilots
A prototype flight computer has been designed and evaluated which will improve the interaction between an aircraft’s autopilot and pilot.
Boeing ScanEagle to Achieve European Air Show First
Boeing ScanEagle will become the first fixed wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) to fly at a European public air show, when it takes to the skies at the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) at RAF Fairford, July 16 - 17.
High pressure work boosts scramjet research
University of Queensland rocket scientists have upgraded a key ground test facility ahead of three experimental scramjet flights in Woomera in late 2005.
HyShot international program leader Professor Allan Paull said the University’s T4 shock tunnel at St Lucia could now simulate true flight conditions of Mach 10 (11,000 km/hour) at an altitude of 30km.
“It can now operate at pressures as well as the world’s top facilities, yet it is still a small and comparatively cheap facility,” he said.
Next NASA Mars Mission Rescheduled for 2011
NASA's Mars Science Laboratory will launch two years later than previously planned, in the fall of 2011. The mission will send a next-generation rover with unprecedented research tools to study the early environmental history of Mars.
RocketShip Tours Teams Up With XCOR Aerospace To Offer A $95,000 Right Stuff Experience
(PhysOrg.com) -- The race to offer commercial passengers an experience of a lifetime just got more affordable. RocketShip Tours owned by Jules Klar, a veteran in the travel business will arrange a sub-orbital trip aboard XCOR Aerospace's third generation rocket powered vehicle for less than 50-percent of its rival Virgin Galactic. The Lynx is XCOR´s first sub-orbital rocket powered vehicle designed to take commercial passengers 37.87 miles straight up to catch a glimpse of Outer Space, Earth, enjoy weightless and then gently glide back and land at an Arizona air strip.
NASA's Swift looks to comets for a cool view
NASA's Swift Gamma-ray Explorer satellite rocketed into space in 2004 on a mission to study some of the highest-energy events in the universe. The spacecraft has detected more than 380 gamma-ray bursts, fleeting flares that likely signal the birth of a black hole in the distant universe. In that time, Swift also has observed 80 exploding stars and studied six comets.
ESA satellites flying in formation
(PhysOrg.com) -- Based on the outstanding success of the first tandem mission between ERS-2 and Envisat last year, ESA has paired the two satellites together again to help improve our understanding of the planet.
