I wonder what ever happened to when they used to take the shuttle up on the 747 and drop it and let the astronauts land it? I mean I am sure it cost a fortune to do, and probably was a big risk, but it was really neat. Anyway, here is a pretty neat video of the shuttle catching a ride back to Florida. Sadly they do not just light the rockets and set a speed record for sub-orbital-powered-flight (yeah, I made that up). Since I saw this on Giz I will post their story:

I’ve seen the shuttle pulling a Moonraker with NASA’s modified 747 mothership before—like in this spectacular zenithal shot of Endeavour—but it never ceases to amaze me to see the two of them taking off.

This is Atlantis returning home from California after mission STS-125—the riskiest ever—where astronauts played Katamari Damacy, fixed Hubble, and made astronomers and space aficionados everywhere smile again.

It just seems impossible that the 747 can lift that gigantic spacecraft. The trip from Edwards Air Force Base back to Florida will require several stopovers for refueling, taking at least two days of rain-free weather travel to reach its final destination.

(Via Gizmodo.)

I was reading the comments, on the Gizmodo post, about the engine start video (at the bottom). A lot of people didn’t really realize the significance of this, so I said I would write a short blurb about it.

Most turbine (not turbo-prop) aircraft start their engines from bleed air from the Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) mounted in the tail of the plane. This unit makes electricity to power aircraft systems, and bleed air is used for air conditioning and engine starts. Usually once the engines are started, or in some cases once airborne, the APU is shut down for the remainder of the flight. At that point the engine bleed air (for air conditioning, anti-ice, and God forbid engine restarts) and generators (electrical systems) are used for the remainder of the flight.

The problem with bleed air is that is HOT, damn hot, around 800C on some aircraft. You have to route that air to the air conditioning systems (usually at the belly), and to the wings for anti-ice. In the process of routing it your taking a risk that one of the ducts could leak, or rupture, which could cause a fire very quickly. Not only is there threat of fire, but the air is taken from the compression cycle, so you’re taking power from the engines.

So to counteract this Boeing designed a lot of electrical systems, where bleed air is normally used. They not only moved to electrical engine starts, and air conditioning, but even the brakes are electrically actuated, instead of hydraulically powered. In theory it is a lot of increased safety by engineering new systems. The problem with new systems is working out the bugs, and getting them certified. Ideally this will increase the reliability over the long run. The starters in the engine alone are supposed to increase 300% in the number of cycles it can perform.

Here is the original Gizmodo post:

Remember the Boeing 787 Dreamliner? You know, the eternally-delayed wonderplane? Well, rejoice because it has started the engines in a huge puff of smoke. All on its own, which is a first according to Boing:

The occasion marks the first all-electric start of a commercial jetliner engine on a twin-aisle commercial jetliner; the engines had been started electronically in test facilities earlier.

OK, Boeing, if you say so, I believe you. They used the Auxiliary Power System to power the start of its two Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines.

(Via Gizmodo, and Boeing)

My name is Zac, and I have an addiction. Call them UAVs, The Predator, or the X-45, either way, I LOVE drones. And that pic above is one of the sexiest things I have ever seen! This one is a close second. Sure they are making a big deal out of them in the media killing a few people that maybe they shouldn’t have. Don’t get me wrong, I am actually not all about killing random people, what really impresses me is how they are flown from thousands of miles away.

Wired has a good article on how the CIA is sharing the feed to Pakistani security forces. CBS even has some video showing a little bit of the control systems, and how well the surveillance on them works.

Sure I would love to strap into a fighter jet, pull 4G’s, and “yank and bank.” But the next best thing in my opinion is flying one of these guys around trying to maintain the element of surprise while keeping visual contact on an element. Not to mention you could do all of this while ordering pizza delivery, and drinking a slurpy, lets see the F-16 guys do that!

(Via CBS, Wired)