It Happens To Every Rocket Company
Posted by Pete Hague on 19 May 2012
This morning, the first attempt by SpaceX by launch a capsule to the International Space Station was aborted a fraction of a second before lift off due to a abnormal pressure in one of the Falcon 9's engines. All engines were shut down, and the rocket remained exactly where it was. SpaceX will attempt another launch on Tuesday.
This type of abort is not trivial. Most rockets are not held down like Falcon 9; once the engines fire, there is no option but to launch the rocket. Falcon 9 can turn its engines to full power, verify they are functioning properly, and only then proceed to leave the pad.
Posted by Pete Hague on 17 May 2012
After the initial chaos of its launch, I have finally had an opportunity today to order a Raspberry Pi. This inexpensive, educational computer is intended to revitalise the teaching of ICT by providing a platform on which children (and perhaps insufficiently grown up adults :) ) could learn about how computers actually work, instead of the superficial knowledge of certain office applications that is all to often the focus of ICT teaching.
I have several applications in mind for this little device; I want to have a crack at OS programming, and perhaps some home robotics that would be a little beyond the capabilities of Lego Mindstorms (which I'm sure my wife would not let me buy anyway; there are limits to her indulgence). One particular application that interests me is its potential use for a student satellite project.
Posted by Pete Hague on 06 May 2012
Most people with an interest in things space-related will be aware of the recent announcement of a new company called Planetary Resources, set up to mine near Earth asteroids. Whilst I think that any expansion of human activity into the solar system is probably a good thing, I have some reservations about this scheme, and where it may ultimately lead.
I can't see any obvious technological reasons for them not to be able to do what they intend to do (although so far they have been fairly cagey as to exactly what technology they will be using.) My main doubt is that anybody will want to pay for the contents of these asteroids.
Posted by Pete Hague on 23 Apr 2012
There is an advert on British television for an electricity tariff from the French-owned energy company EDF. This is hardly blog-worthy in itself, but this particular advert confused me and my wife because they took the unusual step of selling a different kind of electricity - "blue electricity". I assumed that this was just an odd branding choice, but decided to investigate a little further anyway.
The Journal of Special Topics (Vol. 10)
Posted by Pete Hague on 19 Apr 2012
Following on from the last post, I'm going to review some selected papers from the current volume of the Journal of Special Topics, the University of Leicester Physics Department's undergraduate journal. Each group publishes in a group, and the authors listed in order of contribution. For space, I shall only name the first author of each paper.
As mentioned before, the topics themselves are not subject to assessment, so the Journal gives students an opportunity to have a little fun with the science.
