Posted on 11/25/2015 12:10:54 AM PST by BenLurkin
Flying from the company's Van Horn launch site in West Texas, the Blue Origin capsule and propulsion module rocketed more than 100 kilometers into the sky, meaning the capsule reached an altitude considered space.
The capsule, designed to eventually carry humans into the realm of microgravity, parachuted safely to the Texas desert area.
Just as impressive, the propulsion module that lofted the capsule returned to Earth and fired its BE-3 engine to make a soft-landing on a concrete pad to complete the flight as well as a full recovery of the propulsion module.
(Excerpt) Read more at spacecoastdaily.com ...
It was impressive, but I feel the computerized animation of the “passengers” took away from the real event. I know it was an ad, but that was too much.
Another question, did they have dummies in the nose cone to gather information on the passenger section when it landed. That was a pretty hard hit on the ground and I bet “passengers” might not appreciate that.
Is the rocket made by members of the UAW?
If so I wouldn’t trust it
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I think the passengers on this flight splashed down and the landing was just to recover the rocket.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezo's private space company Blue Origin has completed a 'historic' test flight, after sending a craft to space before successfully landing it on Earth.
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Why not use a magnetic rail launch up a cliff side, and launch from a position of positive momentum?
That was a computer animation of the passengers, there were no passengers in that capsule.
Way before Amazon was an embryo in his brain, Bezos was obsessed with space travel geekery. I remember talking with him about it in Physics class.
Flash Gordon. I remember it well.
In History:
In fiction:
magnetic rails(Linear Synchronous Motors) in application:
You will first see rail gun technology applied in weapons. There’s a lot of kinetic energy in a 5,000 mph shell and it can’t be defended against.
Lot of press about it a year and a half ago; some threads about it here on FR you probably saw.
See: http://www.wired.com/2014/04/electromagnetic-railgun-launcher/ for tantalizing video.
July 2015 update in Popular Science...
http://www.popsci.com/navy-wants-working-railguns-and-laser-weapons-2020
In the novel THE MAN WHO SOLD THE MOON, Heinlein had the vehicle being accelerated by rail up the side of Pike's Peak, so that it could be released above the lower atmosphere.
Yes - the cartoon passengers splashed down - hopefully...
The idea for a single stage to orbit shuttle being launched from a maglev rail was featured in a Japanese anime series called, “Dragonaut: The Resonance” starting with the first episode.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfvYTh4sogo
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