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Reblog a million times!
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J-2X Finishes a Year of Successful Testing
The J-2X powerpack assembly was fired up one last time on Dec. 13 at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, finishing a year of testing on an important component of America’s next heavy-lift rocket. The powerpack assembly burned millions of pounds of propellants during a series of 13 tests during 2012 totaling more than an hour and a half. NASA engineers will remove the assembly from the test stand to focus on tests of the fully integrated engine. Installation on a test stand at Stennis will begin in 2013. The powerpack is a system of components on top of the engine that feeds propellants to the bell nozzle of the engine to produce thrust. The J-2X engine, designed and built by NASA and industry partner Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne of Canoga Park, Calif., will power the upper stage of the 143-ton (130-metric-ton) Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. The SLS will launch NASA’s Orion spacecraft and other payloads from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, providing an entirely new capability for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit. The program is managed at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. -
Cutaway drawing of Space Shuttle. Artist: Barron Storey. In: The Space Shuttle At Work, 1979.
I used to study these so carefully so intently when I was a kid.
There was a 3-ft by 4-ft poster of this. II had it on the wall in my bedroom as a kid.
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(via exploriens)
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Space Shuttle Enterprise, the nation’s prototype space shuttle orbiter, and the 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA)
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Dan Winters grew up during the golden age of space reporting and is one of the few who have mastered the craft of photographing space launches. The magnificent images in his new book, Last Launch, prove that he is a virtuoso at his work.
See more photos here.
Byoo. Tee. Full.
(via invaderxan)
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I absolutely love this photo. It’s of the rocket display at the Marshall Space Flight Centre at the Redstone Arsenal, in Huntsville, Alabama, circa early 1960’s. The Kodachrome gives the image a retro persona that’s only complimented by the vintage, “small” scale rockets and missiles of the late 1950’s. It’s an era long gone in both rocketry and America.
Laying down, on the right we have the test article of the S-I stage of the Saturn I.
From right to left, we have the Mercury-Redstone, Jupiter-C, Juno II, Jupiter, a rocket I can’t seem to remember for the time being, and the Hermes variant of the V-2. For the most part, these rockets are still at MSFC, or at the US Space and Rocket Centre a few miles away.
Behind the S-I and car is the Space Orientation Centre - the topic of a post I will hopefully get to soon.
I want to give every one of these a big hug.
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There is now a 1909 U.S. penny on Mars.
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Apollo 11 heading to the launch pad, courtesy of Retro Space Images. I love the size comparisons here, as well as the telescopic lens.
The Beast…
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LEGO Saturn V Rocket
This enormous 19 foot tall Saturn V rocket was buiilt by Certified LEGO professional Ryan McNaught. His model lovingly recreates the American moon rocket in some 120,000 pieces, complete with the iconic red launch tower and the astrovan used to ferry astronauts to their rides. Even more amazing is the fact that McNaught also modeled the rocket’s internal fuel tanks.
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The seventh Orion test article drop test at the Hydro Impact Basin, December 1, 2011. Credit: NASA/Sean Smith
(via NASA - Orion Continues to Make a Splash)
The thing I love most? The way the thick grey lines make it look like it’s duct-taped together.
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Nimbus E, the sixth spacecraft in the Nimbus series, is shown preparing for launch on December 12, 1972.
Wow! This is awesome :)
You know how sometimes you see a picture of someone of the appropriate gender, dressed provocatively, and you can feel your heart rate quicken, your breathing get a little shallower, and a tingle run down your spine?
That. This. Ooh, baby.
