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Welcome to HobbySpace. the site that will prove to you that everyone can participate in space exploration and development in one way or another.
October 2009
Recent Blog Postings
HobbySpace Log:
RLV & Space Transport News:
Recent Features
NG Lunar Lander Challenge 2009
NGLLC 2009 Resources
Links to blog reports, articles, videos, photos, etc. for each round of flights by the teams in the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge competition.
Interview: Mark Hempsell
Mark Hempsell of Reaction Engines Ltd is interviewed by Andy Janes for HobbySpace about Skylon, Sabre, & more.
David Ashford
Interview: David Ashford
The founder of Bristol Spaceplanes is interviewed by Andy Janes for HobbySpace about rocketplanes.
Falcon 1 launch
NewSpace 2009
Compilation of blog postings, articles, photos and videos for this conference that took place at NASA Ames in July 2009.
Falcon 1 launch
Space Tourism: A new Industry in the Making
Notes from the one day symposium in London on June 30th, 2009, sponsored by the Royal Aeronautical Society.



More Interviews, Articles, and Special Topics.
    

Space Art Spotlight
Distant Realm by Michael C. Turner
Distant Realm

Stellar Magic by Michael C. Turner
Stellar Magic

Celestial Nomads by Michael C. Turner
Celestial Nomads

Celestial Hummingbird by Michael C. Turner
Celestial Humingbird

Cosmic Incantations by Michael C. Turner
Cosmic Incantations


Michael C. Turner
Gallery
More space art...

Space Music Video of the Month
Space Hobbies & Activities in the Spotlight
Ballooning in Near Space

Amateur and student groups have been carrying out high altitude ballooning for many decades. Here are a couple of recent examples of interesting low cost adventures in Near Space:

The BEAR (Balloon Experiments with Amateur Radio) project in Edmonton, Canada recently sent a high definition camcorder to 107,145 ft (32.7 km):

 

Using a helium balloon and a consumer camera, a couple of MIT students were able to get some great pictures at 90k feet (27.4km) for a grand total cost of $150:

 

It's a Whole New Outer Space Out There

Masten Space Systems in
Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge

Last month we posted here about the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge (NGLLC), a competition with $2.0M in prize money from NASA, in which teams must build and fly rockets that can

  • Take off vertically from a pad and rise to 50 meters, translate sideways 50 meters and then come down smoothly onto a second pad. They must then be refueled and flown back to the starting pad along the same path. Both flights must occur within a 2.5 hour window.

  • Remain in the air for 90 secs in the Level I part of the competition and 180 secs in Level II.

  • In Level II, the landing pad has a rocky surface to simulate the lunar terrain.

Since then, Masten Space Systems successfully flew the Level I requirements on Oct. 7th and has qualified for the second place prize of $150,000 (the first place Level I prize of $350,000 was won in 2008 by Armadillo Aerospace).

Masten Space XA0.1E in NGLLC
(Photo credit: William Pomerantz)
Xoie (i.e. XA0.1E) coming in for a landing during the NGLLC round on Oct. 7th.

Masten will try to win a Level II prize later this month. Armadillo Aerospace qualified for a Level II prize with its flights on Sept.16th. Two other teams - Unreasonable Rocket and BonNovA - will also make attempts at both the Level I and Level II prizes by the end of October.

See the NGLLC 2009 Resources page for links to blog reports, articles, videos, photos, etc. for each round of flights by the teams in this year's competition.

The competition is managed for NASA by the X PRIZE Foundation. Northrop Grumman also provides some financial support for the program.
  

Masten Space Systems NGLLC Level I Flights on October 7, 2009

Check for the latest in leading edge rocket and space travel projects on the Space Transport News blog.

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See the archive of previous HobbySpace homepage Spotlight items ...
September 09 - November 09

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The Art of C. Sergent Lindsey

 

 
 
 
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