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Remote spaceport damaged by rocket malfunctions on Astra Space test flights [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the Rocketdyne F-1 engines of the Saturn V rocket used in the Apollo 4 unmanned test flight in 1967. Topics covered include the pounds of thrust produced by each engine, a contract awarded by the U.S. Air Force to Rocketdyne for an engine that would become the F-1, and achieving the needed propulsion by placing a bomb in the combustion chamber. The Rocketdyne F-1 engine's importance in the Apollo 8 mission to the moon is also mentioned.

The article discusses the use of Verisurf software by AMRO Fabricating Corp. in South El Monte, California to inspect rocket subassemblies. It describes each panel that it is 12 feet wide, 24 feet long and 4 inches thick for isogrid and orthogrid components. The structures are fashioned from a single metal plate, have triangular integral stiffening ribs, or stringers.

The article offers information on the test launch of the Long March 5 rocket of China on November 3, 2016.

The article focuses on space transport company Space Exploration Technologies' (SpaceX) mission to send a space cargo vessel to the International Space Station. It states the test flight of the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule was initiated under the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program and launched on May 22, 2012. It mentions that SpaceX has also submitted a proposal to certify the Falcon 9 for U.S. Air Force launches.

The article discusses the development of reusable rocket engines powerful enough to fly a suborbital space plane from London, England to Sydney, Australia in four hours. Topics include the development and testing of a hydrogen-and-air-burning engine, called Sabre, by Reaction Engines of Culham in Oxfordshire, England, Sabre's key technological features, such as a chiller that processes air to burn with hydrogen, and advances in pulse jet engine technology.

The article informs that Arnold Defense with Thales, has achieved formal certification to fire the Thales FZ90 2.75-inch rocket from the complete range of Arnold Defense rocket launchers. It mentions that they successfully certified their long-standing LAU and M-Series (lightweight) air-to-ground range of launchers and their more recently released MLHS and FLETCHER ground-to-ground launchers.

The article discusses the space transport services company SpaceX and its creation of landing legs for rockets as of April 2014. SpaceX plans to send a capsule to the International Space Station and return the rocket that launched the capsule back to earth in order to test the landing legs, which would enable rockets to be reused through safely landing on Earth, significantly lowering the cost of spacecraft.

The article discusses a low-altitude terrestrial test rocket which is being tested at the Masten Space Systems aimed at imitating extraterrestrial descents. It uses the open-frame vertical takeoff of Masten and landing Xombie rocket as the hub of the vehicle with guidance embedded navigator integration environment (GENIE) guiding the rocket. It also states that GENIE can assess the position of the vehicle due to its programmed algorithms.

The article discusses the test launch of a rocket manufactured by Orbital Sciences of Dulles, Virginia, called Antares, on April 21, 2013 from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, Virginia.

News briefs on aeronautics and astronautics research are presented. Aerospace industries firm Boeing Co. has conducted research on the use of the plants halophytes to produce biofuels for aviation fuel. The Morpheus planetary landing space vehicle was successfully tests in flight by the U.S. National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA). Aerospace industries firm Virgin Galactic will test its NewtonTwo rocket engine.

The article reports on the plan of low-cost launcher Firefly Space Systems to conduct the first development test of its Alpha vehicle's pressure-fed FRE-2 aerospike rocket engine in 2016. Topics covered include the comment of Firefly co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Tom Markusic on the aerospike concept, the design of the engine, and refinement of the FRE-2 configuration and extension of the spike with the help of Texas Advanced Computing Center at the University of Texas at Austin.

The article informs that Airbus Safran Launchers (ASL) is nearing the final stage in development of Ariane 6, a next-generation rocket designed to compete against SpaceX, which is the biggest threat to long-standing lead in the commercial launch market by Europe. It is noted that the European Space Agency (ESA) is scheduled to wrap up a program to implement review of ASL's Ariane 6 contract proposal.

The article reports on data collected during the rocket-boosted flight of HIFiRE 5B, a test conducted under the joint Australian-U.S. Hypersonic International Flight Research Experimentation program in Australia on May 18, 2016. It discusses the implications of the data for future hypersonic vehicle and weapon development, the objective of the HIFiRE program, and HIFiRE flights to be conducted in future.

The article reports that aerospace company Blue Origin has completed flight tests of its cryogenic BE-3 deep-throttle engine which the company would use in its New Shepard reusable human spacecraft later in 2015. Topics discussed include testing of New Shepard to be made at the company's facility in West Texas facility, change required in New Shepherd from BE-3 into a BE-3U for upper stage use and views of Rob Meyerson, president of the secretive company that will sell tickets on New Shepard.

The article discusses the importance of flight testing in rocket development, and the risks of minimalist flight testing as spaceflight companies accelerate the commencement of their commercial operations. Topics covered include the failed test flight of SpaceShipTwo Enterprise of commercial spaceflight company Virgin Galactic, the X-15 rocket-powered aircraft test flights conducted by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) from 1959-1968, and the test flight of Ariane 5 rocket.

The article reports on the completion of Aerojet Rocketdyne's testing of the J-2X rocket engine for the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Space Launch System which will not be able to use the engine in the foreseeable future due to its power and weight.

The article discusses Australia's Scramspace hypersonic rocket program as of November 4, 2013. The project's failure due to a flaw in the rocket booster is mentioned. The author says that despite the failed test, the project has highlighted several engineering successes. Scramspace project director Russell Boyce's account of the failed test is presented.

The article reports the completion of the flight tests of a low-cost missile which was developed by U.S. defense contractor and industrial corporation Raytheon to shoot down mortars, rockets and unmanned aircraft, under the U.S. Army's Accelerated Improved Intercept Initiative (AI3) program.

The article reports that the aerospace industries firm Virgin Galactic announced it has begun final testing of the RM2 hybrid rocket of its SpaceShipTwo sub-orbital space passenger vehicle.

The article focuses on testing of a gas generator built from parts for the F-1 first-stage rocket engine of the Saturn V rocket. It states that the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) is investigating the possibility of modernizing the F-1 engine for advanced kerosene-fueled booster rockets. It mentions NASA is developing digital images of old hardware to convert into computer-aided design files which could be used in additive manufacturing equipment and selective laser sintering.

The article discusses the development of rocket engine combustion-chamber technology that would lessen the cost of rocket engines through the elimination of regenerative cooling by Orbital Technologies Corp (Orbitec). The company utilized vortex engine technology that was proven successful in an October 2012 rocket test in Mojave, California.

The article discusses a backlog of orders in 2012 for a modified Falcon 9 medium-lift rocket developed by California company Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) that has not yet been flight tested. The rocket should deliver unmanned payloads to low Earth orbit (LEO) satelittes, and commercial space launch operators such as SES are mentioned. The European Space Agency's Ariane 5 rocket and the European rocket consortium Arianespace are discussed.

Several letters to the editor are presented that praise the F1 rocket engine on the 50th anniversary of its test flight, respond to the article "Commercial Cooperation," by Frank Morring Jr., from the May 7, 2012 issue, about the Liberty launch system from aircraft manufacturer ATK, and correct an error in the April 9, 2012 issue about the AL-31 turbofan engine.

The article focuses on the development of of the launch abort engine (LAE) rocket engine by the aerospace industry firm Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne. Testing of the engine which began on March 8, 2012 is discussed as part of the planned use of the engine in the CST-100 space vehicle for manned flight being created by Boeing Co for the U.S. National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA). It is noted that the LAE had originally been created for space vehicle programs which were canceled.

The article focuses on the aerospace industries firm Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX). Lengthy delays in the company's development of a rocket engine for its Falcon 9 launch vehicle are examined in terms of their impact on Space X's ability to fulfill contracts for launching of artificial satellites by 2014.

The article reports on the growing interest in the propulsion process called pressure gain combustion within the global aerospace community. Topics discussed include the shift of emphasis from pulsed-detonation engines to continuous or rotating-detonation engines, a collaborative team conducting an experiment to demonstrate a single turbine stage integrated into a continuous detonation engine (CDE) and GHKN Engineering testing continuous detonation rocket engines (CDRE) for space applications.

The article offers astronomy news briefs as of December 2015 including testing on the R-25 rocket engines completed by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), impact of shock waves from a supernova and meeting of scientists who will lead NASA's Europa exploration mission.

The article reports on the first qualifcation ground test conducted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Orbital ATK of the five-segment rocket motor that will be used for NASA's heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS).

The article discusses developments in testing rocket motors using hybrid rocket systems. Topics covered include the testing of six free-flight sounding rockets by the educational non-profit organization SystemsGo in July 2014, the efforts of Utah State Propulsion Research Laboratory in testing a unique low input power arc-ignition system used in hybrid rockets, and the static firing tests of a swirling-oxidizer-flow-type hybrid rocket engine by the Hybrid Rocket Research Working Group in Japan.

The article reports on the Alternative Pyroshock Test, a method that test a rocket part, demonstrated by engineers at Sandia National Laboratories to ensure the rocket's avionic would withsatnd the shock from stage separation during flight. It mentions the statement of Mark Pilcher, a mechanical engineer, that vthe use of pyroshock tests is to ensure aerospace parts were ready for the rigors of flight.

A personal narrative is presented in which the author reflects on his experience working as a rocket test engineer during a ramjet engine test for the Chemical Systems Division of United Technologies Corporation in 1977.

The article looks at the private space-flight industry, reporting on satellite company Orbital Sciences's April 2013 test launch of a rocket designed to carry a capsule to the International Space Station (ISS) and noting the company is a competitor to space flight company SpaceX.

The article reports on the argument of director K. Sivan of the Liquid Propulsion Center of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) regarding the success of India in testing an indigenous cryogenic rocket engine.

The article discusses the plan of rocket engine developer Blue Origin under president Rob Meyerson to commence flight tests for its BE-3 hydrogen rocket while the BE-4 is still under development as a replacement for the Russian RD-180 thruster.

The article reports that Russia anticipates the completion of comprehensive tests for its Angara 5 heavy-lift rocket in 2021, when the vehicle is scheduled to enter service and eventually replace the Proton launcher in 2025. The impact of the economic situation in Russia on International Launch Services, the company which manages commercial missions of Proton for Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, the prime contractor for both the old and new vehicles, is highlighted.

The article reports that engineering students at Purdue University in Indiana have test fired a thrust chamber (TC) for a spacecraft that can take off and land vertically which is being developed by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Topics covered include the use of thin walls in the TC, and the thrust generation capacity of the chamber.