MetaFilter posts tagged with aerospace

Bits of aviation goodness

Burhanistan — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 21:52:01 -0800

Point Niner - "Satisfying an unnatural infatuation with airplanes and rockets." A regularly updated blog with nice bits of aviation goodness.

Longer, Farther, Faster

Kronos_to_Earth — Sat, 24 May 2008 12:47:25 -0800

The highest recorded skydive was performed in 1960 by Joe Kittinger from 102,800 feet. That record may not stand any longer. After twenty years of planning and attempts, almost twenty million dollars, and a two hour ascent on May 26th, Michel Fournier, wearing only space suit and parachute, will step out of the gondola of a 650 foot helium balloon at 130,000 feet.... The Great Leap. The original launch date was May 25. It has been postponed until Monday; there may be further delays. Information is available on The Great Leap website.

Unique aircraft testing videos.

loquacious — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 02:24:07 -0800

Load testing a Boeing 777 wing. To failure! Also, engine testing, and maximum rejected takeoff.

Son of Concorde

Pretty_Generic — Wed, 15 Jun 2005 11:24:22 -0800

The end of Concorde was one of the few times in modern history that technology has been forced to regress. But it won't take long to fix.

BoeingBoeing.net

matteo — Tue, 18 Jan 2005 14:06:16 -0800

The world's largest passenger plane. The new Airbus "superjumbo" has a 262-foot wingspan, a tail as tall as a seven-story building and it cost $13 billion to develop. In a three-class cabin layout, the A380 will carry 555 passengers -- 33% more than the plane it is designed to displace, Boeing's veteran 747, Sir Norman Foster's favorite piece of modern architecture. The A380 has 49% more floor space. How the plane's extra space is used will be left up to airlines. Low-cost carriers could operate the A380 with a single economy-class configuration accommodating as many as 800 passengers. Virgin company chief Richard Branson said his airline, which has ordered six A380s, will offer private double beds for first-class passengers and casinos. Airbus trailed Boeing Co. until 2003, when it delivered more planes than its U.S. rival for the first time -- a feat it matched last year. Boeing will unveil next year the much smaller, new 7E7 -- with 200 to 250 seats.

codeofconduct — Fri, 10 Dec 2004 22:47:25 -0800

The MIT microturbine rotor has to turn two million rpm--more than 20,000 revolutions per second. Here's some current efforts. Micro Electric Machines (MEMS)pdf, the future of Aerospace Power Projection? Further interesting reading. pdf A couple of articles are a year-year and a half old, but still current in the analysis of "tiny technology". I find the concept of dime-size turbines to be fantastic!

One small st.... yeah yeah

sourbrew — Mon, 08 Nov 2004 21:07:54 -0800

Move over X-Prize - in order to win the next big space prize($50 million) one will have to build a spacecraft capable of taking a crew of no fewer than five people to an altitude of 400 kilometers and complete two orbits of the Earth at that altitude. Then they have to repeat that accomplishment within 60 days.

Badgers in (aero)Space!

nthdegx — Tue, 24 Aug 2004 12:15:19 -0800

...bad ger ba dg er b adg er...

Nyyyeeeeeeeeeooooooooow!

nthdegx — Sat, 06 Dec 2003 07:25:01 -0800

An airplane hall of fame. Talk about rekindling childhood passions. I got a real kick out of reading this.

billsaysthis — Tue, 15 Oct 2002 20:09:03 -0800

What is Dick Rutan up to now? The reigning master of innovation in aerospace is up to something, as shown in the linked photo. But what is it? Rutan is also helping to bring us rocket powered airplanes and, of course, flew Voyager around the world not so long ago.

NekulturnY — Tue, 17 Sep 2002 01:52:52 -0800

From the secret world of the "black budget" comes the story of a man who wants to know the truth about the army's research into anti-gravity technology and zero-point energy ("There's enough energy in your coffee cup to evaporate the world's oceans many times over." ). Is he a lunatic? A "Ufologist"? Nope, he's an award-winning defense and aerospace reporter for Jane's Defence Weekly, the highly respected magazine on international military and policy issues. In fact, he says, the loonies may be right! He thinks there probably are saucerlike flying objects, but they're not alien, they're made in the USA (who got the technology from the Nazi's - who else?). He even goes so far as to suggest that the CIA has a program to discredit people who see UFO's. I like my stories rich, and this one is very rich. (via Atlantic Unbound)