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Not Science Fiction
Dec. 8th, 2010 04:25 pmToday, a private company launched a space capsule into orbit and successfully landed it. Video of the launch here:
Also, YouTube comment from "Dumbestname" [sic]:
Wow! As cruel and silly as the world is (especially these days)...You still have a handful of people on this planet willing to reach for the stars. That really makes up for all the sick, twisted, selfish, apathetic and evil people on this planet. Next time I here about some unspeakably evil act, I'll watch this vid.
Amen on that.
More info on SpaceX / Falcon 9 at the Economist.
In other neat news, The BBC reports on a Lightfoil. Traditional solar sails use the radiation pressure from the Sun to propel spacecraft along, but it's like a spinnaker in that it really only gets you directly away from the Sun, in the direction of the solar wind. The Lightfoil allows you to generate force from the radiation pressure at angles to the direction of the solar wind, so now you can steer and propel space craft in different directions. This'll come in handy, eventually!
Also, YouTube comment from "Dumbestname" [sic]:
Wow! As cruel and silly as the world is (especially these days)...You still have a handful of people on this planet willing to reach for the stars. That really makes up for all the sick, twisted, selfish, apathetic and evil people on this planet. Next time I here about some unspeakably evil act, I'll watch this vid.
Amen on that.
More info on SpaceX / Falcon 9 at the Economist.
In other neat news, The BBC reports on a Lightfoil. Traditional solar sails use the radiation pressure from the Sun to propel spacecraft along, but it's like a spinnaker in that it really only gets you directly away from the Sun, in the direction of the solar wind. The Lightfoil allows you to generate force from the radiation pressure at angles to the direction of the solar wind, so now you can steer and propel space craft in different directions. This'll come in handy, eventually!
