Air and Space: Branson and Bezos May Reach Space First, But Billionaire Jared Isaacman (Who?) Has Booked a Better Trip

By Tony Reichhardt

    In the 2000s, half a dozen wealthy non-astronauts went to space aboard extra seats on Russiann space vehicles. 20 years later, Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, and SpaceX are all preparing to launch more of the uber-rich into space onboard their privately owned spacecraft.

    Jeff Bezos will be joining 3 other passengers on board Blue Origin's first passenger flight on July 20, the anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

    A few weeks later, Richard Branson announced that he would be going up on his company, Virgin Galatic's first flight today, on July 11. He insists that this launch had nothing to do with Bezos's announcement, but he has been named Astronaut 001 despite the other pilots and crewmembers on the flight already having been to space on previous test flights.

    There are several others who are also waiting in line for their first commercial spaceflight, but perhaps the best trip that has been booked is one on September 15th via SpaceX's Crew Dragon, booked by billionaire Jared Isaacman, who comes in at #1164 on the Forbes billionarie list. Blue Origin and Virgin Galatic flights both last just minutes at relatively low altitudes. Isaacman's flight on the other hand, will take him and his crewmates into orbit for several days. He also plans to raise money for St. Jude Children's Hospital by auctioning off seats and donating some of his own money. He has arranged for a months-long NASA-like training program for all the astronauts, who are all rookies. SpaceX has even installed an enlarged window on the spacecraft, allowing for a better view of space than most astronauts have had.

Air and Space: NASA’s Most Important Mission, Long Delayed, Is Finally on Track

By Tony Reichhardt

    Most people believe that the probability of a truly dangerous asteroid hitting Earth is very small - and for a good reason. Over the past few decades, ground telescopes have identified over 95 percent of the asteroids in our atmosphere that are over a kilometer wide, and none of them are on course to hit Earth. Next year, a new spacecraft called DART will do a test drive to see if it can change an asteroid's course, should one be headed in our direction. However, this doesn't mean that we can rest easy.

    There are an estimated 25,000 smaller objects in orbit that are around 140 meters or larger. These could strike with enough impact to wipe out southern California. An asteroid half that size landed in Arizona 50,000 years ago and left the famous crater. In 2005, NASA was ordered to find at least 90% of objects this size, and the deadline was supposed to be 2020. But the project currently sits at just 40% finished and estimates show that it will take another 30 years to complete if it continues at this pace.

    One reason is that people don't seem to care about a threat so rare. Another is that NASA is having trouble figuring out which department should complete the task. While scientific asteroid missions have gotten plenty of funding, it's been harder to get the same for the so-called "planetary defense". A 2014 project was turned down by NASA. Fortunately, another project by the acronym NEO surveyor spacecraft has gotten funding and is on track for launch in 2026. Its infrared cameras should complete the project in the next ten years and pick up plenty of other small objects along the way.

Air and Space: Life May Have Been More Likely to Originate on Mars Than on Earth

By Dirk Schulze-Makuch

    One question in astrobiology is whether life is likely to have arisen on Mars. A team of researchers led by Benton Clark from the Space Science Institute recently explored the question. They concluded that it was just as probable for life to have arisen on Mars as on Earth.

    There are four reasons for this conclusion. First, Mars probably received a lot more organic materials from asteroids and comets. Second, sulfur, an important biological element, is more common on Mars. Third, Mars had a head start in the biological process because the Earth was hit by a meteor between 20 to 100 million years after its creation, obliterating any biology. Finally, Mars experiences a lot of wet-dry and freeze-thaw cycles, which concentrates elements. These cycles, when exposed to air, would support the hydrothermal pond theory of life's origin. However, because only around 5% of Mars was covered by water, a deep ocean origin would make it unlikely for life to have started on Mars. Ultimately, the true origin of life on Earth has a lot of implications for the results of this study and the possibility of life on Mars.

Air and Space: Why Alan Shepard Carried a Dollar Bill on His Mercury Flight

By Richard Jurek

    On May 5th, 1961, Alan Shephard made the first spaceflight by an American, and he took a dollar bill with him. It was the result of a PR screw-up by the Russians. After Yuri Gagarin made the first-ever spaceflight, they tried to get it certified by the FAI in Paris, which had validated aeronautics world records since 1905. But the FAI had very specific requirements, and one was witnesses. They had to prove the astronaut that landed and the astronaut that took off were one and the same. So they came up with a clever, sleek solution - Shepard would carry a dollar bill with him, and a present NAA official would write down its serial number beforehand. Once he landed, Shephard would radio the numbers back to the official to verify his identity. The same procedure has been used with Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions.

    Eventually, the bills were seen as having too much value, and were replaced with paper certificates. In fact, astronauts are now banned from taking any money with them to space.

Air and Space: The Dawn of Transatlantic Flight

By John Fleischman

    On October 23, 1945, the first general transatlantic passenger flight was made from New York to London. It carried eleven other passengers including a governor and various press reporters, along with the cargo of envelopes that declared that they had been on the first commercial landplane flight overseas.

"Stamp collectors might have considered October 23, 1945 a day to remember, but 75 years later few recall the first scheduled transatlantic service via 'land plane' from New York to London...Everyone who has ever flown the Atlantic in economy class should have been invited to a big 75th anniversary party—except there was no party. It wasn’t cancelled because of COVID. It was never planned."

    Before that first DC-4, clippers carried luxury passengers in small groups. Henceforth, transatlantic travel would become commonplace, carrying millions of people. Unfortunately, this historic day was not celebrated.

Air and Space: The Museum That Fell From the Sky

By Jerry Copas

    In 1923, the USS Shenandoah was christened as the Navy's first rigid airship. It was intended to provide airborne surveillance and was sent on test flights across the nation. On September 3, 1925, during a flyover in Ohio, a morning squall destroyed the ship, killing 14 crewmembers. The wreckage was scattered for miles, and before officials could arrive, thousands looted the scene. It took officers four truckloads to recover everything, and even then, pieces were displayed on parlors and windows.

    Theresa Rayner and her late-husband Bryan run a museum-on-wheels commemorating the USS Shenandoah.

Air and Space: NASA Photographer Bill Ingalls Has One of the Coolest Jobs on the Planet

By Mark Strauss

    Bill Ingalls has been a contract photographer for NASA for 30 years, and in that time, he's been almost everywhere.

"How Ingalls has approached the task of documenting the U.S. space program is reflected in a comment about the end of the space shuttle era...After taking one photo after another of the spacecraft, he realized the real story was the “people on the ground pointing and looking up with their jaws dropped. I was like, ‘There’s the emotion, there’s the tie-in.’ ” Portraying the emotions of the space program...has made Ingalls only the second photographer ever to receive the prestigious National Space Club Press Award."

    In 2011, he photographed astronauts returning after 5 months on the ISS in Kazakhstan, apparently getting lucky when another photographer's flash happened to backlight his scene.

Air and Space: The Space Force Turns One

By Joe Pappalardo

"Russia launched the spacecraft on November 25, 2019, as a small 'inspector' satellite designed to check on the country’s own satellites in orbit."

    Then a few weeks later, it had detached from its mother ship and headed up into the orbital area of a US reconnaissance satellite. The satellite, Kosmos 2543, closed in on USA 245 before heading away toward one of Russia's own satellites. It appeared to fire a projectile that had its own rocket system and jetted past the satellite. The US government accused Russia of launching an "anti-satellite weapon" and protested it. However, Russia's test left no debris and allowed it to truthfully deny such a thing, all while gathering data. It also sent a clear message to the US: We now have a military presence in space.

    So last December, the Space Force was created with General John "Jay" Raymond as its Chief of Space Operations. He and the majority of the new branch are recruits from other existing branches who had already been working with something space-related. Among the 2,000 members are the 527th Space Aggressors, a special team of 30 or so who conduct training missions with other teams in the Space Force and Air Force. The Space Force is expected to 16,000 personnel, which will make it the smallest branch by far - even smaller than the Coast Guard.

Air and Space: The Navy’s F/A-18 Super Hornet Gets Even More Super

By Mark Phelps

    In 1990, the US Navy canceled orders for the new fifth-generation stealth jets from Northrop Grumman and McDonnell Douglas. They would have replaced fourth-generation combat jets, but the Navy ended up being stuck on legacy F/A-18E and F Super Hornets while the Air Force got the new F-22s.

    At the time, there was significant grumbling among Navy pilots about not having the latest technology. Today, that has changed. The F/A-18 has been reconfigured with new engines and systems to become a 4.5 generation fighter jet. They have greater range, payload, and can land without firing all their missiles. In addition, these aircraft are significantly cheaper to manufacture and maintain than similar fighters like the F-35C.

    Boeing is upgrading all of its Block III Super Hornet aircraft to Block III. This includes an upgraded radar, a better computer processor to transmit/receive more information, infrared tracking capability, a touch-screen, and longer airframe life. The engine is are also what is called "conformal", meaning they blend aerodynamically into the frame.

    Foreign countries are also upgrading their fleets. Several are buying F/A-18s and similar EA-18Gs. Despite all these stealth upgrades, the maneuverability of the F/A-18 hasn't been compromised. It is, after all, an F (fighter) class plane. In fact, one of these planes scored the first air-to-air kill since 1999 in 2017. No matter how stealthy a plane is, it can still get into a fighting situation, and pilots need to be prepared.

Air and Space: SpaceX Wants to Conquer the Internet

By Jon Kelvey

The broadband satellite market is worth an estimated $300 billion, and SpaceX has plans to grab some of that. Elon Musk's company will launch 12,000 Starlink satellites into LEO (Low Earth Orbit) to provide Internet service to unconnected and rural areas. However, any people are skeptical. All LEO satellite companies in the past have gone bankrupt. Even though billions of people in rural and undeveloped areas need the Internet, they can't afford the price. Not only is getting satellites into LEO extremely expensive, getting routers to people and connecting it to existing infrastructure will be expensive as well.

    Because low-orbit satellites are not stationary, they must move very quickly. Also, their low altitude gives them a smaller range than geostationary satellites, requiring more of them to cover the same area. As for the price of the user terminal, SpaceX has been very tight-lipped. Altogether, unless Musk has another ingenious idea, connecting Africa alone could cost as much as $100 billion. One thing that might save SpaceX, though, could be a government grant. It could be very advantageous for the US to partner with SpaceX to provide Internet connection to Africa, where the Chinese company Huawei is already the dominant provider.

Air and Space: How the RV-8 Became One of the Most Popular Kitplanes of All Time

Air and Space: How the RV-8 Became One of the Most Popular Kitplanes of All Time

By Ken Scott

    Richard "Van" VanGrunsven has one of the most successful kit airplane companies. Since 1972, he has sold about 4 planes every week, with a total of 10,700 planes build by people all over the world. And the RV-8 is one of the most popular. One of the company's earliest designs, the RV-4, was popular up to the 1990s when complaints about its tight quarters caused sales dips. So, the company switched to a side-by-side seating design in the RV-6, which sold very well, so well that many called for the RV-4 to be ended. However, VanGrunsven wasn't ready to let go of tandem seating.

    He designed the RV-8 with tandem seating and a sleek design with higher horsepower. Now, for years many people have bought and built this kit plane. All of them have come out with smiles on their faces, and some professional pilots have endorsed it as well. Making it even better for hobbyists is its rugged landing gear, allowing grass landings. It also has a higher total seat width than the RV-6.

Air and Space: Dragonfly Is the First Airplane Built for the Outer Solar System

By Tim Wright

    The Dragonfly is the latest innovation for extraterrestrial flight. While it will not be the first to fly on another planet (that honor going to the Ingenuity helicopter scheduled to fly on Mars next year), it will be the first with advanced instruments and the first to go to the outer solar system. It will be equipped with various systems to help it land on one of Saturn's moons, Titan, and look for life there.

    Titan is covered in a haze of prebiotic material that was uncovered a decade ago with the Cassini mission. Scientists believe that the moon may have water, along with the other requirements for biological life here on Earth.

    The fact that Titan has a thick atmosphere made the design easier. This is because the rover needs to generate less lift to get off the ground, and therefore requires less energy. The recent innovations with multi-rotor drones also helped because controlling a drone is easier. Also, a drone works by generating more or less lift with different amounts of rotor speed. Because of this, a drone can continue to work even if a rotor malfunctions. For power, the Dragonfly will use the plutonium that is commonly used for deep space missions along with a massive battery just in case. The Dragonfly mission is set to depart in 2026 and arrive on Titan by 2034.

Air and Space: They Said It Wasn't Possible to Escape the Space Shuttle. These Guys Showed It Was.

Air and Space: They Said It Wasn't Possible to Escape the Space Shuttle. These Guys Showed It Was.

By Mark Betancourt

    In the aftermath of the Challenger space shuttle accident, NASA scrambled to find an escape method should the space shuttle ever malfunction again. Although the general consensus was that such a method wouldn't have helped the Challenger astronauts and would be useful in only a handful of scenarios, something was better that nothing.

    But first, could the pilots actually get out of the escape hatch? A scaled simulation with a wind tunnel and dummies showed that it was. The next problem was to figure out how to get them beyond the reach of the wings, because they escape hatch would be on the side of the spacecraft. Many solutions were proposed, but some resulted in limbs being torn off, and scientists finally arrived at a curved pole design that would extend out of the hatch. Astronauts would climb along this, attached by a lanyard, until they let go at the end.

    The finally step was making a parachute backpack. Not only would this need parachutes, but it would need to auto deploy like an ejection seat in case someone was unconscious, have a raft and life vest along with emergency rations, and all fit into a one-size-fits-all backpack. Navy elite skydivers tested these systems, and NASA eventually settled on one with adjustable straps.

    The shuttle Discovery was the first to be equipped with these new features, and was sent off on the return-to-service flight. Although they were never used, it's always better to be safe than sorry.

Air and Space: How Many Drones Are Smuggling Drugs Across the U.S. Southern Border?

Air and Space: How Many Drones Are Smuggling Drugs Across the U.S. Southern Border?

By Tim Wright

    Recently, drones have become a large part of illegal drug trade. Smugglers once used boats and low flying planes to cater drugs across the US-Mexico border. They could carry larger payloads but were easy to find and track. Drones, however, go undetected by most radar systems and can use predetermined flight patterns to prevent tracing.

    The drug-smuggling drones are called narcodrones and have only recently entered the picture as companies started selling commercial drones to the general public. Previously, they couldn't take much payload, but the new ones by companies like DJI can carry much more.

    Most radars operate on L and S frequencies which are fine for tracking big planes at high altitude. But these waves are too big to catch the small drones. To detect drones, X band frequencies must be used. But the problem with that is that they don't reflect well off non-metal objects, which is a problem as drone parts are replaced with cheaper composites.

    Furthermore, drones can sit and watch the border with cameras for hours until it is safe to go across. So what is the plan for stopping them? Jamming and spoofing, as well as drone shooting or collisions, which are regularly used by the military, are banned because the drones fly over civilian populations, and it could cause mayhem. The department in charge of the border actually doesn't have any plans right now, and this is a quickly evolving battle.

Air and Space: Will Space Tourists Finally Get a Ride?

Air and Space: Will Space Tourists Finally Get a Ride?

By Joe Pappalardo

Spaceport America is the place where future spaceflights with Virgin Galactic will take off - for $250,000 each. In the middle of the New Mexico desert, Richard Branson's company has been promising space tourism for years. They now have former test pilots and NASA astronauts for pilots, and two spaceships to make it work. A WhiteKnightTwo carrier plane a SpaceShipTwo passenger plane are going through final tests. The first official flight is expected to take off next June.

    For the hefty price, there is also a great deal of hospitality. A lounge is situated just off the run way where families can watch Future Astronauts (the rich people who get to ride) take off. Afterward, they will meet in here for celebratory champagne. The whole flight will take under 2 hours, with 5 minutes spent weightlessly in space.

Air and Space: This Satellite Tow Truck Could Be the Start of a Multibilion-Dollar Business

Air and Space: This Satellite Tow Truck Could Be the Start of a Multibilion-Dollar Business

By Michael Behar

In February, a new type of spacecraft flew toward its client. Its name is MEV-1, or Mission Extension Vehicle 1. The Intelsat IS-901 was its client. It is a satellite in geosynchronous orbit, and it had run out of fuel. MEV-1 would dock on the satellite and use its electric thrusters to tow the satellite around in orbit for a few more years at which time it would drag the satellite further out to the "satellite graveyard" and find a new client. Northrop Grumman is the company that built it, and the motivation came out of the fact that satellites are super expensive. If a new satellite has a few kinks during its beginning stages, vehicles like MEV-1 could help fix it, saving a company millions.

    Other vehicles by NASA and DARPA are set to launch in 2022. These will have a more diverse range of features, such as refueling and space construction. The NASA OSAM-1 would have robotic arms that cut through the padding on a satellite's fuel hatch to refuel it. During its first mission, it will also use its arms to assemble an antennae and spacecraft.

    Some researchers also believe that the new technology could help us get to other planets. Right now, spacecraft and satellites are very bulky and require many special features to survive the stress of leaving Earth's atmosphere. If they could simply be assembled in space, it would make the loads much lighter and the designs simpler.

Air and Space: A Prototype Starship Hops a Little Closer to the Moon

Air and Space: A Prototype Starship Hops a Little Closer to the Moon

By Amy Thompson

On Tuesday, SpaceX got a little bit closer to helping put astronauts back on the moon. The first two astronauts to ride its Crew Dragon returned to Earth safely after two months in orbit, and one of its design teams has finished Elon Musk's challenge. Build a deep space rocket out of stainless steel.

    The latest prototype of SpaceX's Starship, an interplanetary vehicle, took a short hop as part of a test of its Raptor rocket and to see if its frame would hold up. As seen in the image, it looks like a steel cylinder. It flew sideways at an altitude of about 500 feet for one minute and landed safely on its legs. Some of its predecessors, however, were not so lucky, blowing up or catching fire upon starting. SpaceX has said that it learns more from failures than successes, and the failures led to the success today.

    The 30 meter tall SN5 is a bit shorter than the lunar lander will be, and the actual Starship will have a nose cone, flaps, and more engines. It will also have a first stage booster called the "Super Heavy" that is still in development stages.

Air and Space: For World War II Pilots, the Race to Be an Ace Sometimes Turned Deadly

Air and Space: For World War II Pilots, the Race to Be an Ace Sometimes Turned Deadly

By John R. Bruning

During the end of World War II, the US was hopelessly outmatched by Japan in the air. The P-39 was nothing against the Japanese Zero. The Air Force had been chased out of the Philippines and New Guinea. But help was on the way. The new P-38 would eventually turn the tide of the war. The Japanese were running out of provisions and couldn't support their troops in New Guinea. With the new planes, the US Air Force began a heated Race of Aces.

    The Fifth Air Force was struggling to build an airstrip in a wet part of the Philippines, when their general gave them a challenge. Beat WWI ace Rickenbacker's kill score of 26. The top two pilots, Bong and McGuire, came out on top. Bong eventually ended up with 40, topping British pilot Johnnie Johnson. McGuire was upset because Bong achieved his final kill by violating a fundamental rule of an Air Force division. Teamwork. He spotted a plane and killed it by himself without any communication.

    Soon after, McGuire was removed from field duty because the army couldn't send Bong home with full honors only to have McGuire top him. He enlisted his friends to help on an ill fated mission to be the top ace. It was cloudy, and there hadn't been an enemy plane for weeks. McGuire and his squadron went out to a Japanese base and found a Japanese Zero returning from a scouting mission. Unfortunately, they had traveled far to get there, and had extra fuel tanks. As McGuire tried to bank sharply with 2000 pounds of extra weight, he spiraled out, crashing. The Race of Aces was over.

Air and Space: The shocking resurrection of the F-15

Air and Space: The shocking resurrection of the F-15

By Preston Lerner

    The original F-15 was built to be a multi-capability fighter that could famously fight its way both in and out of trouble. It began as a one seater developed for air-superiority after Russian aircraft began defeating the U.S. in dogfights during the Vietnam War. It later evolved into the F-15E, the two seater, two engine fighter, variations of which are sold to other countries long after the last Air Force purchase in 2004.

    Soon, it will be produced as the F-15EX with one of the best flight and mission control systems in the world. There has been much debate over the Air Force decision to procure these planes. Many people believe that the AF needs newer, fifth-generation air craft, which can avoid detection by radars. However, the F-15 won out, primarily due to its cost. It is much cheaper than F-35, a fifth-generation plane. On top of that, anti-radar planes also need a special coating, upping upkeep costs. Of course, it has an amazing flight record as well, topping out at Mach 2.5, carrying 18 and 12 of air-to-ground and air-to-air missiles, all with 100% mission completion. the Air Force has asked for money to buy 8 of the updated version in its latest budget request.

Air and Space: Secret Mission for an Old MiG

Air and Space: Secret Mission for an Old MiG

By Craig Mellow

    The Russian MiG-31 fighter is an obsolete plane that hasn’t flown in years. It was mainly used to track down US spy planes during the Cold War. More recently, it has been repurposed to be able to carry the Kinzhal hypersonic missile to help Russia get back into the arms race. But its most intriguing factor comes from a leaked image of it carrying a missile even bigger than the half ton Kinzhal. Observers have speculated that it could be used to knock low-earth-orbit satellites out of the sky.

    So why is Russia using the -31? It is big. It weighs 42,000 kilograms and an attain speeds of up to Mach 2.4. It does this by traveling high up in the atmosphere to reduce air resistance. Back in the day, it carried up to 4 missiles and earned the name “Foxhound” from its NATO opponents.