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United Launch Alliance (ULA) hoists the Amazon Leo mission payload atop the Atlas V rocket in the Vertical Integration Facility adjacent to Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The Atlas V will launch the Leo 6 mission for Amazon's broadband satellite constellation. Photo credit: United Launch Alliance
In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF), a crane lifts equipment for mission STS-103 out of its shipping container to move it to a workstand. The equipment is the first part of payload flight hardware for the third Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission (SM-3A). The hardware will undergo final testing and integration of payload elements in the PHSF. Mission STS-103 is a "call-up" mission which is being planned due to the need to replace portions of the Hubble's pointing system, the gyros, which have begun to fail. Although Hubble is operating normally and conducting its scientific observations, only three of its six gyroscopes are working properly. The gyroscopes allow the telescope to point at stars, galaxies and planets. The STS-103 crew will not only replace gyroscopes, it will also replace a Fine Guidance Sensor and an older computer with a new enhanced model, an older data tape recorder with a solid state digital recorder, a failed spare transmitter with a new one, and degraded insulation on the telescope with new thermal insulation. The crew will also install a Battery Voltage/Temperature Improvement Kit to protect the spacecraft batteries from overcharging and overheating when the telescope goes into a safe mode. Launch of STS-103 is currently targeted for Oct. 14 but the date is under review. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
Falcon VTOL - VTOL Hypersonic Business Jet (This is not a graphics design)
New iteration update, Raven SSTO, up to 15,000 LBS payloads to orbit for apx $2 mln per launch. Compresses O2 and H2 fueled, not liquid fueled. Graphene Airframe, 6,000+F thermal resistance. Air Breathing Aerospike, along with the primary U-TBCC propulsion.
Details at link www.ioaircraft.com/hypersonic/falcon.php
Link to Conforming Tank Patent patents.google.com/patent/US20210080060
Link to Engines/Propulsion www.ioaircraft.com/hypersonic/utbcc.php
Falcon VTOL is a completely new aircraft design, next generation technologies, and capabilities never seen before. As seen here, anything released publicly are early iterations to get a good look and feel for the aircraft type publicly. But rest assured, every single aspect of this aircraft, the technologies, physics, and systems are already developed.
vtol, hypersonic, hypersonics, business jet, tbcc, nasa, nrl, onr, navsea, afrl, arl, jpl,
Virgin Orbit
Virgin Galactic
Sierra Nevada Corporation
Aevum Inc
NASA
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
AFOSR, Air Force Office of Scientific Research
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
AFWERX
United States Air Force
Air Force Research Laboratory
Firefly Aerospace
ESA - European Space Agency
SpaceX
Axiom Space
Airbus
Airbus Defence
BAE Systems
Northrop Grumman Corporation
Lockheed Martin
Raytheon Technologies
Rolls-Royce plc
National Reconnaissance Office
The Aerospace Corporation
Collins Aerospace
BlackSky
United Launch Alliance
TÉLÉSAT
ONE.Web
ICAO - International Civil Aviation Organization
Dassault Aviation
United States Space Force
Blue Origin
Northrop Grumman Corporation
Arianespace
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Mission One lander prepares for a launch to the Moon on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025, from Launch Complex 39A at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida as part of NASA's CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative. The Blue Ghost lander will carry 10 NASA science and technology instruments to the lunar surface to further understand the Moon and help prepare for future human missions. Liftoff is targeted for 1:11 a.m. EST Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
NASA image use policy.
Standing on a workstand in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, STS-103 Mission Specialists Steven L. Smith and John M. Grunsfield (Ph.D.) pose for the camera while standing in front of the base of the Flight Support System, to be used for repair of the Hubble Space Telescope, the primary mission on STS-103. The crew are at KSC to take part in a Crew Equipment Interface Test. Other members of the crew are Commander Curtis L. Brown Jr., Pilot Scott J. Kelly, and Mission Specialists C. Michael Foale (Ph.D.), Claude Nicollier of Switzerland, and Jean-Frangois Clervoy of France. Nicollier and Clervoy are with the European Space Agency. Mission STS-103 is a "call-up" due to the need to replace portions of the pointing system, the gyros, which have begun to fail on the Hubble Space Telescope. Although Hubble is operating normally and conducting its scientific observations, only three of its six gyroscopes are working properly. The gyroscopes allow the telescope to point at stars, galaxies and planets. The STS-103 crew will not only replace gyroscopes, it will also replace a Fine Guidance Sensor and an older computer with a new enhanced model, an older data tape recorder with a solid-state digital recorder, a failed spare transmitter with a new one, and degraded insulation on the telescope with new thermal insulation. The crew will also install a Battery Voltage/Temperature Improvement Kit to protect the spacecraft batteries from overcharging and overheating when the telescope goes into a safe mode. The scheduled launch date in October is under review. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
Discovery SSTO V8.2 - Single Stage to Orbit Heavy Lift, Hypersonic Aircraft - 70 TON Payload - IO Aircraft
IO Aircraft: www.ioaircraft.com/hypersonic/discovery-218.php
Discovery SSTO V8.2 Specs
Length: 218FT/ Span: 102.58FT / Palyload Bay: 60' L X 16' 7" W X 16' 7" H / Span: 70 Ton (140,000 LBS)
Engines: U-TBCC (Unified Turbined Based Combined Cycle) Inc/Zero Atmosphere
Inlets: Adaptive REST, Originally Hapb/Larc NASA
Fuel: 140,000 Gallons 12,000+ PSI H2 / 90,000 Gallons 12,000+ PSI O2
Fuel Weight: Apx 72,000 LBS Total / *If liquid, would be 1.4 Million LBS
Weight: Apx 250,000 LBS EOW/Dry Weight / Apx 510,000 T/O Weight, Max Payload
Airframe: 75+% Proprietary Advanced Composites, 400,000 PSI Tensile Strength Airframe / *NO Ceramic Tiles
Thermals: 6,000F Thermal Resistance
Estimated Cost: $1.2 Billion Each (Fly Away Price) or $900 million in batches of 5
Estimated Launch Cost: Apx $30 Million at 140,000 LBS, Including Maintenance Costs / Under $250 per pound at Maximum Paylaod Wieght *Could Drop to Below $50 per LBS
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single stage to orbit, ssto, space plane, falcon heavy, delta iv, hypersonic commercial aircraft, hypersonic commercial plane, hypersonic aircraft, hypersonic plane, ICAO, International Civil Aviation Orginization, hypersonic airline, tbcc, glide breaker, fighter plane, hyperonic fighter, boeing phantom express, phantom works, boeing phantom works, lockheed skunk works, hypersonic weapon, hypersonic missile, scramjet engineering, scramjet physics, boost glide, tactical glide vehicle, scramjet, turbine based combined cycle, ramjet, dual mode ramjet, darpa, onr, navair, afrl, air force research lab, office of naval research, defense advanced research project agency, defense science, missile defense agency, aerospike, hydrogen fueled, hydrogen aircraft, virgin airlines, united airlines, sas, finnair ,emirates airlines, ANA, JAL, airlines, military, physics, airline, british airways, air france, aerion supersonic, aerion, spike aerospace, boom supersonic,
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Unified Turbine Based Combined Cycle. Current technologies and what Lockheed is trying to force on the Dept of Defense, for that low speed Mach 5 plane DOD gave them $1 billion to build and would disintegrate above Mach 5, is TBCC. 2 separate propulsion systems in the same airframe, which requires TWICE the airframe space to use.
Unified Turbine Based Combined Cycle is 1 propulsion system cutting that airframe deficit in half, and also able to operate above Mach 10 up to Mach 15 in atmosphere, and a simple nozzle modification allows for outside atmosphere rocket mode, ie orbital capable.
Additionally, Reaction Engines maximum air breather mode is Mach 4.5, above that it will explode in flight from internal pressures are too high to operate. Thus, must switch to non air breather rocket mode to operate in atmosphere in hypersonic velocities. Which as a result, makes it not feasible for anything practical. It also takes an immense amount of fuel to function.
PictionID:53758595 - Catalog:14_031703 - Title:GD/Astronautics Details: OV-1 Nose Faining; photo for Brochure Date: 03/31/1967 - Filename:14_031703.tif - Images from the Convair/General Dynamics Astronautics Atlas Negative Collection. The processing, cataloging and digitization of these images has been made possible by a generous National Historical Publications and Records grant from the National Archives and Records Administration---Please Tag these images so that the information can be permanently stored with the digital file.---Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum
United Launch Alliance (ULA) hoists the Amazon Leo mission payload atop the Atlas V rocket in the Vertical Integration Facility adjacent to Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The Atlas V will launch the Leo 8 mission for Amazon's broadband satellite constellation. Photo credit: United Launch Alliance
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. Workers in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility maneuver the second half of the fairing toward the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (right) for installation. The fairing protects the spacecraft during launch and flight through the atmosphere. Once in space, it is jettisoned. Launch of the MRO aboard an Atlas V rocket will be from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The MRO is the next major step in Mars exploration and scheduled for launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in a window opening Aug. 10. The MRO is an important next step in fulfilling NASAs vision of space exploration and ultimately sending human explorers to Mars and beyond. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
Out of this world public domain images from NASA. All original images and many more can be found from the NASA Image Library
Higher resolutions with no attribution required can be downloaded: www.rawpixel.com/board/418580/nasa
A bomber would be nothing without its payload. B-17 bombers dropped 640,000 metric tons of bombs during the course of WWII (out of a total of 1.5 million), and this particular bomber, a Boeing B-17G-30-BO Flying Fortress named "Nine-O-Nine", was responsible for ~252,000 kilos over 1,129 hours of flight.
I was surprised at how small the bomb bay felt compared to the rest of the aircraft. It didn't seem to hold much (the actual capacity for a B-17 was between 2,000 and 3,600 kilograms) and hardly seemed capable of delivering the 600,000+ tons I had read about. Of course over 8,500 B-17s were produced before August of 1943, and by war's end a total of 12,731 B-17s had been churned out.
ANIK C-3 is gently lowered onto its Payload Assist Module as workmen prepare the Canadian satellite for its flight into orbit onboard the Space Shuttle Columbia, scheduled for launch in November. The ANIK satellite, which is being launched for Telesat Canada, is one of two satellites which will be lifted into space in the cargo bay of the Columbia during its fifth mission [STS 5], the first time a commercial payload will be transported by the Space Shuttle. Once in orbit, the Payload Assist module [PAM- D] will boost the satellite into geosynchronous orbit, where the spacecraft will appear to hover over an area of the Earth, while actually completing one orbit every 24 hours.
Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/
Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
Selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in June 1987, ret. Army Col. James S. Voss served as a mission specialist on STS-44 in 1991 and STS-53 in 1992, was the payload commander on STS-69 in 1995, and again was a mission specialist on STS-101 in 2000. During 2001 he lived and worked aboard the International Space Station as a member of the Expedition-2 crew. A veteran of five space flights, Voss has logged 201 days in space, including four spacewalks totaling 22 hours and 35 minutes of EVA time.
He was also the back-up crew member for two missions to the Russian Space Station Mir.
STS-44/Atlantis (November 24 - December 1, 1991) launched at night from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida and returned to land on the lakebed at Edwards Air Force Base, California. The primary mission objective was accomplished with the successful deployment of a Defense Support Program (DSP) satellite with an Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) rocket booster.
In addition, the crew also conducted two Military Man in Space experiments, three radiation monitoring experiments, and numerous medical tests to support longer duration Shuttle flights. The mission was concluded after 110 orbits of the Earth in 166 hours, 50 minutes and 42 seconds.
STS-53/Discovery (December 2-9, 1992) launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, and returned to land at Edwards Air Force Base, California. The five-man crew deployed the classified Department of Defense payload DOD-1 and also performed several Military Man in Space and NASA experiments. Mission duration was 115 orbits of the Earth in 175 hours, 19 minutes and 17 seconds.
STS-69/Endeavour (September 7-18, 1995) launched from and returned to land at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. On this mission Voss served as Payload Commander. The crew successfully deployed and retrieved a SPARTAN satellite and the Wake Shield Facility.
Also on board was the International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker payload, and numerous secondary payloads and medical experiments. Voss conducted an EVA (space walk) lasting 6 hours 46 minutes to test space suit modifications and to evaluate procedures and tools to be used to construct the International Space Station. Mission was accomplished in 171 orbits of the Earth in 260 hours and 28 minutes.
STS-101/Atlantis (May 19-29, 2000) was the third Shuttle mission devoted to International Space Station (ISS) construction. The crew transported and installed over 3,000 pounds of equipment and supplies, and repaired Station electrical and environmental control components.
Voss conducted his second space walk lasting 6 hours and 44 minutes to complete Station assembly tasks. Mission duration was 155 orbits of the Earth in 236 hours and 9 minutes.
The Expedition 2 crew launched on March 8, 2001 aboard STS-102/Discovery and successfully docked with the International Space Station on March 9, 2001. As a member of the second crew to live on ISS, Voss served aboard the space station for a total of 163 days and returned to earth with the STS-105 crew on August 22, 2001.
During the expedition, Voss conducted spacewalks in both U.S. and Russian space suits and was the first person to operate the Space Station Robotic Manipulator System, Canadarm2. Other highlights of the mission included assembly tasks, 18 scientific experiments, a Soyuz capsule flyaround, addition of the joint airlock to ISS and 5 visiting spacecraft.
In completing this mission, Voss logged a total of 167 days in space, including 2 spacewalks totaling 9 hours and 5 minutes of EVA time.
Signed during the 31st ASE Planetary Conference, Minsk, Belarus, September 2018.
The National Reconnaissance Office’s NROL-25 satellite, encapsulated inside a 4-meter payload fairing, is mated to its United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV booster inside the Mobile Service Tower (MST) at Space Launch Complex-6 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Photo credit: United Launch Alliance
The National Reconnaissance Office’s NROL-25 satellite, encapsulated inside a 4-meter payload fairing, is mated to its United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV booster inside the Mobile Service Tower (MST) at Space Launch Complex-6 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Photo credit: United Launch Alliance
In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, the STS-103 crew look over equipment to be used during their mission. The seven-member crew, taking part in a Crew Equipment Interface Test, are Commander Curtis L. Brown Jr., Pilot Scott J. Kelly, and Mission Specialists Steven L. Smith, C. Michael Foale (Ph.D.), John M. Grunsfeld (Ph.D.), Claude Nicollier of Switzerland, and Jean-Frangois Clervoy of France. Nicollier and Clervoy are with the European Space Agency. Mission STS-103 is a "call-up" due to the need to replace portions of the pointing system, the gyros, which have begun to fail on the Hubble Space Telescope. Although Hubble is operating normally and conducting its scientific observations, only three of its six gyroscopes are working properly. The gyroscopes allow the telescope to point at stars, galaxies and planets. The STS-103 crew will not only replace gyroscopes, it will also replace a Fine Guidance Sensor and an older computer with a new enhanced model, an older data tape recorder with a solid state digital recorder, a failed spare transmitter with a new one, and degraded insulation on the telescope with new thermal insulation. The crew will also install a Battery Voltage/Temperature Improvement Kit to protect the spacecraft batteries from overcharging and overheating when the telescope goes into a safe mode. The scheduled launch date in October is under review. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
Presentations on the ExoMars payload by Daniil Rodionov (ACS, FREND) IKI Moscow, Manish Patel (NOMAD) Uni Padua, and Gabriele Cremonese, Co-PI for CASSIS, Astronomical Observatory, Padua. Images credit: ESA/R. Palmari
Presentations on the ExoMars payload by Daniil Rodionov (ACS, FREND) IKI Moscow, Manish Patel (NOMAD) Uni Padua, and Gabriele Cremonese, Co-PI for CASSIS, Astronomical Observatory, Padua. Images credit: ESA/R. Palmari
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, an overhead crane lowers Mars Exploration Rover 1 (MER- B) over the third stage of the Delta rocket. The rover will be mated to the third stage for launch. The second of twin rovers being sent to Mars, it is equipped with a robotic arm, a drilling tool, three spectrometers, and four pairs of cameras that allow it to have a human-like, 3D view of the terrain. Each rover could travel as far as 100 meters in one day to act as Mars scientists' eyes and hands, exploring an environment where humans can't yet go. MER-B is scheduled to launch from Launch Pad 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, June 26 at one of two available times, 12:27:31 a.m. EDT or 1:08:45 a.m. EDT. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. Workers in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility secure the lower panels of a payload canister around Mars Exploration Rover 1 (MER-B). The rover will be transported to Launch Complex 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, for mating with the Delta rocket. The second of twin rovers being sent to Mars, it is equipped with a robotic arm, a drilling tool, three spectrometers, and four pairs of cameras that allow it to have a human-like, 3D view of the terrain. Each rover could travel as far as 100 meters in one day to act as Mars scientists' eyes and hands, exploring an environment where humans can't yet go. MER-B is scheduled to launch from Pad 17-B June 26 at one of two available times, 12:27:31 a.m. EDT or 1:08:45 a.m. EDT. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
Chargeuse 'HOUGH Payloader' de la cie PTC, Ontario Canada, 1960. Photo: Murray Markanen.
HOUGH Payloader, operated by PTC, Ontarion Canada, 1960. Photo: Murray Markanen.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lunar lander lifts off from Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 1:05 a.m. EST on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024. As part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign, Intuitive Machines’ first lunar mission will carry NASA science and commercial payloads to the Moon to study plume-surface interactions, space weather/lunar surface interactions, radio astronomy, precision landing technologies, and a communication and navigation node for future autonomous navigation technologies. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
NASA image use policy.
United Launch Alliance (ULA) hoists the USSF-106 mission payload atop the Vulcan rocket in the Government Vertical Integration Facility (VIF-G) adjacent to Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. This will be Vulcan's first national security mission for the U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command (SSC). Photo credit: United Launch Alliance
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission One is on its way to the Moon as part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative. The Blue Ghost lander launched from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025 carrying 10 NASA science and technology instruments to the lunar surface to further understand the Moon and help prepare for future human missions. Photo credit: NASA/Frank Michaux
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190827-N-WO404-533
MEDITERRANEAN SEA (Aug. 27, 2019) –Machinist’s Mate 2nd Class Eric Warren stands security watch as the Ohio-class fleet guided-missile submarine USS Florida (SSGN 728) sails in the Mediterranean Sea Aug. 27, 2019. Florida, the third of four SSGN platforms, is capable of conducting clandestine strike operations, joint special operation forces operations, battle space preparation and information operations, SSGN/SSN consort operations, carrier and expeditionary strike group operations, battle management and experimentation of future submarine payloads. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jonathan Nelson/Released)
USAF Serial: 51-13730
From Wikipedia:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convair_B-36_Peacemaker
The Convair B-36 "Peacemaker"[N 1] is a strategic bomber built by Convair and operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) from 1949 to 1959. The B-36 is the largest mass-produced piston-engined aircraft ever built. It had the longest wingspan of any combat aircraft ever built, at 230 ft (70.1 m). The B-36 was the first bomber capable of delivering any of the nuclear weapons in the U.S. arsenal from inside its four bomb bays without aircraft modifications. With a range of 10,000 mi (16,000 km) and a maximum payload of 87,200 lb (39,600 kg), the B-36 was capable of intercontinental flight without refuelling.
Entering service in 1948, the B-36 was the primary nuclear weapons delivery vehicle of Strategic Air Command (SAC) until it was replaced by the jet-powered Boeing B-52 Stratofortress beginning in 1955. All but four aircraft have been scrapped.
The genesis of the B-36 can be traced to early 1941, prior to the entry of the United States into World War II. At the time, the threat existed that Britain might fall to the German "Blitz", making a strategic bombing effort by the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) against Germany impossible with the aircraft of the time.
The United States would need a new class of bomber that would reach Europe and return to bases in North America, necessitating a combat range of at least 5,700 miles (9,200 km), the length of a Gander, Newfoundland–Berlin round trip. The USAAC therefore sought a bomber of truly intercontinental range, similar to the German Reichsluftfahrtministerium's (RLM) ultralong-range Amerikabomber program, the subject of a 33-page proposal submitted to Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering on 12 May 1942.
The USAAC sent out the initial request on 11 April 1941, asking for a 450 mph (720 km/h) top speed, a 275 mph (443 km/h) cruising speed, a service ceiling of 45,000 ft (14,000 m), beyond the range of ground-based anti-aircraft fire, and a maximum range of 12,000 miles (19,000 km) at 25,000 ft (7,600 m). These requirements proved too demanding for any short-term design—far exceeding the technology of the day— so on 19 August 1941, they were reduced to a maximum range of 10,000 mi (16,000 km), an effective combat radius of 4,000 mi (6,400 km) with a 10,000 lb (4,500 kg) bombload, a cruising speed between 240 and 300 mph (390 and 480 km/h), and a service ceiling of 40,000 ft (12,000 m); above the maximum effective altitude of Nazi Germany's anti-aircraft guns, save for the rarely deployed 12.8 cm FlaK 40 heavy flak cannon.
The B-36 took shape as an aircraft of immense proportions. It was two-thirds longer than the previous "superbomber", the B-29. The wingspan and tail height of the B-36 exceeded those of the 1960s Soviet Union's Antonov An-22 Antheus military transport, the largest ever propeller-driven aircraft put into production. Only with the advent of the Boeing 747 and the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy, both designed two decades later, did American aircraft capable of lifting a heavier payload become commonplace.
The wings of the B-36 were large even when compared with present-day aircraft, exceeding, for example, those of the C-5 Galaxy, and enabled the B-36 to carry enough fuel to fly the intended long missions without refueling. The maximum thickness of the wing, measured perpendicular to the chord, was 7.5 feet (2.3 m), containing a crawlspace that allowed access to the engines. The wing area permitted cruising altitudes well above the operating ceiling of any 1940s-era operational piston and jet-turbine fighters. Most versions of the B-36 could cruise at over 40,000 feet (12,000 m). B-36 mission logs commonly recorded mock attacks against U.S. cities while flying at 49,000 feet (15,000 m).[citation needed] In 1954, the turrets and other nonessential equipment were removed (not entirely unlike the earlier Silverplate program for the atomic bomb-carrying "specialist" B-29s) that resulted in a "featherweight" configuration believed to have resulted in a top speed of 423 miles per hour (681 km/h), and cruise at 50,000 feet (15,000 m) and dash at over 55,000 feet (17,000 m), perhaps even higher.
The B-36, including its GRB-36, RB-36, and XC-99 variants, was in USAF service as part of the SAC from 1948 to 1959. The RB-36 variants of the B-36 were used for reconnaissance during the Cold War with the Soviet Union and the B-36 bomber variants conducted training and test operations and stood ground and airborne alert, but the latter variants were never used offensively as bombers against hostile forces; it never fired a shot in combat.
Photo by Eric Friedebach
United Launch Alliance (ULA) hoists the Kuiper 1 mission payload atop the Atlas V rocket in the Vertical Integration Facility-G (VIF-G) adjacent to Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The Atlas V will launch the Kuiper 1 mission for Amazon's Project Kuiper broadband satellite constellation. Photo credit: United Launch Alliance
In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, some of the STS-103 crew look over lubrication devices to be used during their mission. The seven-member crew are Commander Curtis L. Brown Jr., Pilot Scott J. Kelly, and Mission Specialists Steven L. Smith, C. Michael Foale (Ph.D.), John M. Grunsfeld (Ph.D.), Claude Nicollier of Switzerland, and Jean-Frangois Clervoy of France. Nicollier and Clervoy are with the European Space Agency. Mission STS-103 is a "call-up" due to the need to replace portions of the pointing system, the gyros, which have begun to fail on the Hubble Space Telescope. Although Hubble is operating normally and conducting its scientific observations, only three of its six gyroscopes are working properly. The gyroscopes allow the telescope to point at stars, galaxies and planets. The STS-103 crew will not only replace gyroscopes, it will also replace a Fine Guidance Sensor and an older computer with a new enhanced model, an older data tape recorder with a solid state digital recorder, a failed spare transmitter with a new one, and degraded insulation on the telescope with new thermal insulation. The crew will also install a Battery Voltage/Temperature Improvement Kit to protect the spacecraft batteries from overcharging and overheating when the telescope goes into a safe mode. The scheduled launch date in October is under review. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
During a Crew Equipment Interface Test in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, members of the STS-103 crew check out the Flight Support System (FSS)from above and below. The FSS is part of the primary payload on the mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. The seven-member crew comprises Commander Curtis L. Brown Jr., Pilot Scott J. Kelly, and Mission Specialists Steven L. Smith, C. Michael Foale (Ph.D.), John M. Grunsfeld (Ph.D), Claude Nicollier of Switzerland, and Jean-Frangois Clervoy of France. Nicollier and Clervoy are with the European Space Agency. Mission STS-103 is a "call-up" due to the need to replace portions of the pointing system, the gyros, which have begun to fail on the Hubble Space Telescope. Although Hubble is operating normally and conducting its scientific observations, only three of its six gyroscopes are working properly. The gyroscopes allow the telescope to point at stars, galaxies and planets. The STS-103 crew will not only replace gyroscopes, it will also replace a Fine Guidance Sensor and an older computer with a new enhanced model, an older data tape recorder with a solid-state digital recorder, a failed spare transmitter with a new one, and degraded insulation on the telescope with new thermal insulation. The crew will also install a Battery Voltage/Temperature Improvement Kit to protect the spacecraft batteries from overcharging and overheating when the telescope goes into a safe mode. The scheduled launch date in October is under review. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
97-E-0003 Payload processing workers in KSC's Vertical Processing Facility (VPF) prepare to integrate the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS), suspended at center, into the Orbiter Replacement Unit (ORU) Carrier and Scientific Instrument Protective Enclosure (SIPE). STIS will replace the Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph (GHRS) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Four of the seven STS-82 crewmembers will perform a series of spacewalks to replace two scientific instruments with two new instruments, including STIS, and perform other tasks during the second HST servicing mission. HST was deployed nearly seven years ago and was initially serviced in 1993.
A United States Air Force C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft carrying NASA’s largest planetary mission spacecraft, Europa Clipper, arrives at the Launch and Landing Facility at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, May 23, 2024. Teams spent several hours offloading Europa Clipper then transferring it to the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy to prepare it for launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket later this year from Launch Complex 39A at the Florida spaceport. Europa Clipper will help determine if life-sustaining conditions exist below the surface Jupiter’s fourth largest moon, Europa. Photo credit: NASA/Isaac Watson
NASA image use policy.
Out of this world public domain images from NASA. All original images and many more can be found from the NASA Image Library
Higher resolutions with no attribution required can be downloaded: www.rawpixel.com/board/418580/nasa
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, workers prepare to mate the Mars Exploration Rover 1 (MER-B) above with the third stage of the Delta rocket below. The second of twin rovers being sent to Mars, it is equipped with a robotic arm, a drilling tool, three spectrometers, and four pairs of cameras that allow it to have a human-like, 3D view of the terrain. Each rover could travel as far as 100 meters in one day to act as Mars scientists' eyes and hands, exploring an environment where humans can't yet go. MER-B is scheduled to launch from Launch Pad 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, June 26 at one of two available times, 12:27:31 a.m. EDT or 1:08:45 a.m. EDT. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
Catalog #: 10_0009155
Date: 1960
Title: Convair/General Dynamics Atlas
Corporation Name: Convair/General Dynamics
Additional Information: Payload Fit Checks for Atlas Able
Tags: Convair/General Dynamics Atlas, Payload Fit Checks for Atlas Able , 1960, Convair/General Dynamics
Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive
Work in progress of the payload segment of Alpha. Recreating the boat tail and ogive were not easy. Just general shape right now, final colors will be ordered and parts swapped out to look right when it comes time to build the model.
At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers monitor the lift of the canister containing the payload for space shuttle Atlantis' STS-129 mission to the International Space Station toward the Payload Changeout Room at Launch Pad 39A.
Inside the canister are the Express Logistics Carriers 1 and 2 with two spare gyroscopes, two nitrogen tank assemblies, two pump modules, an ammonia tank assembly and a spare latching end effector for the station's robotic arm.
Oct. 30, 2009
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. - In the Multi-Payload Processing Facility, the Pegasus XL launch vehicle waits for mating of the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) satellite. The GALEX, set to launch April 2 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, will carry into space an orbiting telescope that will observe a million galaxies across 10 billion years of cosmic history to help astronomers determine when the stars and elements we see today had their origins. The spacecraft will sweep the skies for 28 months using state-of-the-art ultraviolet detectors to single out galaxies dominated by young, hot, short-lived stars that give off a great deal of energy at that wavelength. These galaxies are actively creating stars, and therefore provide a window into the history and causes of star formation in galaxies. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
United Launch Alliance (ULA) hoists the Amazon Leo mission payload atop the Atlas V rocket in the Vertical Integration Facility adjacent to Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The Atlas V will launch the Leo 8 mission for Amazon's broadband satellite constellation. Photo credit: United Launch Alliance
PictionID:54061399 - Catalog:14_033375 - Title:GD/Astronautics Charts Details: ELV Configuration vs. Payload Size Date: 08/04/1964 - Filename:14_033375.tif - - Images from the Convair/General Dynamics Astronautics Atlas Negative Collection. The processing, cataloging and digitization of these images has been made possible by a generous National Historical Publications and Records grant from the National Archives and Records Administration---Please Tag these images so that the information can be permanently stored with the digital file.---Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum
Space Shuttle with External Tank modified to carry low density payloads. Created for DARPA in 1977 or 1978. Called the Hammerhead, the External Tank extension provided a 10.6 meter diameter payload fairing. It was would have been rather risky to fly since the ET would recontact the Orbiter during ET separation in an RTLS abort. A similar concept was later created, dubbed the Aft Cargo Carrier.
The image is a composite of an AI upscaled B&W scan from AerospaceProjectsReview with color information from the image included in the C. Ehrlich and J. Martin AIAA paper.
Rockwell
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via
Shuttle Variations And Derivatives That Never Happened -
An Historical Review
www.aiaa.org/docs/default-source/uploadedfiles/about-aiaa...
AerospaceProjectsReview
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, the heat shield (foreground) is ready to be mated with the upper backshell/ Mars Exploration Rover 1 (MER-1), in the background. NASA's twin Mars Exploration Rovers are designed to study the history of water on Mars. These robotic geologists are equipped with a robotic arm, a drilling tool, three spectrometers, and four pairs of cameras that allow them to have a human-like, 3D view of the terrain. Each rover could travel as far as 100 meters in one day to act as Mars scientists' eyes and hands, exploring an environment where humans can't yet go. MER-1 is scheduled to launch June 25 as MER-B aboard a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, members of the STS-103 crew look at some of the equipment to be used during their mission. The seven-member crew are Commander Curtis L. Brown Jr., Pilot Scott J. Kelly, and Mission Specialists Steven L. Smith, C. Michael Foale (Ph.D.), John M. Grunsfeld (Ph.D.), Claude Nicollier of Switzerland, and Jean-Frangois Clervoy of France. Nicollier and Clervoy are with the European Space Agency. Mission STS-103 is a "call-up" due to the need to replace portions of the pointing system, the gyros, which have begun to fail on the Hubble Space Telescope. Although Hubble is operating normally and conducting its scientific observations, only three of its six gyroscopes are working properly. The gyroscopes allow the telescope to point at stars, galaxies and planets. The STS-103 crew will not only replace gyroscopes, it will also replace a Fine Guidance Sensor and an older computer with a new enhanced model, an older data tape recorder with a solid state digital recorder, a failed spare transmitter with a new one, and degraded insulation on the telescope with new thermal insulation. The crew will also install a Battery Voltage/Temperature Improvement Kit to protect the spacecraft batteries from overcharging and overheating when the telescope goes into a safe mode. The scheduled launch date in October is under review. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, workers maneuver the cylindrical payload canister into place around Mars Exploration Rover 1 (MER-B). Once secure inside the canister, the rover will be transported to Launch Complex 17- B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, for mating with the Delta rocket. The second of twin rovers being sent to Mars, it is equipped with a robotic arm, a drilling tool, three spectrometers, and four pairs of cameras that allow it to have a human-like, 3D view of the terrain. Each rover could travel as far as 100 meters in one day to act as Mars scientists' eyes and hands, exploring an environment where humans can't yet go. MER-B is scheduled to launch from Pad 17-B June 26 at one of two available times, 12:27:31 a.m. EDT or 1:08:45 a.m. EDT. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum