The 1960′s F-111 tactical fighter plane was one of the first vehicles to sport a crew escape system that jettisoned the entire front fuselage instead of individual seats. Developed by the US military with a primary objective of performing reconnaissance over the USSR during the cold war, the plane and its subsequent iterations continued flying through the 1990′s, boasting one [...]
Post Tagged with: “US Air Force”
Space Fence Moves Closer to Construction
The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center recently put out a request for proposal (RFP) for final development and construction of the Space Fence program. Contenders Lockheed Martin and Raytheon have submitted their bids. An award is expected in March 2013. “Space situational awareness is a continual concern and challenge for U.S. and ally nations,” said Ken Francois, Space Fence [...]
X-37B Takes Off on Third Flight
On December 11, the Orbital Test Vehicle 3 (OTV-3), an X-37B spaceplane, was launched aboard an Atlas 5. The flight will be the second for this particular vehicle and the third for the model overall. The X-37B has the capability to remain in orbit for hundreds of days before returning to land on a runway. The duration or purpose of this particular flight is not [...]
DebriSat: Creating Orbital Debris on Earth
The University of Florida, sponsored by NASA and the US Air Force’s Space Missile Systems Center, is developing DebriSat, a spacecraft created to be purposely destroyed on the ground. “Data gleaned from demolishing DebriSat will be valuable in the short- and long-term” said J. C. Liou of NASA’s Orbital Debris Program Office “Collision fragments are expected to dominate the future [...]
X-37B Delayed as Investigation Continues; May Soon Have Company
The US Air Force’s third classified X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle mission has been delayed for a second time, and is now scheduled to launch on November 27, a month after its original launch date. The delay is due to an ongoing investigation into an engine glitch that occurred on an October 4 flight of a closely related vehicle to the Atlas [...]
It’s Not the Plane, It’s Human Physiology: New Shift in the F-22 Investigation
It seems that basic human needs weren’t among the primary drivers for the designers of the near-invisible American fighter jet F-22. Following the investigation into a series of incidents related to pilot hypoxia and breathing difficulties, General Mike Hostage, the head of Air Combat Command (ACC), said last week that “human frailty” is the major problem and that the American [...]
Australian Hypersonic Flight a Success
On September 28, the Australian Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) made a successful hypersonic test flight at Norway’s Andoya Rocket Range. The test vehicle reached a top speed of Mach 8, achieving an apogee of 350 km. A flight is only designated hypersonic when it exceeds Mach 5. “All sensor and telemetry systems worked perfectly,” reported DSTO. Details of the [...]
WaveRider Fails to Ride
On Tuesday, August 14, a much-hyped hypersonic test flight of the US Air Force X-51A WaveRider went south when the craft suffered a fault with one of its control fins and crashed in the Pacific Ocean. “All our data showed we had created the right conditions for engine ignition and we were very hopeful to meet our test objectives,” said [...]
50th EELV Launch Takes-off With Atlas V
On June 20, an Atlas V rocket launched from Cape Canaveral, carrying a spy satellite for the US National Reconnaissance Office. The launch was the 50th Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) take-off, including 31 Atlas V and 19 Delta IV missions since 2002. “Twelve of the 50 EELV launches have been NRO missions and these have been vital to our [...]
X-37B’s Return to Earth Steals Some of Shenzhou-9′s Thunder
Emerging from the shadow of Shenzhou-9′s triumphant launch, the USAF X-37B designated Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV)-2 returned to Earth on Saturday, June 16th after 468 days 13 hours and 2 minutes on a voyage that orbited the Earth more than 7,000 times performing a classified mission. OTV-2 received the command from its ground controller to return and initiated an autonomous [...]
