Jay and Megan are living their childhood dreams of becoming F-14 Tomcat fighter pilots in the Navy. This film follows their harrowing two year journey through pilot training and simulated dogfights, night landings on aircraft carriers and finally, active duty combat in Iraq.
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February 28, 2009
February 27, 2009
JetLev Water Jet Pack........WOW
I just can't stop thinking about this thing. Combine the uber-tech mystique of a jet pack with a relaxing day at the lake, and toss in a little overdose of AWESOME. I would love to “fly” one of these things.
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February 26, 2009
Can NASA be Entertaining?
For one moment, NASA had the attention of the entire world. That moment was in 1969 when Neil Armstrong set foot on the Moon. Today, space travel to low Earth orbit is relatively routine and NASA finds itself in a confounding Catch-22: if an organization’s goal is to make an activity safe and routine, then the organization will attract the most attention only when there’s a terrible accident.
As of this writing, the Space Shuttle has successfully flown to space 123 times. It has failed twice. Many people can tell you about the failures of the Space Shuttles Challenger and Columbia, but they know little about NASA’s other successful missions. That’s not good when you’re a government agency competing for scarce funding.
Why did space travel capture the imaginations of so many people during the 1960’s, but not in the first decade of the 21st century? What would help?
Many things could help. One example may come from the Mars Society. The society operates two remote locations known as the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) and the Flashline Mars Analog Research Station (FMARS). Each one looks like a space landing vehicle on the barren Mars landscape (actually the Utah desert and Canadian Arctic). Volunteer crews run week-long missions at the stations and do the things that Mars astronauts would do. They even have faux space-suits for extra-vehicular activities (EVA) to explore the landscape around the lander.
They also blog and post videos on YouTube. I found one of these YouTube videos, contacted the author, Ryan Kobrick, who was on a 100 day tour of duty at the FMARS hab in 2007. As the weeks went by, I checked the crew blogs to see what they had been researching, and to see new pictures and videos of their adventure. Occasionally I sent a message or question about the mission to Ryan, and he always responded.
This is Ryan’s video tour of the FMARS habitat:
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Later, the Space Shuttle Endeavor blasted off to complete mission STS 119, and I found myself more interested in the FMARS crew than the real astronauts on the Shuttle and the International Space Station. I felt connected to the FMARS crew because of the two-way communication I had with them.
What if there were more than two Mars analog research stations? What if there were hundreds all over the world and sending kids to Mars camp was as common as summer camp? Imagine the parents attending a mock space launch, and then keeping in touch with their kids via webcam, then attending a simulated landing and graduation. How many people would start to really get interested in NASA? How many voters and legislators would start thinking about NASA again?
~Matt Thomas
As of this writing, the Space Shuttle has successfully flown to space 123 times. It has failed twice. Many people can tell you about the failures of the Space Shuttles Challenger and Columbia, but they know little about NASA’s other successful missions. That’s not good when you’re a government agency competing for scarce funding.
Why did space travel capture the imaginations of so many people during the 1960’s, but not in the first decade of the 21st century? What would help?
Many things could help. One example may come from the Mars Society. The society operates two remote locations known as the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) and the Flashline Mars Analog Research Station (FMARS). Each one looks like a space landing vehicle on the barren Mars landscape (actually the Utah desert and Canadian Arctic). Volunteer crews run week-long missions at the stations and do the things that Mars astronauts would do. They even have faux space-suits for extra-vehicular activities (EVA) to explore the landscape around the lander.
They also blog and post videos on YouTube. I found one of these YouTube videos, contacted the author, Ryan Kobrick, who was on a 100 day tour of duty at the FMARS hab in 2007. As the weeks went by, I checked the crew blogs to see what they had been researching, and to see new pictures and videos of their adventure. Occasionally I sent a message or question about the mission to Ryan, and he always responded.
This is Ryan’s video tour of the FMARS habitat:
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2. see the blog directly or
3. update your Flash player
Later, the Space Shuttle Endeavor blasted off to complete mission STS 119, and I found myself more interested in the FMARS crew than the real astronauts on the Shuttle and the International Space Station. I felt connected to the FMARS crew because of the two-way communication I had with them.
What if there were more than two Mars analog research stations? What if there were hundreds all over the world and sending kids to Mars camp was as common as summer camp? Imagine the parents attending a mock space launch, and then keeping in touch with their kids via webcam, then attending a simulated landing and graduation. How many people would start to really get interested in NASA? How many voters and legislators would start thinking about NASA again?
~Matt Thomas
February 24, 2009
Raiden X Video Game
This game is frantic, but a lot of fun. It's like too much caffeine and sugar.
Use arrows to control your 'space-plane'
Z and X are for guns and missiles
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Use arrows to control your 'space-plane'
Z and X are for guns and missiles
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February 22, 2009
Football Pre-Game Flyovers
This video provides an inside look at how pilots and crew plan and execute a flyover for NFL football games. One of the goals is to time the flyover to occur at the final note of the national anthem.
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February 14, 2009
DIY Virtual Reality Helmet
We experimented with virtual reality technology for flight simulator. We ended up with a beautiful virtual reality helmet that works pretty well. The idea of virtual reality (VR) is quite tempting. Imagine being immersed in a different world with realism rivaling our own. Is today’s technology good enough to transport you to that other world? We investigated.
We started with a stock VR headset, the Vuzix VR920 which includes the display, the view tracker and speakers. We hacked and modified the headset until it became the finished VR helmet you see in the video. The video shows the evolution of the project.
A full transcript of the video and more info on the Vuzix VR920 is at this page on our website.
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We started with a stock VR headset, the Vuzix VR920 which includes the display, the view tracker and speakers. We hacked and modified the headset until it became the finished VR helmet you see in the video. The video shows the evolution of the project.
A full transcript of the video and more info on the Vuzix VR920 is at this page on our website.
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February 10, 2009
REAL Video: RC Plane Lands After Losing Wing
We investigated a video that apparently shows an airplane successfully landing after losing a wing. The video was a hoax. A clothing company attempted a viral marketing campaign, and this video was the result.
The video was fake, but the question remains – is such a thing physically possible? We’ve all seen aerobatic planes making knife-edge passes at air shows. Is it possible for an airplane to make a knife-edge landing after losing a wing? Well, kind of.
The airplane would have to fly at a slower speed for its landing approach. Therefore, it would need much more engine thrust. Is such a thrust-to-weight ratio available in today’s aerobatic planes? I’m not sure, but I do know it exists in the world of radio-controlled aircraft. Keep in mind, some of these RC planes are one-third the scale of the planes they replicate.
We have three example videos that show one-wing landings by large-scale RC planes. All three videos are genuine, and demonstrate amazing skill. The three videos have a total of 214,000 views on YouTube as of this writing. Are you entertained?
Jim Bourke
Bill Hempel
RJ Gritter
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BONUS: The discussion of the one-wing landing caught the attention of the traditional aviation media, even though the talk is still theoretical. Peter Garrison wrote about it in the March 2009 issue of Flying magazine.
~Matt Thomas
The video was fake, but the question remains – is such a thing physically possible? We’ve all seen aerobatic planes making knife-edge passes at air shows. Is it possible for an airplane to make a knife-edge landing after losing a wing? Well, kind of.
The airplane would have to fly at a slower speed for its landing approach. Therefore, it would need much more engine thrust. Is such a thrust-to-weight ratio available in today’s aerobatic planes? I’m not sure, but I do know it exists in the world of radio-controlled aircraft. Keep in mind, some of these RC planes are one-third the scale of the planes they replicate.
We have three example videos that show one-wing landings by large-scale RC planes. All three videos are genuine, and demonstrate amazing skill. The three videos have a total of 214,000 views on YouTube as of this writing. Are you entertained?
Jim Bourke
Bill Hempel
RJ Gritter
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1. try disabling ad blockers and refresh this screen or
2. see the blog directly or
3. update your Flash player
BONUS: The discussion of the one-wing landing caught the attention of the traditional aviation media, even though the talk is still theoretical. Peter Garrison wrote about it in the March 2009 issue of Flying magazine.
~Matt Thomas
February 5, 2009
Rocket Racing League
It’s so much better than NASCAR or even the Red Bull Air Races. Rocket-powered airplanes will race against each other in real time for live audiences. Folks at home can watch too on TV or streaming internet. This will be a lot more entertaining than the Red Bull Air Races in which the planes take turns, one at a time, through a timed race course.
The airplanes of choice for the Rocket Racing League are heavily modified Velocities from Velocity Aircraft. The Velocity already has a futuristic appearance due to the pusher engine and the composite construction. The rocket racer teams replace the standard piston engine with a 2000-pound thrust rocket engine that gulps liquid oxygen and kerosene (or ethanol).
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The competitions are unique in that they will not need a lot of infrastructure like sports stadiums or race tracks. A Rocket Race can be hosted by any existing medium-sized airport. The Federal Aviation Administration has approved 20 locations so far.
The league expects 10 rocket racers to be ready for the 2010 season.
The Rocket Racing League was founded by Indy 500 champion team owner Granger Whitelaw and Dr. Peter Diamandis who founded the X Prize foundation. The X Prize paved the way for Burt Rutan’s SpaceShipOne team to blast two civilian astronauts into space.
We got a chance to talk briefly with Dr. Diamandis at AirVenture. What a thrill!
~Matt Thomas
The airplanes of choice for the Rocket Racing League are heavily modified Velocities from Velocity Aircraft. The Velocity already has a futuristic appearance due to the pusher engine and the composite construction. The rocket racer teams replace the standard piston engine with a 2000-pound thrust rocket engine that gulps liquid oxygen and kerosene (or ethanol).
Don’t see a video screen? You can
1. try disabling ad blockers and refresh this screen or
2. see the blog directly or
3. update your Flash player
The competitions are unique in that they will not need a lot of infrastructure like sports stadiums or race tracks. A Rocket Race can be hosted by any existing medium-sized airport. The Federal Aviation Administration has approved 20 locations so far.
The league expects 10 rocket racers to be ready for the 2010 season.
The Rocket Racing League was founded by Indy 500 champion team owner Granger Whitelaw and Dr. Peter Diamandis who founded the X Prize foundation. The X Prize paved the way for Burt Rutan’s SpaceShipOne team to blast two civilian astronauts into space.
We got a chance to talk briefly with Dr. Diamandis at AirVenture. What a thrill!
~Matt Thomas
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