“An astronaut’s eye view of two thirds of the cargo bay, the white and blue horizon scene of the Earth, and a gibbous moon was recorded on 35mm film from the aft flight deck of the Earth-orbiting Space Shuttle Challenger. The payload flight test article (PFTA) appears to be awaiting its heavy workout schedule in the middle of the bay.”

I like it, an accurate & intelligent write-up, with even a little personality & nuanced amusement-evoking verbiage.

Although...not to be a prick, but that's not a gibbous moon. That terminator is bisecting the disc & based on the area/quantity of mares visible, I think it's 'Third Quarter'.

At this ‘trusted’ yet defunct NASA website. Barely larger than a thumbnail, but damnit, it’s full-frame:

science.ksc.nasa.gov/mirrors/images/images/pao/STS8/10061...

Associated with the following. The total opposite of the above. Just an itemization of what’s visible, highly informative, but cold & clinical…TOTALLY unlike what I usually come across/expect. Kinda weird actually:

“Payload bay (PLB) equipment, payloads, and experiments include remote manipulator system (RMS) stowed on port side sill longeron, Development Flight Instrument (DFI) pallet with High Capacity Heat Pipe Experiment, Special Philatelic Covers in two large storage (mail) boxes, Evaluation of Oxygen Interaction with Materials (EOIM) experiment trays, and Advanced Flexible Reusable Surface Insulation (AFRSI) blanket in foreground and Payload Flight Test Article (PFTA) behind DFI pallet. Vertical tail with orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pods at base points to Earth's cloud-covered surface with gibbous moon in distance.”

At:

science.ksc.nasa.gov/mirrors/images/images/pao/STS8/10061...

Finally, a nice (also full-frame) version here:

www.vintagenasaphotographs.com/shop/gibbous-moon-in-dista...

Credit: “VINTAGE NASA PHOTOGRAPHS” website

I believe they previously had a specimen like mine, which sold for a similar astronomical, or at least ‘orbital’ price!

Since I’m already pointlessly rambling, I approached these folks several years ago, at about the time they started up, naively thinking/hoping we could make beautiful music together…and they gave me the Heisman, politely at least. I was informed they already had a local (UK) source feeding them.

See more photos of this, and the Wikipedia article.

Details, quoting from Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | Space Shuttle Enterprise:

Manufacturer:

Rockwell International Corporation

Country of Origin:

United States of America

Dimensions:

Overall: 57 ft. tall x 122 ft. long x 78 ft. wing span, 150,000 lb.

(1737.36 x 3718.57 x 2377.44cm, 68039.6kg)

Materials:

Aluminum airframe and body with some fiberglass features; payload bay doors are graphite epoxy composite; thermal tiles are simulated (polyurethane foam) except for test samples of actual tiles and thermal blankets.

The first Space Shuttle orbiter, "Enterprise," is a full-scale test vehicle used for flights in the atmosphere and tests on the ground; it is not equipped for spaceflight. Although the airframe and flight control elements are like those of the Shuttles flown in space, this vehicle has no propulsion system and only simulated thermal tiles because these features were not needed for atmospheric and ground tests. "Enterprise" was rolled out at Rockwell International's assembly facility in Palmdale, California, in 1976. In 1977, it entered service for a nine-month-long approach-and-landing test flight program. Thereafter it was used for vibration tests and fit checks at NASA centers, and it also appeared in the 1983 Paris Air Show and the 1984 World's Fair in New Orleans. In 1985, NASA transferred "Enterprise" to the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum.

Transferred from National Aeronautics and Space Administration

• • •

Quoting from Wikipedia | Space Shuttle Enterprise:

The Space Shuttle Enterprise (NASA Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-101) was the first Space Shuttle orbiter. It was built for NASA as part of the Space Shuttle program to perform test flights in the atmosphere. It was constructed without engines or a functional heat shield, and was therefore not capable of spaceflight.

Originally, Enterprise had been intended to be refitted for orbital flight, which would have made it the second space shuttle to fly after Columbia. However, during the construction of Columbia, details of the final design changed, particularly with regard to the weight of the fuselage and wings. Refitting Enterprise for spaceflight would have involved dismantling the orbiter and returning the sections to subcontractors across the country. As this was an expensive proposition, it was determined to be less costly to build Challenger around a body frame (STA-099) that had been created as a test article. Similarly, Enterprise was considered for refit to replace Challenger after the latter was destroyed, but Endeavour was built from structural spares instead.

Service

Construction began on the first orbiter on June 4, 1974. Designated OV-101, it was originally planned to be named Constitution and unveiled on Constitution Day, September 17, 1976. A write-in campaign by Trekkies to President Gerald Ford asked that the orbiter be named after the Starship Enterprise, featured on the television show Star Trek. Although Ford did not mention the campaign, the president—who during World War II had served on the aircraft carrier USS Monterey (CVL-26) that served with USS Enterprise (CV-6)—said that he was "partial to the name" and overrode NASA officials.

The design of OV-101 was not the same as that planned for OV-102, the first flight model; the tail was constructed differently, and it did not have the interfaces to mount OMS pods. A large number of subsystems—ranging from main engines to radar equipment—were not installed on this vehicle, but the capacity to add them in the future was retained. Instead of a thermal protection system, its surface was primarily fiberglass.

In mid-1976, the orbiter was used for ground vibration tests, allowing engineers to compare data from an actual flight vehicle with theoretical models.

On September 17, 1976, Enterprise was rolled out of Rockwell's plant at Palmdale, California. In recognition of its fictional namesake, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and most of the principal cast of the original series of Star Trek were on hand at the dedication ceremony.

Approach and landing tests (ALT)

Main article: Approach and Landing Tests

On January 31, 1977, it was taken by road to Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, to begin operational testing.

While at NASA Dryden, Enterprise was used by NASA for a variety of ground and flight tests intended to validate aspects of the shuttle program. The initial nine-month testing period was referred to by the acronym ALT, for "Approach and Landing Test". These tests included a maiden "flight" on February 18, 1977 atop a Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) to measure structural loads and ground handling and braking characteristics of the mated system. Ground tests of all orbiter subsystems were carried out to verify functionality prior to atmospheric flight.

The mated Enterprise/SCA combination was then subjected to five test flights with Enterprise unmanned and unactivated. The purpose of these test flights was to measure the flight characteristics of the mated combination. These tests were followed with three test flights with Enterprise manned to test the shuttle flight control systems.

Enterprise underwent five free flights where the craft separated from the SCA and was landed under astronaut control. These tests verified the flight characteristics of the orbiter design and were carried out under several aerodynamic and weight configurations. On the fifth and final glider flight, pilot-induced oscillation problems were revealed, which had to be addressed before the first orbital launch occurred.

On August 12, 1977, the space shuttle Enterprise flew on its own for the first time.

Preparation for STS-1

Following the ALT program, Enterprise was ferried among several NASA facilities to configure the craft for vibration testing. In June 1979, it was mated with an external tank and solid rocket boosters (known as a boilerplate configuration) and tested in a launch configuration at Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39A.

Retirement

With the completion of critical testing, Enterprise was partially disassembled to allow certain components to be reused in other shuttles, then underwent an international tour visiting France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the U.S. states of California, Alabama, and Louisiana (during the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition). It was also used to fit-check the never-used shuttle launch pad at Vandenberg AFB, California. Finally, on November 18, 1985, Enterprise was ferried to Washington, D.C., where it became property of the Smithsonian Institution.

Post-Challenger

After the Challenger disaster, NASA considered using Enterprise as a replacement. However refitting the shuttle with all of the necessary equipment needed for it to be used in space was considered, but instead it was decided to use spares constructed at the same time as Discovery and Atlantis to build Endeavour.

Post-Columbia

In 2003, after the breakup of Columbia during re-entry, the Columbia Accident Investigation Board conducted tests at Southwest Research Institute, which used an air gun to shoot foam blocks of similar size, mass and speed to that which struck Columbia at a test structure which mechanically replicated the orbiter wing leading edge. They removed a fiberglass panel from Enterprise's wing to perform analysis of the material and attached it to the test structure, then shot a foam block at it. While the panel was not broken as a result of the test, the impact was enough to permanently deform a seal. As the reinforced carbon-carbon (RCC) panel on Columbia was 2.5 times weaker, this suggested that the RCC leading edge would have been shattered. Additional tests on the fiberglass were canceled in order not to risk damaging the test apparatus, and a panel from Discovery was tested to determine the effects of the foam on a similarly-aged RCC leading edge. On July 7, 2003, a foam impact test created a hole 41 cm by 42.5 cm (16.1 inches by 16.7 inches) in the protective RCC panel. The tests clearly demonstrated that a foam impact of the type Columbia sustained could seriously breach the protective RCC panels on the wing leading edge.

The board determined that the probable cause of the accident was that the foam impact caused a breach of a reinforced carbon-carbon panel along the leading edge of Columbia's left wing, allowing hot gases generated during re-entry to enter the wing and cause structural collapse. This caused Columbia to spin out of control, breaking up with the loss of the entire crew.

Museum exhibit

Enterprise was stored at the Smithsonian's hangar at Washington Dulles International Airport before it was restored and moved to the newly built Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles International Airport, where it has been the centerpiece of the space collection. On April 12, 2011, NASA announced that Space Shuttle Discovery, the most traveled orbiter in the fleet, will be added to the collection once the Shuttle fleet is retired. When that happens, Enterprise will be moved to the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum in New York City, to a newly constructed hangar adjacent to the museum. In preparation for the anticipated relocation, engineers evaluated the vehicle in early 2010 and determined that it was safe to fly on the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft once again.

Fueling and servicing checks on the Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I mission are completed inside Kennedy Space Center’s Multi-Payload Processing Facility on July 8, 2021. The capsule will be transported to the Florida spaceport’s Launch Abort System Facility, where teams with Exploration Ground Systems and contractor Jacobs will work to add parts of the launch abort system onto the spacecraft. Launching later this year, Artemis I will be a test of the Orion spacecraft and SLS rocket as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon. Photo credit: NASA/Glenn Benson

NASA image use policy.

Carries a 1000 kg payload, and my sadness with it.

The first commercially funded airlock for the International Space Station is packed in the Cargo Dragon spacecraft’s trunk in October 2020 for its ride to the International Space Station on SpaceX’s 21st Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-21) mission. The airlock will provide payload hosting, robotics testing, and satellite deployment, and also will serve as an outside toolbox for crew members conducting spacewalks. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the Cargo Dragon, lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 11:17 a.m. EST on Dec. 6, 2020. Photo credit: SpaceX

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MaxShuster.com | tumblr

The first satnav receiver designed to operate in lunar orbit has been delivered to satellite maker Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd in the UK for integration aboard the Lunar Pathfinder spacecraft.

The complete Navigation payload seen here includes a four helix antenna (left, in the glass box) developed by MDA in Canada, plus the NaviMoon satnav receiver (middle, on table) from Swiss company SpacePNT, and the low noise amplifier developed by EECL in the UK, who also undertook the manufacturing and the environmental test campaign for both the satnav receiver and amplifier.

The payload is designed to boost and process faint terrestrial Global Navigation Satellite Signal (GNSS) signals from more than 400 000 km away, harnessing advanced processing and navigation algorithms to fix the spacecraft’s position, velocity and timing in lunar orbit in real time. It is complemented by a lunar Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA) (right), developed by NASA under agreement with ESA, composed of 48 mirrored retro-reflectors that will enable centimetre-scale laser ranging of the spacecraft as it orbits the Moon, to authenticate the satnav receiver position fixes during the experiment.

Due to be launched in late 2025, SSTL’s Lunar Pathfinder mission will serve as a telecommunications relay satellite for future missions to the Moon, to serve assets on both the nearside and farside, orbiting in an ‘elliptical lunar frozen orbit’ for prolonged coverage over the South Pole – a particular focus for future exploration. ESA is Lunar Pathfinder’s anchor customer, while NASA will also make use of its services in exchange for delivering Lunar Pathfinder to lunar orbit through its Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative aboard the CS-3 Firefly Blue Ghost 2 mission.

Lily Forward, SSTL systems engineer and Spacecraft Lead for Lunar Pathfinder, comments: “SSTL is thoroughly looking forward to not only being part of this historic joint venture between ESA and NASA but also being part of the first CLPS task order to fund the transfer of both a landing and orbital asset to the Moon.”

Cyril Botteron, CEO and Co-founder of SpacePNT, says: “This will be for the team the culmination of a long development that we started nearly 10 years ago at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), with the development of a first proof of concept prototype of a super high sensitivity GNSS receiver suitable for Moon missions.”

Michele Scotti, Technical Manager at SpacePNT, adds: “This achievement stems from the hard work and dedication of the whole team. It is immensely rewarding to have this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to pioneer autonomous lunar navigation with our NaviMoon receiver.”

Success would mean future Moon missions could effectively navigate in cislunar environment– fixing autonomously and in real-time their position, using GNSS, with an accuracy better than 100 m, while foregoing the use of costly ground infrastructure.

“This may become a practical way for lunar missions to autonomously determine their own orbits, and also to perform time reference transfers between Earth and the Moon,” explains Javier Ventura-Traveset, Moonlight NAV manager leading ESA’s Navigation Science Office and coordinating all ESA lunar navigation activities.

“To validate the satnav results, the Lunar Pathfinder spacecraft will also perform concurrent X-band radio and laser ranging during the GNSS experiment windows. This will allow to test and combine three ranging technologies at once – GNSS, radio and laser ranging – which has never before been performed from lunar orbit.”

Pietro Giordano, Radio Navigation System Engineer and technical officer in charge of the receiver notes that “by demonstrating critical technologies required for precise lunar navigation, our Navigation Experiment Payload has the potential to revolutionize the way satellites are operated in cislunar space”.

A successful formal Delivery Review Board held this week confirmed the payload is ready to be embarked on Lunar Pathfinder.

Credits: SSTL

Technicians use a crane to mate the re-entry vehicle payload adapter canister for the Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) with the payload adapter separation systems canister as part of launch preparations occurring inside Building 836 at Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) in California on Sept. 8, 2022. LOFTID is the secondary payload on NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) satellite mission. JPSS-2 is the third satellite in the Joint Polar Satellite System series. It is scheduled to lift off from VSFB on Nov. 1 from Space Launch Complex-3. JPSS-2, which will be renamed NOAA-21 after reaching orbit, will join a constellation of JPSS satellites that orbit from the North to the South pole, circling Earth 14 times a day and providing a full view of the entire globe twice daily. Photo credit: USSF 30th Space Wing/Dan Quinajon

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The Solar Orbiter spacecraft is secured inside the United Launch Alliance payload fairing in the Astrotech Space Operations facility in Titusville, Florida on Jan. 20, 2020. Solar Orbiter is an international cooperative mission between ESA (European Space Agency) and NASA. The mission aims to study the Sun, its outer atmosphere and solar wind. The spacecraft will provide the first images of the Sun’s poles. NASA’s Launch Services Program based at Kennedy is managing the launch. The spacecraft has been developed by Airbus Defence and Space. Solar Orbiter will launch in February 2020 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Photo credit: European Space Agency

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Placing the Earth-observer Sentinel-1C onto its "vampire" payload launch adapter to connect the satellite to the Vega-C rocket that will launch it into a polar orbit, 19 November 2024 at Europe Spaceport's payload integration facility.

Earth-observer Sentinel-1C is set to launch on Vega-C rocket flight VV25. At 35 m tall, Vega-C weighs 210 tonnes on the launch pad and reaches orbit with three solid-propellant-powered stages before the fourth liquid-propellant stage takes over for precise placement of Sentinel-1C into its orbit.

The payload adapter connects the satellite and the rocket launching it. The VAMPIRE backronym stands for Vega Adapter for Multiple Payload Injection and Release.

Visible left are the two fairing halves that will protect Sentinel-1C from the elements on the launch pad and during launch through our atmosphere.

Carrying advanced radar technology to provide an all-weather, day-and-night supply of imagery of Earth’s surface, the ambitious Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission has raised the bar for spaceborne radar.

The mission benefits numerous Copernicus services and applications such as those that relate to Arctic sea-ice monitoring, iceberg tracking, routine sea-ice mapping, glacier-velocity monitoring, surveillance of the marine environment including oil-spill monitoring and ship detection for maritime security as well as illegal fisheries monitoring.

Europe’s Vega-C rocket can launch 2300 kg into space, such as small scientific and Earth observation spacecraft. Vega-C is the evolution of the Vega family of rockets and delivers increased performance, greater payload volume and improved competitiveness.

Credits: ESA/CNES/Arianespace/Optique du vidéo du CSG–S. Martin

Inside the Integrated Processing Facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, United Launch Alliance (ULA) technicians perform a blacklight test and sampling for contaminants on one of two ULA Atlas V rocket payload fairings for NASA's Landsat 9 satellite on June 23, 2021. The fairings will encapsulate the satellite for its launch atop the Atlas V from Vandenberg in September 2021. The launch is being managed by NASA's Launch Services Program based at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Landsat 9 will continue the nearly 50-year legacy of previous Landsat missions. It will monitor key natural and economic resources from orbit. Landsat 9 is managed by the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. It will carry two instruments: the Operational Land Imager 2, which collects images of Earth's landscapes in visible, near-infrared and shortwave infrared light, and the Thermal Infrared Sensor 2, which measures the temperature of land surfaces. Like its predecessors, Landsat 9 is a joint mission between NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey. Photo credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin

NASA image use policy.

“In KSC’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF), assembly is complete of the Cassini Trailbazer, a model of the Cassini spacecraft slated to embark on an interplanetary journey to Saturn in October 1997. The Trailblazer will be transferred to the launch pad at Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, where it will undergo a series of fit checks with pad interfaces and the Titan IV expendable vehicle that will launch it into space. Access checks to the spacecraft for both personnel and equipment also will be conducted, as well as validation of the spacecraft timelines and procedures that will be used once the actual Cassini spacecraft arrives next year. The Trailblazer is scheduled to spend about two weeks at Complex 40 before being transported back to the PHSF to undergo preparations for its return to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California. JPL is managing the Cassini project for NASA and several international partners, including the European Space Agency (ESA), the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and several separate European academic and industrial contributors.”

See/read also:

www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/pdf/329124main_04.12.96.pdf

Who knew??? Did you??? I didn’t!!!

Cassini: First year eligible “Unmanned Spacecraft Hall of Fame” inductee…a no-brainer.

Easily a “Top 3” of all-time & arguably…No. 1.

Sentinel-2A being installed on its payload launcher adapter, on 6 June 2015 at Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

The second satellite in Europe’s Copernicus programme is set for launch from Europe’s Spaceport on 23 June 2015.

Sentinel-2 carries an innovative wide-swath, high-resolution multispectral imager with 13 spectral bands for a new perspective of our land and vegetation. The second in the two-satellite mission – Sentinel-2B – is being prepared for launch in 2016.

For more information on the mission, visit www.esa.int/sentinel2

Credit: ESA–M. Pedoussaut, 2015

BARREL team members run under the payload as the balloon first takes flight at the SANAE IV research station in Antarctica.

Credit: NASA

---

In Antarctica in January, 2013 – the summer at the South Pole – scientists launched 20 balloons up into the air to study an enduring mystery of space weather: when the giant radiation belts surrounding Earth lose material, where do the extra particles actually go? The mission is called BARREL (Balloon Array for Radiation belt Relativistic Electron Losses) and it is led by physicist Robyn Millan of Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH. Millan provided photographs from the team’s time in Antarctica.

The team launched a balloon every day or two into the circumpolar winds that circulate around the pole. Each balloon floated for anywhere from 3 to 40 days, measuring X-rays produced by fast-moving electrons high up in the atmosphere. BARREL works hand in hand with another NASA mission called the Van Allen Probes, which travels through the Van Allen radiation belts surrounding Earth. The belts wax and wane over time in response to incoming energy and material from the sun, sometimes intensifying the radiation through which satellites must travel. Scientists wish to understand this process better, and even provide forecasts of this space weather, in order to protect our spacecraft.

As the Van Allen Probes were observing what was happening in the belts, BARREL tracked electrons that precipitated out of the belts and hurtled down Earth’s magnetic field lines toward the poles. By comparing data, scientists will be able to track how what’s happening in the belts correlates to the loss of particles – information that can help us understand this mysterious, dynamic region that can impact spacecraft.

Having launched balloons in early 2013, the team is back at home building the next set of payloads. They will launch 20 more balloons in 2014.

NASA image use policy.

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

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iss069e020459 (June 13, 2023) --- The Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer, or NICER, science investigation payload is pictured attached to the outside of the International Space Station. NICER studies the extraordinary physics of neutron stars providing new insights into their nature and behavior potentially revolutionizing the understanding of ultra-dense matter. Filling the background are the station's solar arrays that power the orbiting lab.

The Payload Operations Integration Center (POIC) at #NASAMarshall is staffed with flight controllers 24/7, 365 days a year, who help conduct science on the International Space Station from the ground.

On May 23, the team had a busy day at console as they worked with the crew aboard the space station to properly package and store scientific experiments into SpaceX's Dragon capsule for its return flight home.

Photo Credit: NASA

#NASA #InternationalSpaceStation #ISS #Launch #Astronauts #SpaceStation #science

Learn more about the work our POIC team does here

More about the International Space Station

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The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket’s interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS) moved into the Multi-Payload Processing Facility February 18, 2021, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida alongside one of its flight partners for the Artemis I mission, the Orion spacecraft. Both pieces of hardware will undergo fueling and servicing in the facility ahead of launch by teams from NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems and their primary contractor, Jacobs Technology. In view, at right, are the NASA insignia and ESA (European Space Agency) logos on the European-built service module. Artemis I will be an integrated flight test of the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft ahead of the crewed flights to the Moon. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the lunar surface and establish a sustainable presence at the Moon to prepare for human missions to Mars. Photo credit: NASA/Glenn Benson

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STS-90 payload specialists undergo water survival training at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL). PS Pawelczyk hanging above the pool.

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Credit: NASA

Image Number: 97_18018

Date: December 19, 1997

Now that fueling and testing are complete, NASA’s Psyche spacecraft is ready to meet its ride – a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. Launch is now targeting 10:34 a.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 5 from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida after optimizing the trajectory for the mission to study a metal-rich asteroid.

Technicians connected Psyche to the payload attach fitting at Astrotech Space Operations facility in Titusville, Florida. This hardware allows Psyche to connect to the top of the rocket once it’s secure inside the protective payload fairings.

Psyche’s journey through space will last nearly six years and about 2.2 billion miles (3.6 billion kilometers) before reaching an asteroid of the same name, which is orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. Scientists believe Psyche could be part of the core of a planetesimal, likely made of iron-nickel metal. The ore will not be mined but studied from orbit in hopes of giving researchers a better idea of what may make up Earth’s core.

Additionally, the Psyche spacecraft will host a pioneering technology demonstration: NASA’s Read more (Deep Space Optical Communications) experiment. This laser communications system will test high-bandwidth optical communications to Earth for the first two years of Psyche’s journey.

Image Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

#SolarSystemandBeyond #NASAMarshall #jpl #psyche #asteroid #KSC

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LEGO model of a Western Star 4900SA day cab with Elphinstone Easysteer PBS Payloader with self steering suspension. Both models are equipped with LEGO Power Functions. Like with all my models this one is again in scale 1:17,5.

The truck features: solid axle suspension on all axles, PF L motor powered driving with power transmitted independently to both rear axles, Ackermann geometry on steering axle, PF Servo motor powered steering, fully functional fifth wheel, 2 sets of PF lights.

The trailer features: It features 2 sets of PF lights, remotely operated landing gear, remotely operated steering lock to enable easy reversing and solid axle suspension on all axles.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!

Some background:

The Messerschmitt Me 262 F was a series of multi-purpose jet planes designed by Messerschmitt for the Luftwaffe that entered service during the final phase of the Second World War in Europe. The aircraft’s design was begun in the summer of 1943 under the project handle P.1099, intended as an improvement to the successful Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter and also as a replacement for the Arado Ar 234 bomber/reconnaissance aircraft. The primary focus was on more payload, being either usable for more fuel (since early jet engines had poor mileage and therefore range and endurance) or for weapons, including bombs in an internal bomb bay that would enable the aircraft to fulfil a similar tactical role as the British de Havilland Mosquito. Beyond this high-speed bomber (Schnellbomber) variant, the P.1099 would also be a suitable basis for a fast reconnaissance plane, interceptors and night fighters, and trainer versions were also planned.

Only a handful Me 262 F-2a Pulkzerstörer were eventually fielded and operated before the end of hostilities – beyond the low production numbers the lack of fuel and loss of suitable airfields highly limited the aircraft’s potential. Probably less than ten were used by operational units, including JG 53 “Pik As”, in which they served alongside other interceptors, including other Me 262 variants. Typically, bomber formations were approached from the side of a bomber formation, where their silhouettes were widest, and while still out of range of the bombers' machine guns. This broadside-attack tactic was very effective, and the aircraft’s high speed allowed the interceptors to turn around 180° and make at least a second attack run from the opposite side, before the machines dashed off and returned to their bases.

General characteristics

Crew: One

Length: 14,32 m (46 ft 11 in) overall

12,00 m (39 ft 3¾ in) fuselage only, w/o brake parachute housing

Wingspan: 12,61 m (41 ft 3¾ in)

Height: 4,43 m (14 ft 6 in)

Wing area: 24,2 m² (236 sq ft)

Empty weight: 5.061 kg (11,148 lb)

Loaded weight: 8.762 kg (19,300 lb)

Max. take-off weight: 10.062 kg (22,163 lb)

Powerplant:

2× Junkers Jumo 004 C turbojets with 12 kN (2,697 lb st) each

Performance

Maximum speed: 930 km/h (577 mph, 505 kn)

Cruising speed: 805 km/h (500 mph, 438 kn) at 6.500 m (21,290 ft)

Range: 1.340 km (830 ml, 728 nm) at 6000 m with internal fuel only

Service ceiling: 11,450 m (37,570 ft)

Rate of climb: 18 m/s (3,540 ft/min) at max. weight

Armament:

1× 55 mm (1.96 in) MK 112 machine cannon with 60 rounds

1× 30 mm (1.18 in) MK 108 machine cannon with 100 rounds

Hardpoints under the outer wings for racks with twelve 55mm R4M unguided air-to-air missiles

The kit and its assembly:

This became a submission to the late 2021 “Gunships” group build at whatifmodellers.com – what would such a competition be without at least one gun-toting German Luft ’46 interceptor? The Messerschmitt P.1099 lent itself for such a build. Since 1996 Revell offers a 1:72 IP model kit of this paper aircraft, depicting more or less the two planned versions: a basic single-seat day fighter and a heavy two-seater Zerstörer, both based on the same basis.

This what-if model was based on Revell’s interpretation of the P.1099A, and the kit goes together well. Fit is very good, even though some designs are IMHO a bit dubious. The kit’s weakest point: Revell unfortunately missed the important detail of the modified engine nacelles: the kit comes with standard Me 262 wings and engines, but due to CoG reasons the P.1099 would have had its engines moved back by about 900 mm, as mentioned in the background. I corrected this on this build with some PSR – sounds simple, but since the nacelles are not expected to be stuck to the wings in their new position roughly 1 cm further back, some serious bodywork had to be done.

Otherwise the kit was basically built OOB. I just left away the inner wheels from the main landing gear because I found the twin wheels to be “too much” for this upgraded Me 262. The P.1099 might have been heavier than the Me 262, but…? And the wheels’ tractor-like tread design looks IMHO out of place, too, so that I replaced them with a pair of MiG-21 wheels, left over from a KP kit.

The cockpit was taken OOB, even though I have doubts concerning the canopy. And when you look at mockup pictures of the P.1099 you realize that cockpit access had been facilitated through a side door at starboard, similar to the D. H. Mosquito. The cockpit tub does not consider this hatch at all, and the engraved door on the fuselage (it’s actually there!) is so tiny that only a Halfling might use it?

Well, I stuck with it “as is” and just added a pilot figure (specifically from a Matchbox Hawker tempest, because it is one of the rare cases that you get a WWII pilot wearing an oxygen mask) and a “barrel” behind the bulbous pilot seat because there’s a lot of free space in this single seat variant that is otherwise occupied by a rear gunner in Revell’s P.1099B kit. I also have doubts concerning the kit’s canopy, since the original P.1099 had a cockpit for two seated side-by-side, with a canopy that resembled the D.H. Mosquito’s a lot. I am also not certain about the stabilizers – the kit comes with standard Me 262 parts, but trustworthy sources I consulted suggest that not only the fin had been enlarged (depicted well in Revell’s kit), but also the stabilizers? To improve this, I implanted a pair of modified stabilizers that came from a Heller PZL P.23 light bomber. Sounds odd, but they were a very good match in size, shape and thickness!

The only major modification concerns the armament, even though it became just a “graft-on” solution. On the lower left side, the upper gun port was PSRed away. On the right side I added a bulged fairing for the MK 112. It was sculpted from a Matchbox Saab J29 drop tank and blended into the hull with PSR. Protruding spent cases fairings were added for both guns. The MK 112 gun barrel is a resin piece, left over from a ModelTrans tank conversion set and actually depicts a German 55 mm gun, so that this became a perfect donor piece.

Since the airframe still looked rather clean and boring I finally added a pair of JATO bottle racks to the rear fuselage (scratched from styrene profile but left empty) and a brake parachute fairing under the fin, carved from a piece of sprue.

Furthermore, a display adapter was installed into the fuselage for in-flight pictures.

Painting and markings:

This became a challenge, because I wanted a rather unusual livery, neither a standard RLM 81/82/76 late-war combo nor an improvised-cammo-over-bare-metal finish. After some research I settled upon something that was actually carried by some He 177 bombers around 1944: a uniform RLM 74 (Graugrün, Humbrol 245) upper surface with “cloudy” mottles in RLM 76 (Humbrol 247). This appears like a winter camouflage, but it’s actually quite effective at medium altitude, esp. over a cloudy landscape. The original bombers had light blue (RLM 65) undersides, but for the P.1099 from a later period and as a fighter I rather used a darker shade of RLM76 in the form of Tamiya XF-23 (Light Blue). The model received a black ink washing and some post-panel-shading.

The cockpit interior became RLM 66 (Schwarzgrau, Humbrol 67) while the landing gear and the well were painted in uniform RLM 02 (I used Revell 45, a slightly more greenish tone), with wheel discs in RLM 66, too.

Unit markings became minimal and quite sober. I gave the aircraft a typical late-war “Reichsverteidigung” fuselage band, and in JG 53’s case it is plain black. The black band was deliberately chosen because it is a good, much darker contrast to the murky RLM 74, so that the latter appears lighter than it actually is, lowering the contrast to the RLM 76 spots.

The decals were puzzled together from various sources. As an aircraft of the 3rd group the unit’s ID color would be yellow, reflected in the tactical code and the fin tip. For some contrast and to emphasize the long gun barrel I gave it white and black stripes – as a security measure for ground handling. For some more variety I painted one air intake in very dark grey (Revell 06, Anthracite) and the other one in steel Metallizer, simulating replacement parts. The Balkenkreuze come from various sheets – I used simplified “low viz” versions all around. The undulating yellow bar for the 3rd group comes from a TL Modellbau sheet, while the yellow “4” came from a Fw 190 A sheet from Sky Models. A small “4” on the nose was added as a wacky detail, too, the “Pik As” unit markings came IIRC from a Hobby Boss Bf 109 sheet. Since they turned out to have poor contrast/opacity I only used a few stencils from the P.1099A sheet, but due to the disruptive paint scheme this is not apparent.

Finally, the model was sealed with a coat of matt acrylic varnish (Italeri) and a wire antenna, scratched from heated black sprue material, was added between cockpit and fin.

Well, this modified Messerschmitt P.1099A looks simple, but the modified engine nacelles as well as the gun fairing under the nose called for serious PSR. The result looks quite natural, though, and AFAIK this weapon configuration was actually on German drawing boards. However, I am not certain about the cockpit canopy and other details on Revell’s kit, reference information is contradictive.

The paint scheme looks good, even though it was lent from a heavy bomber, and the poor Humbrol enamels did not yield a finish that I had hoped for – the paintwork could certainly have been better, but the overall impression of a late-war Pulkzerstörer is O.K., and this eventually counts.

Technicians prepare to move the second half of the United Launch Alliance Atlas V payload fairing around the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2), stacked atop NASA’s Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) secondary payload inside the Astrotech Space Operations facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) in California on Oct. 12, 2022. JPSS-2 is the third satellite in the Joint Polar Satellite System series. It is scheduled to lift off from VSFB on Nov. 1 from Space Launch Complex-3. JPSS-2, which will be renamed NOAA-21 after reaching orbit, will join a constellation of JPSS satellites that orbit from the North to the South pole, circling Earth 14 times a day and providing a full view of the entire globe twice daily. The NOAA/NASA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite, and NOAA-20, previously known as JPSS-1, are both already in orbit. Each satellite carries at least four advanced instruments to measure weather and climate conditions on Earth. LOFTID is dedicated to the memory of Bernard Kutter. LOFTID will demonstrate inflatable heat shield technology that could enable a variety of proposed NASA missions to destinations such as Mars, Venus, and Titan, as well as returning heavier payloads from low-Earth orbit. Photo credit: USSF 30th Space Wing/Steve Gerlich

NASA image use policy.

Technicians inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center complete installation of a commemorative plaque on the agency’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, as photographed on Tuesday, July 28, 2026. In addition to honoring the legacy of Dr. Nancy Grace Roman, NASA’s first chief astronomer and one of the architects of the agency’s modern science program, the plaque features a memory card containing a total of 1,350,144 names submitted by people from across the globe, including astronauts from NASA’s Artemis II and Artemis III missions. The Roman observatory will travel to the Sun-Earth Lagrange point 2, or L2, about one million miles from Earth, where the Sun’s and Earth’s gravity balance out, to complete a statistical census of planetary systems in our galaxy and settle essential questions in the areas of dark energy, exoplanets, and infrared astrophysics. Photo credit: NASA/Sydney Rohde (Rocz)

NASA image use policy.

Spectacular long-exposure COLOR photograph of service structure rollback, Launch Complex 17B, with Delta-C no. 32 and its payload of TIROS X (TIROS 10) front and center. The photo was probably taken shortly before its 2 July 1965 launch. TIROS 10 (TIROS X) was the last 'experimental' satellite in the series.

The photo has a flat finish, not glossy, nor satin or matte. However, it is totally uniform & even in its finish across the entire image.

The following at:

science.nasa.gov/missions/tiros

TIROS-10

Objectives: Further the testing of the TIROS system in preparation of the weather Bureau's completely operational TOS (TIROS Operational Satellite) system, and to privde maximum satellite coverage during the 1965 hurricane season.

Description: The spacecraft was 42 inches in diameter, 19 inches high and weighed 270 pounds. The craft was made of aluminum alloy and stainless steel then covered by 9200 solar cells. The solar cells served to charge the nickel-cadmium (nicad) batteries. Three pairs of solid-propellant spin rockets were mounted on the base plate. This was the heaviest satellite launched at this time.

The configuration of the TIROS-10 was similar to that of TIROS-8, with the cameras mounted on the base plate. The craft was placed in its planned Sun-synchronous retrograde orbit, drifting westward about 1 degree per day (the same rate and direction as the Earth moves around the Sun), which provided maximum lighting for photography and battery charging.

TIROS-10 was the last of the experimental TIROS series and provided more than 400 images daily, each of a 640,000-square mile area with 2-mile resolution at the center.

Participants: NASA, RCA, US Weather Bureau

TIROS-10 Stats:

Launch Date: July 2, 1965

Operational Period: 730 days before being deactivated by NASA along with TIROS-8 on July 1, 1967

Launch Vehicle: Three-stage Delta

Launch Site: Cape Canaveral, FL

Type: Weather Satellite

Similar view of one of the manned Skylab Saturn IBs:

www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/image_card_4x3_ra...

And a spectacular Apollo 7 Saturn IB view:

www.collectspace.com/ubb/Forum40/HTML/000649.html

Credit: collectSPACE website/Ed Hengeveld

This is a Mil V-12 prototype modified with more powerful engines, longer range and a larger payload. I also added a small rear defensive turret, which was common at the time.

More info and images here, please click!

I built this helicopter during the summer, I made a small trip to my summerhouse and using a small number of parts that I had there, I built this and another small aircraft.

The real aircraftMil V-12 / Mi-12 Homer Although only two examples of the Mil Mi-12 were built, both being V-12 prototypes, this giant machine is worthy of mention as the world's largest helicopter to have flown to date.

The Mil V-12 (Mi-12), which was allotted the NATO reporting name Homer, is currently the world's largest helicopter, but does not appear to have progressed past the development phase.

The origins of the V-12 lie with a 1965 Soviet air force requirement for a heavy-lift helicopter able to carry major missile components. These would be brought into remote missile site areas by fixed-wing aircraft, and then lifted from the airfield to the launch site by the new helicopter.

The two engines are located side-by-side with twin intakes, and drive five-bladed metal rotors. The left rotor rotates anti-clockwise and the right unit clockwise; the two units are connected by transverse shafting to ensure synchronization and the continued rotation of both units in the event of engine failure at either wingtip. The lower part of each cowling can be dropped to form a working platform for mechanics.

Fuel is housed in two cylindrical tanks mounted externally on the lower fuselage sides. The main units of the fixed tricycle undercarriage are supported by a plethora of struts bracing the wings and running from the lower fuselage, wings and engines.Although the V-12 could accommodate large numbers of passengers, tip-up seats are provided for only 50; the reason for this is that the type is intended mainly for heavy-lift work, with accommodation only for drilling crews, missile crews etc. The main freight hold has overhead rails for a moving crane which has four loading points, each rated at 2500kg, or can alternatively lift a single item of up to 10000kg. The bottom of the rear fuselage comprises an inbuilt loading ramp, with large clamshell doors forming the rear fuselage aft of this point.

Despite all of these achievements, the Soviet Air Force refused to accept the helicopter for state acceptance trials for many reasons, the main one being that the V-12's most important, intended mission no longer existed, e.g.., the rapid deployment of strategic ballistic missiles. In the meantime the military concept of deploying missiles had been altered since some of the missiles had proved disappointing and were phased out.

Info: www.aviastar.org/helicopters_eng/mi-12.php

Imperial Lego Air Force

Some years ago, the Imperial Lego Air Force needed a heavy lifter helicopter, capable of carrying one medium MBT or one medium range Strategic Nuclear Missile. Although vulnerable in the battlefield, the “Homer” was and still is a very important tool for the Imperial Lego Air Force, carrying 200 paratroopers with all their equipment a medium MBT.

Right now, the Imperial Legos are looking for a new helicopter to replace the Homer.

More info and images about the Imperial Lego Air Force, please click here!

General characteristics (Mil V-12 Prototype) - Wikipedia

Crew: 6 (pilot, copilot, flight engineer, electrician, navigator, radio operator)

Payload:

VTOL 25,000 kg (55,000 lb) or

STOL 30,000 kg (66,000 lb) ()

44,205.5 kg (88,636 lb) record

Length: 37.00 m (121 ft 4 in)

Rotor diameter: 2x 35.00 m (114 ft 10 in)

Height: 12.50 m (41 ft 0 in)

Loaded weight: 97,000 kg (213,850 lb)

Max. takeoff weight: 105,000 kg (231,500 lb)

Powerplant: 4 × Soloviev D-25VF turboshaft, 4,048 kW (6,500 shp) each

Freight compartment: 28.15 m x 4.40 m x 4.40 m (92 ft 4 in x 14 ft 5 in x 14 ft 5 in)

Performance

Maximum speed: 260 km/h (140 kt)

Range: 500 km (310 miles)

Service ceiling: 3,500 m (11,500 ft)

“JOHN H. GLENN, JR.

United States Senator (Democrat-Ohio)

STS-95 payload specialist”

Also:

Honorable Man

Epitome of The Right Stuff

See video linked below, especially when he’s ‘recommended’ to leave the retro package on during re-entry. He requests the reason for this and is not told why. Now likely suspecting there’s a decent chance he’s going to be incinerated, this is how a GENUINE HERO conducts oneself:

www.collectspace.com/news/news-121616a-john-glenn-reentry...

youtu.be/5n449Q_xeUs

Credit: Andrew Chaikin/collectSPACE/YouTube

The Viridis was developed as a bomber craft, it's strong armor and devastating payload makes it very destructive against large enemy stations or battleships. The storage bay on the bottom can also double for carrying cargo or supplies for long scouting missions.

The Viridis is an amalgamation of several projects I had in the works, the thrusters are inspired by some concept art I saw online. The fuselage started out as an attempt at something similar to a Star Trek style shuttle. I created the thrusters and thought they looked great, but I had a really hard time coming up with a fuselage that matched, so I re-purposed some elements of it into the Ocellaris. I didn't want to give up on the thrusters though, so I kept messing around and then while looking at another project, I realized the fuselage from a different ship I was stuck on fit perfectly. So I combined the two projects and ended up with something I am really happy with!

I have a bunch of MOCs I have made over the years, and since Taylor and I are now posting all of our pictures under the same profile, I thought it would be good to upload them now that I have some decent pictures.

~Brandon

A perfect satellite test set-up inside ESA’s vast Large Space Simulator chamber – the only thing missing is a satellite.

“Next spring will see thermal vacuum testing of the payload module of Europe’s MetOp-C weather satellite,” explains Eric Bonnet of European Test Services, the company that operates the test centre in the Netherlands for ESA.

“In preparation, we have we have taken the all the test equipment out of storage and set it up in advance, to check it is still operating reliably.”

Next year’s test involves verifying the operation of MetOp’s instruments in space-like vacuum conditions. In order to do so, cryogenically cooled ‘blackbodies’ need to be fitted in front of the instrument openings or radiators.

Eleven blackbodies are required in all, their temperatures controlled to within 100–30ºC of absolute zero.

Accordingly, a complex structure has been designed to position these blackbodies as close as possible to the instruments, with piping variously supplying liquid nitrogen and helium gas, all covered with multilayer insulation to minimise any thermal effect on the satellite.

The payload module was represented by a simple metal structure with the same interface points as the satellite to come.

The team worked over weeks to prepare Europe’s single largest vacuum chamber. “Normally we would have performed this activity closer to the actual MetOp-C test campaign,” adds Eric. “But between now and then the chamber will be used for the thermal vacuum testing of the Mercury Transfer Module of the BepiColombo mission.

“This will also be challenging, using the chamber’s Sun simulator, which has been reconfigured to attain the high solar flux prevailing in the vicinity of the innermost planet, up to 11 000 W/m2, as well as simulating the release of xenon gas from its electrical propulsion system."

The Large Space Simulator is part of ESA’s Test Centre in Noordwijk, the largest facility of its kind in Europe, with a full set of satellite testing facilities under a single roof.

MetOp is a set of three polar-orbiting satellites whose temperature and humidity observations have helped to improve weather forecasting. MetOp-A was launched in 2006 and MetOp-B in 2012, with MetOp-C planned to follow them.

ESA’s annual Open Day in the Netherlands takes place on 2 October. For more information, click here .

Credit: ESA-G. Porter CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

A close-up view of the United Launch Alliance Atlas V payload fairing containing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) as it arrives at the vertical integration facility at Space Launch Complex 3 at Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) in California on Oct. 18, 2022. Inside the fairing, JPSS-2 is stacked atop NASA’s Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) secondary payload. JPSS-2 is the third satellite in the Joint Polar Satellite System series. It is scheduled to lift off from VSFB on Nov. 1 from SLC-3. JPSS-2, which will be renamed NOAA-21 after reaching orbit, will join a constellation of JPSS satellites that orbit from the North to the South pole, circling Earth 14 times a day and providing a full view of the entire globe twice daily. The NOAA/NASA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite, and NOAA-20, previously known as JPSS-1, are both already in orbit. Each satellite carries at least four advanced instruments to measure weather and climate conditions on Earth. LOFTID is dedicated to the memory of Bernard Kutter. LOFTID will demonstrate inflatable heat shield technology that could enable a variety of proposed NASA missions to destinations such as Mars, Venus, and Titan, as well as returning heavier payloads from low-Earth orbit. Photo credit: USSF 30th Space Wing/Randy Beaudoin

NASA image use policy.

Nogal een payload voor de 1614 van DB Cargo vandaag in trein 61300: één lege gaswagen. De trein passeert sportpark De Marslanden, dat deze week deels is omgetoverd tot een groot kampeerterrein vanwege de introductiedagen voor kersverse Zwolse studenten, de 'Bruisweken'.

On March 6, technicians working inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida unfolded and fully extended the first of two five-panel solar arrays for the agency's Europa Clipper spacecraft. Each solar array measures 46.5 feet in length. For the operation, the team suspended the solar array on a gravity offload support system that helps support the weight of the solar array while it's here on Earth. Up next, technicians will begin inspecting and cleaning as part of assembly, test, and launch operations. Planned to arrive at Jupiter in April 2030, the mission will study Jupiter's moon Europa, which shows strong evidence beneath its icy crust of a global ocean over twice the volume of all Earth's oceans. The spacecraft will ship to Florida later this year from NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab in Southern California in preparation for launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy's Launch Complex 39A.

Credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

#NASA #MarshallSpaceFlightCenter #MSFC #Marshall #jpl #nasamarshall #Europa #EuropaClipper #SendYourName

Read more

More about Europa Clipper

NASA Media Usage Guidelines

After a 25-day flight beyond the Moon and back inside the Artemis I Orion crew module, two manikins undergo post-flight payload inspections inside the Space Station Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Jan. 11, 2023. As part of the Matroshka AstroRad Radiation Experiment (MARE) investigation, the two female manikins – Helga and Zohar – were equipped with radiation detectors. Zohar also wore a radiation protection vest, to determine the radiation risk during the Artemis I mission and potentially reduce exposure during future missions with astronauts. The detectors will be removed at Kennedy and the torsos will return to teams at the German Space Agency for further analysis. Artemis I Orion launched atop the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39B on Nov. 16, 2022, at 1:47 a.m. EST. During the flight, Orion flew farther than any spacecraft built for humans has ever flown, paving the way for human deep space exploration and demonstrating NASA’s commitment and capability to extend human presence to the Moon and beyond. The primary goal of Artemis I was to thoroughly test the SLS and Orion spacecraft’s integrated systems before crewed missions. Under Artemis, NASA aims to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon and establish sustainable lunar exploration. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA image use policy.

Oh god, Awe, why does your plane pile keep growing higher? Because I finished this like a month ago and didn't have time to render it until now.

Modernization of this plane, P&Q for DC6 deplorables here:

Lel-17M/22M - Attack- 24pp

Payload - 8 (+1)

Agility - Mediocre (0)

Range - 1000 km (0)

Speed - Mach 1.5 (0, +swing-wings)

Automatic Flare Dispenser (+1)

Low Maintenance (+1)

Short Takeoff and Landing (+1)

Drop Tanks (0)

Swing-wings (0)

Compressor Stalls (-1)

Mechanically Complex (-1)

The United Launch Alliance (ULA) payload fairing with NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover secured inside is lifted high up inside the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on July 7, 2020. Inside the VIF, the payload fairing will be secured on the ULA Atlas V rocket. The Mars Perseverance rover is scheduled to launch atop the Atlas V 541 rocket from Pad 41 on July 30. The rover is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. The rover’s seven instruments will search for habitable conditions in the ancient past and signs of past microbial life on Mars. The Launch Services Program at Kennedy is responsible for launch management. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA image use policy.

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I would like to say a huge and heartfelt 'THANK YOU' to GETTY IMAGES, and the 33.626+ Million visitors to my FLICKR site.

***** Selected for sale in the GETTY IMAGES COLLECTION on October 2nd 2019

CREATIVE RF gty.im/1178483334 MOMENT OPEN COLLECTION**

This photograph became my 3,725th frame to be selected for sale in the Getty Images collection and I am very grateful to them for this wonderful opportunity.

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Photograph taken at an altitude of Nine metres, at 12:14pm on Tuesday 24th September 2019 off the West Coast Road 14, on the shoreline of French Beach Provincial Park.

The park is a Fifty nine Hectare provincial park in British Columbia, Canada. Located on Vancouver Island, between Sooke and River Jordan, the park has spectacular views of the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

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Nikon D850. Focal length 35mm Shutter speed 1/50s Aperture f/16.0 iso320 RAW (14 bit uncompressed) Image size L (8256 x 5504 FX). Focus mode AF-C focus 51 point with 3D- tracking. AF-Area mode single point & 73 point switchable. Exposure mode - Aperture priority exposure. Nikon Back button focusing enabled. Matrix metering. ISO Sensitivity: Auto. White balance: Natural light auto. Colour space Adobe RGB. Nikon Distortion control on. Picture control: Auto. High ISO NR on. Vignette control: normal. Active D-lighting Auto.

Nikkor AF-S 24-120mm f/4G ED VR. Lee SW150 MKII filter holder. Lee SW150 77mm screw in adapter ring. Lee SW150 0.6 (2 stops) ND Grad soft resin. Lee SW150 Filters field pouch.Nikon EN-EL15a battery.Mcoplus professional MB-D850 multi function battery grip 6960. Matin quick release neckstrap. My Memory 128GB Class 10 SDXC 80MB/s card. Lowepro Flipside 400 AW camera bag. Nikon GP-1 GPS module. Hoodman HEYENRG round eyepiece oversized eyecup.Manfrotto 055XPROB Tripod 3 Sections (Payload: 5.6kgs). Manfrotto 327RC2 Light Duty Grip Ball Magnesium Tripod Head (Payload: 5.5kgs). Manfrotto quick release plate 200PL-14. Jessops Tripod bag.Nikon MC-DC2 remote shutter release cable.

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LATITUDE: N 48d 23m 33.50s

LONGITUDE: W 123d 56m 43.90s

ALTITUDE: 9.0m

RAW (TIFF) FILE: 130.00MB NEF: 91.3MB

PROCESSED (JPeg) FILE: 41.60MB

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PROCESSING POWER:

Nikon D850 Firmware versions C 1.10 (9/05/2019) LD Distortion Data 2.017 (20/3/18) LF 1.00

HP 110-352na Desktop PC with AMD Quad-Core A6-5200 APU 64Bit processor. Radeon HD8400 graphics. 8 GB DDR3 Memory with 1TB Data storage. 64-bit Windows 10. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. WD My Passport Ultra 1tb USB3 Portable hard drive. Nikon ViewNX-1 64bit (Version 1.3.1 11/07/2019). Nikon Capture NX-D 64bit (Version 1.4.7 15/03/2018). Nikon Picture Control Utility 2 (Version 1.3.2 15/03/2018). Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Renault UE Chenillette

Type Prime mover

Place of origin France

Service history

Used by France France

Nazi Germany

Thailand

Romania

Taiwan Republic of China

Iron Guard

Production history

Designer Renault

Manufacturer Renault, AMX, Berliet, Fouga, Malaxa

Produced 1932 - March 1941

No. built 5,168 France, 126 Romania

Variants UE 2, Şeniletă Malaxa Tip UE

Specifications

Weight 2.64 t (5,800 lb)

Length 2.80 m (9 ft 2 in)

Width 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)

Height 1.25 m (4 ft 1 in)

Crew two

Armor 9 mm (0.35 in)

Main

armament

7.5 mm MAC for the last UE 2 production run

Engine Renault 85

38 hp (28 kW)

Payload capacity 350 kg (770 lb) in cargo bin;

950 kg (2,090 lb) with trailer

Suspension leaf spring

Ground clearance 30 cm (12 in)

Fuel capacity 56 L (12 imp gal)

Operational

range

100 km (62 mi)

Speed 30 km/h (19 mph)

The Renault UE Chenillette was a light tracked armoured carrier and prime mover produced by France between 1932 and 1940.

In 1930 the French Infantry decided to develop a light armoured vehicle able to tow and supply small cannon and mortars. In 1931 the Renault company was given the contract for production of its Renault UE, combined with the Renault UK trailer. In 1937, from a number of competitors, the Renault UE2 was chosen as an improved type for large-scale production. Of both types combined over five thousand were built, including licence production in Romania, and they were part of the standard equipment of all French infantry divisions. Most Renault UE vehicles in French service were unarmed; those in 1940 captured by Germany were used for a variety of purposes, including being armed with machine-guns, antitank-guns and rocket artillery.

Development

Since 1922 it had been the policy of the French Infantry to mechanise as many units as possible. Budgetary restraints made it unrealistic to fully equip them with armoured personnel carriers; but the mass production of smaller armoured vehicles in the roles of munition and supply carrier and weapon carrier for machine guns and mortars seemed feasible. For some years the decision to produce these types was delayed, but after in 1929 an experiment with an automotive trailer guided by a walking soldier had completely failed, it was decided to develop a single vehicle for both missions. In the spring of 1930 several possibilities were considered, among them a standard 3.5 ton truck and the existing Citroën-Kégresse half-tracks. Brandt, as such an arms producer having no experience in vehicle development, had already started cooperation with the British Vickers company to build a weapon carrier for its Brandt Modèle 1927 mortar; it proposed to produce the British Carden-Loyd Mark VI carrier under licence and presented a smaller and a larger vehicle, together with matching trailers, imported from Britain, for the supply and weapon carrier task respectively. On 24 July 1930 the Commission de Vincennes rejected the truck and half-tracks as being too heavy and opted after some satisfactory testing for the smaller weapon carrier of the Vickers type. On 7 October it was decided to develop such a vehicle under the name of Type N. Orders for prototypes were in December 1930 made with three companies: Renault, Citroën and Brandt. Renault however indicated he had no intention to pay licence rights, unless the French state would fully compensate him; the three companies were thus invited to build a "similar" vehicle, not an exact copy. The orders were for armoured tractors and matching tracked trailers and for a heavier trailer to carry again the tractor, to be pulled by a truck while the smaller trailer trailed behind.

In the summer of 1931 the prototypes were ready for trials. Citroën had received orders for six tractor prototypes: three fully tracked vehicles and three of the half-track type. The first prototype to be ready, not at all resembling the Carden-Loyd carrier, was in the form of a very small half-track fitted with a Kégresse track and manned by only a driver protected by an armoured hood with vision slits, sitting on the left side of the vehicle, with the engine to his right. Only the nose of the vehicle was armoured. It was presented to the Commission de Vincennes on 24 July 1931 and tested till 29 July. The commission noted that the cooling system failed and that there was no possibility to decouple the trailer from inside the driver's cabin. On 31 July the other two half-tracks were delivered together with the first two trailers. The matériel was rejected as being too vulnerable. Citroën discontinued the development of the fully tracked vehicles but rebuilt one of the half-tracks prototypes into the prototype of the larger AMR Citroën Kégresse P 28 half-track, fifty of which would be built.

On 10 and 17 December 1930 Brandt had obtained an order for six complete sets: tractor, trailer and tractor-carrying trailer. To honour its commitments to Vickers, it let the trailers and one tractor be built in Britain. To conform to the idea of production in France, Brandt delegated the task to build a new tractor type to the Latil company, as it had too little experience itself. The Latil prototype, presented on 7 August 1931 was very much on lines of the British type and strongly resembled the later Universal Carrier: fully tracked and with most of the vehicle covered by an open rectangular superstructure to ensure as large a carrying capacity as possible. Only a small driver's and engine section on the front was armoured on top. On 17 July the commission considered the type ready for troop trials.

The first prototype to be ready was that of Renault, that also had received orders for six sets. It was tested between 15 and 23 April 1930. Certain defects were found and remedied, after which the prototype was again tested from 3 June. A second prototype, fitted with a rubber track, was tested between 28 April and 12 May. This other track type was shown to be too weak. The project had as factory designation Renault UE, a chronological letter code without further meaning; the smaller trailer was the Renault UK. The Vickers suspension with double track guides was imitated. For Renault this new suspension type, that he patented despite its obvious Vickers ancestry, offered the solution for severe problems he had experienced trying to adapt his existing suspension models, using single track guides, to a high velocity vehicle without increasing the chance that the track would be thrown at higher speeds. Renault hoped to further develop the UE into a light tank by adding a turret; accordingly the hull resembled a tank chassis rather than a dedicated supply vehicle.

In October 1931 the Conseil Consultatif de l'Armement, under strong pressure by the Infantry to reach a quick decision, chose the Renault vehicle for production, even though the trial process hadn't been completed. On 9 December an order of fifty was made for the Chenillette de ravitaillement d'Infanterie Modèle 1931 R. On 26 March 1932 a preseries of fifty tractor-carrying trailers was ordered, the first was delivered in June. Further orders followed, mass-production commencing in the second half of 1934. The series vehicles differed from the first in having a towing sign plate fitted on the top, new towing hooks and an elongated stowage box on the left side. Orders reached a total of 793 on 1 January 1936 and of about 1,200 by June 1936 — 700 of which had been delivered by June 1936, 920 by October 1936, 976 on 1 January 1937. In December 1936 the military branch of Renault was nationalised as the AMX company which continued production to a total of about 2,200, later joined by Berliet which would build another 100 and Fouga which would produce 300 for a grand total for the Modèle 31 of about 2600.

Description

A Renault UE Chenillette de ravitaillement d'Infanterie Modèle 1931 R in the Musée de l'Armée in Paris. It has the straight mudguards, Restor lights and typical "pig-tail" hooks of the early production vehicles

The calottes

The bin

The driver's cabin

The Chenillette ("small tracked vehicle") or tracteur blindé ("armoured tractor") as Renault preferred to call it, is indeed a very small vehicle: just 280 centimetres long, 174 cm wide and having its highest point at 125 cm; the roof is only 103 cm high. Its cargo carrying capacity is rather limited. There is a rectangular armoured bin at the back, 145 cm long (its length corresponds to the width of the vehicle as a whole), 60 cm wide and 36 cm high, able to hold a load of about 350 kg (lower than the original specification of 500 kg); unloading is made easier by the possibility to tilt the bin; the back plate then hinges downwards, forming a slope on which cargo can slide to the ground. The main cargo is carried by the tracked trailer, a close copy of the British type, with a length of its bin of again 145 cm, a width of 110 cm and a height of 35 cm; weighing itself 775 kg, it can hold a load of about 600 kg — whereas the specification had asked for only 400 kg. The tracks can be removed for road transport; there are two road wheels per side.

The bin forms the back compartment of the vehicle; the larger front compartment is for the crew and engine. The four-cylinder 38 hp engine is positioned in the centre, with the driver to its left and the commander to its right. The gear box (six speeds forward, two reverse), differential and transmission are placed in front of the engine. These mechanical parts are placed under two projections on the otherwise very steeply sloped armour of the glacis; these can be retracted for maintenance of the mechanical parts. Each crew member, sitting below a hatch that is the only way of entrance or exit, has a fuel tank behind its seat, together having a total capacity of 56 litres, allowing for a range of a hundred kilometres. The exhaust pipe runs in front of the commander to the right ending in a silencer on the right side of the vehicle; in later production vehicles an armoured cover was added; as it tended to overheat a later variant of this cover had cooling slits.

To reduce the height of the vehicle it has been made impossible for the crew members to retract their heads under the roof. To protect these vital parts two hemispherical armoured hoods (calottes) have been fitted. These have vision slits but to improve the field of vision the front section of these hoods can like a visor be pivoted backwards over the back section. As otherwise a bar between the roof and the glacis would have hindered entrance, the forward hinging glacis hatches have an extension forming the roof section that fits around the front part of the hood; if the hood is retracted and the hatch opened, a larger entry space is thus available. An interesting feature of the vehicle is the internal communication system used. When the hoods are closed, the two crewmen, separated by the engine between them, cannot directly communicate; neither internal nor external radio communications are possible, as there are simply no radio sets fitted. A system of white, blue, green and red lights, that can be made to shine continuously or flicker, is used by the commander to direct the driver when buttoned up, based on a predetermined signal code:

Forward: continuous white light.

To the left: continuous blue light.

To the right: continuous green light.

Backwards: flickering white light.

Slow down: flickering red light.

Stop: continuous red light.

Decouple the trailer: alternating white and red light.

Tilt the bin: alternating green and white light.

The suspension system closely resembles the Vickers type. There are 18.4 cm wide tracks with 131 small links and three bogies per side, sprung by small leaf springs, carry each two small road wheels. The prototype had an armoured plate protecting this assembly but it was omitted on the production vehicles to save weight, leaving only two elongated beams to brace the whole. Likewise the sprocket was simplified: the prototype's had been a closed disk, the production type had six circular holes; later vehicles were fitted with a wheel with six spokes. There are two return rollers. In all the suspension system is flimsy and vulnerable. This is compensated by limiting the official maximum speed to thirty kilometres per hour, although the combination of a weight of just 2.64 metric tons with an engine power of 38 hp would allow for a higher speed; during testing 36 km/h was attainable. This also reduces the chance of accidents while towing the trailer; fully loaded the road speed is reduced to 25 km/h, the cross-country speed to ten km/h. The wading capacity is thirty centimetres; the trench crossing capacity 120 centimetres. The turning circle is three metres; a slope of 50% can be climbed.

The value of the Chenillette as an armoured fighting vehicle was limited. In French service, the Modèle 31 carried no armament, although some later vehicles had attachment points for a removable AA-machine-gun to be fitted — but this had to be operated from outside the vehicle in an awkward crouched position due to its low height. For the crew to use personal weapons through the hatches while sitting inside the hull was highly impractical. Consideration had been given to arming it with a machine-gun, but the Direction de l'Infanterie feared that if such a weapon were mounted, the UE would be misused as a light tank rather than being dedicated to its correct tactical resupply role. Likewise the armour protection was minimal. The vertical plates had a thickness of nine millimetres, the other plates, all riveted, were six millimetres thick, just enough to stop normal rifle bullets and shell fragments.

Development of the Renault UE2

Renault UE2 with Renault UK trailer at the Musée des Blindés at Saumur; the upward bend of the front mudguard would make it be described as a Modèle 37; the internal mechanical parts are those of a late production vehicle.

From 1935, in reaction to the German rearmament, the French Infantry embarked on a major expansion and modernisation programme. Part of this was the project to replace the Chenillette Modèle 31 with an improved type, which however should remain within the weight limit of the earlier vehicle or 2.6 metric tons. Interest from the side of the French industry was high and during 1937 five companies proposed prototypes: Lorraine, Hotchkiss, Fouga, Berliet and Renault.

Lorraine de Dietrich, a company specialised in locomotive construction, presented a tractor and trailer to the Commission de Vincennes on 23 April 1937. The prototype was tested between 28 April and 10 June. Though at four tons heavier than specified, the type is approved by the commission on 8 July, with the period of testing extended to 23 August. Compared to the Modèle 31, the Lorraine chenillette is much more a dedicated supply vehicle, the larger size of which allows for a superior carrying capacity, crew comfort and range, while its suspension with two bogies and four large road wheels ensures a good tactical mobility. On 8 September the commission concludes that there are no objections to series production; already the prototype had on 25 August been presented to the Commission de l'Infanterie at Mourmelon for tactical evaluation. Clearly the Infantry favoured this type but eventually it was decided to use all production capacity for the longer Lorraine 37L, as there was a lack of heavier movers; a first order of a hundred made early 1939 was in September changed into one for the other type.

On 3 November 1937 Hotchkiss presented the prototype of a tractor; on 10 December of a trailer. On both elements however the manufacturer had not done any testing, the vehicles having been transported to Vincennes as soon as they were finished. Therefore, the commission delayed its trials until 27 December to allow Hotchkiss to make final adjustments on the base area. The tractor was tested until 10 February 1938. The type closely resembled the general outline of the Renault UE. The main difference was the presence of two bins instead of one, able to tilt sideways, positioned over the back of the mudguards. This doubled the carrying capacity. Instead of the small hoods, two very large armoured covers, retractable to the back, served as both entrance hatch and visor. The engine, differential and steering system were judged to be acceptable. The suspension system however was considered to be too weak, not having been reinforced to match the larger cargo mass to avoid surpassing the specified total weight. It consisted of two bogies, each with two small road wheels, sprung by narrow horizontal coil springs. A large tension wheel trailed on the ground, which lowered ground pressure to compensate for the larger weight of the bins but also increased track resistance and vibration. The cross-country speed was just 15 km/h. As even during testing when fully loaded entire bogies collapsed, the prototype was rejected.

The Fouga aircraft company submitted a prototype tractor and trailer on 2 February 1939. It was tested until 8 May. This vehicle also closely resembled the Renault UE, but had a higher roof, making hoods unnecessary and enlarging the cargo space. Its suspension had two bogies per side with each two road wheels, sprung by leaf springs. The type, its submission too late because a choice had already been made for a rivalling type, was rejected because its mechanical parts were not easily accessible and the vibration level was too high.

Berliet obtained an order for a prototype on 4 December 1936. A tractor and trailer were however only presented to the Commission de Vincennes on 6 March 1939, testing starting immediately. The type again resembled the Renault UE but was somewhat higher. It had three bogies per side with two road wheels each, sprung by horizontal coil springs. The weight was 3.05 metric tons, its stop speed 36 km/h, the range 143 kilometres. The first report of the commission was favourable and trials are resumed on 24 April, lasting till 20 May. It transpired that the tractor could attain a top speed of 30 km/h even when pulling the trailer. The commission concluded on 8 June that the Berliet chenillette was superior to the Renault UE in speed, range and mechanical reliability and saw no objection against taking it into production. This however was eventually rejected by the Army in order to concentrate all production facilities into a single type, which had already replaced the UE: the UE 2.

Renault had been further developing the Renault UE from 1931 onwards. Some features had been introduced to the production series, some expressed into new prototypes; others had remained mere paper projects. Renault always strongly lobbied to attain official, and thus financed, state orders for his development projects and on 20 December 1934 he had managed to obtain one for an improved Renault UE, the Renault UE 2. One by one during 1935 and 1936 improved components were submitted to the Commission de Vincennes to be tested and modified according to the wishes of the Army. These included: reinforced pistons; a new gear box with four speeds forward and one reverse; a reinforced differential; longer front mudguards of which the back part bent upwards to form a continuous plane with the glacis, a semi-automatic attachment system for the trailer and a night light at the lower left back of the vehicle. These changes were not very fundamental — the commission was not even aware this was supposed to end in a new type — but Renault used this very fact as an argument to select the UE 2 as the replacement vehicle: the improvements could be introduced without interrupting production, whereas the switch to a completely different design might cause a fatal delay in the rearmament process. This proved to be a decisive consideration for the Army and November 1937 a choice was made for the Renault UE2 to become the type for mass production: the Chenillette de ravitaillement d'Infanterie Modèle 1937 R. An order was placed with AMX — the nationalised former Renault factory — on 3 December. Other manufacturers were employed also: in fact Fouga had already obtained an order on 2 December; Berliet would be given one on 16 March 1938.

These manufacturers however did not immediately take the Modèle 37 into production; they in fact made the Modèle 31 to complete the first production batches; only in the summer of 1939, when the French economy went into full gear to prepare for increased war production, was the gradual transition to the UE 2 really made, though some new features, such as the mudguards, appear already in the summer of 1936; from the summer of 1937 instead of the original Restor headlights the armoured type of Guicherd was fitted. The Army did not discern between the two UE types and eventually in the statistics subsumed all chenillettes received under the denominator Modèle 31. On 1 September 1939 2848 Renault UEs of both models had been manufactured. In 1940 a production of 300 vehicles per month was aimed at. To ensure such a high output Renault bought the SUP factory at Pontlieue, to start another UE 2 assembly line there. On 1 April 1940 AMX had built 1080 Renault UE2s, Fouga 260 and Berliet 310. In May monthly deliveries reached the total number of 509, made possible by emptying the factory matériel stocks; on 1 June 4977 Renault chenillettes of both models had been built, 4557 delivered; total production destined for France was about 5148, on the assumption that about 2300 vehicles had been produced after 1 September. In the seventies it was still assumed that the production realised before December 1937 — mistakenly equated to that of the Modèle 31 — was not included in this number; total production was thus overestimated at about 6200.

Armed Renault Chenillettes

In the early 1930s, the French Cavalry was in need of a small scouting vehicle. On 27 November 1931, the Section Technique de la Cavalerie asked Renault to rebuild one of his six chenillette prototypes into an armed tankette. Prototype N° 77982 was therefore turned into a Automitrailleuse légère de contact tout terrain in the winter of 1932, by being fitted with a small rectangular superstructure holding in its front a ballmount with machine-gun to be operated by the commander; the hood was placed on top of it. This type was rejected by the Cavalry for being too slow; further developments would however result in the AMR 33 light cavalry tank of which the Renault UE was the direct ancestor.

Renault was always very intent on procuring foreign orders, but generally without much success. To improve the attractiveness of his Renault UE he also offered a version with a machine-gun. In March 1936 the government of China placed an order for ten Renault UEs armed with machine-guns, together with twelve Renault ZB tanks. Though the tanks eventually reached China in 1940, the chenillettes were held up in Haiphong from 1938 because France gave in to Japanese pressure; they appear to have been confiscated in 1940 by the French authorities of Indo-China. Including these export vehicles, total French Renault UE production was thus about 5158.

During the Battle of France, in May 1940 the swiftly deteriorating situation led to an order being issued to arm all available tracked chassis and send them to the front. This included the available FT-17 hulls from which the turret had been removed to turn them into utility vehicles, the Renault ZT 4s that had not yet received their turrets, and also the Renault UE Modèle 37s produced from that moment. On 25 May the Direction d'Infanterie requested that Renault produce a prototype on the lines of his Chinese UEs, with a machine-gun armed superstructure. Another existing 200 vehicles were to be refitted with a simpler external MAC 31 "Reibel" machine-gun mount. It is unknown how many of both types were in fact built or modified; at least one vehicle with a superstructure is still extant.

On 31 May for trial purposes a 25 mm Hotchkiss gun was fitted on a single vehicle; this led to an order on 10 June for 150 of such tank destroyers; none were produced.

Şeniletă Malaxa Tip UE

In 1937 Romania, then still a French ally, bought about ten UEs and obtained a licence to build the Renault UE. Late 1939 production started, in the Malaxa factory in Bucharest, of the Şeniletă Malaxa Tip UE, using many components delivered by the French AMX factory. The Romanian UEs are externally identical to the French-built UE 2. During the Legionnaires' Rebellion, the Iron Guard acquired two vehicles, but little is known about their service. It had been intended to produce 300 tractors, but in March 1941, after 126 vehicles had been built, production had to end due to a lack of French-supplied parts. Germany then delivered fifty captured Renault UEs to Romania. In the Romanian army the type was deployed in the anti-tank companies, towing the 47 mm Schneider Modèle 1936 — a heavier gun than in the French army, which had considered the Renault UE to be much too light to move guns of this calibre — and as a munition and fuel carrier in the Motorised Cavalry Regiments. After 1943 of the fifty surviving vehicles 33 were used for training; seventeen were from January 1944 until March rebuilt by the Malaxa factory, which reinforced them to allow them to tow the even heavier German 50 mm L/60 anti-tank gun. The Romanian vehicles, including the ten imported, bring the total Renault UE production to about 5294.

Projects

One of the six Renault UE prototypes had a rubber track; in 1932 this line of development was taken further by rebuilding a vehicle into the Renault UE Neige ("snow") or Renault UE N. For better traction this type had a more robust suspension with a broader rubber track, powered by a stronger six-cylinder engine.

In the mid-thirties Chaubeyre produced the prototype of a smoke-laying vehicle, the generator using a thousand litres tank placed on a Renault UK trailer. The system was to be controlled from the commanders position of the main vehicle.

After the larger orders had been made in 1937, both AMX and the Renault design bureau, that had not been nationalised, tried to introduce further modifications to improve the production series. Several of these would indeed be incorporated into the UE 2 production run, but these were of a minor nature; there were however much more fundamental changes proposed, aimed at solving the structural suspension problems, that were the reason Berliet and Fouga still tried to obtain approval of their chenillette projects, even after a choice had been made for the Renault UE2: they hoped that eventually the Renault UE would be abandoned altogether. To be able to present immediate alternatives, should the occasion arise, AMX and Renault developed stronger suspension systems.

In February 1938 Renault presented stronger tracks and more resistant road wheels, with an improved device to keep the axles waterproof, to the Commission de Vincennes. These were tested from 12 February until 6 July and again from 21 September until 21 November.

In July 1938 a prototype of a lengthened chenillette was presented by Renault. It had a fourth bogie in the suspension to reduce track pressure and a third return wheel. To save weight and better dampen shocks the number of leaves in the leaf springs was reduced from six to three. The tracks were obviously longer too, with 156 instead of 131 links. The bin was also "longer" at 72 centimetres, but less "wide" with 123 cm. Internally a new centrifugal ventilator type was fitted. The total length increased to 335 cm, the weight to 3.67 metric tons. Trials took place between 13 July 1938 and 8 February 1939, during which the vehicle was again modified. The top speed without trailer transpired to be reduced to 32.7 km/h; unsurprisingly the trench crossing ability was improved to 160 cm. As the air outlets had been placed higher, the wading capacity was improved to 45 cm. However, the main purpose: ameliorating suspension reliability, was not really achieved. Tracks were still thrown, track guides bent, springs broke and entire bogies were sheared off, just as with the series model.

On 22 November 1938 AMX presented its new track fitted only to the right side of a trials vehicle so that direct comparisons could be made with the old track type. After 1500 kilometres the normal track was completely worn out and the AMX track was now fitted to a second vehicle; after testing had resumed on 9 January 1939 only after 3700 km on 21 March the new track was worn. The commission concluded that the new type was clearly superior in durability, but that this was caused by the use of chrome steel that made it 70% more expensive, too pricy for the French Army.

On 27 September 1939 AMX presented its new suspension system. It resembled that of the Renault R35, with two bogies, horizontal springs — be it here of the oil type — and five road wheels per side. The prototype also had a new Chausson radiator and more comfortable suspended crew seats. The new type however was not tested immediately; only after also Renault had presented another prototype, this time with seven road wheels — an extra wheel having been inserted in the space created by moving the bogie assembly twenty centimetres backward — both types were simultaneously compared between 7 and 23 February 1940. It was shown that the AMX suspension, though much sturdier, had a negative influence on the performance: speed and range fell with about 15%, mostly due to an incorrect weight distribution. The new seats, though clearly adding to crew comfort, were too high, preventing a soldier of normal length from closing the hood. However the new Renault suspension offered no clear advantages over the older model in terms of vibration level and crew fatigue, so both models were in the end rejected as possible modification projects of existing vehicles; AMX's type on 11 April 1940 was judged not to be acceptable for future production.

Employment

The Renault UE was employed at the start of World War II by the French Army, and was subsequently pressed into German Army service, as well as being used in limited numbers by Free France and Romanian forces.

French use

The chenillette was mainly allocated to the standard Infantry Regiments, the first on 10 September 1932. There were six chenillettes present in the Compagnie Hors Rang (the company not subordinated to any battalion, and serving as the regimental supply, maintenance and replacement unit) and three in the Compagnie Régimentaire d'Engins, the regimental heavy weapons support company. Their primary official function was that of a supply vehicle to provide frontline positions with ammunition and other necessities while under artillery fire. The light armour was sufficient to stop small shell fragments and rifle or machine-gun fire at ranges greater than 300 meters. The Renault UE could carry or tow approximately 1000 kg of supplies; this included 350 kg in the cargo bin and 600 kg in the trailer. Typical loads included 81 mm Brandt mortar ammunition, ammunition for the 25 mm Hotchkiss anti-tank gun or rifle and machine-gun ammunition. To indicate they were towing, the tractors would erect a small rectangular steel plaque on the roof showing a yellow triangle on a contrasting blue field. The remainder of the vehicle was normally painted a dull bronze green overall, not using the intricate three- or four-colour schemes typical of French armour of the time. The more exposed forward positions would be supplied by the tractors only; their bins, though small, could still hold a load of 150 25 mm rounds or 2,688 machine-gun rounds. Mortar and gun teams were expected to move their own weapons if the move was less than 1,000 meters, otherwise, they were loaded, two each, in UEs for longer movements; likewise four machine-guns would be loaded. The 25 mm gun could optionally be towed. As the tractors were too small to accommodate the weapon crews, these had to move behind, following the vehicles on foot; the piece commander during this procedure sat next to the chenillette driver to indicate the desired new position of his mortar or gun. This was in fact the only occasion that within the Infantry Regiments a second crew member was really present: the driver normally formed the entire crew, although an assistant driver was allocated. A chenillette was thus never permanently attached to an individual weapon system; each 25 mm gun e.g. had its own horse-team to pull it for normal transport. For longer distance moves, the chenillette would be normally loaded on a truck, with the Renault UK trailer and (on good roads) possible mortars or guns towed behind. The larger trailer was officially never part of such a tow; it was in short supply, with just one available for four tractors each (two in each regiment) and only used to remove these if they had broken down. In practice it was not uncommon to transport the smaller trailer on the truck, while using the larger to move the tractor, as the prescribed procedure lowered the convoy speed to 15 km/h.

Each Infantry Regiment in total had nine Renault UEs; the Compagnie Divisionnaire Antichar (CDAC), the division antitank company, also had three chenillettes, making for a total of thirty Renault UEs in the normal Infantry Division.

In the Mechanised Infantry Divisions Renault UE strength was much higher however. Their Compagnies Divisionnaires Antichar had twelve chenillettes, one for each 25 mm gun — and in this case each individual gun had its own tractor. In their CREs six Renault UEs were present, again one allocated to each 25 mm gun; and their battalions had in their Compagnies d'Accompagnement two Renault UEs to serve their organic two Brandt mortars and two 25 mm guns. The Mechanised Infantry Regiments thus had eighteen chenillettes each, the MIDs in total 66. These are the official standard numbers; actual strengths (and uses) varied, also dependent on the replacement of the 25 mm gun by the 47 mm Brandt that was considered too heavy to be towed by a chenillette. In total the French Army had an organic strength of about 2500 Renault UEs; as the number of vehicles produced became after September 1939 much higher, Modèle 31s, mostly completely worn out, were gradually phased out. These older vehicles were sometimes unofficially appropriated by engineer and artillery units. Depot strength on 10 May was 1278.

Being in principle an unarmed vehicle, the Renault UE was allowed to be employed by Vichy France. The type served in various conflicts involving the French colonies, used both by the government forces and the Free French. In May 1943, there was an attempt by the Free French to add the British Ordnance QF 6 pounder anti-tank gun, mounted on the rear of the vehicle with a gun shield. The relative size of the gun and the vehicle meant that it had to be operated from rear, as there was no room for the crew to operate it in the vehicle. After disappointing trial runs, the prototype was reverted to its original role as an artillery tractor.[1] After D-Day some vehicles were used by the French irregular and regular forces in France. After the war some units for a few years still made use of the type. Some vehicles were taken into use by the army of Syria.

German use

During the Fall of France, about 3000 UE and UE2s had been captured by the German Wehrmacht. Most were employed unmodified, after an overhaul by the AMX (Atelier de Construction d'Issy-les-Moulineaux) factory under guidance of the German MAN-company, as tractors for the 37 mm, 50 mm and, ultimately, 75 mm and 76.2 mm anti-tank guns: the Infanterie UE-Schlepper 630(f), which also was used to tow light and even heavy infantry guns. They might also function in their original primary role of munition carrier, as Munitionsschlepper Renault UE(f), some of these had an armoured roof fitted above the bin, to protect the ammunition load against overhead shell airbursts. Chenillettes were however also modified into self-propelled guns:[2] a German 37 mm PAK was fitted just in front of the bin. There was no room for the crew in such a small vehicle: the gun had to be operated while standing behind it. Nevertheless, of this Selbstfahrlafette für 3.7 cm Pak36 auf Renault UE(f) about 700 would be built in 1941. A late modification from 1943 was the UE fitted with four Wurfrahmen 40 launchers for 28/32 cm rockets: the Selbstfahrlafette für 28/32 cm Wurfrahmen auf Infanterie-Schlepper UE(f), forty of which would be built in two versions, one with the launch frames at the sides of the hull, the other with a raised platform on the back. Other modifications included: the Mannschaftstransportwagen Renault UE(f), a personnel carrier produced in two versions; the Gepanzerte-MG-Träger Renault UE(f), simply a Renault UE fitted with a machine-gun in a superstructure above the commander's seat; the Schneeschleuder auf Renault UE(f), a snow plough, fifty of which were modified in 1942; the Schneefräser auf Renault UE(f), also a vehicle intended to combat heavy snow conditions on the Eastern Front, but in the form of a snow miller; the Fernmeldekabel-Kraftwagen Renault UE(f), a telephone cable-laying vehicle and the Panzerkampfwagen-Attrappe auf UE(f), a dummy tank for training purposes, resembling a Soviet T-34. More complicated rebuilds were the Sicherungsfahrzeug UE(f), an airfield security vehicle produced for the Luftwaffe which, besides the 7.92 mm MG 34 casemate on the right, had a special high armoured superstructure fitted on the left back in which a guard could sit armed with a 13 mm machine-gun and the Kleiner Funk- und Beobachtungspanzer auf Infanterie-Schlepper UE(f), a special radio and artillery observation vehicle, forty of which would be modified by the Baukommando Becker in France to eventually serve with the 21st Panzer Division.

Italian use

Germany later delivered many UEs to its allies, such as Italy. The Italian army obtained 64 UE and UE2s in 1941 and used them as ammunition carriers. Some were used in Sicily, where in 1943 during the Allied invasion of Sicily several were captured and used by the US Army.[3]

Polish use

The Polish 1st and 2nd Grenadier infantry divisions which were established in France in 1939-40 were issued with UE 2s. In addition the Polish Independent Highland Brigade was issued with UE 2s. Seventeen units left over from the Polish Independent Highland Brigade's cancelled mission to Finland ended up in Britain where they were used by the Perth Reconnaissance Battalion and later for driver training by the Polish 3/16th Tank Brigade.[4]

Thai use

The Royal Thai Army captured a small number of Renault UEs during the Franco-Thai War.

Chinese use

The National Revolutionary Army used some Renault UEs during Second Sino Japanese War.

Teams from Johnson Space Center, Exploration Ground Systems, and Jacobs TOSC conduct final inspections of Moonikin “Campos” on Nov. 9, 2021, inside the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Moonikin “Campos” will be installed into the Orion crew module. Technicians checked connectivity and performed fit checks on his flight suit to ensure he is ready for flight aboard the Artemis flight test. Artemis I will be an uncrewed test flight of the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon. Under Artemis, NASA aims to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon and establish sustainable lunar exploration. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

NASA image use policy.

The Callisto demonstration payload is a partnership between Lockheed Martin, Amazon and Cisco. The Callisto technology demonstration will be integrated into NASA's Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I, uncrewed mission to the Moon. Callisto uses Amazon Alexa and Webex by Cisco to test and demonstrate commercial technology for deep space voice, video and whiteboarding communications.

“Space Shuttle Atlantis soared through Florida’s blue skies for the maiden launch of NASA’s fourth and newest orbiter. The launch of Mission 51-J occurred at 11:15 a.m. Atlantis carries a five-man crew and a Department of Defense payload. Crew members are, Commander Karol Bobko, Pilot Ronald Grabe, Mission Specialists Robert Stewart, David Hilmers and Payload Specialists USAF Maj. William Pailes.”

The layered clouds (of toxic?, corrosive? exhaust & steam), upon (real) clouds upon (more real) clouds composition of this photograph is really striking, enhanced by the black & white/grayscale spectrum of 'colors'.

“INERTIAL UPPER STAGE TO PLACE TRACKING AND DATA RELAY SATELLITES IN ORBIT

Artist’s conception shows two Inertial Upper Stage space tugs each carrying a National Aeronautics and Space Administration Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS). The Boeing-built IUS has been selected to take four of the six TDRS payloads from the Shuttle’s low Earth orbit to geosynchronous orbit, 22,000 miles above the Earth. The first Space Shuttle/IUS/TDRS launch is scheduled in 1980. The illustration depicts two IUS/TDRS payloads on one Space Shuttle trip, a launch technique that may be used in the future. The illustration shows the method of ejection of the IUS and its payload from the Shuttle bay. The IUS will be mounted on a rotating frame and be ejected by a spring-loaded mechanism. The solid-fueled IUS is being developed by the Boeing Company for both NASA and Department of Defense missions under contract from the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Organization.”

8.25” x 10.5”. Two of the four sides hand-trimmed.

A beautiful work by veteran Boeing artist Doug Kyes:

sites.google.com/site/kyesillustrator/home

Credit: Doug Kyes/Google

And sadly:

www.rentonwa.gov/news/archived_news/doug_kyes_passes

Credit: City of Renton, WA website

Under a nearly full moon the EOT affixed to the tail end of a taconite train signals into the fog created by it's steaming payload as it rolls southward at Payne.

The remaining time-sensitive payloads bound for the International Space Station on SpaceX’s 21st Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-21) mission are loaded into the Cargo Dragon spacecraft on Friday, Dec. 4, 2020. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the Cargo Dragon, lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 11:17 a.m. EST on Dec. 6, 2020. The spacecraft is delivering more than 6,400 pounds of science investigations and cargo to the orbiting laboratory. Photo credit: SpaceX

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This image shows James Webb Space Telescope's spacecraft element undergoing acoustic testing.

Webb’s spacecraft element is the observatory’s combined sunshield and spacecraft bus. The spacecraft element and Webb’s combined optical element and science instruments, called its science payload, will form the complete observatory. The two halves currently reside at Northrop Grumman, NASA’s observatory contractor.

When Webb is launched into space, it must be folded like origami to fit inside its Ariane 5 rocket’s payload fairing, which is about 15.1 feet (4.6 meters) wide. The fairing, also called the rocket’s nose cone, protects Webb from the forces and heat of the atmosphere as the rocket accelerates into space.

Inside the fairing, the payload adapter physically attaches Webb to the top of the Ariane 5. The adapter has two halves — one that is permanently attached to Webb and the other that is attached to the second stage of the rocket. When the rocket reaches a specific altitude in Earth’s upper atmosphere, the payload fairing is jettisoned and falls back to Earth. Following this, the first stage of the Ariane 5 expends its fuel and also is jettisoned.

After the second stage of the rocket gives Webb a final nudge to send it on its way to its orbit at the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point (L2), the two halves of the payload adapter separate, releasing Webb from the rocket. The release sends a mechanical shock — a series of high-frequency vibrations — through the observatory.

“Mechanical shock is a quick jolt to the system, a lot like when you shut your car door and the car shudders a little,” explained Keith Parrish, the Observatory Manager for Webb at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The electronics in Webb are designed to withstand this shock just as a laptop is designed to withstand the bangs and drops of everyday life.

To simulate this separation on Earth, engineers at Northrop Grumman first suspended the spacecraft element in the air with the payload adapter attached to it. They then remotely released the bottom half of the payload adapter, which is the half that will be attached to the rocket during launch. The bottom half fell approximately 8 inches (about 20 centimeters) onto a padded catch area on the floor of the cleanroom where the test was being performed.

The engineers monitored the forces caused by the release to ensure they were within expected values, and high-speed video cameras recorded the separation to make sure it was smooth. During the actual flight and separation, 12 springs will gently push Webb away from the Ariane 5.

After completing shock testing, engineers enveloped the spacecraft in a plastic tent and moved it into Northrop Grumman’s Large Acoustic Test Facility. The tent protected the spacecraft from contamination during the move and during the acoustic test.

During the test, engineers subjected the spacecraft element to sound frequencies ranging from 25 Hertz to 2,500 Hertz, which is what Webb will experience during launch. These frequencies range from low bass (similar to that of a kick drum) to low treble (about the same level as the E7 key on a piano). It was also tested at loudness levels up to 142.5 decibels, about 3 decibels higher than what is expected during launch. Webb’s science payload went through a similar acoustic test at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, in 2017.

Engineers mounted several microphones inside and outside the tent to monitor the acoustic environment during testing. They also mounted about 500 accelerometers around the spacecraft element to monitor the vibrational responses it experienced. An accelerometer measures the forces or stress the hardware is experiencing during the test.

After this first series of tests, Webb’s spacecraft element will undergo vibration testing to ensure it will survive the intense shake of launch.

Read the full feature: www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-s-webb-observatory-spacecraft-e...

Image credit: NASA/Chris GUnn

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+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

Some background:

The Yakovlev Yak-38 (Russian: Яковлева Як-38; NATO reporting name: "Forger") was the Soviet Naval Aviation's first and only operational VTOL strike fighter aircraft, in addition to being its first operational carrier-based fixed-wing aircraft. It was developed specifically for and served almost exclusively on the Kiev-class aircraft carriers.

Officially, all Ukrainian Yak-138 were scrapped until 1994, even though rumor has it that one or two airframes had been sold behind the scenes to China. In Russia only five specimen had survived, and since the spares situation was doubtful none could be kept in flying condition. One Yak-138 was eventually handed over to the Ulyanovsk Aircraft Museum, while the rest was either mothballed or scrapped, too. Unfortunately, the sole museum exhibit was lost in 1995 in a fire accident.

General characteristics:

Crew: One

Length (incl. pitot): 15.84 m (51 ft 10 1/2 in)

Wingspan: 8,17 m (26 ft 9 in)

Height: 4.19 m (14 ft 3 in)

Wing area: 24.18 m² (260.27 ft²)

Empty weight: 7,385 kg (16,281 lb)

Max. takeoff weight: 11,300 kg (28,700 lb)

Powerplant:

1x Kuznetsov NK-32L-2 turbofan engine, rated at 137 kN (31,000 lbf)

Performance:

Maximum speed: 1,176 km/h (730 mph; 635 knots) at sea level

Combat radius: 230 mi (200 nmi, 370 km) lo-lo-lo with 4,400 lb (2,000 kg) payload

Ferry range: 2,129 mi (1,850 nmi, 3,425 km)

Endurance: 1 hr 30 min (combat air patrol – 115 mi (185 km) from base)

Service ceiling: 51,200 ft (15,600 m)

Time to climb to 40,000 ft (12,200 m): 2 min 23 s

Armament:

1x GSh-23L 23mm machine cannon with 250 RPG under the fuselage

5 hardpoints with a total external capacity of

- 3.000 kg (6,600 lb) for C/STOL operations and

- 2.000 kg (4.400 lb) in VTOL mode

Provisions to carry combinations of various types of unguided rockets (up to 240 mm), anti-ship

or air-to-surface Kh-23 (AS-7 Kerry) missiles (together with a Delta N guidance pod), R-60,

R-60M (AA-8 Aphid) or R-73 (AA-11 Archer) air-to-air missiles; tactical nuclear bombs, general

purpose bombs of up to 500 kg (1.100 lb) caliber, or incendiary ZB-500 napalm tanks or up to

three PTB-800 drop tanks under the fuselage and the inner pair of wing pylons

The kit and its assembly:

Sixth contribution to the “Soviet” Group Build at whatifmodelers.com in early 2017, on pretty short notice since the GB had been coming to its end. This totally fictional aircraft was inspired CG illustrations that had been roaming the WWW for some time: a hybrid between a Yak-38 (mostly the tail section), mated with an AV-8B Harrier II (cockpit, wings, landing gear). This did not look bad at all, yet a bit weird, with lift engines added in front of the fin. Certainly not conformal with a good CG balance – but I liked the idea of a single-engine Forger. And actually, OKB Yakovlev had been considering this.

So, the basic idea was a Harrier/Yak-38 kitbash. But the more I thought about the concept, the more additional donor parts came into play. One major addition was the nose section from a MiG-27 – with its slanted nose it would offer the pilot an excellent field of view, and the aircraft would, as a front line attack plane like the Harrier, not carry a radar, so the Flogger’s nose shape was perfect.

Therefore, initial ingredients for the Yak-138 were:

- Rear fuselage, wings and tail from a Tsukuda Hobby/Kangnam/Revell Yak-38

- Mid-fuselage with air intakes and front vectoring nozzles from a Matchbox Sea Harrier

- Cockpit from an Academy MiG-27

Work started with the MiG-27 cockpit, which was more or less taken OOB (except for side consoles in the cockpit and different seat), and the Yak-38 the tail section, built in parallel. To my surprise the Forger fuselage was easier to combine with the Harrier than expected, even though the position of the right cuts took multiple measurements until I came up with a proper solution. Since the Harrier is overall shorter than the Yak-38, the latter’s fuselage had to be shortened. I retained the tail cone, the Forger’s vectoring nozzles and the landing gear wells – and a 2cm plug was taken out between them. Instead of the Harrier’s tandem landing gear arrangement with outriggers under the outer wings, this one was to receive a conventional landing gear for optional C/STOL operations with a higher ordnance load, so that the Yak-38 parts were a welcome basis. Once the fuselage’s underside was more or less complete, the upper rest of the Yak-38 fuselage could be cut to size and integrated into the lower half and the Harrier parts.

After the rear end was settled, the MiG-27 cockpit could be mounted to the front end, which was slightly shortened by 2-3mm (since the Flogger’s is markedly longer than the short Harrier nose). In order to change the overall look of the aircraft, I eventually dropped the Harrier intakes and decided to use the Flogger’s boxy air intakes instead. These are considerably smaller than the gaping Harrier holes, and blending the conflicting shapes into each other for a more or less consistent look took several PSR turns. But it worked, better than expected, and it changes the aircraft’s look effectively, so that almost anything Harrier-esque was gone.

Once the fuselage was completed, I realized that I could not use the Yak-38 wings anymore. They are already pretty small, but with the more voluminous Harrier and Flogger parts added to the aircraft, they’d just be too small!

What to do...? I checked the donor bank and – in order to add even more individual flavor – used a pair of double delta wings from a PM Model Su-15! But only the core of them was left after considerable modifications: The inner delta wing sections were cut off, as well as the tip sections and parts of the trailing edge (for a planform similar to the Yak-38’s wings). On the underside, the landing gear openings were filled up and wing tips from the Yak-38, with puffer jet nozzles, transplanted. The inner leading edges had to be re-sculpted, too. The Su-15 wing fences were kept - a welcome, very Soviet design detail.

A lot of work, but I think it paid out because of the individual shape and look of these “new” wings?

As a consequence of the new, bigger wings, the little Yak-38 stabilizers could not be used anymore, either. In order to keep the square wing shape, I used modified stabilizers from an Intech F-16C/D – their trailing edges were clipped, but the bigger span retained. Together with the characteristic OOB Yak-38 fin they work well, and all of the aerodynamic surfaces IMHO blend well into the overall design of the aircraft.

After the hull was complete, work on smaller things could start. Under the fuselage, a GSh-23-2 pod from a MiG-21 was added, as well as pylons from the Tsukuda Yak-38 under the wings and a donor part from the scrap box in ventral position.

The landing gear is a mix, too: the main struts come from the Yak-38, the balloon wheels from the Matchbox Harrier. The front landing gear comes from the Academy MiG-27, including the wheels with mudguards. It was just mounted in a fashion that it now retracts forward.

The Harrier vectoring nozzles were modified, too, the exhaust “grills” replaced by square, simple ducts, scratched from styrene profile and putty. Care was taken that the nozzles would remain moveable in the fuselage flanks – for later hover pictures. The Yak-38’s nozzles were retained, but since they can OOB only be mounted in a single, fixed position, I added a simple pin to each nozzle, together with two holes in the hull, so that positions can now be switched between hover and level flight.

All around the hull, finally some small details like pitots, blade antennae and air scoops were finally added, and the ordnance consists of a pair of unguided 57mm rocket pods and a pair of Kh-23 (AS-7 Kerry) guided missiles – the latter come from the Yak-38 kit, but they are very crude and their tail sections were modified in order to come (slightly) closer to reality.

Painting and markings:

As an aircraft of the Soviet Frontal Aviation in the late Eighties, I settled upon a typical, disruptive four-tone camouflage with blue undersides. Very conventional, but with an exotic VTOL model I thought that a subtle look would be appropriate – and also separate it from the Naval Yak-38 cousin.

Design benchmark is the scheme on a contemporary MiG-21bis from a Soviert Frontal Aviation unit, chosen because of the disruptive pattern. The tones are guesstimates, though, based on various similar aircraft in more or less weathered condition. I settled for:

- Humbrol 195 (Dark Satin Green)

- Humbrol 78 (RAF Interior Green)

- Modelmaster 2005 (Burnt Umber)

- Humbrol 119 (Light Earth)

- Humbrol 115 (Russian Blue) for the undersides

The cockpit was painted in Russian Cockpit Green, opf course. The landing gear and their respective wells in a mix of Aluminum and Khaki Drab (Humbrol 56 & 26), and the wheel discs became bright green (Humbrol 131). Several di-electric panels and antennae were painted in Humbrol 106 (RAF Ocean Grey).

The kit received a thin black ink wash, in order to emphasize the panel lines, and panel post-shading with subtly lighter tones of the basic colors. National markings, codes and emblems come from several aftermarket sheets, mostly from High Decal Line and Begemot.

After some soot stains (grinded graphite) had been added, the kit was sealed with matt acrlyic varnish (Italeri) and the ordnace added.

Messy work, but I am surprised how consistent and normal the resulting aircraft appears? From certain angles, my Yak-138 creation reminds a good deal of the stillborn Hawker P.1154 (no similarity intended, though), the SEPECAT Jaguar or rather exotic Soko J-22 Orao/IAR-93 Vultur fighter bomber. IMHO, there’s also some A-4 Skyhawk style to it, esp. in planview? Anyway, there’s still some good Yak-38 heritage recognizable, and the tactical Frontal Aviation paint scheme suits the aircraft well - looks like a serious mud mover.

United Launch Alliance (ULA) Harlingen, TX technicians completed assembly and delivered the aluminum payload fairing that will enclose the U.S. Space Force Space and Missile System's fifth Space Based Infrared Systems GEO satellite (SBIRS GEO-5) during launch. It safely arrived at the Florida spaceport to begin final pre-flight preparations for launch later this spring. Photo credit: United Launch Alliance

NASA has selected three commercial Moon landing service providers that will deliver science and technology payloads under Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) as part of the Artemis program. Each commercial lander will carry NASA-provided payloads that will conduct science investigations and demonstrate advanced technologies on the lunar surface, paving the way for NASA astronauts to land on the lunar surface by 2024.

The selections are:

• Astrobotic of Pittsburgh has been awarded $79.5 million and has proposed to fly as many as 14 payloads to Lacus Mortis, a large crater on the near side of the Moon, by July 2021.

• Intuitive Machines of Houston has been awarded $77 million. The company has proposed to fly as many as five payloads to Oceanus Procellarum, a scientifically intriguing dark spot on the Moon, by July 2021.

• Orbit Beyond of Edison, New Jersey, has been awarded $97 million and has proposed to fly as many as four payloads to Mare Imbrium, a lava plain in one of the Moon’s craters, by September 2020.

All three of the lander models were on display for the announcement of the companies selected to provide the first lunar landers for the Artemis program, on Friday, May 31, 2019, at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

Read more: go.nasa.gov/2Ki2mJo

Credit: NASA/Goddard/Rebecca Roth

PictionID:41552186 - Title:289D; erected; Mariner 3 with Agena D; Payload Past - Catalog:14_001505 - Filename:14_001505.tif - - - - Image from the Convair/General Dynamics Astronautics Atlas Negative Collection---Please Tag these images so that the information can be permanently stored with the digital file.---Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum

Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) workers in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF) prepare the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft for transfer to the launch pad by placing it in a protective canister. The spacecraft (upper) is already mated to its solid propellant upper stage booster (lower), which is actually the third stage of the Delta II expendable launch vehicle that propelled the spacecraft on its interplanetary journey to the Red Planet. At Launch Pad 17A on Cape Canaveral Air Station, the spacecraft and booster assembly were stacked atop the Delta vehicle. The Surveyor lifted off on November 7, 1996 and arrived at Mars on September 12, 1997.

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Credit: NASA

Image Number: 9613634

Date: October 21, 1996