Latest Rocket Stories

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Nov. 29, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Wyle engineers successfully demonstrated Wyle's new liquid fuel rocket engine test system, a major component of the state-of-the-art rocket engine and fluids test facility at San Bernardino. The test firing, featuring a U.S. Air Force-supplied thrust chamber assembly for a multiple-start rocket engine which uses self-igniting hypergolic fuels for ignition, required sophisticated controls and redundant safety systems. The automated test...

Scientists with the US Department of Defense are on track to conduct a second test launch next year of the Falcon HTV-2 experimental superweapon after the maiden test flight ended abruptly when the autopilot crashed the unmanned glider into the ocean as a safety measure. The Falcon Hypersonic Test Vehicle was designed to fly at the top of the atmosphere just below space, and is an important element of the Pentagon's Conventional Prompt Global Strike program, which centers on building...

By Steven Siceloff. NASA's John F. Kennedy Space CenterA space shuttle main engine burns at 6,000 degrees F, but the outside of the nozzle remains cool to the touch. Prior to launch, sometimes it even frosts over.The nozzle technology that allows a finger-width of ridged metal to contain and steer flames that would boil iron is just one of the scores of innovations designers came up with for the engines three decades ago.Such advances were critical if NASA was going to realize its plans for a...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Nov. 22, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Masten Space Systems and Space Florida announced today the signing of a Letter of Intent to explore performing demonstration launches of a Masten suborbital reusable launch vehicle from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. "We have been looking at Florida as a launch option for some time now," stated Masten Founder and CEO Dave Masten. "We are excited to begin the process of determining if Launch Complex 36 is a good...

CANOGA PARK, Calif., Nov. 9, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory awarded Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne a $1.35 million contract to develop improved computational tools to better predict combustion stability of hydrocarbon-fueled liquid rocket engines. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is a United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) company. The Advanced Liquid Rocket Engine Stability Technology - High Fidelity Model (ALREST-HFM) will be designed to improve the prediction...

CANOGA PARK, Calif., Nov. 9, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has awarded Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne a $2.35 million contract to perform risk-reduction tests on key components of the Third Generation Reusable Booster (3GRB) rocket engine design. The 3GRB is a technology demonstration program for future U.S. Air Force spaceflight missions. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is a United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) company. "Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne has...

CANOGA PARK, Calif., Nov. 5, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- In conjunction with the 50th year of powering the Delta-family of rockets, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne celebrated the 350th launch of a Delta rocket today by successfully helping to boost the fourth COSMO-SkyMed Radar Earth-Imaging satellite for the Italian Space Agency and the Italian Ministry of Defence. The mission launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket, procured by Boeing Launch Services using a Pratt & Whitney...

Dr. Michael A. Minovitch, mathematician, physicist, and inventor, is announcing that his Gravity Propelled Interplanetary Space Travel work is available online. Also known as gravity assist, or gravity assist trajectories, this invention launched a new era of exploration and space travel. Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) November 2, 2010 Space travel and exploration would not be the same without the diligent and innovative work of Dr. Michael A. Minovitch. In 1961, Dr. Minovitch invented gravity...

ARLINGTON, Va., Oct. 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Two members from this year's winning squad of the Team America Rocketry Challenge exhibited their champion rocket at the White House Science Fair today. Nathan Bernhardt and Jordan Franssen from TARC champion Penn Manor High School in Pennsylvania, along with Brian Osmolinski, a physics teacher and director of the rocket club, were at a White House event recognizing student excellence in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. At...

Team America Rocketry Challenge Registration Opens ARLINGTON, Va., Sept. 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Registration for the 2011 edition of the world's largest rocket competition is open now through November 30. The Team America Rocketry Challenge will accept up to 750 student teams in grades 7-12 from any U.S. school, home school or non-profit youth organization. The annual rocket contest, sponsored by the Aerospace Industries Association, challenges teams of three to 10 students to design...