Archives for the 'aeronautics' Category
NASA’s WB-57 Aircraft
Published on 24 Jan 2009 at 10:31 pm.
2 Comments.
Filed under NASA, aeronautics.
The same hangar at Ellington Field that houses NASA’s C-9B also houses the agency’s two WB-57 aircraft. So, I got to see them when I was there for the microgravity flight.
Out of over 400 various variants B-57s built, only two still fly. NASA operates both of them to fly high altitude research missions. […]
The Super Guppy
Published on 19 Jan 2009 at 3:43 pm.
3 Comments.
Filed under aeronautics.
Eons ago, when I was in elementary school, every few months or so, the teacher brought us a catalog from the Scholastic Book Club. We got to order some rather inexpensive, age appropriate books. While some kids never ordered anything, I always looked forward to it, and eager waited for the books to […]
Zero G without a spacecraft
Published on 7 Jan 2009 at 9:46 pm.
6 Comments.
Filed under NASA, aeronautics, microgravity flight, physics.
Everyone is familiar with images sent back to Earth of astronauts frolicking in the weightless environment of a spacecraft. When John Glenn was in orbit around Earth, he radioed back to mission controllers on the ground that he was experiencing “Zero G and I feel fine.” But, do you really have to go […]
Read ‘Zero G without a spacecraft’
Racing Rockets
Published on 17 Oct 2008 at 10:23 am.
2 Comments.
Filed under aeronautics.
In one of the early episodes of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace we see a young Anakin Skywalker racing his pod racer in what seemed to me to be a part of the movie designed just to show off the special effects. The technology used for the pods in the movie is not […]
NASA Aeronautics Essay Competition
Published on 27 Nov 2007 at 7:36 pm.
2 Comments.
Filed under aeronautics, college teaching.
NASA is America’s space agency, but that is not all. A lot of people forget that the first A in NASA stands for Aeronautics. NASA is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. They do more than just launch rockets. NASA is also involved in aeronautical research. They work to develop […]
Read ‘NASA Aeronautics Essay Competition’
LZ 129 Hindenburg
Published on 6 May 2007 at 3:44 pm.
3 Comments.
Filed under aeronautics.
Here’s another non-astronomy entry.
70 years ago today, the era of the great airships came to an end. Yes, Zeppelins (giant rigid airships) continued to fly for a few years, and airships still fly today in the form of blimps (smaller non-rigid airships). But the large rigid airships would never again […]
SOFIA Flies!
Published on 27 Apr 2007 at 2:27 pm.
1 Comment.
Filed under aeronautics, airborne telescopes, observatories, telescopes.
Visual light is only a small part of the electromagnetic spectrum. While historically astronomy started with observations of visual light, that really doesn’t see everything that there is to see out there. Many objects emit primarily infrared light, radio waves, X-rays, or any of the other wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation. And, a […]
